Justice for apartheid economic crime: Start with the bankers

Justice for apartheid economic crime: Start with the bankers Today many civil society organisations jointly call on the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to crack down on corporations who assisted the apartheid state and profited from economic crimes under apartheid. To date they have escaped any accountability for their crimes in supporting and sustaining apartheid –…

MEDIA STATEMENT- Apartheid Banks: UN human rights experts call for reform of international corporate accountability mechanisms

Open Secrets and the Centre for Applied Legal Studies | 29 April 2020 | Open Secrets and the Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS) share a common goal of holding businesses accountable for their complicity in crimes against humanity which includes the crime of apartheid. On 27 April 2018, CALS and Open Secrets laid a…

Apartheid and bank complicity case: UN expert urges reform of OECD review mechanism to protect human rights

Statement – United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner | GENEVA | 27 April 2020 | OECD Member States should consider establishing a mechanism to prevent conflict of interest of their National Contact Points (NPC’s) corporate review process to strengthen the procedure and its credibility. Conflicts of interest must be prevented in order…

België weigert witwasconstructies KBC tijdens apartheid te onderzoeken

Stef Arends | Orig jaar dienden twee Zuid-Afrikaanse ngo’s klacht in tegen KBC Groep. Die bank voerde grootschalige witwasoperaties uit ten tijde van het apartheidsregime, en zorgde daarmee dat een internationaal wapenembargo decennialang kon worden omzeild. Het OESO-contactpunt voor ethisch internationaal ondernemen weigert de klacht echter in behandeling te nemen. De apartheid zou te lang…

NGOs disappointed with decision not to probe apartheid banks

ENCA | JOHANNESBURG Two NGO’s say they are disappointed with a decision not to investigate banks for allegedly supporting the apartheid government. The Center for Applied Legal Studies and Open Secrets submitted a complaint about the role of European banks during apartheid. Tumelo Matlawa from the centre for applied legal studies says they have evidence…

European Authorities Refuse to Investigate Apartheid’s Banks

MEDIA RELEASE 31 July 2019 EUROPEAN AUTHORITIES REFUSE TO INVESTIGATE APARTHEID’S BANKS More than one year after submitting a complaint detailing the role of European banks in supporting and profiting from apartheid, CALS and Open Secrets have been informed that authorities in Belgium and Luxembourg are refusing to investigate these economic crimes. With no clear…

#ApartheidBanks: Still Waiting For Justice

Shaazia Ebrahim | A number of international banks funded the apartheid regime and its military through credit. It has been one year since Open Secrets, along with the Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS), demanded accountability from the international banks in Belgium and Luxembourg that financed apartheid. The organisations submitted a complaint to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) National Contact Points (NCPs)…