A federal trial has begun in Manhattan against French banking giant BNP Paribas, accused of facilitating Sudan's government human rights violations from 1997 to 2011 by providing banking services in violation of U.S. sanctions, marking a rare case where a global bank faces a jury over such claims.

The class-action lawsuit, filed in 2016 by an estimated 20,000 Sudanese refugees now in the U.S., alleges BNP Paribas knowingly enabled the regime of former dictator Omar al-Bashir to access U.S. financial markets and petrodollars, funding abuses including murder, mass rape, torture, and genocide in Darfur and other regions.

The U.S. recognized the Darfur conflict as genocide in 2004. BNP Paribas, which pleaded guilty in 2014 to sanctions violations involving Sudan, Iran, and Cuba and paid $8.97 billion, denies responsibility for the abuses, arguing they predated and continued after its involvement.

U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein ruled in April 2024 that the case could proceed to trial, finding "too many facts" linking the bank's actions to the atrocities but dismissing punitive damages under Swiss law.

The trial, revived by a 2019 appeals court after an initial dismissal, is expected to last 10 weeks. Plaintiffs' lawyers, including Kathryn Lee Boyd and Michael Hausfeld, represent survivors; BNP Paribas is defended by Gibson Dunn & Crutcher and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton.

On September 11, BNP Paribas told the jury that plaintiffs cannot prove the bank contributed to al-Bashir's actions, which killed around 200,000 in Darfur from 2003-2005 and displaced two million, per the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Al-Bashir, ousted in 2019, faces International Criminal Court charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.

The case, overseen by Judge Hellerstein, has drawn Swiss government criticism as an affront to sovereignty, given BNP's French-Swiss ties. No compensation from the 2014 fine went to victims. Opt-in deadline for plaintiffs is July 1, 2025, via kashefvbnpp.com.