One of the world’s largest phone makers, Apple, is getting sued by International Rights Advocates (IRAdvocates) on 26 November. This is the follow-up action taken by this U.S.-based advocacy group after U.S. courts dismissed their previous lawsuit against several companies regarding cobalt sourcing.
According to them, although the iPhone maker company denied it, the company is alleged to have taken advantage of the conflict and human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda to gain their minerals it needs.
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Previously, the company has also been reported on the same case over minerals in two different countries. In December, Congo’s case against the iPhone maker subsidiaries was dropped by a French prosecutor at the same time the U.S. courts dismissed the case. While the related case is still under investigation in Belgium.
Responding to these allegations, Apple said that the company has given the command to its supplier to stop the sourcing of material from Congo and neighbouring Rwanda. They strongly dispute these allegations of forced labor and unsafe mining practices by claiming the lawsuit as “baseless”.
Through their spokesperson, the company stated that they use recycled sources in 99% of their products’ batteries, underscoring their commitment to stop their reliance on mined material.
They also add that one of their company’s Supplier Code of Conduct imposes transparency in public reporting and the strongest standard in industry sourcing.
However, on IRAdvocates’ complaint filed on Tuesday to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, they stated that Apple’s supply chain still includes cobalt, tin, tantalum, and tungsten linked to child and forced labor and armed groups in Congo and Rwanda. Thus, they choose litigation to cut down those rights abuses.
IRAdvocates’ Point of View
Here, the lawsuit does not seek monetary damages or class certification and only asks the court to find that Apple’s actions violate consumer protection laws, issue an injunction to stop the alleged deceptive marketing, and reimburse legal fees.
They alleges that the iPhone maker company imports their materials from three Chinese smelter, Ningxia Orient, JiuJiang JinXin and Jiujiang Tanbre, that U.N. and Global Witness investigators allege was smuggled through Rwanda after armed group seized mines in east Congo.
The based evidence of this complaint comes from the published study from the University of Nottingham about child labour at Congolese mine sites, the lawsuit claims.
As for now, there are still no comments regarding this case from the involved parties.
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Apple Defense Stated No Basis For The Allegations
Apple persistently denied all the allegations made by the lawsuit, stating it as baseless because there are no clear evidence to link their supplier fund any armed group in Congo and its neighboring countries. As they stated that in 2024, 76% of cobalt in its devices was recycled.
According to the Congo authorities, they now have to tighten the controls on minerals by squeezing the supply on global, since lots of the mineral profits from mine sites in Eastern Congo are used by armed groups to fund the conflict that has caused thousands of people to be killed.
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