The Democratic Republic of the Congo has filed criminal complaints this Tuesday against two subsidiaries of Apple in France and Belgium, accusing the American technology giant of using conflict minerals to manufacture their famous products and to be complicit with the crimes surrounding its extraction, according to the Reuters agency.
The African country has abundant reserves of tin, tantalio y tungstenstrategic resources known as 3T minerals that are crucial to computers y mobile phones. Some of the extraction mines are managed by armed groups involved in all types of violations of rights. human rights.
“These activities have fueled a cycle of violence and conflict by financing militias and groups terrorists and have contributed to forced child labor and environmental devastation,” reads one of the lawsuits presented today. International researchers and NGOs have been denouncing for years that the global thirst for these minerals fuels wars in the region and that many of them, whether or not of legitimate origin, are transported to Rwanda for marketing.
Apple denies it
In the report presented in 2023 before the Securities and Exchange Commission of EUthe company of iPhone He assured that he “does not buy, acquire or supply directly” primary minerals, but rather does so through suppliers – smelters or refineries – to whom he subjects an “independent third-party audit” to guarantee that they are not stained with blood. It also reported that it had removed 14 suppliers who did not meet the requirements.
“Criminal complicity”
However, lawyers representing the Congolese government maintain that the world’s most valuable company uses 3T minerals looted from the Congo and laundered through that international supply chain. Thus, the complaints accuse Apple of being complicit in crimes ranging from murder from civilians to violations massive or other crimesbut also
The Congolese Ministry of Justice has decided to file the lawsuits in France and Belgium due to the “moral duty” that both countries have with the plundering of African resources, but emphasizes that they are directed against the Apple group as a whole. “It is clear that they know very well that their mineral supply chain is based on systemic irregularities,” reads the French lawsuit.
Now it will be the judicial authorities of both countries that will have to determine whether to accept the case, investigate it further and find sufficient evidence to file criminal charges against the subsidiaries of the technology company run by Tim Cook.
