NGOs call on SNCB to halt train order with Spanish company over activities in Palestine
A group of NGOs have called on Belgian train operator SNBC/NMBS to halt negotiations with CAF on a multi-billion-euro order because the Spanish manufacturer is active in the occupied Palestinian territories. UN rapporteur Francesca Albanese supports the call.
The four groups – 11.11.11, Vrede vzw, Al Haq Europe and Intal – say CAF should be excluded from the public tender procedure for the building of new trains because the Basque company has been involved since 2019 in the construction and maintenance of a tram line connecting Jerusalem with illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory.
According to the organisations, this is not only unethical, but also contrary to international law.
“You cannot sign a contract with a company that is deeply involved in occupation politics,” Willem Staes, Middle East specialist at Belgian NGO 11.11.11, told De Standaard.
The groups are intervening in proceedings before the Council of State. Previously, the French and German manufacturers Alstom and Siemens brought a case because they did not agree with the decision by the SNCB board to designate CAF as the preferred bidder.
The order for new AM30 trains is worth at least 1.7 billion euros, which could rise to 3.4 billion. Alstom and Siemens have also submitted bids.
"You cannot sign a contract with a company that is deeply involved in occupation politics"
It is unusual for NGOs to intervene in a tender procedure. In a joint statement, they argue that the case sets “a crucial precedent for holding public institutions accountable for their economic ties with companies involved in serious violations of international law”.
Human rights organisations and politicians including federal MP Staf Aerts of Groen have already criticised CAF for its involvement in Israeli projects in the occupied Palestinian territories.
In July, UN rapporteur Francesca Albanese named the company in her report on companies developing infrastructure “that is crucial for the establishment and expansion of the settlements (...), while excluding and segregating the Palestinians”. She is now also asking the SNCB to stop negotiations on the train order.
The case will be heard by the Council of State next week. Alstom and Siemens primarily contest the assessment and methods used to award the tender, but CAF’s activities in the occupied territories will also be discussed.
Human rights violations
Meanwhile, the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund, the world’s richest, has sold its shares in US construction equipment maker Caterpillar, citing human rights violations in Gaza, AFP reports.
“There is no doubt that Caterpillar products are being used to commit widespread and systematic violations of international humanitarian law” in the territory that has been at war for nearly two years, the fund said in a statement.
Powered by Norway’s huge energy revenues, the fund is worth nearly 2 trillion dollars. It was one of Caterpillar’s top 10 shareholders, holding 1.2 per cent of its capital, or 2.4 billion dollars.
A train manufactured by Spanish company CAF in Paris © PHOTO STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP
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