Apple: Child Labour in Your Phones? Stop Human Rights Abuses in Cobalt Mining
Cobalt is a key component in the rechargeable batteries that power our portable electronic devices like smartphones and laptops.
Half of the world's cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where Amnesty International has documented adults and children as young as seven working in hazardous conditions without any protective clothing or equipment. They risk their lives every times they go underground to mine this precious black rock.
One boy named Paul told Amnesty International that he often worked for 24 hours straight in an underground tunnel mining cobalt when he was only 12 years old. He was paid $1-2 dollars a day.
Other children spend hours working on the surface sorting, sifting, washing and transporting heavy sacks of cobalt ore.
Electronics giant Apple has admitted they don't really know where their cobalt comes from. The company is failing to do basic checks to ensure that cobalt mined by child labourers and adults working in dangerous conditions has not been used in their lucrative products.
It's time for Apple to take responsibility. You have the power to make them listen.
Tell Apple you want them to investigate their cobalt supply chain and prove they are addressing human rights abuses.
It is important to me that my electronics do not contain cobalt mined by child labourers or by adults working in hazardous conditions.
Accordingly, I request that Apple publicly disclose on its website the following:
- Whether the cobalt in your company's products has been mined by child labourers or adults working in hazardous conditions;
- If not, the steps your company has taken to verify this information;
- If yes, the steps your company has taken to address child labour or adults working in hazardous conditions in your supply chain (e.g. collaboration with governments and suppliers);
- Provide the names of cobalt smelters/refiners in your company’s supply chain (including identification of where the cobalt was sourced), as well as their due diligence policies and practices.]
This is too big an issue to ignore. Your immediate action is urgently required.
[Your comments here]
Yours truly,
[Your name]
Update #17 years ago
We have good news for Amnesty International's campaign for responsible mining of cobalt! Thanks to thousands of caring people like you, Apple, Samsung, Sony and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce are launching The Responsible Cobalt Initiative. The Initiative aims to improve the lives of children and adults who mine cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This is a welcome first step, but we need to see improvements on the ground. Please keep sharing the petition to keep up the pressure!
