Apple and Google named in US lawsuit over Congolese child cobalt mining deaths
Apple and Google named in US
lawsuit over Congolese child cobalt mining deaths
Dell, Microsoft and Tesla also among tech firms named in case
brought by families of children killed or injured while mining in DRC
Mon 16 Dec 2019 11.57 EST
A landmark legal case has been
launched against the world’s largest tech companies by Congolese families who
say their children were killed or maimed while mining for cobalt used to power
smartphones, laptops and electric cars, the Guardian can reveal.
Apple, Google, Dell, Microsoft and
Tesla have been named as defendants in a lawsuit filed in Washington DC by human rights
firm International Rights
Advocates on behalf of 14 parents and children from the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The lawsuit accuses the companies of
aiding and abetting in the death and serious injury of children who they claim
were working in cobalt mines in their supply chain.
The families and injured children
are seeking damages for forced labour and further compensation for unjust
enrichment, negligent supervision and intentional infliction of emotional
distress.
It is the first time that any of the
tech companies have faced such a legal challenge.
Cobalt is essential to power the rechargeable
lithium batteries used in millions of products sold by Apple, Google, Dell, Microsoft and Tesla every year. The insatiable
demand for cobalt, driven by desire for cheap handheld technology, has tripled
in the past five years and is expected to double again by the end of 2020. More
than 60% of cobalt originates in DRC, one of the poorest and most unstable
countries in the world.Aerial
view of the Kasulo neighborhood of Kolwezi. In the first picture, taken May
2016, there are just residential houses. By May 2019, Congo DongFang
International Mining (a subsidiary of chinese company Huayou Cobalt) have built
a mining site, with a walled perimeter and processing buildings (in blue). The
pink tarps cover tunnels used for mining. Image courtesy of CNES/Airbus DS,
produced by Earthrise.
The extraction of cobalt from DRC has been linked to human
rights abuses, corruption, environmental destruction and child labour.
The lawsuit argues that Apple,
Google, Dell, Microsoft and Tesla all aided and abetted the mining companies that
profited from the labour of children who were forced to work in dangerous
conditions – conditions that ultimately led to death and serious injury.
The families argue in the claim that
their children were working illegally at mines owned by UK mining company
Glencore. The court papers allege that cobalt from the Glencore-owned mines is
sold to Umicore, a Brussels-based metal and mining trader, which then sells battery-grade
cobalt to Apple, Google, Tesla, Microsoft and Dell.
Other plaintiffs in the court
documents say they worked at mines owned by Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, a major
Chinese cobalt firm, which the lawsuit claims supplies Apple, Dell, and Microsoft and is likely to supply
the other defendants.
In the court documents, the
Congolese families describe how their children were driven by extreme poverty
to seek work in large mining sites, where they claim they were paid as little
as $2 (£1.50) a day for backbreaking and dangerous work digging for cobalt
rocks with primitive tools in dark, underground tunnels.
The families claim that some of the
children were killed in tunnel collapses while others were paralysed or
suffered life-changing injuries from accidents..
One plaintiff – named Jane Doe 1 – says in the court papers that
her nephew was forced to seek work in the cobalt mines when he was a small child
after the family could not continue to pay his $6 monthly school fee. The
lawsuit claims that in April last year he was working in a mine operated by
Kamoto Copper Company, which is owned and controlled by Glencore. He was
working underground in a tunnel, digging for cobalt rocks, when the tunnel
collapsed and he was buried alive. His family say they have never recovered his
body.
Another child, referred to as John Doe 1, says
that he started working in the mines when he was nine. The lawsuit claims that
earlier this year, he was working as a human mule for Kamoto Copper Company,
carrying bags of cobalt rocks for $0.75 a day, when he fell into a tunnel.
After he was dragged out of the tunnel by fellow workers, he says he was left
alone on the ground at the mining site until his parents heard about the
accident and arrived to help him. He is now paralysed from the chest down and
will never walk again.
Ather families included in the claim
say that their children were killed in tunnel collapses or suffered serious
injuries such as smashed limbs and broken spines while crawling through tunnels
or carrying heavy loads. The families say that none were paid any compensation
for the deaths and injuries.
One of the central allegations in
the lawsuit is that Apple, Google, Dell, Microsoft and Tesla were aware and had “specific knowledge”
that the cobalt they use in their products is linked to child labour performed
in hazardous conditions, and were complicit in the forced labour of the
children.
The families argue in the court
papers that all companies named as defendants entered into commercial
“ventures” with the mining companies operating in DRC, and all gained
significant financial advantages from the widespread illegal mining of cobalt
by children, which continues to enter global supply chains.
The court papers claim that Apple, Dell, Microsoft, Google and Tesla all have the
authority and resources to supervise and regulate their cobalt supply chains
and that their inability to do so contributed to the deaths and injuries
suffered by their clients.
A spokesperson for Glencore said:
“Glencore notes the allegations contained in a US lawsuit filed on 15th
December 2019.
“Glencore supports and respects
human rights in a manner consistent with the universal declaration of human
rights.
“Glencore’s production of cobalt in
the DRC is a by-product of our industrial copper production. Glencore’s
operations in the DRC do not purchase or process any artisanally mined ore.
“Glencore does not tolerate any form
of child, forced, or compulsory labour.”
Huayou, Apple, Google, Dell,
Microsoft and Tesla have also been approached for comment.
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