A U.S.-based advocacy group has filed a lawsuit in Washington accusing Apple of using minerals linked to conflict and human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda despite the iPhone maker’s denials.
International Rights Advocates (IRAdvocates) has previously sued Tesla, Apple and other tech firms over cobalt sourcing, but U.S. courts dismissed that case last year.
French prosecutors also dropped Congo’s case against Apple subsidiaries in December over conflict minerals, citing lack of evidence. A related criminal complaint in Belgium is still under investigation.
Apple denied any wrongdoing in response to Congo’s lawsuits, saying it had instructed its suppliers to halt the sourcing of material from Congo and neighbouring Rwanda. It did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the latest complaint.
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 Congo and Rwanda.
