Hundreds of Yazidi Americans, led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nadia Murad, have filed a lawsuit against the French cement company Lafarge, accusing it of conspiring to provide financial support for a campaign of violence conducted by the extremist organization ISIS in Iraq and Syria. According to the lawsuit filed in a federal court in New York, Lafarge "provided assistance and incited the international terrorism perpetrated by ISIS and conspired with ISIS and its intermediaries, and they must compensate the survivors."
Lafarge pleaded guilty in a U.S. court in October of last year to charges of paying money to groups classified by the United States as terrorist entities, including ISIS, to enable the company to continue operations in Syria. Lafarge, which became part of Swiss company Holcim in 2015, agreed to pay $778 million in forfeiture and fines as part of the plea agreement.
Amal Clooney stated in a statement, "It is shocking that a leading global company operated alongside ISIS while ISIS was executing American civilians and committing genocide against the Yazidis." When Lafarge pleaded guilty in a U.S. court last year, Holcim noted in a statement that none of the behaviors were related to Holcim "which has never operated in Syria, or any of Lafarge's operations or its employees in the United States, which starkly contrasts with everything that Holcim represents."
In 2016, the United States determined that ISIS committed genocide against Christians, Yazidis, and Shia Muslims. UN investigators also stated in 2016 that ISIS was committing genocide against the Yazidis in Syria and Iraq to destroy the religious group consisting of 400,000 individuals through murder, sexual slavery, and other crimes. The lawsuit against Lafarge states: "Before, during, and after the time that ISIS carried out these brutal attacks on the Yazidis, the defendants were paying and conspiring with ISIS."
