According to documents cited by the France-Presse news agency, the lawyers mandated by Kinshasa alleged in the lawsuit that the minerals are “taken out of the DRC and in particular to Rwanda”, where their origin is concealed. “Rwanda is a central player in the illegal exploitation of minerals and in particular in the exploitation of tin and tantalum in the DRC,” the lawyers stated. “After their illegal extraction, these minerals are smuggled into Rwanda, where they are integrated into global supply chains,” the formal notice states. The document was sent this week to Apple’s two French subsidiaries by French lawyers William Bourdon and Vincent Brengarth, as well as a letter to the US parent company, known for its iPhone mobile phones and Mac computers. The DRC has vast natural resources, being the world’s largest producer of cobalt and Africa’s leading producer of copper. According to a report published by the non-governmental organisation (NGO) The Enough Project in 2015, Congolese mines “are often controlled by armed groups that force civilians, including children, to work in them through violence and terror”. The DRC accuses neighbouring Rwanda of supporting the rebellion of the M23 armed group, which currently controls much of North Kivu province, in order to take control of the Congolese east’s resources, particularly its minerals. “The responsibility of Apple, like that of the big high-tech manufacturers, when they use ‘blood minerals’, has for too long remained a black box,” said William Bourdon and Briton Robert Amsterdam. The lawyers consider the “various commitments and precautions taken” by Apple, “whether on its own initiative or in application of the law with regard to the use of minerals sourced in Rwanda”, to be “manifestly insufficient”. The lawsuit stressed that Apple’s suppliers use the Tin Supply Chain Initiative (ITSCI) certification, “whose serious and numerous dysfunctions have been demonstrated”. The ITSCI is a mechanism implemented over 10 years ago to guarantee a supply of “conflict-free” minerals extracted responsibly in the DRC. But in 2022, the British NGO Global Witness said that, on the contrary, the programme had contributed to laundering minerals linked to conflicts, child labour or resulting from trafficking and smuggling. Read Also: Eleven activists arrested in demonstration against insecurity in the DRC (Portuguese version)