Banana giant Chiquita Brands must pay $38.3 million to 16 families of individuals killed during Colombia’s long civil war by a violent right-wing paramilitary group funded by the corporate, a jury in a federal court in Florida has ruled.
The verdict by a jury in West Palm Beach on Monday is the primary time the corporate has been found liable in one among several similar cases pending in other U.S. courts, plaintiffs’ lawyers said. It also marks a rare find that blames a personal US company for human rights violations in other countries.
“This ruling sends a strong message to companies everywhere: profiting from human rights abuses will not go unpunished. These families, victims of armed groups and companies, have asserted their power and prevailed in court,” said Marco Simons, general counsel of EarthRights International and a plaintiff’s attorney, in a press release.
“The situation in Colombia has been tragic for so many,” Chiquita, whose banana operations are based in Florida, said in a press release after the ruling. “However, this does not change our belief that there is no legal basis for these claims.”
According to court documents, Chiquita paid the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) roughly $1.7 million between 1997 and 2004. The AUC is blamed for the murder of 1000’s of individuals during those years.
According to court documents, Chiquita insisted that its Colombian subsidiary Banadex made the payments only out of fear that the AUC would harm its employees and operations.
Reacting to the ruling on social media, Colombian President Gustavo Petro questioned why the U.S. justice system could “judge” paramilitary groups funded by Chiquita, while judges in Colombia had not ruled against the corporate.
“The 2016 peace agreement … provides for the establishment of a tribunal to reveal legal truths. Why don’t we create one?” Petro posted on X, referring to the yr the civil war ended.
The ruling followed a six-week trial and two days of deliberations. EarthRights’ lawsuit was originally filed in July 2007 and was joined with several other lawsuits.
“Our clients risked their lives to hold Chiquita accountable, putting their trust in the U.S. legal system. I am very grateful to the jury for the time and care they took in evaluating the evidence,” said Agnieszka Fryszman, one other attorney within the case. “The verdict does not bring back the husbands and sons who were killed, but it sets things right and places responsibility for terrorist financing where it belongs: on Chiquita’s doorstep.”
In 2007, Chiquita pleaded guilty a U.S. criminal charge of engaging in business with a foreign terrorist organization – AUC was designated as such a corporation by the State Department in 2001 – and agreed to pay a $25 million advantageous. The company was also required to implement a compliance and ethics program, in keeping with the Justice Department.
