The case
This is a case that illustrates the limits of legal provisions, as well as the difficulties faced by local communities in holding the multinationals operating on their land to account. In Cameroon, the company Socapalm, which stands for Cameroonian Society of Palm Groves, has been at loggerheads with the villagers of Mbonjo (west of the country) for years. According to the population, exploitation of Socapalm’s oil palms, close to where they live, prevents them from accessing their land and visiting graves and pollutes their water supply. French businessman Vincent Bolloré, whose Bolloré Group holds a 40% stake in the parent company Société Financière des Caoutchoucs (Socfin), has been accused by the press and civil society of seeking to intimidate dissenting voices by imposing gag procedures.
The French association Sherpa, which specializes in defending victims of economic crimes, has been supporting 145 of these villagers in their legal proceedings for more than 15 years. In 2010, Sherpa filed a complaint with three National Contact Points (NCPs) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). It was aimed at the violence committed by the company Africa Security, commissioned by Socapalm, and the Cameroonian State, as well as the numerous social, environmental and land issues caused by the company’s activities. In 2013, the French NCP acknowledged breaches of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. After several months of mediation, the Bolloré Group and Sherpa agreed to implement an action plan in Cameroon to remedy this situation. This plan was not pursued, with the Bolloré Group deflecting the blame onto its partner Socfin, and the complaint was transferred to the Belgian NCP, which closed the case in 2017 without issuing a decision.
Faced with the multinational’s refusal to respect the commitments it made in 2013 to the local communities and the staff on Socapalm’s plantations, Sherpa – accompanied by a group of Cameroonian and international NGOs including the Swiss NGO Bread for All (now HEKS) – filed a lawsuit with the French courts in 2019. Bolloré argued that the agreement was confidential and could not be presented in a court. After his argument was rejected in two instances, the case was again brought before the Court of Nanterre.
At the same time, the 145 Cameroonians filed a lawsuit against Bolloré in 2021 before a French court. In December 2022, the grievances of Mbonjo’s inhabitants were partially admitted by the French judicial authorities, which ruled that Socapalm’s activities were “likely to infringe on the fundamental rights” of the plaintiffs, “in particular their right to a healthy environment”. The decision on the merits of the case has not yet been issued.
But the plaintiffs still had more problems ahead anyway. Socfin then refused to produce documents showing its links with Socapalm, which would impose a “duty of due diligence” on the French industrial giant Bolloré with regard to the activities of the Cameroonian entity.
The structure of Socfin – which is headquartered in Luxembourg – and the links with its various subsidiaries, especially in Switzerland, are particularly complex. All operational activities are grouped together in Switzerland. The group has three entities in Fribourg: Sogescol, Socfinco and Sodimex. They are tasked with marketing raw materials, providing technical assistance to plantations or supplying them with agricultural equipment. According to HEKS, these Swiss companies have “a decisive influence on the company that operates the plantation, with Sogescol even exercising de facto control since it acts as an exclusive trading partner”.
As Socfin failed to produce the documents requested by the French judicial authorities, a judge ordered it, in September 2023, to pay the plaintiffs a procedural fine of EUR 142,000. The legal battle continues.