Belgium has launched a criminal investigation into Apple, accused of “knowingly” purchasing “blood minerals” from armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Financial Times (FT) reports.
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The publication clarifies that in December 2024, the Democratic Republic of the Congo filed lawsuits against Apple subsidiaries in Belgium and France. Lawyers from the Democratic Republic of the Congo accuse the company of using minerals supplied by armed groups that terrorize the east of the country in its production.
Belgian prosecutors last week appointed an investigating judge who oversees the investigation and is responsible for issuing arrest warrants, wiretaps and raids, lawyers representing the Democratic Republic of Congo told the publication.
The lawsuit alleges that Apple purchases tantalum (extracted from coltan, used in the production of the iPhone; more than half of its global reserves are located in the Congo), tin, tungsten and gold from manufacturers whose profits go to the war effort. in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. According to the Financial Times, millions of people have been forced to flee their homes due to armed conflict.
Apple denies accusations by the Democratic Republic of the Congo that it bought tantalum from Congolese armed groups. The company said it has a “deep commitment to responsible mineral extraction.”
The minerals used by Apple are certified as mined in Rwanda or in areas not affected by the conflict, writes the FT. However, according to the prosecution, the certification process of Apple and other giants suffers from serious deficiencies and the minerals supposedly coming from Rwanda are actually extracted in Congolese mines.
“There is not a single technology company on Earth that does not know that everything bought in Rwanda is 90% Congolese,” Robert Amsterdam, whose law firm represents the Democratic Republic of the Congo, told the Financial Times.
In late December, the UN published a report alleging that armed groups “fraudulently exported” at least 150 tonnes of coltan to Rwanda in 2024, causing “the largest” contamination “of mineral supply chains in the region to date.”
The rebels of the March 23 Movement (M23), who, according to the UN, the US, the EU and the Congo, have the support of Rwanda, created “parallel authorities that control mining, trade in mineral raw materials , its transportation and the collection of related taxes.” says the report.
Author:
Anastasia Kossakovskaya
Source: RB
I am a professional journalist and content creator with extensive experience writing for news websites. I currently work as an author at Gadget Onus, where I specialize in covering hot news topics. My written pieces have been published on some of the biggest media outlets around the world, including The Guardian and BBC News.
