[imc-presse] PRESS RELEASE: French company Lafarge sued for Financing ISIS and Complicity in War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity in Syria

Tue Nov 15 13:31:39 CET 2016

ECCHR - European Center for constitutional and human
rights           Logo Sherpa.jpg

PRESS RELEASE 

French company Lafarge sued for Financing ISIS and Complicity in War Crimes
and Crimes Against Humanity in Syria

Paris, 15 November 2016   <https://www.asso-sherpa.org/home> Sherpa and the
<https://www.ecchr.eu/en/home.html> European Center for Constitutional and
Human Rights (ECCHR), as well as 11 complainants who are former Syrian
employees, represented by maître Marie Dosé and maître Jean-Christophe
Ménard, are filing suit against cement-manufacturer Lafarge and its
subsidiary Lafarge Cement Syria (LCS) for its actions in Syria. By having
business relations with the terrorist group ISIS in Syria, this company may
have taken part in the financing of the group, being therefore complicit in
war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Miriam Saage-Maaß, Vice Legal Director at ECCHR said: The Lafarge case
highlights once again how multinationals doing business in conflict zones
can directly fuel armed conflicts and contribute to grave human rights
violations committed therein. Companies like Lafarge must be held
accountable.

Laëtitia Liebert, Sherpas Executive Director added: This is the first time
non-profit organizations have filed suit against a multinational corporation
for financing terrorist activity and complicity in war crimes and crimes
against humanity.

LCS owns a cement factory in the north of Syria, between Raqqa and Manbij.
In 2012, when the conflict escalated in the north of the country around
Raqqa and Aleppo, LCS repatriated its expatriate staff, while Syrian
employees kept on working in the Jalabiya plant. 

During 2013, conflicts intensified and ISIS seized the north of Syria. Check
points controlled by this organization multiplied on the roads surrounding
the Lafarge plant. 

According to the information Sherpa and ECCHR collected, LCS would have
entered into arrangements with ISIS in order to maintain production, by
paying for passes issued by the jihadist organization and buying raw
materials necessary for cement production such as oil and pozzolana in areas
under ISISs control. They (ISIS) delivered a specific document from ISIS
that enabled cement trucks from Lafarge to cross their checkpoints. At the
beginning in May 2014, it was a simple note from ISIS, written by hand,
where they had put the stamps of the financial department of ISIS. explains
an employee who was working at the plant at the time.

Sherpa and ECCHR are also filing suit against the cement-manufacturer and
its subsidiary for reckless endangerment. According the gathered
information, the French company did not set up safety measures suitable to
the ongoing crisis in the area in which the plant was situated: employees
kept on going to work in spite of the many dangerous checkpoints controlled
by ISIS; they escaped on their own when the plant got attacked, etc.

An employee present at the plant on the day of ISISs attack states: Why
did Lafarge not evacuate us? Even inhabitants from the nearby village fled
the day before the attack. It seems like Lafarge used us as a human shield
to protect the plant. They've put us too much in danger.

There is no doubt that ISIS is committing war crimes and crimes against
humanity every day. Exposing employees to such dangers and presumed
financing of the terrorist group activities would lead the company to be
complicit in war crimes and crimes against humanity.

It is difficult, if not impossible, for the judicial authorities to regulate
the actions of multinationals through the activities of their subsidiaries
and their subcontractors abroad when they are at the origin of the violation
of fundamental rights. The French bill of duty of care, which would
guarantee respect for human rights by regulating the activities of
multinationals and on which the parliamentarians will vote on 29 November,
appears more

essential than ever.

We will be available for interviews on 15th November 2016 from 5 to 6 pm at
William Bourdons office: 156, rue de Rivoli - 75001 Paris, in the presence
of William Bourdon, President of Sherpa, Maître Marie Dosé and Maître
Jean-Christophe Ménard.

Petition:  <https://www.powerfoule.org/lafarge-eng>
https://www.powerfoule.org/lafarge-eng

Press contact: 

·        Sherpa

Lisa Rieux, Communications Officer: + 33 (0)1 42 21 33 25 / +33 (0)6 60 29
59 64

lisa.rieux at asso-sherpa.org

·        ECCHR

Anabel Bermejo, Media & Communications, +49 (0)30 6981 9797 / +49 (0)172 587
00 87

bermejo at ecchr.eu

Please excuse double posting.

+---------------------------------------------------------------------

Anabel Bermejo 

Media & Communications

European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights e.V. (ECCHR)

Zossener Str. 55-58, Aufgang D

D-10961 BERLIN

Phone: + 49 (0)30 - 69819797

Mobil: + 49 (0) 172 - 587 00 87

Fax: + 49 (0)30 - 40 04 85 92

E-Mail:  <mailto:bermejo at ecchr.eu> bermejo at ECCHR.eu

Skype: anabel.bermejo1

Twitter: @ECCHRBerlin

Website -
<http://de-de.facebook.com/pages/Ecchr-European-Center-for-Constitutional-an
d-Human-Rights/219348771491535> Facebook - Newsletter (
<http://www.ecchr.de/index.php/newsletter.html> Deutsch /
<http://www.ecchr.de/index.php/newsletter_en.html> English)

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: </pipermail/imc-presse/attachments/20161115/fab4e5de/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 6325 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: </pipermail/imc-presse/attachments/20161115/fab4e5de/attachment-0002.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image004.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 3078 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: </pipermail/imc-presse/attachments/20161115/fab4e5de/attachment-0003.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: PR_Syria_France_Lafarge_Sherpa_ECCHR_20161115.pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 313643 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: </pipermail/imc-presse/attachments/20161115/fab4e5de/attachment-0001.pdf>