European banks Blamed of financing human rights violations in South Sudan
Date
11/15/2023 4:57:22 AM
(MENAFN) In a damning report released on Tuesday, international nonprofit organization Global Witness has implicated sixty major European banks and investors in fueling violence in South Sudan, a nation marred by widespread killings, systematic rape, and forced displacement of civilians, as repeatedly condemned by the United Nations. According to the report, notable financial institutions such as Germany's Allianz and Deutsche Bank, as well as Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo, have invested a staggering EUR700 million (USD751 million) in two companies directly linked to human rights atrocities in the landlocked African country. Shockingly, French international banking giant Crédit Agricole Group is also named among the top funders.
Despite existing United States sanctions, the report alleges that the two largest international oil companies operating in South Sudan, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and Malaysian state-owned firm Petronas, continue to receive funding from European Union investors. Global Witness claims that European creditors have extended over EUR4 billion (over USD4 billion) in loans and underwriting services to these two companies within a span of seven years.
The backdrop to these allegations is the imposition of sanctions by the United States in 2018 on 15 South Sudanese oil operators, including the Dar Petroleum Operating Company—a consortium led by CNPC and Petronas. The United States State Department argued that the South Sudanese government was leveraging revenue from these firms to procure weapons and finance irregular militias, thereby jeopardizing the nation's peace, security, and stability.
South Sudan, having descended into civil war in 2013 due to a political dispute between President Salva Kiir Mayardit and his former vice president, Riek Machar, has witnessed the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives, a decline in oil production, and the displacement of approximately one-third of its 12 million-strong population. As the international community grapples with these shocking revelations, questions arise about the ethical responsibilities of European financial institutions and the need for increased oversight to prevent complicity in human rights abuses.
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