More than 70 people gathered on Friday evening in front of the Apple Store in Brussels to protest the tech giant’s use of the metal coltan extracted from Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The demonstration was organised by Genocost Belgium and “Apples against Apartheid” who called for a strategic boycott of the latest iPhone 16, condemning Apple’s involvement in what they described as a “genocide” occurring in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Coltan, a key material for smartphone manufacturing, was referred to as “blood ore” by the organisers.
The activists decried an “economic genocide” spurred by the plundering and inhumane extraction of the DRC’s natural mineral resources.
They alleged that this exploitation, backed by multinationals like Apple, results in extreme violence, mass killings, mass rapes, and cruel exploitation of local populations, especially in the eastern part of the DRC.
According to the organisers, approximately 10 million people have been killed in three decades of conflict.
The insatiable demand for these minerals, heightened by electronic consumerism, leads to intense exploitation of Congolese lands and people.
iPhone 16 launch
The launch of the iPhone 16 on Friday was termed a “strategic moment” to denounce Apple’s economic model.
By boycotting this flagship product, consumers send a strong message against this human exploitation-based economy, the protesters said.
This protest is part of a global campaign against companies benefiting from resource plundering, including Apple, Samsung, and Huawei.
Similar actions were held the same day at Apple Stores in Paris, London, Berlin, New York, and Dubai.
The international boycott movement has several demands.
It urges Apple to recycle precious metals from all its products and to stop purchasing coltan from Rwanda, which they claim is complicit in plundering the DRC through M23 rebels.
