Berlin Apple Store vandalized (Source: Nexta.tv)
7 Facebook x.com Reddit
Protest against the alleged exploitation of the Congo by technology firms, including Apple, activists spray-painted the Berlin Apple store Rosenthaler Strasse.
Apple is accused of using so-called conflict materials linked to militia groups in Congo in its supply chain. Apple says it has stopped using tin, tungsten and tantalum mined in the region and has abandoned suppliers that did so.
However, Fridays For Future (FFF) activists vandalized one of the two Apple stores in Berlin, specifically to draw attention to the company's alleged actions. According to the 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, meaning children as young as seven must start working in the mines,” FFF's Dorcas Mugo said (translated) in a statement seen by the newspaper. “Residents will be driven out and expropriated from their lands.”
While Apple and the company profit,” the statement continued, “70 percent of Congolese live in extreme poverty and are at risk of starvation.”
The protest comes after the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) sent a letter to Apple asking it to prove that it does not use conflicting materials in its devices. This is despite the fact that Apple just recently stopped working with 12 suppliers due to them reportedly violating the Supplier Code of Conduct in relation to this issue.
“Since 2009, Apple has ordered 163 3TG smelters and refineries (for a total of 9 tantalum, 50 tin, 19 tungsten, and 85 gold smelters and refineries) to be removed from its supply chain,” Apple said. US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2022. “In 2021, we removed 12 smelters and refineries from our supply chain, including those that were unwilling to participate or undergo third-party audits or that otherwise did not meet our requirements. requirements for responsible mineral exploration.”
“The eyes of the world are wide shut,” lawyer Robert Amsterdam wrote in April on behalf of the DRC. “Rwanda’s production of key 3T minerals is close to zero, yet major technology companies claim their minerals are mined in Rwanda.”
Following today's vandalism at Apple Rosenthaler Strasse, FFF is also reportedly planning to perform in front of the Apple Store at 5:00 pm local time (11:00 am ET). For now, Apple Kurfurstendamm, the company's other store in Berlin, does not appear to have been attacked.
Follow AppleInsider on Google News.
