DRC files complaint against Apple subsidiaries over 'blood minerals' in supply chain
The Democratic Republic of the Congo has filed complaints against subsidiaries of US technology company Apple in Belgium and France. It accuses Apple of illegally exporting and laundering “blood minerals” mined in the region, according to a press release by lawyers acting for the country.
“The complaints allege that Apple uses minerals pillaged from the DRC and laundered through international supply chains,” the statement reads. “Apple is also accused of using deceptive commercial practices to assure consumers that the tech giant’s supply chains are clean.”
In April, lawyers representing the DRC demanded that Apple CEO Tim Cook and subsidiaries in France respond to questions about whether its supply chain is “tainted by blood minerals pillaged from the country”. Apple has provided no substantive response, the lawyers say.
'First salvo'
Robert Amsterdam, one of the legal team representing the DRC, described Tuesday’s announcement of criminal complaints as the “first salvo” of judicial actions. Apple “is a trillion-dollar company that must be assumed to know the consequences of its actions”, the statement on his website reads.
The DRC has long accused Apple of buying up illegally mined minerals such as tin, tantalum and tungsten – also known as 3T minerals – as well as gold from the east of the country. The minerals are smuggled to Rwanda, where they are laundered and incorporated into supply chains.
“Although Apple says it checks the origin of the minerals it uses to make its products, those claims do not appear to be based on concrete, verifiable evidence,” Amsterdam said in April. “The world looks away: Rwanda produces almost no 3T minerals, and yet big tech companies say their minerals come from Rwanda.”
'No basis' for claims
Apple had referred to its 2023 annual report on conflict minerals in response to the questions. In it, the company states that there is “no reasonable basis” to say that its supply chains have “directly or indirectly financed or aided armed groups in Congo or a neighbouring country”. Rwanda also says the allegations do not hold water.
Violence has been a regular occurrence in the mineral-rich eastern DRC since the 1990s. Tensions have worsened since the return of M23 rebels in late 2021, believed to be backed by Rwanda.
“Apple is a trillion-dollar company that must be assumed to know the consequences of its actions”
The DRC is represented by lawyers that also include Christophe Marchand of Brussels-based law firm Jus Cogens. They have written to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to inform her of the filing of the criminal complaints and to request discussion on the EU’s role in achieving accountability and an end to armed violence in sub-Saharan Africa’s mineral supply chains.
Marchand said: “These complaints filed against Apple are a matter of great public interest at a time when European countries, consumers and non-governmental organisations are increasing their scrutiny of international supply chains.”
Demonstrators outside an Apple Store in Berlin, May 2024 © PHOTO MICHAEL KUENNE / PRESSCOV VIA ZUMA PRESS WIRE
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