Paris / New York – SudanScope.
BNP Paribas SA shares plunged after a Manhattan federal jury found the French banking giant liable for aiding human rights abuses and genocide in Sudan under former president Omar al-Bashir’s regime between 2002 and 2008.
According to a statement from Hausfeld LLP, the law firm representing Sudanese victims, the jury determined that BNP Paribas “enabled the genocide committed against Black African civilians in Sudan.” The ruling opens the door for potential compensation claims worth billions of dollars.
The case centers on BNP Paribas’s role as the “primary foreign bank” for Sudan’s government during years of brutal internal conflict. From 2003 onward, Sudan was engulfed in the Darfur war, a campaign led by al-Bashir’s regime that targeted non-Arab communities through systematic killings, mass displacement, and starvation tactics. The International Criminal Court later issued an arrest warrant for al-Bashir on charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.
Despite international sanctions and a U.S. trade embargo imposed on Sudan for sponsoring terrorism, BNP Paribas continued to process billions of dollars in transactions on behalf of Khartoum. These financial flows allegedly helped sustain the government’s military operations in Darfur and other conflict zones, where hundreds of thousands of civilians were killed and millions displaced.
In 2014, BNP Paribas pleaded guilty in the United States to violating sanctions against Sudan, Iran, and Cuba, and paid a record $8.9 billion fine. The latest civil verdict goes beyond sanctions violations, holding the bank directly responsible for facilitating atrocities.
Human rights advocates hailed the verdict as a major step toward corporate accountability for complicity in mass crimes. Analysts warn the case could set a precedent for similar lawsuits targeting global financial institutions that enable sanctioned or repressive regimes.
BNP Paribas has not yet issued an official statement in response to the ruling.
