al jazeera. ♪ anchor: the u.n. special envoy in afghanistan says the country needs more money -- needs money immediately to prevent of total breakdown of its economy and social order. the governor told the un security council if afghan assets and aid payments remain out of reach, the consequences will be devastating. the first international passenger plane to leave since the end of the u.s. lead evacuation has landed in qatar. the flight carried more than 100 foreign passport holders including americans. joe biden has announced new

federal covid-19 vaccine requirements affecting as many as 100 million american workers. his political rivals, the republicans, have announced they are planning to sue the biden administration in response. the president says the rules are aimed at stopping a surge of infections field by the delta variant. pres. biden: i am announcing the department of labor is developing an emergency rule to allow all employers with 100 or more employees that together employ over 80 million workers y -- to ensure their workforces are fully vaccinated or show a negative test at least once a week. at some of the biggest companies are already requiring this. united airlines, disney, tysons food, and even fox news. the bottom line: we are going to protect vaccinated workers from unvaccinated coworkers.

we're going to reduce the spread of covid-19 at by increasing the share of the workforce that it's vaccinated in businesses all across america. adrian: the world health organization expects africa to receive 25% fewer vaccine doses than expected this year. it blames wealthy countries which it says are failing to deliver on promises to share jeff with it'll income nations. 17 people, mostly covid-19 patients, have died and severe flooding that engulfed a hospital in mexico. or than 1000 members of the national guard, emergency workers, and troops have been deployed. those are the headlines. the news continues on al jazeera after inside story. ♪

moon -- anchor: accused of funding armed groups to secure business in syria, it could face renewed charges of complicit crimes against humanity. what role do foreign companies do in fueling conflicts and could they be held accountable? this is inside story. ♪ anchor: welcome to the program. it is facing one of the most serious accusations made against the french company over its actions in syria. the paris court of appeal had dismissed crimes against humanity charges against the senate giant in 2019. that really has just been

overturned by france's -- top court. it was accused of paying thousands of dollars to isil to keep its factory open. the company left syria 2014 after isil sees his plans northeast of aleppo. it has admitted mistakes but denies allegations against it. the decision does not mean the company will automatically face trial. it referred the matter back to investigating magistrates to reconsider the charge, saying, one can be complicit in crimes against humanity even if there is no intention of being associated with the crimes committed. it added knowingly paid several million dollars for an organization, her sole purpose was exclusively criminal. suffices to constitute complicity regardless of whether

the concern was acting to pursue a commercial activity. the proceedings against at are the result of a complaint filed by the french finance ministry. 11 former syrian employees and to ngos, the company had evacuated its foreign staff when it left the country but kept syrian employees. >> we asked the company to stop but they did not. the company bears responsibility for all of those who were arrested, killed, or kidnapped. >> my nephew worked for it. he went from here to go to his work and isil arrested him and put him in jail. after four month, he went to see isil and asked about him. they opened his file and told us they executed him. hashim: it is not the first multinational to be faced with similar accusations. such cases have rarely been

brought to trial. 12 nigerians took energy giant shelter court in the u.s. for its role -- the supreme court dismissed the case in 2013, saying it did not have jurisdiction over the matter. also challenging companies suspected of concealing crimes against humanity in china's xinjiang region. ♪ hashim: let's bring in our guest in paris. we have a sociologist and professor at the university of paris in berlin. we have a legal advisor of the european center for institutional and human rights, one of the organizations that filed the complaint against lafarge. in dohan, head of center of

research and policy studies. welcome to the program. how significant is the ruling that came out from paris and the court over lafarge? guest: it is a breakthrough. it is quite surprising especially after the court of appeals decision. now two years ago. it is a very strong sign and signal toward those that think that business as usual can go on. especially on war fronts in all kind of places where wars are being wages by especially occidental and western countries. i would say it is quite striking, especially considering yesterday was the first day of the 9 month long trial of people responsible for the attacks on

november 2015 in paris. it has a very strong symbolic and political range. hashim: this has been a long ride for your organization but do you think you have reached a point where you can deal with -- say it is a matter of time before lafarge faces the main charge, complicity in crimes against humanity? guest: i would definitely say so. if it is a breakthrough, we have to see the appeals court will have to rule on whether lafarge was right in asking the consolation of discharge. we will have to see how the new appeals court will deal with this request from lafarge. it will do so bearing in mind that your interpretation of

complicity that the supreme court yesterday ruled --we can go in details about that if you want, but once the appeals court will confirm that the indictment for complicity in crimes against humanity has to be maintained, based on this new interpretation of complicity, we can hope for a trial not only on this charge of complicity for crimes against humanity but also on the other charges of financing of terrorist enterprise and endangering people's lives. hashim: it has been almost 10 years since the start of the uprising in syria and many companies have been operating in areas widely accused of colluding with groups like isil. this ruling -- does it put more emphasis now than ever on every international multinational company operating in syria? guest: absolutely right.

it shed some light on illicit business. international companies and some violent groups in syria but this particular case is unique in the sense that it is dealing with a company that has a very strong ties to the french government. if we want to put this into context, maybe we need to speak out a bit about how important this project was for france and the syrian regime. in 2008, the factory was the largest foreign investment project in syria ever, costing more than $680 million at the time. to build one of their largest and most modern factories not

only in syria but the entire middle east. the protection of the factory -- worth $0.5 million. it was a huge investment by the frenchman a joint venture between the french and businessmen appear to we are very close to that. because of this huge investment, -- the factory or leave it to be looted or dismantled by militant groups at the time so they were keen to protect it and keep it in operation. they don't want to use -- lose all the money. this was why it is a unique case in the case of lafarge. hashim: the legal team of lafarge is obvious.

they were trying to straw -- scrap the crime against humanity charge against them but the ruling came out to the other direction, where magistrates will have to reinvestigate the whole case. it could be a breakthrough as you said earlier but at the same time it could open the window for lafarge to say we are not to be held accountable for this. absolutely no strong evidence we've been doing something dodgy in syria. nacira: we will have them to argue sentence by sentence the court to stated. it makes it difficult for them. of course they can bring it to the trial very efficient and savvy groups of lawyers but they will have to face that and at a

moment where being the country and the home of the defense, what france claims to be, are in the country of human rights is something more and more into question and lafarge is giving this strong expression and exmaple of how human rights were put aside and this company, this international company that is as close size to the french state as was said, looked the other way with defending human rights. the case will be difficult for them to make, whatever they bring in terms of lawyers and money and influence also and lobbying. hashim: it is a financial goliath in europe. they have huge resources and the backing of a government. one of their key moments of the

trial was said, we have the local stuff operating in syria and it is the one that should be held responsible for any mistakes. as far as we are concerned, the type echelons of the company based in paris is nothing. how do you see that particular angle? cannelle: this argument they made is a very typical recurring argument multinationals and make to exonerate from their responsibility. they hide behind their complex structures and hide behind the fact that they -- they pretend they do not know what is happening in their subsidiaries and do not have the powers, competence, or means to stop actions abroad when they may lead to the feeling of crimes. this argument, i must say, we have refuted easily because the evidence is clear.

when it comes to payments that have been made to groups like isis, it is clear the members of the parent company in paris were not only aware of those payments but sometimes instructing them to a business subsidiary. this department does not float anymore and legally it has translated in the decision of the appeals court, which has not been put into question by the supreme court, which is lafarge's parent company is indicted for the financing of terrorism, although the payments had originated from the accounts of the subsidiary and the court indicted the parent company because it took into account the evidence and the fine, showing they were informed, but they also mentioned -- and this is a

strong element -- the appeals court mentioned because of the parent company having a strong financial and corporation of control over it subsidiary, it would make sense legally to say it cannot be held responsible for criminal payments. hashim: there is a coalition against isil. it has its own finance group and it has been trying to work outweighs to disrupt the financial flows going toward these group. do you think this case in particular can be conducive to a broader investigation with multinational companies being held accountable for shoddy businesses with isil, operating in areas in syria, particularly the northern part of the country in the southeastern part of syria? marwan: absolutely. i think maybe because usually they like this case in particular because as you know,

the americans were leading this war in order to undermined the network, the financing network of terrorism all over the world. they focus on our western countries. they keep going to the region in particular. the governments in order to undermine these networks. you are very surprised to see that some of that, the big western companies was very much involved in the business of financing isil. also, if you want to look to another aspect of this issue, this issue, you can also see the link between the french government -- i mean, there have been in line very much. [indiscernible]

syria was also considered by other countries in the region as a terrorist organization. they were relying on them to protect the company in syria. i am thinking we have to look very carefully into all sorts of business activities of these companies, not only in terms of financing but also in terms of the lens they're having with other landscape actors in the region. hashim: you spoke about the crucial timing of the ruin because it coincides at the same time with the tribe of the main suspect that killed 130 people in france in 2015. could this be a moment where the judges, the courts say, it's time to tackle this because this is a serious issue that could also ultimately have serious ramifications on lafarge itself? nacira: i think what it brings

to the picture is the complexity of what was happening back then at the beginning of the uprising in syria. the way it was repressed by the syrian state. the way isis eventually became and prevailed in syria but this means it has ramifications all across the region, all the way through the mediterranean to paris and this is also important to stress the fact that we cannot think in terms of war and terror. this era we will entered into 2001 we are still living in, without including all parts that took advantage of these wars, that raised their own prosperity on these wars, and this is something that might change the backdrop of the tryout that is

happening right now in paris and bring into the picture things that usually are kept aside or that are overlooked or that a lot of states would just want to turn a blind eye on and this has to be part of the picture now. the complexity and all of the interest that took part in what eed to the rampage and thes ndrs ahe tieg u placeg u place where the uighur community has been pery cannelle: i think we e

potential to encourage, foster, ongoing cases on corporate accountability against multinationals but also encourage other people to take initiatives like that. you were talking about the weaker case. there is also the case before the international criminal court relating to the responsibility of arms traders from european countries who persist in exporting weapons to saudi arabia and the united arab emirates although those two countries are leading the coalition that appeased systematic attacks on civilians in yemen. i think the ruling lafarge gave yesterday is going to inform the way the case will be debt -- dealt . hashim: these are companies, middlemen, people working beyond an underground. some are affiliated with huge organizations, governments, and

we have seen in the past any evidences directing toward high profile people dealing with the syrian government, isil with shipments of oil, but ultimately you don't get a sense the international community is willing to move forward and bring all these people accountable. what is the general sentiment among the syrian people when they look at these particular cases that go somehow unpunished by the international community put -- community? marwan: we need to look at that greater picture of the war economy that has been emerging over the past 10 years in which we have so many warlords and middlemen who are profiting. [indiscernible] the --we have to think about how

at this particular stage we need to focus on the transitional justice for those people who --has been destroyed i this war -- by this war and this business activities, by the warlords and by the middlemen and the companies mainly concerned about profitign off the war. at this point of the crisis, most of us are concerned about keeping the peace and reaching a comprehensive cease-fire for the conflict in syria because as you know, over the past few weeks, there has been a new confrontation in the southern part of syria and mainly in iraq. we see almost daily on bartman

of syria -- bombardment of syria. right now most are focusing on how actually to stop the conflict before dealing with the other aspects of transitional justice. hashim: you have the ethics and the greedy companies looking for profit and both come i'd most of the time but you think this could be the moment where it the momentum should be building to where rewriting of the laws internationally to put an end to the practice of these companies taking advantage of cover for their own governments? to take money from people in countries who face destruction and death? nacira: absolutely but i think

we have the tools and the means to do that. it is just that so far, this kind of international company, such as lafarge and others, just felt national and international laws were not made for them and they could just get away with it and find ways to bypass any kind of control and so the decision of the court of cassassian is most meaningful in that respect because it means they are just as any other entity and they can pull under the rule and the strength of these laws and these different bodies of jurisdiction and this is something quite striking and might open new paths for those entities and international companies relying on the laws of capitalism so

that they become accountable for the crimes they take part in. hashim: you know as a legal advisor, that would have to deal with companies operating with governments. they have loads of cash and a cover in the backing of strong governments all over the world. do you feel like we have reached the point where ngos would be more equipped and have more backing particularly from the people all over the world to put an end to the practice of greedy companies working in war zones? cannelle: we are gathering experiences and expertise on one of the obstacles that are faced on those judicial proceedings and we surely get better in anticipating those obstacles i think but when it comes to governments, they are also linked to those business activities. i think we are seeing this trend in the business and human rights

movement more and more. those cases of corporate accountability do not only involve a company usually but also have to support -- i was talking about the arms exports cases earlier. there arms exports or traders are given export licenses. we know in cases related to climate change or pollution that industrial exploitation projects have benefited from licenses. this is deftly a trend. hashim: i appreciate your insight. looking forward to talking to you in the near future. thank you too for watching. you can see -- go to our facebook page at facebook.com/ajinsidestory. join the conversation on twitter

@ajinsidestory. the entire team here in doha. bye for now. ♪ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■g ]

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