Beni (Congo) – Amnesty International said children as young as 7 are mining cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for smart phones and other products of major electronic brands.
The human rights group in its report on Tuesday in Beni (Congo) accused brands such as Apple, Samsung and Sony of not doing checks to ensure that this metallic element used in their products is not mined by children.
The report said Congo produces at least half of the world’s cobalt, which was used in lithium-based ion batteries.
The report quoted the UN children’s fund UNICEF, as saying that in 2014 about 40,000 children worked in artisanal mines across southern Congo, many of them mining cobalt.
“I would spend 24 hours down in the tunnels. I had to relieve myself down in the tunnels.
The report recalled Paul, a 14-year-old orphan, was quoted as saying, “My foster mother planned to send me to school, but my foster father was against it, he exploited me by making me work in the mine.
The amnesty said both adults and children working in the mines usually lack even the most basic protective equipment.
“At least 80 artisanal miners died underground in southern Congo between September 2014 and December 2015.
The report said investigation revealed that traders sell the cobalt to Congo Dongfang Mining (CDM), a subsidiary of the Chinese mineral giant Huayou Cobalt.
It said the the two Chinese companies process the cobalt and sell it to battery component manufacturers in China and South Korea.
“These sell to battery makers who claim to supply technology and car companies, including Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, Sony, Daimler and Volkswagen.
“Amnesty contacted them and 10 other multinationals. Only one of them, South Korean LG Chem, admitted to a connection with Huayou Cobalt.
The company told Amnesty that “If the risk of human rights violations is confirmed to be very high and serious, we will consider a wide range of effective actions.
Apple said it was “evaluating” whether its cobalt came from Congo, while stressing that “underage labour was never tolerated in its supply chain” and that it investigated and addressed all such allegations.
Microsoft and Samsung SDI said they were unable to determine with certainty if their cobalt came from southern Congo, while Sony, Volkswagen and Daimler said there was no clear evidence of that happening.
An Amnesty spokesman said many of the answers were “inconclusive”.
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The companies stressed that they did not tolerate child labour and that they took measures to ensure their suppliers did not engage in the practice.
Huayou Cobalt told Amnesty it only purchased cobalt from “rigourously selected” suppliers whose code of conduct excludes the use of child miners.
It said its staff did not find children in two mines they visited in 2014.
Mark Dummett, Business and Human Rights Researcher, with Amnesty International, said that the glamourous shop displays and marketing of state-of-the-art technologies are a stark contrast to the children carrying bags of rocks and miners in narrow man-made tunnels risking permanent lung damage.
Meanwhile, Lambert Mende, Congolese Government Spokesman, said other cobalt producers wanted to tarnish Congo’s reputation by accusing mines of using child labour.
He said government had launched a campaign against the practice.
Amnesty and Afrewatch researchers interviewed 87 current or former cobalt miners, including 17 children and 18 cobalt traders, for the report. (dpa/NAN)