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bombardier

Victoria2020-09-15T11:46:39+00:00

Canadian Complicity in Jerusalem Light Rail

The following letters have been sent by the counsel for Just Peace Advocates to two Canadian companies who have been documented for their complicity in the Jerusalem Light Rail.

According to Who Profits:

WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff  a Montreal based company has a team that is responsible for the planning and the design of the Jerusalem light rail.

Bombardier  is heavily involved in the Israeli A1 fast train project. Although in 2019 Bombardier indicated it was not entering into future contracts but to date has made no indication that is is pulling out from existing contracts.

Several letters have been written to  both Bombardier and WSP during 2019, but with no response, the following letters were sent in late February 2020.  These letters have been received and signed for, but no response has been received at this time.  See the letters at below

Letter to Bombardier

Letter to WSP

Letter to Bombardier

Just Peace Advocates/Mouvement Pour Une Paix Juste

info@justpeaceadvocates.ca
www.justpeaceadvocates.ca

page1image317191264 page1image317191552 page1image317191840 page1image317192128

February 20, 2020

Alain Bellemare, President and CAO, Bombardier Inc. Danny Di Perna, President, Transportation
Pierre Beaudoin, Chair, Board of Directors, Bombardier Inc.

 

Dear Mr. Bellemare, Mr. Di Perna and Senior Management & Board of Directors at Bombardier & Bombardier‐Transportation

We are writing to you with regard to Bombardier’s past involvement in a proposed project to expand and operate an Israeli tramway linking settlements in the occupied West Bank. Just Peace Advocates has been monitoring the human rights situation in the occupied West Bank and is concerned that the proposed project may facilitate activity that constitutes a war crime under international law. Both Just Peace Advocates and Al‐Haq have written to you during 2019 but received no responses.

The light rail system links settlements to each other and to Jerusalem, thus entrenching and further facilitating Israel’s colonial expansion in the occupied territory. The International Court of Justice has ruled that Israel’s continued expansion of its network of Israeli settlements into Palestinian territory is in violation of Article 49, paragraph 6 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and thus a war crime under international law [1]

We understand that Bombardier has decided to drop out of the tender to build the next phase of the Jerusalem light rail, joining Australia’s Macquarie and Germany’s Siemens in this regard. However, we also understand that Bombardier had a previous contract in place to provide light rail transit equipment for the Jerusalem light rail. We ask whether Bombardier’s withdrawal from the next phase of tender includes the cancellation of any contracts currently in place to provide equipment and/or other services to the same project.

We also note Bombardier’s announcement of June 2019 of an agreement to sell 74 more coaches to Israel Railways. We ask you to confirm that this transaction is not in connection with any project to build a rail connection to any illegal Israeli settlements in occupied territory.page1image317430624 page1image317430912 page1image317431200

If Bombardier has not already done so, we urge you to take all steps necessary to ensure that your company’s activities are in compliance with international law governing war crimes by ending all association with projects connected to unlawful Israeli settlements. We remind you that in Canada, parties that are complicit in war crimes are liable to criminal prosecution under the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act [2], including corporations.[3]

We further remind you that, ever since the Quebec Superior Court’s decision in Bil’in (Village Council) c. Green Park International Inc.,[4] it is also possible for a corporation to be held liable in a civil lawsuit in Canadian courts for complicity in a war crime. Although the Bil’in case was dismissed on jurisdictional grounds, Canadian courts in recent years have shown increasing willingness to assert jurisdiction over the overseas activities of Canadian companies where violations of human rights and international law are concerned,[5] and it is far from certain that the same result would obtain now.

We would be grateful for any information you could provide us in response to the questions above. If you would like to discuss the matter further we are available for a meeting in your Montreal office.

Sincerely

James Yap
Counsel for Just Peace Advocates

Copied: Karen Rodman, Executive Director, Just Peace Advocates Susan Powers, Head of Advocacy and Legal, Al Haq

page2image3538009328 page2image3538009696

1 Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Advisory Opinion (Int’l Ct. Justice July 9, 2004), 43 ILM 1009.

2 S.C. 2000, c. 24.
3 R.S.C., 1985, c. C‐46, ss. 22.1‐22.2.
4 2009 QCCS 4151 at para. 176.
5 See e.g. Garcia v. Tahoe Resources Inc., 2017 BCCA 39; Araya v. Nevsun Resources Ltd., 2017 BCCA 401 (pending appeal on different issue).

Letter to WSP

Just Peace Advocates/Mouvement Pour Une Paix Juste

info@justpeaceadvocates.ca
www.justpeaceadvocates.capage1image317191840 page1image317192128

 

February 20, 2020

Ryan Brain, CEO President, WSP
Christopher Cole, Chair of Board, WSP

Dear Mr. Brain and Mr. Cole:

We are writing to you with regard to WSP’s involvement in Israeli rail projects in the occupied West Bank. Just Peace Advocates has been monitoring the human rights situation in the occupied West Bank and is concerned that the projects may facilitate activity that constitutes a war crime under international law.

The Israeli light rail system links settlements to each other and to Jerusalem, thus entrenching and further facilitating Israel’s colonial expansion in the occupied territory. The International Court of Justice has ruled that Israel’s continued expansion of its network of Israeli settlements into Palestinian territory is in violation of Article 49, paragraph 6 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and thus a war crime under international law.[1]

We understand that WSP, through the former Parsons Brinckerhoff unit, has been contracted to provide services with respect to A1 train line project between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, which crosses the Green Line into occupied Palestinian land, as well as the Jerusalem Light Rail that services illegal settlements such as French Hill and Pisgat Ze’ev.

If WSP has not already done so, we urge you to take all steps necessary to ensure that your company’s activities are in compliance with international law governing war crimes by ending all association with projects connected to unlawful Israeli settlements. We remind you that in Canada, parties that are complicit in war crimes are liable to criminal prosecution under the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act,[2] including corporations.[3]

We further remind you that, ever since the Quebec Superior Court’s decision in Bil’in (Village Council) c. Green Park International Inc.,[4] it is also possible for a corporation to be held liable in a civil lawsuit in Canadian courts for complicity in a war crime. Although the Bil’in case was dismissed on jurisdictional grounds, Canadian courts in recent years have shown increasing willingness to assert jurisdiction over the overseas activities of Canadian companies where violations of human rights and international law are concerned,[5] and it is far from certain that the same result would obtain now.

We ask what measures WSP has taken to ensure that its activities in connection with the aforementioned Israeli rail projects are not facilitating war crimes under international law. We would be grateful for any information you could provide us in response to this question. If you would like to discuss the matter further we are available for a meeting in your Montreal or Toronto office.

Sincerely

James Yap
Counsel for Just Peace Advocates

Copied: Karen Rodman, Executive Director, Just Peace Advocates Susan Powers, Head of Advocacy and Legal, Al Haq

1 Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Advisory Opinion (Int’l Ct. Justice July 9, 2004), 43 ILM 1009.
2 S.C. 2000, c. 24.
3 R.S.C., 1985, c. C‐46, ss. 22.1‐22.2.
4 2009 QCCS 4151 at para. 176.
5 See e.g. Garcia v. Tahoe Resources Inc., 2017 BCCA 39; Araya v. Nevsun Resources Ltd., 2017 BCCA 401 (pending appeal on different issue).

The letter writing link is here

See earlier article by Al Haq


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