US banana giant Chiquita Brands International has been held accountable by a US federal court for funding a notorious Colombian paramilitary group, marking a historic victory for victims’ families.
Chiquita was ordered by a Southern District of Florida jury to pay $38.3 million as damages to the families of eight individuals killed by the United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia, AUC, a group featured on the US list of terrorist organisations.
In 2007, Chiquita admitted in a US federal court that it had funnelled money to the AUC for six years, arguing that this was to prevent violence against its staff and facilities in Colombia.
The US Justice Department deemed this “prolonged, regular and substantial” support a federal crime, considering the AUC’s designation as a terrorist group by the US. The company agreed to a $25 million penal fine.
The eight plaintiffs accused Chiquita of providing close to two million dollars to the AUC, and assisting in the transport of weapons and drugs.
The jury accepted the argument that this money was used to commit war crimes, including homicides, kidnappings, extortion, torture, and forced disappearances.
“This verdict sends a powerful message to corporations worldwide: those who profit from human rights abuses will not go unpunished,” commented Marco Simons, a legal expert at non-governmental organisation EarthRights International, who counselled the plaintiffs.
According to the NGO, this is the first time a large US corporation has been held responsible by a US jury for complicity in human rights abuses overseas.
Other civil cases targeting Chiquita for similar reasons, involving hundreds of plaintiffs, are still ongoing in the US.
