Not many would have noticed an innocuous news item mainly appeared in social media about a law firm known as IRAdvocates filed a class action suit against tech majors like Apple, Alphabet (Google), Dell, Microsoft and Tesla. The law firm named 14 Plaintiff, who are either guardians of children killed in a tunnel collapse or children maimed in the accident, which took place while mining cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The incident was covered in www. trendsnafrica.com and received wide attention of neitzens.
It is a common knowledge that the DRC cobalt mines employ children. Being the largest producer of cobalt in the world, a raw material widely used for manufacturing rechargeable lithium-ion battery in products made by all tech and electric car companies, such as batteries for mobile phones, batteries for electronic devices, electric cars etc. Little known fact is that the cobalt is mined under extremely dangerous “stone age” conditions by children, who are paid a pittance. The gadgets made out of the element that they mine out is being sold by richest of the companies at a fabulous price.
The law suit clearly says that these big tech companies in particular aided and abetted the mines that abused and profited from forcing plaintiffs and similarly placed children to mine cobalt under conditions that led to their deaths or serious, crippling injuries. The law firm claims that these super rich tech companies, which rule the roost are aware of such happenings on their own or through their agents and did not take any affirmative actions to launch something called responsible mining, which some of their counterparts in Europe are doing. This could have prevented occurrence of such ghastly disastrous accidents.
While the decision on this significant case is eagerly awaited by the corporate world, it is important to flag a few issues. DRC cobalt mining is only a tip of the iceberg. Examples galore in mining segments like gold, titanium, diamond, bauxite etc where the mining operations are carried out in the most primitive manner, with little importance being given to human lives. Invariably, these legally or illegally conducted mining operations employ a large number of children. There are many reports, studies and documentaries about such child abuses. The defence of the tech majors are still not known nor whether they would contest the case at all. To take umbrage under the argument that they were not aware of the situation or they are not directly involved in the mining operations would grossly affect the image of these role model corporate groups who smart as the champions of socially committed corporate culture.
The case, in all probability, will get world attention. That is not enough. The law firm should undertake extensive research to identify such companies and products, which are made from the raw materials where children are used for mining the basic product. Such identification of products should not remain with children. All mining operations, which are not following the international norms of safety and security should be brought under the purview of affirmative mining, where health, education, and economic emancipation of all in the mining belt should receive focused attention not alone by the home governments but international bodies.
Last but not the least, decision about the court of origin of the case. There are a number of internationally decided cases where the defendants ask for filing the case only where the event has happened and in this particular case DRC. That is the most callous approach since in such cases compensation and other liabilities should be decided anywhere in the world, where the end product is used.
