Spain’s Public Prosecutors have opened an investigation against the Basque railway manufacturer CAF following a complaint filed by six pro-Palestinian organisations for its involvement in the Jerusalem Light Railway, which connects Israeli settlements in occupied territory.
The complaint, filed on 18 February with the Human Rights Unit of the Public Prosecutor’s Office and represented by the Guernica 37 Centre, is directed against the Board of Directors of CAF and the heads of six subsidiaries. The denouncing organisations are NOVACT, the Palestinian Community of Catalonia, the Committee for Solidarity with the Arab Cause, ODESCA, Peace with Dignity and SUDS. The Public Prosecutor’s Office agreed to include it in the pre-trial investigation proceedings opened in the National High Court on alleged violations of international law in Gaza.
CAF has been involved since 2019, despite the initial refusal of its workers, in the project through the joint venture TransJerusalem JNet Ltd., in which it owns 50% together with the Israeli construction company Shapir, with a contract valued at 1.8 billion euros.
The Basque company extends the Red Line, builds the new Green Line and operates and maintains both lines with contracts of between 15 and 25 years. Both CAF and Shapir are listed in the UN Human Rights Council’s database of companies linked to activities in illegal Israeli settlements.