A lawsuit filed by the Democratic Republic of Congo seeks to hold Apple and its suppliers to account for decades of profiting off conflict minerals.
The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo is bringing criminal complaints in Europe against Apple, the tech giant, charging it with sourcing materials for its electronics in ways that contribute to vicious violence in the war-torn eastern DRC.
In part, the lawsuit accuses Apple of acquiring Congolese minerals that have been illegally smuggled through Rwanda, which borders DRC to the east. Apple denies the charges. So far, the mainstream U.S. media is mostly ignoring the story, continuing its decades-long indifference to what continues to be one of the greatest humanitarian disasters since World War II.
As many as 6 million people may have already died in a zone that has become one of the most dangerous places on the planet; since fighting broke out in 1998, more than 5.6 million have been displaced. The U.S. and the European Union have largely ignored the violence, along with Rwanda’s complicity in looting DRC’s minerals.
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