A New York jury on Friday found French banking giant BNP Paribas liable for supporting Sudan’s former dictator Omar al-Bashir. The eight-member jury sided with three Sudanese-born plaintiffs, awarding $20.75 million in damages after hearing harrowing testimony of torture and abuse.
Plaintiffs Entesar Osman Kasher and two others, now American citizens, described being burned, slashed, and, in Kasher’s case, sexually assaulted by Sudanese forces. “I have no relatives left,” Kasher, 41, told the Manhattan federal court, recounting the brutal losses she endured under Bashir’s regime.
Plaintiffs’ attorney Bobby DiCello argued the trial exposed how BNP Paribas “rescued, shielded, fed and illegally supported the economy of a dictator.” DiCello added the bank “supported ethnic cleansing and ruined the lives of these three survivors,” tying finance to human suffering.
BNP Paribas operated in Sudan from the late 1990s until 2009, issuing letters of credit that kept the regime’s economy afloat. The plaintiffs said these guarantees enabled Sudan to export oil, cotton, and commodities, generating billions that allegedly financed violent campaigns.
Defense attorney Dani James insisted there was “no connection between the bank’s conduct and what happened to these three plaintiffs” during the conflict. BNP Paribas’ lawyers highlighted the legality of its Sudan operations in Europe and cooperation with global institutions like the IMF at the time.
Attorneys argued the bank had no knowledge of atrocities, noting Sudan “would and did commit human rights crimes without oil or BNP Paribas.” Bashir, who ruled Sudan for three decades, was ousted in April 2019 following mass protests and is wanted by the International Criminal Court on genocide charges.
