Drc Files Criminal Complaints Against Apple Over Conflict Minerals

The DRC is a major source of tin, tantalum and tungsten, the so-called 3T minerals used in computers and mobile phones. But some artisanal mines are run by armed groups involved in massacres of civilians, mass rapes, looting and other crimes, according to UN experts and human rights groups.

Apple does not directly source primary minerals and says it audits suppliers, publishes findings and funds bodies that seek to improve mineral traceability.

Its 2023 filing on conflict minerals to the US Securities and Exchange Commission said none of the smelters or refiners of 3T minerals or gold in its supply chain had financed or benefited armed groups in the DRC or neighbouring countries.

But international lawyers representing the DRC argue that Apple uses minerals pillaged from the DRC and laundered through international supply chains, which they say renders the firm complicit in crimes taking place in Congo.

In parallel complaints filed to the Paris prosecutors office and to a Belgian investigating magistrates office on Monday, the DRC accuses local subsidiaries Apple France, Apple Retail France and Apple Retail Belgium of a range of offences.