Sudan Human Rights Network

To:
Attorney General of the United States
Office of The Attorney General

 
Subject:
United States v. BNP Paribas S.A.

In the United States v. BNP Paribas S.A. (BNPP) case, a money judgement in the amount of $8,833,600,000.00 entered against BNPP. As more than 70 percent of BNPP’s illegal transactions involved Sudan, Sudan Human Rights Network (SHRN), a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., calls on the U.S. Department of Justice to use a significant portion of the forfeited funds to establish a Humanitarian Trust Fund for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Sudan, and Sudanese in refugee camps, as it would be the most effective way to compensate individuals harmed by the sanctioned regimes of Sudan and the BNPP’s criminal conduct.

In July 2014, BNP Paribas S.A. (BNPP), a bank headquartered in Paris, pled guilty to conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers (IEEPA) and the Trading with the Enemy Act (TWEA) by processing billions of dollars of transactions through the U.S. financial system on behalf of Sudanese, Iranian, and Cuban entities subject to U.S. economic sanctions.

This case was investigated by the IRS-Criminal Investigation’s Washington Field Division and the FBI’s New York Field Office. The case is being prosecuted by the Money Laundering and Bank Integrity Unit of the Criminal Division’s Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section (AFMLS), and the Money Laundering and Asset Forfeiture Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

According to documents released publicly, including a detailed statement of facts admitted to by BNPP, BNPP has acknowledged that, from at least 2004 through 2012, it knowingly and willfully moved over $8.8 billion through the U.S. financial system on behalf of Sudanese, Iranian and Cuban sanctioned entities, in violation of U.S. economic sanctions. The majority of illegal payments were made on behalf of sanctioned entities in Sudan, which was subject to U.S. embargo based on the Sudanese government’s role in facilitating terrorism and committing human rights abuses. From July 2006 through June 2007, BNPP processed approximately $6.4 billion through the United States on behalf of Sudanese sanctioned entities, including approximately $4 billion on behalf of a financial institution owned by the government of Sudan.

Millions of Sudanese harmed by BNPP’s criminal conduct, both those that remain in Sudan and those who were forced into refugee camps in neighboring countries, live in terrible conditions. Payment of collective reparations to communities harmed by BNPP’s criminal conduct would mitigate the harms inflicted by the Sudan regime more effectively than can be accomplished by paying individual claims. The distribution of money should go to war-torn areas to fund humanitarian projects.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) statistical report indicate that there are 2,192,830 Internally Displaced Persons and 665,954 refugees as of December 2014. Displaced persons in war-affected areas face one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. They urgently require food, water, shelter, and other basic needs. Establishing a Humanitarian Trust Fund for the displaced aims towards addressing funding these critical needs, and that is where the BNPP settlement money should go.

SHRN urges the U.S. Department of Justice to establish a Humanitarian Trust Fund for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Sudan, and Sudanese in refugee camps in neighboring countries to assist the most vulnerable communities of displaced people affected by war in Darfur, South Kordofan, and South Blue Nile. The Humanitarian Trust Fund should support national NGOs, international NGOs, and UN agencies providing humanitarian assistance to people in need in a strategic and timely manner.