A jury in New York ruled against French financial giant BNP Paribas, awarding $20 million to Sudanese Plaintiffs. The lawsuit alleged that BNP extended credit to the Bashir regime, even as it faced international sanctions due to human rights atrocities. The Plaintiffs were Sudanese-born and experienced the atrocities firsthand and are now US citizens seeking to hold BNP liable in US courts. The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre writes of the case:
“A New York jury has ruled that French banking giant BNP Paribas helped sustain the brutal regime of former Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir, making it liable for atrocities committed under his rule. After a three-week civil trial, the eight-member jury sided with three Sudanese-born plaintiffs – now American citizens – who accused the bank of indirectly fuelling the violence that tore their country apart. The panel awarded them more than $20 million in damages.”
BNP is expected to appeal the decision, which will likely prolong the legal battle. This is yet another case in a recent line of attempts to hold companies responsible for human rights abuses abroad. Bumblebee Foods and Starbucks are currently facing lawsuits alleging they contribute to forced labor conditions outside the US. What is interesting about the BNP case is that, unlike those lawsuits, the violations did not occur as a direct result of their operations, but rather from financial dealings with the Bashir regime. This is somewhat similar to the Chiquita case in Florida, where a jury found Chiquita liable for funding paramilitary groups in Colombia.
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