to Lafarge risking its employees’ FIRST IN FRANCE: Developments in lives and violating a number of basic labor rights. COMPANY INDICTED 2018 FOR CRIMES On 28 June 2018, three investigative Procedure of the Paris High Court AGAINST HUMANITY judges charged the legal entity Lafarge SA Lafarge – Eric Olsen and others Context Proceedings against the cement company Lafarge SA (now LafargeHolcim): on the one hand, for financing terrorism, complicity in crimes against humanity committed by the Islamic State in Syria (ISIS), and deliberate endangerment of people’s lives; and on the other hand, for illegal purchase of oil Suspects Current and former directors and top executives of French-Swiss cement company LafargeHolcim Group (crimes allegedly committed by the French company Lafarge prior to its 2015 merger with Swiss-based Holcim) and of its subsidiary Lafarge Cement Syria. The suspects are French and Norwegian nationals Country of residence of suspects France and Switzerland (headquarters) Charges Financing of a terrorist enterprise, complicity in war crimes, complicity in crimes against humanity, deliberate endangerment of people’s lives, exploitative labor practices, forced labor, and violation of the EU embargo on oil purchases (now LafargeHolcim) with complicity in crimes against humanity, financing of a terrorist enterprise, breaching an embargo, and endangering the lives of others. Lafarge allegedly paid millions of euros to ISIS and several armed groups to keep their cement factory running. The investigative judges ordered LafargeHolcim to hand over 30 million euros to the authorities as a security deposit ahead of a possible trial. Eight former executives were also charged in this case between December 2017 and May 2018, and were requested to provide the courts with a deposit of several million euros. Current status Company as a legal entity and individuals indicted; the judicial inquiry is ongoing Facts The 2016 complaint filed by human rights groups Sherpa and the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), with former Lafarge Syrian employees, alleged crimes committed in Syria between 2013 and 2014 in relation to Lafarge’s cement factory in Jalabiya, in northern Syria; in an area where several armed groups, including ISIS, were operating. Lafarge allegedly entered in negotiations with ISIS to purchase oil and pozzolan from them, as well as to obtain official ISIS passes for crossing checkpoints in order to maintain its production in the area. Testimonies also point 26 In September 2016, the French finance minister filed a complaint before the Paris prosecutor against LafargeHolcim for its alleged illegal purchase of oil in Syria, despite the EU embargo issued in 2012. The Paris prosecutor opened an investigation in October 2016. On 15 November 2016, 11 former Syrian employees and the human rights groups Sherpa and ECCHR filed a criminal complaint as civil parties in Paris against Lafarge, Lafarge Cement Syria, and their current and former CEOs, for financing of terrorism, complicity in crimes against humanity committed in Syria and for a series of labor rights violations. On 9 June 2017, three investigative judges of the Paris High Court (Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris) opened an investigation into the crimes alleged by the NGOs Sherpa and ECCHR, and 11 former Syrian employees. In September 2017, three of the victims were heard by one of the investigative judges. On 13 October 2017, the plaintiffs’ NGOs filed a motion requesting that the investigative judges summon a former French minister of foreign affairs and two former ambassadors of France to Syria for questioning. On 14 November 2017, the French police searched the headquarters of LafargeHolcim in Paris. At the same time, the Belgian federal police searched the premises of Groupe Bruxelles Lambert (GBL), the second largest shareholder of LafargeHolcim, in Brussels.