Lafarge, a French cement giant, provided financial support to Daesh or more commonly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), classified documents obtained by Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency have revealed.
What is more shocking is the fact that French state institutions knew about the ties between the two all along as Lafarge constantly informed the French domestic, foreign, and military intelligence services about its relationship with ISIS.
According to details, Lafarge, one of the largest cement manufacturers in the world, enjoyed commercial relations with Daesh. The latter not only built shelters for its fighters using the former’s cement but also sold it to generate revenue for its activities.
Lafarge disclosed its ties with Daesh
On 22 January 2014, Lafarge’s Security Director, Jean Claude Veillard, sent an e-mail to the French Ministry of Interior Intelligence.
The e-mail read:
Lafarge is still active in Syria and needs to establish relations with “local actors” in order to continue its work.
Veillard also asked how much risk their executives and headquarters were at, adding that there had been some negative press coverage about Lafarge.
In response, an Intelligence Service Officer (ISO) gave Veillard a date to discuss the situation in detail.
Cement Supplied to Daesh
On 1 September 2014, Veillard informed the French Ministry of Interior Intelligence that it was supplying cement to Daesh.
An ISO replied:
Can you give more details about the cement going to Daesh?
From the above statement, it is clear that the state of France was fully aware of Lafarge’s ties with ISIS at that time.
Lafarge Constantly Informed French Intelligence
Between 2013 and 2014, Lafarge representatives met with senior officials of the French domestic, foreign, and military intelligence services more than 30 times.
After Lafarge was accused of committing crimes against humanity by financially supporting ISIS, Veillard, on 30 November 2017, testified to French police that Lafarge informed the country’s intelligence before its every move in Syria.
Veillard admitted that he transferred the field information about the conflicts and the military balance between different armed groups to the national intelligence.
French Intelligence Used Lafarge
Lafarge’s relationship with ISIS was also formally acknowledged during proceedings in a French court on 18 November 2018 after an ISO admitted that he used Lafarge to get information in Syria.
He said that during 2012-2014, Lafarge supplied cement to all armed groups in Syria, including ISIS and Al-Nusra Front, which is also known as al-Qaeda in Syria.
The statement from the ISO in the French court read:
We approached the situation purely opportunistically, taking advantage of Lafarge’s continued relation with Daesh.
Legal Action Against Lafarge
Back in 2016, French media reported that Lafarge was involved in supplying materials, including cement and fuel, in addition to paying tribute to ISIS in a bid to continue its operations in Syria uninterrupted.
A year later, the French cement giant admitted that it paid nearly $15.3 million to ISIS to keep its cement factory in the war-torn country open. However, it blatantly denied its involvement in crimes against humanity in Syria.
The company said that the payment was meant to ensure smooth movement of its staff and goods and it wasn’t responsible if Daesh used the money to commit crimes against humanity.
Notwithstanding, 8 high-ranking officials of Lafarge, including CEO Bruno Laffont, were charged with aiding terrorism and abetting crimes against humanity in June 2018. These charges, however, were dropped by a lower French court, after more than a year, in November 2019.
The decision to drop these charges was immediately challenged by human rights groups in the French Supreme Court.
Earlier today, the French apex court overturned the decision of the lower court to drop charges on Lafarge for financing terrorism and committing crimes against humanity.
Besides financing terrorism and committing crimes against humanity, Lafarge is being tried for violating an EU embargo and endangering the lives of others.
Fate of Such Cases
Lafarge isn’t the first multinational company to be accused of financing terrorism and crimes against humanity in another country. However, such cases are rarely brought to a legal conclusion.
12 Nigerians had moved to the US Supreme Court against Shell, accusing the British-Dutch energy giant of enabling extrajudicial killings, torture, rape, and crimes against humanity in the Niger Delta in the 1990s.
However, the US apex court dismissed the case in 2013, ruling that US courts did not have jurisdiction in the matter.
