French Bank BNP Paribas Linked to Human Rights Atrocities in Sudan

Author: Vera Rousseff

October 21, 2025

HRRC commends the jury’s decision to hold BNP Paribas accountable for financially enabling human rights violations in Sudan. We believe that financial institutions have a moral responsibility to ensure that their business operations do not perpetuate international crimes.

A branch of BNP Paribas in Paris, France. [Image source: Nathan Laine/Bloomberg]

On Friday, a New York jury found that BNP Paribas, France’s largest bank, helped the Sudanese government under former ruler Omar al-Bashir commit human rights violations by giving it access to the U.S. financial system. The bank was ordered to pay a combined $20.5 million USD to the three Sudanese plaintiffs who obtained the verdict.

The jury sided with the three plaintiffs after hearing testimonies of atrocities committed by Sudanese soldiers and the Janjaweed militia group, which had ties to the former Sudanese government. The plaintiffs—one woman and two men who fled Sudan and are now U.S. citizens—described the torture they endured at the hands of Sudanese armed groups, including being burned with cigarettes, slashed with a knife and, in the case of the woman, sexually assaulted. 

BNP Paribas provided letters of credit while it conducted business in Sudan from the late 1990s to 2009, allowing the Sudanese government to continue its import and export operations. These operations gave the government access to billions of U.S. dollars, helping finance armed groups that committed numerous human rights violations, notably in the country’s Darfur region. In 2004, the U.S. government recognized the conflict in Darfur as a genocide.

During his closing remarks, the plaintiffs’ attorney Bobby DiCello stated that BNP Paribas "has supported the ethnic cleansing and ruined the lives of these three survivors."

"The jury recognized that financial institutions cannot turn a blind eye to the consequences of their actions,” DiCello argued, adding that, “Our clients lost everything to a campaign of destruction fueled by U.S. dollars, that BNP Paribas facilitated and that should have been stopped."

BNP Paribas has responded by claiming that it cannot be held responsible for crimes committed in Sudan and that it had no knowledge of supporting human rights violations. Attorneys for the bank argued that the bank’s conduct was legal and that Sudan’s armed groups had other sources of funding, allowing them to perpetrate the crimes even without the bank’s involvement. They further pointed out that global institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had partnered with the Sudanese government during the same period.

On Monday, October 20, BNP Paribas issued a press release on its website, stating that “BNP Paribas reaffirms that this result is clearly wrong and ignores important evidence the bank was not permitted to introduce.”

This is not the first time that BNP Paribas has faced legal and financial consequences for its involvement in Sudan. In 2014, the bank paid an enormous 8.9 billion USD penalty to U.S. authorities after pleading guilty to charges that it had transferred billions of dollars for Sudanese, Cuban, and Iranian entities, in violation of economic sanctions. However, none of the payout went to the actual victims of the conflict in Sudan.

The verdict issued against BNP Paribas last week may set an important precedent for holding financial institutions accountable for human rights violations. It is one of the first instances of a global bank being held civilly liable for financially supporting international crimes, potentially opening the door for similar lawsuits in the future.

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Glossary

• Accountable: responsible for one’s actions and expected to face consequences if something goes wrong.

• Atrocities: extremely cruel and violent acts, especially those committed during war or against innocent people.

• Attorney: a lawyer; someone whose job is to represent people in legal cases.

• Civilly liable: legally responsible in a civil court (not a criminal one), usually meaning the person or organization must pay money as compensation.

• Commends: expresses approval or praise for someone’s actions; to say that someone did something good.

• Darfur: a region in western Sudan where a major conflict began in 2003, leading to mass killings and human rights abuses.

• Enabling: making it possible for something to happen; giving someone or something the means or opportunity to act.

• Ethnic cleansing: a violent campaign meant to remove or kill people of a certain ethnic or religious group.

• Financial institution: a company, like a bank, that deals with money, investments, or credit.

• Genocide: the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular nation or ethnic group.

• Human rights violations: serious abuses of people’s basic rights, such as freedom, safety, or equality.

• Import and export operations: the business of bringing goods into a country (importing) and sending goods out to other countries (exporting).

• International Monetary Fund (IMF): a global organization that helps countries keep their economies stable. It gives loans, advice, and support to countries facing financial problems.

• Jury: a group of citizens chosen to listen to evidence in a trial and decide the outcome.

• Letters of credit: documents issued by a bank that guarantee a buyer’s payment to a seller, used to support trade between countries.

• Militia group: an armed group that is not part of the official military.

• Perpetuate: to make something continue for a long time, especially something bad or harmful.

• Plaintiff: the person or people who bring a case against someone in a court of law.

• Precedent: a legal decision that serves as an example or rule for future similar cases.

• Press release: an official statement given to the media by an organization to share news or respond to events.

• Sanctions: penalties or restrictions, often from one country to another, meant to force a change in behavior (for example, trade bans or financial limits).

• Testimonies: statements people give in court about what they saw, experienced, or know.

• U.S. financial system: the network of banks and financial institutions in the United States that handle money and transactions.

• Verdict: the final decision made by a jury or judge in a legal case.

• Violation: an act of breaking a law, rule, or moral principle.