Congo Questions Apple on Concerns About Use of Conflict Minerals
- Lawyers demand response to questions about supply chain
- Eastern Congo has been wracked by conflict for decades
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s government notified Apple Inc. of concerns that the company’s supply chain may be tainted by conflict minerals sourced from the central African nation.
A group of international lawyers engaged on behalf of the Congolese state sent a list of questions to the US tech giant on April 22 and demanded answers within three weeks, according to a statement published on the website of lawyer Robert Amsterdam on Thursday. The statement coincided with the release by the law firm of a report accusing neighboring Rwanda of laundering tin, tungsten, tantalum — known as 3T minerals — and gold from Congo.