The tech giant was found not responsible for forced labor in Congo's cobalt mines.
LONDON — A U.S. court on Tuesday acquitted five of America's largest tech companies in a lawsuit over allegations of supporting child labor in cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Big 5 tech companies — Apple. Alphabet Inc., Google's parent company. Dell; Microsoft; In case documents seen by ABC News, Tesla “knowingly benefited, aided and abetted the cruel and brutal use of young children for cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.” accused of a crime.
However, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled in a 3-0 decision Tuesday that the tech companies cannot be held liable, with the court's ruling saying that they are not subject to “normal buyer-seller relationships. I have nothing more than that.” Transactions with Suppliers in the DRC.”
“In addition to cobalt suppliers, many actors perpetuate labor trafficking, including labor brokers, other cobalt consumers, and even the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” the decision states. “Issuing an injunction against a high-tech company to 'prevent cobalt ventures from using forced child labor' does not bind the direct perpetrators of illegal labor who have not appeared before this court.”
The lawsuit was filed in December 2022 by 16 plaintiffs, including four former miners and legal representatives of child miners killed and seriously injured in cobalt mining operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It also included people.
The defendants are accused of “knowingly benefiting, aiding and abetting the cruel and cruel use of young children for cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” and the lawsuit states that the defendants “have significantly “Knew and knew for a period of time.'' Human rights violations in the DRC cobalt mining supply chain.
The DRC is one of the most mineral-rich countries in the world, with the Central African country containing more than 70% of the world's cobalt reserves.
“Cobalt is an important mineral,” Anneke van Woudenberg, executive director of Rights and Accountability in Development, told ABC News. “Cobalt is used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles and electronics, and its demand is increasing due to the green transition as we move towards net zero.”
But human rights groups have documented “serious human rights violations” in the Democratic Republic of Congo's cobalt supply chain, including the expansion of cobalt and copper mines that have led to forced evictions, and are calling for more accountability.
