BNP Paribas (Sudan)

From 2002 to 2008, BNP Paribas was the main foreign bank of the Sudanese government, at a time when the latter was subject to sanctions by the United States and the European Union.

During this period, Sudanese government forces and their Janjaweed militia were engaged in an armed conflict with rebel groups.

Government forces and allied militias allegedly killed, tortured, detained, forcibly displaced, raped and assaulted tens of thousands of civilians.

According to a “guilty plea” procedure conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in June 2014, BNP allegedly served, at least between 2002 and 2008, as a de facto central bank for the Sudanese authorities, enabling them to circumvent the sanctions in force through financial arrangements in order to access the dollar market and carry out financial transactions.

It is alleged that these financial transactions enabled Sudan to obtain substantial sums of money used to finance the abuses committed by government forces and allied militias.

Amnesty International France recalls that everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law.