“The responsibility of Apple, and beyond large high-tech manufacturers, when they use blood minerals, has long remained a black box“. Robert Amsterdam and William Bourdon pull no punches when it comes to denouncing the illegal exploitation of minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The two lawyers mandated by Kinshasa sent a notice remains with the two Apple subsidiaries in France as well as the company’s parent company in California.
At the heart of this complaint therefore, the exploitation of “disputed minerals” Who “come largely from Congolese mines where many human rights are violated“, detail the lawyers. More precisely, it is the “3T” minerals which are targeted, namely tin, tungsten and tantalum. These 3 materials would in fact be extracted from Congolese soil then “smuggled into Rwanda“where they would be”bleached” by being integrated into the global supply chain, details the complaint.
The DRC, a “geological scandal”
The subsoil of the DRC is indeed rich in minerals essential for the production of electronic devices. So much so that Jules Cornet, a Belgian geologist, affirmed in 1892 that the country was a “geological scandal“. We find there in particular a good part of the 3T targeted by the complaint, but also cobalt, of which 63% of the world volume exploited in 2022 came precisely from Congo. The wealth of soils has, for a long time, attracted the attention of gangs armies which still exploit today, guns in hand, the mines present in the east of the country. This economic windfall also contributed to the explosion of the second Congo war in 1997 which killed at least 4.5 million. of deaths.
In response, regulations were adopted in Europe and across the Atlantic to limit the supply of these “blood ores“, including the Dodd-Frank law in the United States which regulates this practice. But according to some observers, this has only shifted the problem. David Maenda Kithoko, president of the Génération Lumières association, which works for respect for the environment and human rights in the Great Lakes region of Africa, explained in 2023 that these measures were “hypocrites“, because “the minerals leave the DRC, are laundered in China and are spread all over the world through finished products. This is the classic pattern for Congolese minerals.”. Result, “we no longer see the minerals, the traces of these wars“, explains David Maenda Kithoko.
In 2022, the NGO Global Witness estimated that the Tin Supply Chain Initiative (ITSCI), an international agreement supposed to provide a reliable chain of custody for 3T minerals exploited by large companies, was being eaten away by failures of all kinds. A key player in the agreement in Rwanda even explained that “only 10% of the minerals exported by the country had actually been extracted on its territory, the remaining 90% having been introduced illegally from the DRC“. Already at the time, the association explained that these minerals “could be found in devices sold by international brands like Apple, Intel, Samsung, Nokia, Motorola and Tesla“and that, despite warnings, “the mitigation measures implemented appear limited“.
Apple’s measures deemed “notoriously insufficient”
It is precisely this transhumance of conflict minerals which is targeted by Kinshasa’s complaint. The lawyers believe that Apple’s precautions to source minerals responsibly are “notoriously insufficient“. According to the complaint “The Apple company seems to rely mainly on the vigilance of its suppliers and their commitment to respecting Apple’s code of conduct […] However, both these suppliers and the auditing companies appear to rely on Itsci certification, the serious and numerous dysfunctions of which have been demonstrated“.
The complaint filed by the Democratic Republic of Congo forces Apple to respond “within three weeks” to the questions relating to the supply of 3T minerals included in the formal notice. Kinshasa does not refrain from taking legal action in due form against Apple if the answers provided by the company are not sufficient.”All legal options are now on the table“, said the lawyers responsible for the case.
For its part, Apple defended itself by citing elements of its 2023 report on conflict minerals. The latter indicates that he did not find “no reasonable basis to conclude that any of our smelters or refiners […] has directly or indirectly financed or benefited armed groups in the DRC or in a neighboring country.“Not sure that this is enough to reassure Kinshasa.