PARIS (Reuters) – France’s National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT) has opened an investigation for complicity in crimes against humanity and war crimes against a Central African subsidiary of French drinks giant Castel, a source confirmed on Friday. close to the file.
The group, through a spokesperson, told Reuters to take note of the decision and “cooperate with the authorities”.
This investigation comes in the wake of a report published in August 2021 by the NGO The Sentry https://thesentry.org/reports/culture-de-la-violence, accusing the Sucrerie Africaine de Centrafrique (Sucaf RCA), exploited by the Castel group, of having “financed armed militias responsible for mass atrocities” in order to “protect its market share in the sugar sector”, within the framework of a “tacit agreement” which ran from the end of 2014 – a period marked by a serious political and security crisis in the Central African Republic – until March 2021.
According to the NGO, Sucaf RSA notably negotiated with the Unit for Peace in the Central African Republic (UPC), which is accused of abuses. The armed militias were reportedly paid through a “sophisticated and informal system” of “direct and indirect payments in cash”, as well as in kind, in the form of “vehicle maintenance and the supply of fuel”.
Sucaf RSA’s plantations and refinery are located in Ngakobo, 400 km east of Bangui, a territory controlled by the UPC.
John Prendergast, co-founder of The Sentry, welcomed Friday in a press release “an important step on the road to justice” which confronts companies with their responsibilities in countries at war.
This investigation, like the indictment of Lafarge for “complicity in crimes against humanity” in Syria, is “a strong signal” addressed to multinationals, he believes.
Following the revelations of The Sentry, Castel had indicated in August 2021 in a press release that it had “seized its ethics committee with the aim of immediately launching an investigation, in accordance with its internal procedures”.
On May 18, in another press release, the group announced that after nearly six months of investigations involving several experts and stakeholders, The Sentry’s accusations had not “been corroborated by material and/or or information collected”.
(Tassilo Hummel and Sarah Morland report; French version Myriam Rivet and Sophie Louet, edited by Tangi Salaün)