Goenka writes: "Lithium-ion batteries in your smartphone could have cobalt
that was mined in dangerous conditions by children as young as seven,
according to a report."
This photo taken on May 31, 2015, shows a woman and a man separating cobalt
from mud and rocks in the Democratic Republic of Congo. (photo: Federico
Scoppa/Getty Images)
Amnesty Links Large Multinationals, Including Apple, Samsung and Sony, to
Suppliers Using Child Labor
By Himanshu Goenka, International Business Times
19 January 16
Lithium-ion batteries in your smartphone could have cobalt that was mined in
dangerous conditions by children as young as seven, according to a report.
The report, released Monday, also accused technology and electronics
companies like Apple, Samsung and Sony of "failing to do basic checks to
ensure that cobalt mined by child laborers has not been used in their
products."
Titled "This is What We Die For: Human Rights Abuses in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo Power the Global Trade in Cobalt," the report was
published by Amnesty International and Africa Resource Watch (Afrewatch), an
African non-profit organization that promotes equal access to natural
resources of land, water and minerals in Africa.
Cobalt is used in lithium-ion batteries that are standard in most handheld
devices today, such as smartphones and tablets, and also in electric
vehicles. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) alone produces about half
the world's cobalt, according to the report.
The investigation by Amnesty found that local traders bought cobalt from
areas where child labor was commonplace, and the mineral was then sold to
Congo Dongfang Mining, a DRC unit of Chinese mineral giant Zhejiang Huayou
Cobalt. The Chinese company processed the cobalt before selling it to three
battery component manufacturers in China and South Korea, who in turn sold
the components to more easily recognizable names such as Apple, Microsoft,
Samsung, Sony, Daimler and Volkswagen.
"Millions of people enjoy the benefits of new technologies but rarely ask
how they are made. It is high time the big brands took some responsibility
for the mining of the raw materials that make their lucrative products,"
Mark Dummett, business and human rights researcher at Amnesty International,
said, adding: "The glamorous 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 manmade tunnels risking permanent lung damage."
The report found children working in the cobalt mines without basic
protective equipment, such as gloves, work clothes or facemasks to protect
them from lung or skin disease. They would carry heavy loads for up to 12
hours a day to earn between $1 and $2. Approximately 40,000 children worked
in mines across southern DRC in 2014, many of them mining cobalt, the report
said, citing Unicef.
Amnesty contacted 16 multinational companies that were listed as customers
of the three Chinese and South Korean battery component makers. While the
companies all gave different answers, none of them could "provide enough
details to independently verify where the cobalt in their products came
from," the report said.
"It is a major paradox of the digital era that some of the world's richest,
most innovative companies are able to market incredibly sophisticated
devices without being required to show where they source raw materials for
their components," Emmanuel Umpula, executive director of Afrewatch, said.
As of now, there is no regulation of the global cobalt market, according to
the report. Cobalt does not fall under existing "conflict minerals" rules in
the U.S., which cover gold, coltan/tantalum, tin and tungsten mined in DRC.
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This photo taken on May 31, 2015, shows a woman and a man separating cobalt
from mud and rocks in the Democratic Republic of Congo. (photo: Federico
Scoppa/Getty Images)
http://www.ibtimes.com/amnesty-links-large-multinationals-including-apple-sa
msung-sony-suppliers-using-child-2270161http://www.ibtimes.com/amnesty-links
-large-multinationals-including-apple-samsung-sony-suppliers-using-child-227
0161
Amnesty Links Large Multinationals, Including Apple, Samsung and Sony, to
Suppliers Using Child Labor
By Himanshu Goenka, International Business Times
19 January 16
ithium-ion batteries in your smartphone could have cobalt that was mined in
dangerous conditions by children as young as seven, according to a report.
The report, released Monday, also accused technology and electronics
companies like Apple, Samsung and Sony of "failing to do basic checks to
ensure that cobalt mined by child laborers has not been used in their
products."
Titled "This is What We Die For: Human Rights Abuses in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo Power the Global Trade in Cobalt," the report was
published by Amnesty International and Africa Resource Watch (Afrewatch), an
African non-profit organization that promotes equal access to natural
resources of land, water and minerals in Africa.
Cobalt is used in lithium-ion batteries that are standard in most handheld
devices today, such as smartphones and tablets, and also in electric
vehicles. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) alone produces about half
the world's cobalt, according to the report.
The investigation by Amnesty found that local traders bought cobalt from
areas where child labor was commonplace, and the mineral was then sold to
Congo Dongfang Mining, a DRC unit of Chinese mineral giant Zhejiang Huayou
Cobalt. The Chinese company processed the cobalt before selling it to three
battery component manufacturers in China and South Korea, who in turn sold
the components to more easily recognizable names such as Apple, Microsoft,
Samsung, Sony, Daimler and Volkswagen.
"Millions of people enjoy the benefits of new technologies but rarely ask
how they are made. It is high time the big brands took some responsibility
for the mining of the raw materials that make their lucrative products,"
Mark Dummett, business and human rights researcher at Amnesty International,
said, adding: "The glamorous 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 manmade tunnels risking permanent lung damage."
The report found children working in the cobalt mines without basic
protective equipment, such as gloves, work clothes or facemasks to protect
them from lung or skin disease. They would carry heavy loads for up to 12
hours a day to earn between $1 and $2. Approximately 40,000 children worked
in mines across southern DRC in 2014, many of them mining cobalt, the report
said, citing Unicef.
Amnesty contacted 16 multinational companies that were listed as customers
of the three Chinese and South Korean battery component makers. While the
companies all gave different answers, none of them could "provide enough
details to independently verify where the cobalt in their products came
from," the report said.
"It is a major paradox of the digital era that some of the world's richest,
most innovative companies are able to market incredibly sophisticated
devices without being required to show where they source raw materials for
their components," Emmanuel Umpula, executive director of Afrewatch, said.
As of now, there is no regulation of the global cobalt market, according to
the report. Cobalt does not fall under existing "conflict minerals" rules in
the U.S., which cover gold, coltan/tantalum, tin and tungsten mined in DRC.
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