Apple hit by Belgian probe over ‘blood minerals’ from Congo

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Belgium has launched a criminal investigation into allegations that Apple knowingly sourced “blood minerals” from the Democratic Republic of Congo, in what lawyers in the central African country have called a “massive laundering and greenwashing operation.”

In December, the DRC filed criminal charges in Belgium and France against subsidiaries of the US technology group, alleging they used minerals supplied by armed groups that have committed atrocities in eastern Congo.

Prosecutors in Belgium last week appointed an investigating judge responsible for issuing arrest warrants, wiretapping and raids to investigate the case, but they were still awaiting a decision in France, where the process was slower .

“This is the first step that shows the prosecutor is taking the case very seriously,” said Christophe Marchand, the lawyer who prepared the case in Belgium, which colonized Congo with disastrous results in the early 20th century.

The Brussels prosecutor’s office did not respond to a request for comment. Apple: declined to comment for this story. It previously said it “strongly disputes” the claims and is “deeply committed to the supply of minerals” such as coltan, a key mineral used in its iPhones and other electronics, whose global more than half of the deposits are in the Congo.

The criminal complaint alleges that Apple buys tantalum, coltan ore, as well as tin, tungsten and gold — so-called 3TG minerals — from mines whose profits fuel war in eastern DRC and contribute to child labor and environmental degradation. Millions of people have been displaced by the fighting, in which rape and the killing of civilians are commonplace.

Many of the minerals are certified as coming from mines in non-conflict areas or from Rwanda, but the so-called “bagging and labeling” certification process that Apple and other electronics giants rely on is deeply flawed, and that minerals labeled as from Rwanda actually come from mines in the Congo.

“There isn’t a tech company on earth that doesn’t know that everything bought from Rwanda is 90 percent Congolese,” Robert Amsterdam, whose law firm represents the DRC, told the Financial Times.

A: report The UN said this month that Rwandan-backed rebels in eastern DRC “fraudulently exported” at least 150 metric tons of coltan to Rwanda last year, leading to the “biggest contamination” of the region’s mineral supply chain.

The M23 rebels, whom the UN, the US, the EU and Congo say are backed by Rwanda, the report said, have gained control of key mines, “creating a parallel administration that controls mining, trade, transportation and taxation. produced minerals.

Kigali has consistently denied supporting the M23 rebels or benefiting from what Kinshasa claims is losing $1 billion a year in smuggled minerals.

In a March 2024 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Apple said: “We have found no reasonable basis to conclude that any of 3TG’s smelters or refiners have decided to be in our supply chain . . has directly or indirectly funded or benefited armed groups in the DPRK.”

But in December, Apple said it was concerned that it was “no longer possible for independent auditors or industry certification mechanisms to perform due diligence to meet our high standards” and notified its suppliers to stop sourcing 3TG metals from the DRC or Rwanda.

Amsterdam described the new sourcing decision as a smoking gun. “It’s an admission that supply chains are largely infiltrated with fake minerals,” he said.

Apple has sought to increase the use of recycled minerals in its products, saying it aims to supply 100 percent recycled cobalt for batteries by this year.

Separately, pro-DPRK lawyers tried to draw the EU into the fight against Apple by sending a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, calling the alliance agreement with Rwanda signed last February 2013 a “farce”. . a sustainable source of important minerals.

“The EU has signed a memorandum of understanding with Rwanda to develop 3TG mineral programs when anyone with a high school education knows that Rwanda has no minerals,” Amsterdam said. “It’s not just Apple, it’s the EU with this cunning.”

A spokesman for the commission said it was “seriously committed to ensuring transparency and traceability of critical raw materials at both bilateral and multinational levels”.

One of the key objectives of the agreement with Rwanda was to “strengthen the fight against mineral trafficking,” they added.