Facts
A Castel subsidiary in the Central African Republic was suspected of having provided financial support to rebels to secure its facilities and of having been complicit in crimes against humanity.
Procedure
In August 2021, the NGO The Sentry published a report accusing Sucrerie Africaine de Centrafrique (Sucaf RCA), a subsidiary of Société d’Organisation de Management et de Développement des Industries Alimentaires et Agricoles (Somdiaa), which is itself more than 87% owned by the Castel Group, of having negotiated in late 2014 a security arrangement with the Unit for Peace in the Central African Republic, a local militia allegedly involved in mass abuses. This security arrangement allegedly remained in place until March 2021.
In June 2022, the French specialised unit for the prosecution of international crimes opened an investigation into complicity in crimes against humanity.
In February 2026, the investigation was closed because the offenses had not been sufficiently characterised.