William Gallagher
Protesting the alleged exploitation of the Congo by tech firms including Apple, activists have spray-painted Berlin's Apple Rosenthaler Strasse store.
Apple has been accused of its supply chain using what are called conflict materials, linked to militia groups in the Congo. Apple maintains that it has stopped using tin, tungsten, and tantalum mined in the region, and it has dropped suppliers who did.
Nonetheless, activists from Fridays For Future (FFF) have vandalized one of Apple's two stores in Berlin, specifically to draw attention to the company's alleged practices. According to German newspaper Tagesspiegel, the store was smeared with red paint as part of the Day of Action Against Exploitation in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Klimaaktivisten haben heute den #Apple-Store in #Berlin-Mitte mit roter Farbe beschmiert. Sie wollen damit auf die Ausbeutung im #Kongo aufmerksam machen. https://t.co/ogMJDbKYON
— Tagesspiegel (@Tagesspiegel) May 17, 2024
"More than 60 percent of the cobalt for Apple or Tesla technology comes from the Congo and means that children at the age of seven have to start working in the mines," Dorcas Mugo from FFF said (in translation) in a statement seen by the newspaper. "Residents would be expelled and expropriated from their lands."
"While Apple and Co are making profits," continued the statement, "70 percent of Congolese live in extreme poverty and are facing starvation."
This protest follows the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) writing to Apple asking to prove that it is not using conflict materials in its devices. That's despite Apple having most recently ceased working with 12 suppliers for having reportedly flouted its Supplier Code of Conduct regarding the issue.
"Since 2009, Apple has directed the removal of 163 3TG smelters and refiners from its supply chain (a total of 9 tantalum, 50 tin, 19 tungsten, and 85 gold smelters and refiners)," Apple told the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2022. "In 2021, we removed 12 smelters and refiners from our supply chain, including those that were not willing to participate in or complete a third party audit, or that did not otherwise meet our requirements for the responsible sourcing of minerals."
"The world's eyes are wide shut," wrote lawyer Robert Amsterdam on behalf of the DRC in April. "Rwanda's production of key 3T minerals is near zero, and yet big tech companies say their minerals are sourced in Rwanda."
Following today's vandalizing of Apple Rosenthaler Strasse, the FFF is reportedly also planning to make a speech in front of the Apple Store at 5pm local time (11am Eastern). As yet, Apple Kurfurstendamm, the company's other store in Berlin does not appear to have been targeted.
Wesley Hilliard
Christine McKee
Malcolm Owen
Amber Neely
9 Comments
Maybe they should vandalize Chinese mining companies and all all companies making electronics. But Apple has deepest pocket and the corrupt Congo government wants apiece of the pie.
"70 percent of Congolese live in extreme poverty and are facing starvation."
Does Apple sourcing material from this region contribute to “extreme poverty”? If Apple and other companies stopped sourcing material from this region all together, would there be less poverty? Would quality of life improve greatly? Would everyone all of the sudden have more food and resources? The answer is no for all, so the problem is obviously much deeper than companies sourcing material from this region, but none of the lunatics that deface property want to address any of this — because that would require thought.
People that vandalize are criminals. The only one to stop this is swift and punitive punishments that make those who do this think twice. Substantial mandatory jail time would be a start.