Orange in the Occupied Palestinian Territory The company recognizes its responsibility – the State shareholder should halt its support of Israeli settlements

| 27 May 2015
Paris, 27 May 2015 – On the day of the annual meeting of Orange shareholders, 27 May 2015, civil society organisations (NGOs and unions)* urge the company and the French State, a shareholder in the group, to intervene and put a halt to human rights violations to which they would be contributing indirectly through their business relations with Partner, an Israeli telecommunications company, which operates in the Israeli settlements that are located in settlements located in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, considered illegal by the international community.

Following the 6 May publication of a report entitled “Dangerous liaisons between Orange and its shareholder the French State,” AFPS, CCFD-Terre Solidaire, CGT, FIDH, LDH, Solidaires and the Collectif national pour une paix juste et durable entre Palestiniens et Israéliens (CNPJDPI) were pleased that on 26 May 2015, they were finally able to meet with Orange. They noted the fact that Orange recognises that having business relations with Partner poses risks to the company’s reputation. The representative of Orange recalled that an amendment was made in March 2015 to the brand-licensing agreement that would allow it to terminate the agreement in ten years. The civil society groups did not feel that this response was satisfactory. Nonetheless, the authors of the report asked Orange to publicly and explicitly state its decision to disengage and to denounce the human rights violations committed by Partner.

Civil society organisations wrote again on 7 May 2015 to the French State Holdings Agency (APE), to BPI and to the government to stress the inconsistency between the French diplomatic position and the practices of the State as a shareholder in this affair. The French State must respect its international human rights obligations and demand that Partner put an end to its activities in the settlements. If Partner does not do so, Orange should terminate its business relationship with Partner. Until now, these appeals have not been answered.

A shareholder submitted a question in writing requesting that the termination of the contract with Partner be put on the agenda of the annual general meeting of Orange this afternoon.

Read the report: “Dangerous liaisons between Orange and its shareholder the French State”

Notes
*The organisations authors of the report are:  CCFD-Terre Solidaire, FIDH (International Federation for Human Rights), Al Haq, Association France Palestine Solidarité, Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT), Ligue des droits de l’Homme (LDH), Union Syndicale Solidaires


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Press contacts:
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FIDH is an international human rights NGO representing 178 organizations from close to 120 countries. Since 1922, FIDH has been defending all civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights as set out in the Universal Declaration for Human Rights.

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