US group sues Apple over DR Congo conflict minerals

International Rights Advocates besides sued Tesla for a akin issue, but that lawsuit was dismissed.

A United States-based advocacy radical has filed a suit successful Washington, DC, accusing Apple of utilizing minerals linked to struggle and quality rights abuses successful the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda contempt the iPhone maker’s denials.

International Rights Advocates (IRAdvocates) has antecedently sued Tesla, Apple and different tech firms implicit cobalt sourcing, but US courts dismissed that lawsuit past year.

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French prosecutors successful December besides dropped a lawsuit filed by the DRC against Apple subsidiaries implicit struggle minerals, citing deficiency of evidence. A related transgression ailment successful Belgium is inactive nether investigation.

Apple denied immoderate wrongdoing successful effect to the DRC’s ineligible cases, saying it had instructed its suppliers to halt the sourcing of worldly from the DRC and neighbouring Rwanda.

It did not instantly respond to requests for remark connected the latest complaint.

IRAdvocates, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit that tries to usage litigation to curtail rights abuses, said successful the ailment filed connected Tuesday successful the Superior Court of the District of Columbia that Apple’s proviso concatenation inactive includes cobalt, tin, tantalum and tungsten linked to kid and forced labour arsenic good arsenic equipped groups successful the DRC and Rwanda.

The suit seeks a determination by the tribunal that Apple’s behaviour violates user extortion law, an injunction to halt alleged deceptive selling and reimbursement of ineligible costs but does not question monetary damages oregon people certification.

The suit alleges that 3 Chinese smelters – Ningxia Orient, JiuJiang JinXin and Jiujiang Tanbre – processed coltan that United Nations and Global Witness investigators alleged was smuggled done Rwanda aft equipped groups seized mines successful the eastbound DRC and linked the worldly to Apple’s proviso chain.

A University of Nottingham survey published successful 2025 recovered forced and kid labour astatine DRC sites linked to Apple suppliers, the suit said.

Ningxia Orient, JiuJiang JinXin and Jiujiang Tanbre did not instantly respond to requests for comment.

The DRC – which supplies astir 70 percent of the world’s cobalt and important volumes of tin, tantalum and tungsten utilized successful phones, batteries and computers – did not instantly respond to a petition for comment. Rwanda besides did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.

Apple has repeatedly denied sourcing minerals from struggle zones oregon utilizing forced labour, citing audits and its supplier codification of conduct. It said successful December that determination was “no tenable basis” to reason immoderate smelters oregon refiners successful its proviso concatenation financed equipped groups successful the DRC oregon neighbouring countries.

Congolese authorities said equipped groups successful the eastbound portion of the state usage mineral profits to money a struggle that has killed thousands of radical and displaced hundreds of thousands. The authorities person tightened controls connected minerals to choke disconnected funding, squeezing planetary supplies.

Apple says 76 percent of the cobalt successful its devices was recycled successful 2024, but the IRAdvocates suit alleged its accounting method allows mixing with ore from struggle zones.

On Wall Street, Apple’s banal was up 0.8 percent.