Are ECAs liable for funding of slavery tainted enterprises?

(20 Essex Street, London, 2 February 2019) A recent UN report with recommendations to advance efforts to eradicate modern slavery has mentioned, amongst other examples, the direct or indirect involvement of a state in the commission of offences via ECA funding of slavery-tainted enterprises. For example, the Guardian has reported that the US Export Import Bank provided $315m in taxpayer-supported financing over the past decade to a company that has supplied equipment to African mines accused of slave labor, human rights violations and environmental destruction. The Eritrean mine is being investigated by a Canadian court.