Lafarge under fire as Yazidi plaintiffs file civil suit alleging ISIS conspiracy
A civil suit led by Yazidi Nobel laureate Nadia Murad and 430 Americans of Yazidi background accuses French conglomerate Lafarge of conspiring with ISIS to support brutal attacks on the Yazidi population.
The lawsuit, filed by attorneys including human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, references a $778 million fine and guilty criminal plea by Lafarge in October 2022. The Yazidi plaintiffs seek to hold Lafarge liable for violations of the US Anti-Terrorism Act, demanding compensatory damages and attorneys’ fees.
The lawsuit highlights Lafarge’s alleged $6 million payments to ISIS in 2013-2014 for raw materials from a Syrian cement plant, operating during the Syrian Civil War. It also points to $80.5 million that US prosecutors found benefiting participants in the conspiracy, including ISIS and Lafarge. The complaint details the horrors of a 2014 ISIS siege, where thousands of Yazidis were murdered or kidnapped, with survivors facing enslavement as sex slaves.
Lafarge dismisses the claims as a “legacy issue,” managed responsibly, according to a company spokesperson.
The Yazidi plaintiffs, who are US citizens, include individuals with ties to the US Army and varied professions, whose lives were disrupted in the 2014 attacks. This comes as Lafarge faces a separate case in France dating back to 2018, involving charges of complicity in crimes against humanity.
