USA: World Bank subsidiary agrees to settlement in case alleging it financed land-grabbing and abetted murder in Honduras
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"WORLD BANK GROUP INSTITUTION AGREES TO SETTLE CASE ALLEGING IT ABETTED MURDER", 6 Dec 2023
A World Bank Group entity has agreed to a settlement with plaintiffs, including family members of seven murdered campesino farmers, to end a case alleging that it is liable for financing a notorious palm oil company’s violent land-grabbing campaign in Honduras. The settlement is pending court approval.
EarthRights International brought the case, Juana Doe v. International Finance Corporation, in 2017 on behalf of campesino families in the Bajo Aguán Valley of Honduras. They allege that they were victimized by armed agents of Corporación Dinant, which terrorized local communities to expand its profitable palm oil operations. They also allege that the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which financed Dinant’s expansion, knew or should have known that its money was abetting murder and other serious abuses. The IFC is the private corporate lending arm of the World Bank Group...
IFC’s support to Dinant included direct loans and financing channeled through the IFC Asset Management Company, an IFC subsidiary that is also a defendant in the lawsuit. That support continued from 2008 through at least 2014...
Some of Dinant’s land-grabbing has been reversed in recent years by Honduran courts and other processes. However, the Bajo Aguán Valley remains a dangerous place for those advocating for campesino rights and fighting land-grabbing.
“No community has ever successfully sued an international financial institution before,” said American University law professor David Hunter... “This is a monumental step for communities seeking accountability...”
The settlement agreement does not immediately end the case. It provides for two settlement classes consisting of thousands of community members and must be approved by the federal court before the class settlement process can be completed.