The modern world runs on rare minerals. Companies like Apple require massive amounts of rare materials to manufacture the devices that make the modern world possible. The Democratic Republic of Congo, long a site where people have fought over these minerals, has filed criminal charges against Apple in France and Belgium. The DRC is accusing Apple of using conflict minerals in its supply chain.
The minerals in question are tin, tantalum, and tungsten, a grouping known as 3T. The DRC is famous for its 3T deposits and world powers have long gone there to mine and extract those resources. According to the DRC and its lawyers, those minerals have been extracted by armed groups and then laundered into the global supply chain where Apple buys them.
“Color Apple red, and not green. It is a trillion-dollar company that must be assumed to know the consequences of its actions. Enough with denials of accountability and hiding behind the false narrative of supply chain defenses!” Robert Amsterdam, a lawyer for the DRC said in a statement.
The criminal complaint has been building for a long time. This group of lawyers has been working with the DRC for years and trying to get answers out of Apple about where, exactly, it gets all its 3T. According to the lawyers, Apple hasn’t been forthcoming.
Last year, in a report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Apple said it had traced its 3T supply chains. “Based on our due diligence efforts, including analyzing the information provided by third-party audit programs, upstream traceability programs, and our suppliers, we found no reasonable basis for concluding that any of the smelters or refiners of 3TG determined to be in our supply chain as of December 31, 2023 directly or indirectly financed or benefited armed groups in the DRC or an adjoining country.”
Eastern Congo is famous for its mineral deposits and humanitarian disasters. A complex web of armed militias, Russian mercenaries, and Chinese business interests has created a land of displaced people and business done at the end of a rifle. The conflict has displaced millions of people and killed many more. The situation is so dire that locals in some communities have welcomed re-branded Wagner mercenaries from Eastern Europe and Russia with open arms. Despite all the violence, the minerals keep flowing. Mines are open, extracting value from the land.
Authorities in Belgium and France will review the DRC’s criminal complaint and decide how to proceed. History isn’t on their side. In March, a U.S. court of appeals rejected a similar criminal complaint from the DRC that accused Apple, Google, Dell, and Tesla of benefiting from child labor in the country.
In his statement, Amsterdam called this new criminal complaint a “first salvo of judicial actions.”
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