This file photo taken on February 19, 2018 shows a general view shows the Lafarge Cement Syria. FILE PHOTO | AFP
Paris
One of France’s biggest
companies was placed under formal investigation Thursday over
allegations that it financed terrorist groups, including the Islamic
State group, and aided and abetted crimes against humanity in a bid to
continue operating in Syria as a civil war raged there.
In
a rare move against a major French corporation, a panel of French
judges appointed by the Paris High Court also charged the company,
Lafarge SA, with violating a European Union embargo on oil purchases.
The
judges said they would investigate the company for endangering the
lives of its employees, as well, in order to keep its Syrian cement
plant running as the conflict worsened.
The latest
charges compound a widening scandal known here as “l’affaire Lafarge.”
Eight former company executives, including two former chief executives,
have been indicted in recent months on charges of financing terrorism
and putting the lives of their workers in Syria at risk.
All
of those officials have resigned from Lafarge, which merged with the
Swiss cement giant Holcim in 2015, after the activity in Syria took
place.
The investigation underscores the costs and
complexity of doing business in war-torn regions, a challenge faced by
companies around the world, especially those in the energy and
industrial sectors.
In the case of Lafarge, those
trade-offs have left it exposed to a French criminal investigation and a
civil lawsuit by 11 former employees, who claim that the company
ignored the dangers they faced, and pressured them to keep working.
Contest allegations
In
a statement, LafargeHolcim, the parent company, said its French unit
contested the allegations made in Thursday’s indictment.
“We
truly regret what has happened in the Syria subsidiary and after
learning about it took immediate and firm actions,” LafargeHolcim said,
adding that “none of the individuals put under investigation is today
with the company.”
The case centers on Lafarge’s
operations in Syria in the years following 2011, when protests against
the rule of Syrian leader Bashar Assad erupted, eventually leading to a
civil war. While other multinational companies pulled out of Syria,
Lafarge made a calculated decision to stay.
A review of the case by The New York Times found that the company pushed the limits of international law to keep its operations running.
In
interviews with The Times, and in witness accounts and testimony,
former employees of Lafarge Syria also described lax security at the
factory.
They said Lafarge made payments to the Islamic
State group and other armed groups to provide free passage for
employees to and from the cement plant, and to resolve sporadic
kidnappings by militant factions, accounts backed up by the court
documents, which include testimony by former Lafarge executives to
French investigators.
The former employees also
provided accounts of a work environment in which Lafarge’s local
managers threatened to dismiss or cut the pay of those who balked at the
worsening safety situation.
The panel of French judges
is examining whether Lafarge and the former executives violated
international sanctions by paying the Islamic State group and other
armed groups to keep operating.
They are also
reviewing the extent to which Lafarge funnelled money to intermediaries
who conducted negotiations with the Islamic State group, as well as
al-Qaida’s affiliate in Syria and other factions, to move supplies and
employees through dangerous areas, and to secure raw materials.
$5m to armed groups
All
told, Lafarge agents shelled out over $5 million to armed groups,
according to the French court documents, which also include company
correspondence and a confidential internal review of Lafarge’s Syria
operations by the global law firm Baker McKenzie.
All
of the former Lafarge executives have denied the charges against them,
which could be dropped if judges find the evidence insufficient. The
charges against Lafarge SA could also be dropped.
Nonetheless,
the decision by the judges to place the company under formal
examination means authorities believe they have serious evidence that
could result in a prosecution.
Sherpa, a French
anti-corruption organization that filed the lawsuit on behalf of the
former employees, said Thursday that the decision to hold a
multinational company responsible for alleged criminal activity
committed by one of its foreign operations represented a “major
breakthrough.”
“This case must create a precedent for
all the corporations that fuel armed conflicts,” the group said in a
statement. Sherpa said it would press Lafarge to open an independent
compensation fund for former employees.
Crimes against humanity
It is rare for international companies anywhere to face charges for crimes against humanity.
Of
a handful of cases brought in the past, most have been abandoned. Among
them was a 2008 lawsuit brought by Burmese refugees against the French
oil giant Total, which accused the company of providing logistical
support and financing to the Burmese junta that allegedly engaged in
forced labour, executions and torture. The case, brought in a Belgian
court, was ultimately dismissed.
In the Lafarge case,
Sherpa is arguing that crimes committed by the Islamic State group in
Syria between 2013 and 2015 must be considered crimes against humanity,
and that Lafarge acted as an accomplice by financing the group to keep
cement flowing at its Syrian plant, and by failing to ensure the
security of its employees.
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