{"id":55105,"date":"2019-12-17T10:17:02","date_gmt":"2019-12-17T02:17:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=55105"},"modified":"2019-12-17T10:17:30","modified_gmt":"2019-12-17T02:17:30","slug":"top-tech-firms-sued-over-dr-congo-cobalt-mining-deaths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=55105","title":{"rendered":"Top tech firms sued over DR Congo cobalt mining deaths"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Artisanal mining is common in DR Congo as people do it as a means to make a living
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 COLUMBIA (Ohio, US), Dec 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — <\/strong>Apple, Google, Tesla and Microsoft are among firms named in a lawsuit seeking damages over deaths and injuries of child miners in the Democratic Republic of Congo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The case has been filed by the International Rights Advocates on behalf of 14 Congolese families in a district court in Columbia, Ohio. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They accuse the companies of knowing that cobalt used in their products could be linked to child labour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DR Congo produces 60% of the world’s supply of cobalt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mineral is used to produce lithium-ion batteries used to power electric cars, laptops and smartphones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the extraction process has been beset with concerns of illegal mining, human rights abuses and corruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lawsuit filed in the US argues that the tech companies had “specific knowledge” that the cobalt sourced for their products could be linked to child labour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They say the companies failed to regulate their supply chains and instead profited from exploitation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other companies listed in the lawsuit are computer manufacturer Dell and mining companies, Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt and Glencore, who own the minefields where the Congolese families allege their children worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Glencore said in a statement that it “does not purchase, process or trade any artisanally mined ore” adding that it also “does not tolerate any form of child, forced, or compulsory labour.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The court papers give several examples of child miners buried alive or suffering from injuries after tunnel collapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 14 Congolese families want the companies to compensate them for forced labour, emotional distress and negligent supervision. — NNN-AGENCIES<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Artisanal mining is common in DR Congo as people do it as a means to make a living  COLUMBIA (Ohio, US), Dec 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Apple, Google, Tesla and Microsoft are among firms named in a lawsuit seeking damages over deaths and injuries of child miners in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The case has been filed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[213,208],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55105"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=55105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55105\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=55105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=55105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=55105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}