For almost three decades, the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been mired in a seemingly endless war. More than a hundred armed groups fight among themselves or against the Army in a conflict that has as a backdrop the control of an impressive business: the exploitation and sale of key minerals in the current technology industry, such as coltan, copper, cobalt, tungsten or tin, among others. Many mines, where harrowing child labor abounds, are exploited by these guerrillas in inhumane conditions, while the instability of the war allows minerals to illegally leave for Rwanda to, from there, supply large multinationals. Now, in full tension between both countries, the Congolese Government has opened the melon of a judicial battle against Apple that promises to bring to light the details of this dirty business.
The DRC Executive has accused this American multinational of using blood minerals, extracted and exported illegally from the east of the country through Rwanda, in the manufacturing of its electronic products. In a letter sent at the end of April to the company on behalf of the State of Congo, a group of lawyers led by Frenchman William Bourdon demands answers to their questions within three weeks and threatens to file a lawsuit. For the DRC it is about bringing to the international legal field, with the greatest possible fanfare, what it considers the illegal plundering of its own resources, as well as putting the focus on a conflict encouraged by its neighboring country.
The letter was sent, via email, to Apple’s two subsidiaries in France and to its headquarters in the United States. The lawyers refer to three minerals in particular, fundamental for the manufacture of mobile phones and computers, such as coltan, from which tantalum, tin and tungsten are obtained, which, they claim, are extracted from mines “in which numerous human rights are violated.” Various reports from international organizations, including the UN, assure that a good part of these mines finance the rebel groups that operate in the area. According to Unicef, at least 40,000 boys and girls work illegally in these farms, many of them subjected to harsh conditions in a semi-slavery regime.
According to Unicef, at least 40,000 boys and girls work illegally in these farms, many of them subjected to harsh conditions in a regime of semi-slavery.
“All judicial options are now on the table,” says the letter sent to Apple, manufacturer of iPhone phones and Mac computers, among other products. The company was consulted by this newspaper, but did not receive a response. In addition to the extraction of minerals in a context of violation of human rights, French lawyers express their concern about their illegal export. “These minerals are smuggled into Rwanda, where they are integrated into global supply chains,” they explain. For years, the DRC Government has accused its Rwandan neighbor of taking advantage of its minerals and financing the M23 rebel group, which operates on Congolese soil. The UN has also confirmed the links between Kigali and the aforementioned armed movement.
In 2023, Apple published its annual report on responsible sourcing in which it certified the application, for a decade, of a code of conduct for suppliers, the ITSCI certification, which includes human rights surveillance. In particular, it clarified that all the refineries and smelters from which it obtains the minerals were independently audited, and that 14 of these companies were eliminated from its supply chain for refusing to participate in said investigation. “We do not find any reasonable basis to conclude that any of the smelters or refineries that were determined to be in our supply chain as of December 31, 2023 financed or benefited directly or indirectly armed groups in the DRC or a neighboring country,” he concluded. Manzana.
However, specialized organizations such as the Business and Human Rights Resource Center or Global Witness have warned that the ITSCI certification, which came into force in 2010 in the United States, has numerous defects that, de facto, They are contributing to laundering minerals illegally extracted by armed groups that use child labor. According to an investigation by Global Witness, in the Nzibira mining area of South Kivu, up to 90% of the minerals introduced into the ITSCI during the first quarter of 2021 did not come from certified operations that met safety and rights standards. humans. Furthermore, a significant portion of these minerals were related to conflicts and human rights abuses, a situation similar to that detected in 10 other locations.
The lawyers who signed the letter consider the efforts made by the company in the traceability of its raw materials to be insufficient. “The Apple company seems to mainly apply monitoring of its suppliers and its commitment to respect Apple’s code of conduct, in addition to external audits carried out on the activity of these suppliers. However, both these suppliers and the auditing companies seem to trust the ITSCI certification, whose serious and numerous dysfunctions have been demonstrated,” they state in their writing.
Support for the M23
This judicial initiative against the American multinational occurs in the midst of the DRC’s diplomatic and media offensive against its neighbor Rwanda. On Tuesday, the president of Congo, Félix Tshisekedi, met in Paris with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, to whom he expressed his concern about Kigali’s maneuvers on Congolese soil. In a subsequent press conference and in a tone of unexpected harshness, the French head of state urged Rwanda to stop supporting the M23, the rebel group that took up arms in 2021 and has the Congolese Army on the ropes in North Kivu. , causing a serious humanitarian crisis in the city of Goma and surrounding areas. So far, the DRC has failed to get sanctions passed against Rwanda.
The situation is especially worrying today. Senior UN officials assured that the rebellion in eastern Congo, with special impact on the two Kivus and the province of Ituri, has caused “record levels of violence, displacement and hunger,” and threatens to bring the country “to the brink.” of the catastrophe” if there is no urgent international reaction, reports Efe. In recent months, more than 700,000 people have been forced to leave their homes, bringing the number of displaced people to 7.2 million. Just this week, the M23 announced that it has taken control of the strategic Rubaya tantalum mine, in North Kivu, where a large amount of coltan is extracted, rebel leader Willy Ngoma told Reuters.
The choice of lawyers to launch this judicial process, if necessary, is not coincidental either. William Bourdon is a well-known French media lawyer who was secretary general of the International Federation of Human Rights, founder of the Sherpa association for the defense of victims of crimes committed by economic operators and a member, among other groups, of Transparency International and the Survie association. He has filed lawsuits against African dictators such as Omar Bongo, Denis Sassou-Nguesso and Teodoro Obiang and participated in the trial against the Chadian tyrant Hissène Habré.
You can follow Future Planet in x, Facebook, instagram and TikTok and subscribe here to our newsletter.
#African #blood #minerals #tarnish #Apples #image #fuel #tension #Congo #Rwanda
