The Democratic Republic of Congo has taken legal action against Apple subsidiary firms in France and Belgium, alleging the tech giant has embedded the use of conflict minerals in its supply chain.
The Central African country is a major regional source of tin, tantalum, and tungsten, with the components widely used in the manufacturing of smartphones and computers.
However, the contention arises from some mining sites being operated by militias, said to be responsible for widespread massacres, mass rapes, and other serious crimes, according to UN experts.
As reported by Reuters, international lawyers representing Congo have made their case that Apple is benefiting from the minerals obtained in the country and then laundered through well-established supply chains.
The U.S. tech multinational has refuted the claims, adding it does not directly source the minerals, opting to screen and audit suppliers with reports regularly collated on the process.
In a 2023 filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Apple indicated none of its supply chain partners had financed or been involved in transactions with armed groups in Congo or elsewhere.
In other Apple news, the company is said to be eyeing a 2028 launch for its foldable iPad prototype.
Belgium’s moral duty to act in Congo
Specifically, complaints were filed at the prosecutor’s office in Paris, and Belgium’s investigating magistrate’s office. Congo has alleged that local subsidiaries including Apple France, Apple Retail France, and Apple Retail Belgium are guilty of an array of offenses.
This includes covering up for war crimes, laundering materials, and handling stolen components.
“It is clear that the Apple group, Apple France, and Apple Retail France know very well that their minerals supply chain relies on systemic wrongdoing,” said the French complaint, citing UN reports on the ongoing conflict situation in the east of Congo.
Referencing Belgium’s colonial history with Congo, the African nation’s Belgian solicitor Christophe Marchand asserted that it has a particular moral duty to take action.
Over the last three decades, Congo has been embattled due to the ongoing conflict as different actors seek to gain a foothold in the mining fields.
These areas have been besieged by armed groups, some backed by neighboring Rwanda and the Congolese military, as waves of violence ebbed and flowed.
Millions of civilians have died or been displaced, as a result of the turmoil.
Image credit: Via Midjourney
