The report, This is what we die for: Human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo power the global trade in cobalt, traces the sale of cobalt, used in lithium-ion batteries, from mines where children as young as seven and adults work in perilous conditions.
Amnesty International and Afrewatch are calling on multinational companies who use lithium-ion batteries in their products to conduct human rights due diligence, investigate whether the cobalt is extracted under hazardous conditions or with child labour, and be more transparent about their suppliers.
Apple and Samsung accused of relying on child labor for lithium batteries
Yet a recent report by Amnesty International uncovered a number of cases of child labor among suppliers linked to major technology companies, including Apple, Samsung, and Microsoft, as well as to several automotive manufactures, such as Volkswagen and Daimler AG. It discovered that child labor is being used in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to mine cobalt, an element that is used to make lithium-ion batteries found in many tech devices.
The human rights group claims to have traced cobalt used in lithium batteries sold to 16 multinational brands to mines where young children and adults are being paid a dollar a day, working in life-threatening conditions and subjected to violence, extortion and intimidation.
Amnesty and Afrewatch are using the findings of the report to call on multinational companies to conduct investigations of their supply chains for lithium-ion batteries, to check for child labour or labour abuses and to be more transparent about their suppliers.
Children as young as 7 are working in mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa, the organization, which is focused on tackling injustice in society, said in a report Tuesday. The children are mining for cobalt, a vital component of the lithium ion batteries found inside smartphones and other devices. 2ff7e9595c
Comments