Banana firm Chiquita Brands has been ordered to pay $38.3m (£30m) to 16 family members of people killed by a right-wing paramilitary group it funded during Colombia’s long civil war.
The decision by a federal jury in Florida marks the first time the company has been found liable in any of a number of similar lawsuits pending elsewhere in the US.
It also marks a rare finding that blames a private US company for human rights abuses in other countries.
“This verdict sends a powerful message to corporations everywhere: profiting from human rights abuses will not go unpunished,” Marco Simons, EarthRights international general counsel and one plaintiff’s lawyer, said in a statement.
“These families, victimised by armed groups and corporations, asserted their power and prevailed in the judicial process.”
“The situation in Colombia was tragic for so many,” Chiquita, whose banana operations are based in Florida, said in a statement after the verdict.
“However, that does not change our belief that there is no legal basis for these claims.”
According to court documents, Chiquita paid the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia – known by its Spanish acronym AUC – about $1.7m (£1.3m) between 1997 and 2004.
The AUC is blamed for the killings of thousands of people during those years.
Source: Skynews
