French Ngos Cautiously Welcome Lafarge's Guilty Plea

Leading non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in France on Wednesday cautiously welcomed a guilty plea by French cement giant Lafarge for supporting terrorist groups in Syria.

Lafarge was slapped Tuesday with a heavy fine of $778 million by a US court for supporting several terrorist groups in Syria between 2013 and 2014, including Daesh.

The US Justice Department said the company and its Syrian subsidiary actively sought the terrorist groups' help to beat competitors through a "revenue sharing agreement" with them.

In a statement to Anadolu Agency, Cannelle Lavite, co-director of the business and human rights program of the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), said the guilty plea corroborates what is alleged in the 2018 case in a French court against the company.

"We cannot determine whether the guilty plea will have a bearing on the French judgment," said the jurist, adding "pleading guilty does not deliver justice for victims, former employees and civil parties."

The US Justice Department was concerned mainly with conspiracy charges, instead of complicity in crimes against humanity or endangering the lives of others -- charges Lafarge faces in France, according to Lavite.

Anna Kiefer, litigation and advocacy officer at the NGO Sherpa, believes the US charges are independent from the prosecution charges in France, despite "a public acknowledgement on the part of Lafarge of their responsibility for supporting terrorist organizations."

"What is certain is that we intend to continue pursuing our case, which is distinct and covers different offenses," said Kiefer.

Lafarge is currently under investigation for complicity in crimes against humanity, deliberate endangerment of the lives of Syrian employees, financing of a terrorist enterprise and violation of embargoes.

-Silence of France raises questions

Since the US decision, several parliamentarians have questioned the role of France.

Opposition lawmaker David Guiraud described the case as a "state scandal."

He said he was surprised the French executive seemed unbothered that a French giant company publicly admitted to having collaborated with Daesh.

"We are talking about millions of euros paid to a terrorist group! But to supposedly fight terrorism, the government prefers to hunt down imams in France," Guiraud told Anadolu Agency.

Other lawmakers such as Sandrine Rousseau accused the executive of being complacent and not coming out on the case.

She also assured that her parliamentary group would challenge the government during an upcoming question session at the Palais Bourbon.

"What I can tell you is that this conviction is good news, and that France, while we had warned about connivance with Daesh, should have done the same thing," said Thomas Portes, the La France Insoumise (LFI) party's deputy for Seine-Saint-Denis.

While no government official has publicly reacted to the US resolution, several classified documents published by Anadolu Agency revealed that the state was fully aware via its intelligence services of Lafarge's activities in Syria and its dealings with Daesh.

Lafarge in a statement said the company and its defunct subsidiary Lafarge Cement Syria "accepted responsibility for the actions of the individual executives involved."

Lafarge still faces a trial in France on charges of "complicity in crimes against humanity."

A French appeals court in May approved the charge, paving the way for a trial of the company and eight executives. But Lafarge is fighting the case, whose verdict is expected in the coming months.

Lafarge opened a €680 million ($670 million) cement plant in the Jalabiyeh region of northern Syria in 2010.

From 2013 to 2104, the company reportedly paid terrorist groups around $5.9 million.

*Translated by James Tasamba in Kigali, Rwanda -