A federal jury in New York has rendered a significant verdict against France’s largest bank, BNP Paribas, ordering it to pay nearly $21 million. This decision comes in response to allegations that the bank facilitated the Sudanese government’s access to the U.S. financial system during a period marked by severe human rights violations two decades ago.
The lawsuit was brought forward by a woman and two men, all U.S. citizens who were forced to flee Sudan after losing their homes and property amidst the turmoil. Each plaintiff was awarded between $6.7 million and $7.3 million on Friday, following a four-hour jury deliberation.
According to a pretrial memo dated August 28, the plaintiffs contended that BNP Paribas played a crucial role in supporting the Sudanese government’s oppressive actions, which they described as “one of the most notorious campaigns of persecution in modern history.”
The plaintiffs’ attorney, Adam Levitt, expressed their satisfaction with the verdict, stating, “They’re very gratified that steps on the road toward justice are being achieved, and they’re happy that the bank is being held responsible for its abhorrent conduct.”
Efforts to reach BNP Paribas for comment on Saturday went unanswered. However, reports from other media outlets indicate that a bank spokesperson criticized the jury’s decision as “clearly wrong,” adding that there are “very strong grounds to appeal the verdict.”
In its defense, BNP Paribas argued that the Sudanese government had access to other financial resources and that the bank did not knowingly assist in the human rights abuses perpetrated under former President Omar al-Bashir’s regime.
BNP Paribas gave Sudanese authorities access to international money markets from at least 2002 to 2008. As many as 300,000 people were killed and 2.7 million driven from their homes in the Darfur region over the years. The litigation pertains to government actions in many parts of the country.
Al-Bashir is being held in a military-run detention facility in northern Sudan, his lawyer said earlier this month. He has been charged by the International Criminal Court with crimes that include genocide but has not been handed over to face justice in The Hague.
Sudan plunged into a civil war more than two years ago, sparking what aid organizations have described as one of the world’s worst displacement and hunger crises.
Lawyers for the French bank argued it did not have liability, saying in an August court filing that, “Human rights abuses in Sudan did not start with BNPP, did not end when BNPP left Sudan, and were not caused by BNPP.”
BNP Paribas, they wrote, ”never participated in Sudanese military transactions in any way — it never financed Sudan’s purchase of arms, and there is no evidence linking any specific transaction to Plaintiffs’ injuries.”
Levitt, the plaintiffs’ attorney, called the case a “bellwether trial” with findings he hopes to apply to other Sudanese refugees, 23,000 U.S. citizens, who are members of the class-action case.
In 2014, BNP Paribas agree to pay nearly $9 billion to settle a case by entering a guilty plea in New York and acknowledging it processed billions of dollars in transactions for clients in Sudan as well as Cuba and Iran.
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