2024-04-25 08:04:09
The Democratic Republic of Congo accuses Apple of using minerals from “illegally exploited” Congolese mines.
According to lawyers mandated by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), these minerals would then be “transported out of the DRC and in particular to Rwanda, where they would be laundered”. “It appears from the file” submitted by the DRC “that the Apple company uses strategic minerals purchased in Rwanda in its products,” assert the lawyers mandated to draft a formal noticesummons before the initiation of legal proceedings.
Contacted by AFP, Apple referred to elements published in its 2023 annual report on conflict minerals.
Violation of human rights
“Rwanda is a central player in the illegal exploitation of minerals, and in particular the exploitation of tin and tantalum in the DRC,” say the lawyers. “After their illegal extraction, these minerals are smuggled into Rwanda, where they are integrated into global supply chains,” states the formal notice. “These disputed minerals come largely from Congolese mines where many human rights are violated”continue the lawyers.
This formal notice was sent this week to the two Apple subsidiaries in France by French lawyers William Bourdon and Vincent Brengarth. A letter was also sent to the American parent company of the tech giant which notably markets the iPhone and Mac computers.
The DRC, the world’s leading producer of cobalt
The subsoil of the DRC is full of minerals, the country being the world’s leading producer of cobalt and the leading African producer of copper.
The Kinshasa government accuses Rwanda of wanting to take control of the resources, particularly mining, of eastern Congo, one of the reasons why, according to it, Kigali supports the M23 rebellion, on the offensive for more than two years in the province of North Kivu.
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