A former employee of cement company Lafarge says he hopes he will see justice after a French court ruled the firm will face charges of crimes against humanity for its actions during the Syrian civil war.
Mohammad is one of 11 former employees of the French company's Syrian subsidiary who are taking taking legal action against the French company.
They are being joined in the case by the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights, and anti-corruption group Sherpa.
Lafarge is accused of paying ISIS and other armed groups €13 million ($14.1 million) to allow it to keep operating in Syria during the civil war, while keeping its Syrian employees on duty despite the risks.
France’s Supreme Court has ruled Lafarge can now face charges of crimes against humanity.
The case was first taken to court in 2016 and the lengthy legal battle is one of the most complex cases in French corporate history.
But Lafarge won a partial victory when the court dropped the charge of endangering the lives of its former Syrian employees, ruling that safety protection under French labour law did not apply to them.
Sherpa said a criminal investigation revealed that the Syrian workers, including those suing the company, may have been at risk of death, injury and kidnapping.
The cement maker admitted after its own internal investigation that its Syrian subsidiary paid armed groups to help protect staff at the plant during the civil war.
But it has strenuously denied endangering the lives of its local staff by making them continue to work in an unsafe situation and that it was complicit in crimes against humanity committed by militias.
After the ruling, Mohammad said he and the other workers “will continue to demand the justice we deserve”.
He told The National he began working for Lafarge in 2011, the year the civil war broke out, after moving from Damascus where he was brought up and went to university.
The war began as protests against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad.
The company owned a cement factory in the north of Syria, between Raqqa and Manbij, which it bought in 2008 for €680 million.
Mohammad said that at first he said was “very excited” to be working for a multinational company but soon the area around the plant became engulfed in the civil war.
The factory was in an area controlled by Kurdish militia who manned checkpoints that employees had to pass through, he said.
At that point Lafarge told its Syrian national employees to move to the city of Manbij, about an hour’s drive away.
“When they began to evacuate, the expats from the factory raised the question ‘What about the Syrian people?’ and they said, ‘There is no evacuation plan for you’.”
Other French companies, including oil giant Total, closed their operations in Syria after the EU imposed an arms and oil embargo after the civil war broke out, but Lafarge stayed.
With Manbij in the hands of its opponents, the city became a target for regime air strikes.
In August 2012, Mohammad managed to evacuate his wife and daughter to Turkey and then returned to keep working.
The day after he arrived back home, his neighbourhood was destroyed by a regime air strike.
“I was sleeping for a little bit after coming back from work, maybe for five minutes, then I heard a bomb and I just jumped up and then on to the floor. I survived death.
“The next day I went to the factory and said, ‘Did you see what happened, what shall I do?’.
"And they said, ‘We cannot protect you’. I told them that if they can’t protect me I can’t remain in Syria so they fired me.”
Mohammed went to join his family in Turkey and eventually they settled in Germany, where he works as a manager for a large business.
Looking back at his experience, he described it “as a terrible time for me and my family”.
“There are a lot of people who have been kidnapped and disappeared but nobody from Lafarge took any action, so maybe by being part of this case I can be the voice of these people who have disappeared," Mohammad said.
"Maybe I can represent the orphans and the widows, so that’s why I’m in this case.”
The decision comes after Lafarge, now a part of the Swiss conglomerate, Holcim, pleaded guilty in a US court to providing support to ISIS in Syria and agreed to forfeit $687 million and pay a $90 million fine in 2022.
Lafarge is facing another lawsuit, brought in the US by Nobel prize winner Nadia Murad, one of more than 400 Yazidis who have filed a court case against the company.
They charge that it conspired to provide material support to a campaign of terrorism by ISIS against the Yazidi population.
In a statement, Lafarge said: “This is a legacy issue, which Lafarge SA is addressing through the legal process in France.”
French business
France has organised a delegation of leading businesses to travel to Syria. The group was led by French shipping giant CMA CGM, which struck a 30-year contract in May with the Syrian government to develop and run Latakia port. Also present were water and waste management company Suez, defence multinational Thales, and Ellipse Group, which is currently looking into rehabilitating Syrian hospitals.
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'Midnights'
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds
Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
BeIN Sports currently has the rights to show
- Champions League
- English Premier League
- Spanish Primera Liga
- Italian, French and Scottish leagues
- Wimbledon and other tennis majors
- Formula One
- Rugby Union - Six Nations and European Cups
Multitasking pays off for money goals
Tackling money goals one at a time cost financial literacy expert Barbara O'Neill at least $1 million.
That's how much Ms O'Neill, a distinguished professor at Rutgers University in the US, figures she lost by starting saving for retirement only after she had created an emergency fund, bought a car with cash and purchased a home.
"I tell students that eventually, 30 years later, I hit the million-dollar mark, but I could've had $2 million," Ms O'Neill says.
Too often, financial experts say, people want to attack their money goals one at a time: "As soon as I pay off my credit card debt, then I'll start saving for a home," or, "As soon as I pay off my student loan debt, then I'll start saving for retirement"."
People do not realise how costly the words "as soon as" can be. Paying off debt is a worthy goal, but it should not come at the expense of other goals, particularly saving for retirement. The sooner money is contributed, the longer it can benefit from compounded returns. Compounded returns are when your investment gains earn their own gains, which can dramatically increase your balances over time.
"By putting off saving for the future, you are really inhibiting yourself from benefiting from that wonderful magic," says Kimberly Zimmerman Rand , an accredited financial counsellor and principal at Dragonfly Financial Solutions in Boston. "If you can start saving today ... you are going to have a lot more five years from now than if you decide to pay off debt for three years and start saving in year four."
If you go…
Emirates launched a new daily service to Mexico City this week, flying via Barcelona from Dh3,995.
Emirati citizens are among 67 nationalities who do not require a visa to Mexico. Entry is granted on arrival for stays of up to 180 days.
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if you go
Getting there
Etihad (Etihad.com), Emirates (emirates.com) and Air France (www.airfrance.com) fly to Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport, from Abu Dhabi and Dubai respectively. Return flights cost from around Dh3,785. It takes about 40 minutes to get from Paris to Compiègne by train, with return tickets costing €19. The Glade of the Armistice is 6.6km east of the railway station.
Staying there
On a handsome, tree-lined street near the Chateau’s park, La Parenthèse du Rond Royal (laparenthesedurondroyal.com) offers spacious b&b accommodation with thoughtful design touches. Lots of natural woods, old fashioned travelling trunks as decoration and multi-nozzle showers are part of the look, while there are free bikes for those who want to cycle to the glade. Prices start at €120 a night.
More information: musee-armistice-14-18.fr ; compiegne-tourisme.fr; uk.france.fr
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
Analysis
Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Explainer: Tanween Design Programme
Non-profit arts studio Tashkeel launched this annual initiative with the intention of supporting budding designers in the UAE. This year, three talents were chosen from hundreds of applicants to be a part of the sixth creative development programme. These are architect Abdulla Al Mulla, interior designer Lana El Samman and graphic designer Yara Habib.
The trio have been guided by experts from the industry over the course of nine months, as they developed their own products that merge their unique styles with traditional elements of Emirati design. This includes laboratory sessions, experimental and collaborative practice, investigation of new business models and evaluation.
It is led by British contemporary design project specialist Helen Voce and mentor Kevin Badni, and offers participants access to experts from across the world, including the likes of UK designer Gareth Neal and multidisciplinary designer and entrepreneur, Sheikh Salem Al Qassimi.
The final pieces are being revealed in a worldwide limited-edition release on the first day of Downtown Designs at Dubai Design Week 2019. Tashkeel will be at stand E31 at the exhibition.
Lisa Ball-Lechgar, deputy director of Tashkeel, said: “The diversity and calibre of the applicants this year … is reflective of the dynamic change that the UAE art and design industry is witnessing, with young creators resolute in making their bold design ideas a reality.”
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The figures behind the event
1) More than 300 in-house cleaning crew
2) 165 staff assigned to sanitise public areas throughout the show
3) 1,000 social distancing stickers
4) 809 hand sanitiser dispensers placed throughout the venue
Mobile phone packages comparison
Low turnout
Two months before the first round on April 10, the appetite of voters for the election is low.
Mathieu Gallard, account manager with Ipsos, which conducted the most recent poll, said current forecasts suggested only two-thirds were "very likely" to vote in the first round, compared with a 78 per cent turnout in the 2017 presidential elections.
"It depends on how interesting the campaign is on their main concerns," he told The National. "Just now, it's hard to say who, between Macron and the candidates of the right, would be most affected by a low turnout."
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
