Apple Faces Lawsuit Over Congo Minerals
International Rights Advocates (IRAdvocates) submitted the lawsuit on Tuesday to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, invoking the city’s Consumer Protection Procedures Act.
In a press release on Wednesday, IRAdvocates accused Apple’s supply chains for cobalt and tantalum of being linked to forced and child labor, environmental degradation, corruption, and conflict in DR Congo and neighboring Rwanda, despite the company’s assurances regarding “100% recycled cobalt” and strict traceability measures.
“We are bringing this lawsuit… to hold Apple accountable for misleading the public and profiting from human rights abuses in its supply chain,” said IRAdvocates Executive Director Terrence Collingsworth.
The organization reported that Apple’s cobalt providers include the Anglo-Swiss multinational Glencore, which has admitted guilt to bribery charges in the US and faced nearly $900 million in tax penalties in DR Congo, as well as the Chinese company Huayou Cobalt, whose “subsidiary operates artisanal mines rife with forced labor.”
DR Congo is the world’s top producer of cobalt, an essential element in batteries used across consumer electronics, from mobile phones to electric vehicles.
Apple has faced previous lawsuits concerning minerals from DR Congo, a region long affected by violence in its eastern provinces, where numerous armed groups compete with the government over resources.
Earlier this year, Belgium opened an inquiry into claims that Apple manufactures its products using “blood minerals,” following complaints filed in France and Belgium in December 2024 by international lawyers representing the Congolese government.
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