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Lawyers representing the DR Congo have written to Apple CEO Tim Cook demanding answers on the sourcing of minerals used to manufacture the company’s products.
The lawyers shared concerns that Apple’s supply chain may be tainted by blood minerals — those obtained through unethical mining practices — from the DRC.
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The group of lawyers, led by Robert Amsterdam of Amsterdam & Partners LLP in Washington DC and William Bourdon of Bourdon & Associés in Paris, also wrote to Apple subsidiaries in France, demanding a response within three weeks.
Amsterdam & Partners said it was appointed to represent DRC in litigation related to “individuals and companies involved in the chain of extraction, supply and commercialization of natural resources and minerals pillaged from the DRC.” The law firm also released a new report on Thursday that repeats accusations that DRC’s neighbor Rwanda is backing militant group M23 in eastern Congo to control lucrative mineral trade routes. Kigali has repeatedly denied the allegations.
“Year after year, Apple has sold technology made with minerals sourced from a region whose population is being devastated by grave violations of human rights,” said Amsterdam. He added that Apple’s claim that it verifies the origins of minerals used in the manufacture of its products “do not appear to be based on concrete, verifiable evidence.”