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

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

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

Lawyers acting for the DRC said Belgian prosecutors last week appointed an investigating judge – who oversees investigations and is in charge of arrest warrants, wiretaps and raids – to investigate the case. They were still awaiting a decision in France, where the process was slow.

“This is the first step that shows the prosecutor takes 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 has previously said it “strongly opposes” the claims and is “deeply committed to the responsible sourcing of minerals” such as coltan, a key mineral used in its iPhones and other electronics, more than half of its global deposits are in Congo.

The criminal complaint alleges that Apple buys ore extracted from tantalum, coltan, as well as tin, tungsten and gold – so-called 3TG minerals – from mines whose profits fuel wars in eastern DRC and promote child labor and environmental degradation. Millions of people have been displaced in the war where civilians are raped and killed.

Many of the minerals are from mines in non-conflict areas or certified as coming from Rwanda. But the complaint alleges that the so-called “bagging and tagging” certification process that Apple and other electronics giants rely on is deeply flawed and that minerals labeled as coming from Rwanda are, in fact, sourced from Congolese mines.

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

A Report This month, the United Nations said Rwanda-backed rebels in eastern DRC “fraudulently exported” at least 150 metric tons of coltan to Rwanda last year, calling it the “biggest pollution” of the region’s mineral supply chain on record.

The M23 rebels – which the UN, US, EU and Congo say are backed by Rwanda – have gained control of several key mines, the report said, “establishing a parallel administration to control mining operations, trade, transport and taxation. Minerals produced “.

Kigali has consistently denied supporting M23 rebels or benefiting from Kinshasa, which claims it loses $1 billion a year from smuggled minerals.

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

But in December, Apple said it was concerned that “it is not possible for independent auditors or industry certification processes to perform the due diligence required to meet our high standards” and told its suppliers to suspend sourcing 3TG metal from the DRC or Rwanda. .

Amsterdam characterized the new sourcing decision as a smoking gun. “It is an admission that the supply chain is largely infiltrated with spurious minerals,” he said.

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

Separately, lawyers working for the DRC sent a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen seeking to drag the EU into the fight against Apple, describing the bloc’s deal with Rwanda signed last February as a “farce”. Sustainable source of important minerals.

“The European Union signed an MOU with Rwanda to develop their 3TG minerals program when anyone with a high school education knows Rwanda has no minerals,” Amsterdam said. “Not just Apple, the EU itself is complicit in this sorcery.”

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

A key goal of its agreement with Rwanda was to “strengthen the fight against illegal mineral trafficking”, they added.