International rights advocates also sued Tesla over a similar issue, but that case was dismissed.
A United States-based advocacy group has filed a lawsuit in Washington, DC, accusing Apple of using minerals linked to conflict and human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda, despite the iPhone maker’s denial.
International Rights Advocates (IRAdvocates) previously sued Tesla, Apple and other tech companies over cobalt sourcing, but US courts dismissed that case last year.
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French prosecutors in December also dropped a case filed by the DRC against Apple subsidiaries over disputed minerals, citing a lack of evidence. A related criminal complaint is still under investigation in Belgium.
Apple denied any wrongdoing in response to the DRC’s legal cases and said it had instructed its suppliers to stop sourcing content from the DRC and neighboring Rwanda.
It did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the latest complaint.
IRAAdvocates, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that tries to use litigation to reduce rights abuses, said in a complaint filed Tuesday in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia that Apple’s supply chain still contains child and forced labor, as well as cobalt, tin, tantalum and tungsten linked to armed groups in the DRC and Rwanda.
The lawsuit seeks a court determination that Apple’s conduct violates consumer protection law, an injunction to stop the alleged deceptive marketing, and reimbursement of legal costs, but does not seek monetary damages or class certification.
The lawsuit alleges that three Chinese smelters – Ningxia Orient, Jiujiang Jinxin and Jiujiang Tanbre – processed coltan, which UN and Global Witness investigators allege was smuggled through Rwanda after armed groups seized mines in eastern DRC and linked the material to Apple’s supply chain.
The lawsuit says a University of Nottingham study published in 2025 found forced and child labor at DRC sites linked to Apple suppliers.
Ningxia Orient, Jiujiang Jinxin and Jiujiang Tanbre did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The DRC – which supplies about 70 percent of the world’s cobalt and significant amounts of tin, tantalum and tungsten used in phones, batteries and computers – did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Rwanda also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Apple has repeatedly denied sourcing minerals from conflict zones or using forced labor, citing audits and its supplier code of conduct. It said in December that there were “no justifiable grounds” to eliminate any smelters or refiners in the DRC or neighboring countries that funded armed groups in its supply chain.
Congolese officials say armed groups in the eastern part of the country use mineral profits to finance a conflict that has killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands. Authorities have tightened controls on minerals to prevent funding, reducing global supply.
Apple says it will recycle 76 percent of the cobalt in its devices by 2024, but the IRAAdvocates lawsuit alleges that its accounting methodology allows mixing with ore from conflict zones.
Apple shares were up 0.8 percent on Wall Street.
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