#Amesys case brought before French justice - FIDH press release
Seven months after the complaint filed by FIDH and LDH, a judicial
investigation has been opened within the Paris TGI Court (Tribunal de
Grande Instance) for complicity in acts of torture in Libya aiming at
establishing the role of the engineering company Amesys, a subsidiary
of the French firm Bull. The judicial inquiry is being made by a new
unit specialising in war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide
at the Paris TGI.
Amesys is accused of selling the Libyan government surveillance
equipment that provided the technology necessary for the regime to
identify, arrest and then torture political opponents.
This judicial inquiry should make it possible to determine the exact
role played by Amesys and its leadership in Libyan torture, and more
generally, to revisit the question of the criminal responsibility of
companies in human rights violations.
In a press release dated September 2011, Amesys explained that it had
indeed signed a contract with Libya under Qaddafi “in an international
context linked to diplomatic rapprochement”. Amesys, a subsidiary of
Bull, is now officially in the justice system’s line of fire. FIDH
wishes this case to set an example that will make businesses shoulder
their responsibility to respect human rights.
investigation has been opened within the Paris TGI Court (Tribunal de
Grande Instance) for complicity in acts of torture in Libya aiming at
establishing the role of the engineering company Amesys, a subsidiary
of the French firm Bull. The judicial inquiry is being made by a new
unit specialising in war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide
at the Paris TGI.
Amesys is accused of selling the Libyan government surveillance
equipment that provided the technology necessary for the regime to
identify, arrest and then torture political opponents.
This judicial inquiry should make it possible to determine the exact
role played by Amesys and its leadership in Libyan torture, and more
generally, to revisit the question of the criminal responsibility of
companies in human rights violations.
In a press release dated September 2011, Amesys explained that it had
indeed signed a contract with Libya under Qaddafi “in an international
context linked to diplomatic rapprochement”. Amesys, a subsidiary of
Bull, is now officially in the justice system’s line of fire. FIDH
wishes this case to set an example that will make businesses shoulder
their responsibility to respect human rights.
Note: Amesys won a 2 million US dollar contract in December 2011 to deliver
highly sophisticated spying material to Morocco.
