The indictment of Vinci Constructions Grand Projects (VCGP) concerning the use of forced labour on its Qatari construction sites has been confirmed by the French Supreme Court. Sherpa, the initiator of the complaint alongside the Comité Contre l’Esclavage Moderne (Committee against Modern Slavery) and several former workers, welcomes this important step towards access to justice for former workers.
Ten years after the initial complaint by Sherpa, the highest French court has rejected VCGP’s appeal, thereby upholding its indictment for reduction to servitude, forced labour, working and housing conditions incompatible with human dignity and the obtention of services in exchange for remuneration that is clearly unrelated to the extent of the work performed.
Although the Investigating Chamber had already upheld the indictment issued by the investigating judge, the multinational had requested its annulment. It argued that the indictment should be withdrawn because of an alleged excess of powers of the investigating judge, and because there was no concordant or serious evidence that the French company – as opposed to its Qatary subsidiary – may have committed these offences. None of these arguments were upheld by the court.
Laura Bourgeois, Litigation and Advocacy officer at Sherpa, explains: “By ruling that the French investigating judge did not overstep their authority, the Court definitively allows the investigation to proceed on all the alleged offences.” According to her, “By confirming the French judge’s power to investigate the actions of the multinational, the Court is sending a very positive signal in the fight against corporate impunity.”
In 2014, Sherpa was able to hear testimonies in Qatar on the working conditions of certain constructions sites operated by the Qatari subsidiary of Vinci. These included working in 45° C heat with insufficient water or shade, the withholding of passports, having to pay considerable amounts of money to recruitment agencies, fainting, insufficient access to showers in accommodations, lack of adequate food, etc.
This decision will bring us one step closer to the trial that we have been waiting for so long. It is time for these debates to happen and for the company to be tried,
In 2023 and 2024, for the first time, former workers were officially heard by the French judiciary. This step, supported by Sherpa, was a key moment for the plaintiffs after more than 10 years of legal proceedings.
One of the former workers recently died from a heart attack, like many other workers in the region before him (1). His family has decided to continue pursuing his claim, and to join the case as a civil party.
For more information : presse@asso-sherpa.org
