International Rights Advocates (IRAdvocates) previously filed a lawsuit against tech firms, including Tesla, Apple and other companies over cobalt sourcing, but US courts dismissed that case last year.
French prosecutors also dropped DRC’s case against Apple subsidiaries in December over conflict minerals, citing a lack of evidence. A related criminal complaint in Belgium is still under investigation.
Apple denied any wrongdoing in response to DRC’s lawsuits, saying it had instructed its suppliers to halt the sourcing of material from Congo and neighbouring Rwanda.
Apple said on Wednesday it “strongly disputes” the latest allegations that the company is benefiting from forced labour and unsafe mining practices in Africa, calling the claims “baseless.”
An Apple spokesperson said that 99% of the cobalt in Apple-designed batteries comes from recycled sources, and that this underscores the company’s push to cut reliance on mined material.
He added that as conflict escalated in eastern DRC in 2024, the company instructed suppliers to stop sourcing material from the DRC and Rwanda.
Apple’s Supplier Code of Conduct enforces “the industry’s strongest sourcing standards” and pledges continued transparency in public reporting, the spokesman added.
IRAdvocates, a Washington-based nonprofit that tries to use litigation to curtail rights abuses, said in the complaint filed on Tuesday in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia that Apple’s supply chain still includes cobalt, tin, tantalum and tungsten linked to child and forced labour as well as armed groups in the DRC and Rwanda.
–Reuters–
