In December 2019, a civil lawsuit was filed in Washington D.C. against tech giants including Apple, Google, Dell, Microsoft, and Tesla, by the International Rights Advocates on behalf of 14 Congolese families.
In the lawsuit, which ended up being unsuccessful, the plaintiffs alleged that their children were either killed or severely injured while mining cobalt under dangerous conditions.
The lawsuit then claimed that these tech giants knowingly benefited from and supported an artisanal mining system reliant on child labour, despite being aware of the associated risks and human rights abuses.
Now, in December 2024, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government has escalated its legal efforts by filing criminal complaints through a team of international lawyers against Apple’s subsidiaries in France and Belgium.
The African nation accuses Apple of knowingly using "conflict minerals" sourced from illegal mining operations controlled by armed groups in the DRC.
The DRC's legal representatives claim that Apple's practices contribute to human rights violations and environmental degradation associated with mining activities.
Belgian lawyer Christophe Marchand, who helped prepare the DRC's case against Apple had an interview with Berlin’s news anchor Pablo Foley Elias, where he explained that the DRC alleges that Apple uses minerals like tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold sourced from conflict zones in DRC and laundered internationally, thus engaging in "deceptive commercial practices" by falsely assuring consumers that its supply chains are free from exploitation.
Additionally, the lawsuit alleges that some mines are operated by armed groups involved in serious crimes against local populations, resulting in Apple using “blood minerals”, said Marchand.
"These activities have fuelled a cycle of violence and conflict by financing militias and terrorist groups and have contributed to forced child labour and environmental devastation," read the joint statement by three law firms in the US, France and Belgium.
"The goal is to show consumers that the product they have in their hands is contaminated by international crimes," added Marchand.
Apple has since strongly disputed the allegations, asserting that it holds its suppliers to high standards and has taken steps to ensure its supply chain is free from conflict minerals by not sourcing from DRC and Rwanda.
The company claims it does not directly purchase raw materials, but sources them from audited suppliers.