I had the privilege to join a panel that was hosted by the IBA War Crimes Committee on corporate liability for violations of international humanitarian law, international criminal law and international human rights law at the IBA Annual Conference in Miami last month. The panel, which was moderated by Danya Chaikel, Co-Vice Chair of the IBA’s War Crimes Committee, explored past and current cases where corporate entities or their officers have been investigated and, in some cases, criminally charged and convicted or faced civil suits for core international crimes, such as war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In my remarks, I spoke about prominent international criminal law cases brought against corporations in Canada, Europe and the United States. The criminal cases I highlighted include the complaint filed against TotalEnergies in France in October 2022 for complicity in alleged war crimes in Ukraine; the prosecution against Lafarge in France and the United States for crimes against humanity in Syria; and the case filed this year in France against Dassault and other defense contractors for alleged complicity for war crimes in Yemen. I also discussed civil cases brought under statutes, such as the Alien Tort Claims Act, that permit victims of atrocity crimes to seek monetary damages. Among the cases I highlighted are the Nevsun Resources case, which was brought in Canada in 2014 for alleged complicity for crimes against humanity in Eritrea; the case filed against BNP Paribas in France in 2017 for alleged complicity for war crimes in Rwanda; and the case filed against Meta Platforms (Facebook) in 2021 in California alleging complicity for genocide in Myanmar. I noted a trend marked by an acceleration of international criminal law cases filed recently and predicted that within the next five to seven years, every major law firm would have a human rights department to represent clients accused of violations of international human rights law, international criminal law and international humanitarian law.
The panel brought together the following specialists in international humanitarian and criminal law:
-
Danya Chaikel, Co-Vice Chair of
the IBA’s War Crimes Committee, as moderator;
- Reena Devgun of the War Crimes Unit of the Swedish Prosecution Authority in Stockholm, Sweden;
- John Balouziyeh of Dentons in Riyadh and UNAMI in Baghdad and North American Regional Forum Liaison Officer of the War Crimes Committee;
- Tom Hamilton of the University of Amsterdam, The Hague, the Netherlands;
- Kristin Rosella of Global Diligence LLP, a member of GD Alliance, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA;
- Jamie Williamson of the International Code of Conduct Association (ICoCA) based in Geneva, Switzerland.
For a summary of the session and a discussion on the general framework for corporate liability for violations of international criminal law, current cases, trends, challenges and recommendations, see the IBA’s web story covering the session at https://www.ibanet.org/IBA-War-Crimes-Committee-shines-a-light-on-corporate-liability-cases.
Following the panel, I was invited to speak on a second
panel discussing how companies can mitigate their risk of liability for human
rights violations by implementing human rights due diligences, adopting human
rights policies and participating in human rights reporting frameworks.
The panel, which was moderated by Maria Fernanda Mierez of Beccar Varela in Buenos Aires and organized by the IBA Business Human Rights Committee, brought together Nina Gardner of the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC and Lillian Rae Lindsay of Clifford Chance LLP in London. Further details and presentation materials and a reading list can be found at https://www.ibanet.org/session-details/se_100004.
