Congo questions Apple over knowledge of conflict minerals in its supply chain

Cape Town, South Africa — CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Congo’s government is questioning Apple about the technology company’s knowledge of “blood minerals” from a conflict zone in the African country that could be smuggled into its supply chains. supply and requires responses within three weeks.

A group of international lawyers representing Congo said on Thursday it sent letters to Apple CEO Tim Cook and its French subsidiary this week, raising concerns about human rights violations involving minerals extracted from mines in the troubled east. of the country, which could end up being used in the company’s products.

They included a list of questions challenging Apple to show how it monitors its supply chains in a region where more than 100 armed rebel groups operate, some of which have been accused of carrying out mass killings of civilians.

Writing to Cook, the lawyers said that “it has become clear to us that, year after year, Apple has sold technology made with minerals sourced from a region whose population is being devastated by serious human rights violations.”

“The iPhones, Mac computers and accessories that Apple sells to its customers around the world depend on supply chains that are too opaque and that are tainted by the blood of the Congolese people,” the lawyers said.

Eastern Congo is one of the most mineral-rich regions in the world, but it is also the scene of a huge humanitarian disaster, with armed groups fighting for years to control the mines and the valuable minerals they contain, and with millions of people displaced and affected by the worsening of violence. The situation has deteriorated seriously in recent months.

Apple, which has a market value of around $2.6 billion, has denied using minerals from mines and regions where human rights violations occur, saying it conducts business ethically and sources minerals “responsibly” in Congo. and in neighboring countries.

The minerals it buys do not finance war or armed groups, he says. Lawyers for the Congo government stated that “these allegations do not appear to be based on concrete and verifiable evidence.”

Congo’s government said it is suspected that some of the tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold – known as critical minerals 3TG – that Apple obtains from suppliers is smuggled from Congo to neighboring Rwanda and then infiltrates the global supply chain. 3TG minerals are key components in electronics.

In response to a request for comment, Apple pointed to a section of a company document about conflict minerals.

“Based on our due diligence efforts, including reviewing information provided by third-party audit programs, upstream traceability programs and our suppliers, we have found no reasonable basis to conclude that any of 3TG’s smelters or refineries have determined to be in our supply chain as of December 31, 2023 directly or indirectly financed or benefited armed groups in the DRC or a neighboring country,” the report said, using the abbreviation for Democratic Republic of the Congo.

“In Congo, people have been dying for 30 years as a result of illegal mining,” said Congo government spokesman Patrick Muyaya. “We want clarification on the supply sources of large technology companies, in particular Apple, to verify whether they are purchasing minerals produced under completely illegal conditions.”

He said Rwanda “is presented” as a supplier of many of the minerals, although it has few reserves of its own.

Congo has accused Rwanda of financing and directing the notorious M23 armed rebel group in eastern Congo to help extract minerals illegally. The United Nations also claims that the M23 is supported by Rwanda.

Rwanda denies this, but tensions between the countries are rising, while M23 and other groups are accused of regularly carrying out attacks that include the murder and rape of civilians, according to Human Rights Watch.

Lawyers for the Congo government cited a 2022 report from the nonprofit group Global Witness that said Apple had already applied “few meaningful mitigation measures” to prevent the use of smuggled minerals.

The Congolese government was now seeking “effective redress” against “end-users of blood minerals” around the world, the lawyers said.

They asked Apple to respond to questions about its supply chain controls within three weeks and said they had compiled a report on the “laundering” of Congo minerals by Rwanda and private entities that would be made public this month.

They would also seek instructions from the Congolese government on what legal action it is considering against Apple, the letter said.

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AP Business Writer Kelvin Chan in London and AP Writer Saleh Mwanamilongo in Kinshasa, Congo, contributed to this report.___

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