Apartheid victims sue international banks

South African apartheid victims have launched multi billion pound actions against international banks which dealt with the racist regime.

Standing at the site where police killed her brother decades ago, Lulu Petersen says her family is suing so it can finally get justice.

Ms Petersen's brother Hector was 12 when he was killed during the Soweto uprising 26 years ago.

She says: "We want reparations from those international companies and banks that profited from the blood and misery of our father and mothers and our brothers and sisters."

The Petersen family is one of four apartheid victims suing Citigroup, the largest financial institution in the US, and Swiss banking giants UBS and Credit Suisse.

Lawyers for the victims hope hundreds of thousands of people will join the action, which is seeking billions of pounds in reparations.

They also plan to add many more companies to the list of those being sued.

The suit against Citigroup is expected to be filed in New York by Ed Fagan, an American lawyer best known for his efforts to win compensation from Swiss banks for Holocaust victims.

He plans to argue that the banks helped the white-dominated regime, which was struggling as foreign capital fled the country.

Mr Fagan will say that the banks provided loans and other business deals worth billions, even after the country was placed under a United Nations embargo.