The Democratic Republic of the Congo has accused the US company Apple of using illegally mined minerals in the manufacture of its products, French media reported, citing lawyers representing the country's interests.
"The Paris-based lawyers for the DRC accused Apple of purchasing minerals smuggled from the DRC into neighboring Rwanda, where they are laundered and 'integrated into the global supply chain'," the media reported.
According to the lawyers, the ore comes mainly from a region "whose population has been devastated by grave human rights violations."
The lawyers also explained how the trade chain works: first, tin and tantalum, which are widely used in the manufacture of electronics, are illegally mined in the DRC. The minerals are then smuggled into Rwanda, where the processed ore enters global supply chains.
"Macs, iPhones, and other Apple products are 'tainted by the blood of the Congolese people'," the DRC's lawyers said, as quoted by the media.
Earlier, the DRC Foreign Minister Christophe Lutundula Apala said the government has accused the EU of encouraging Rwanda to plunder the DRC's mineral resources through mafia networks and front organizations.
He said that the DRC government considers the Memorandum of Understanding signed in Brussels between the EU and Rwanda on supply chains for critical and strategic minerals that Rwanda does not possess as an encouragement for Kigali to plunder the DRC's natural wealth.