Showing posts with label Lundin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lundin. Show all posts

Sunday, December 31, 2023

South Sudan: Grieving Sudanese confront Swedish oil giant Lundin for its "complicity in grave war crimes"

IN November 2021 the Swedish Prosecution Authority (SPA) charged two executives of Lundin Energy, a Swedish oil exploration and production company, for "complicity in grave war crimes" in Sudan from 1999 to 2003. 


Lundin Oil was a key player in war-torn Sudan between 1991 and 2003, when it exited Block 5A. It quit the country fully in 2009, two years before the country split into South Sudan — which holds most of the oil — and Sudan, through which the south's oil is exported. 


Military forces from the south were originally charged with providing security around Lundin Oil's assets when the company started operations in 1997, said the SPA, claiming that a militia group allied to the Khartoum government tried to take control of Block 5A, but failed, although its attacks led to "great suffering" among civilians. Read more in four reports below.

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From The Observer, Sweden
By MIRANDA BRYANT in Stockholm
Dated Sunday, 31 December 2023, 05.00 GMT - here is a copy in full:

They attacked us. They displaced us: grieving Sudanese confront Swedish oil giant over their days of slaughter


A historic trial, which will call on 61 witnesses worldwide, is expected to set a precedent for global corporations in foreign jurisdictions


George Tai Kuony George, centre, attends a meeting in Juba, Sudan, with victims of the Lundin Oil’s exploration. Photograph: Handout

Before the arrival of Lundin Oil in the town of Leer, now part of South Sudan, life there was peaceful, says George Tai Kuony. His childhood was that of a “typical village boy”, driving cattle, helping his family and going to school. But in June 1998, when he was 15, armed forces entered the town and changed his life for ever.


He fled, became separated from his family and hid for seven days before he was able to return. “When we got there, Leer wasn’t the town I had left seven days ago,” says the 40-year-old lawyer and human rights defender. “Everything was burned down, everything was destroyed. I could see the bodies of dead people lying in the street.” As a result of the conflict, he lost his father, and later his mother and one sibling.


At the time, he says, the community had no idea why people were fighting. They had never heard of the Swedish oil company. Now, a quarter of a century later, Kuony hopes that he and the other victims will get justice as two former executives of the company go on trial in Stockholm accused of aiding and abetting war crimes in Sudan between 1999 and 2003.


In Sweden’s largest-ever trial, Ian Lundin, a Swede, and Alex Schneiter, who is Swiss, stand accused of asking Sudan’s government to make its army and allied militia responsible for security at one of Lundin Oil’s exploration fields. This led to aerial bombings, civilian killings and the burning of entire villages, according to the prosecution. Both men deny the charges.


The trial, which follows a decade-long investigation, hundreds of interviews and an 80,000-page report by the prosecution, started in September. But its most significant moments are expected in 2024, when 61 witnesses – including victims, Lundin employees, former UN staff and high-profile politicians – are due to appear. They include Carl Bildt, the former Swedish prime minister, who sat on the company’s board for five years until becoming the country’s foreign minister.

Sudanese rebel soldiers march to the front close to newly-developed oil fields in the south of Sudan. Photograph: Reuters


“My life has never been the same,” says Kuony, speaking to the Observer from South Sudan’s capital, Juba, where he now lives. “Oil came to our area: it should have been a blessing. It should have been for the benefit of the community.” Instead, there was “a massacre. They wanted us dead. They wanted us to go away.”


Kuony has been trying to get justice since 2006, when the group unsuccessfully sought redress at a court in Sudan. He hopes the trial, whatever its outcome, will set a new legal precedent for global corporations working in foreign jurisdictions, sending a “very strong message” that they cannot act with impunity. “That one day they will be prosecuted in the same way.”


But the victims have already been dealt a significant blow. Ebony Wade, a legal adviser at Stockholm-based human rights organisation Civil Rights Defenders, said Stockholm district court’s decision in November to separate the plaintiffs’ damage claims from the criminal trial would make it “significantly harder” – if not impossible – to have their cases heard, and would considerably delay the justice process.


While the plaintiffs’ testimonies were still expected to be included in the criminal trial, she said, this could push the civil claims back until the criminal trial was over, which would not be until February 2026. However, May 2024 will be a historic moment: for the first time the court will hear the experiences of plaintiffs and victims from South Sudan.


“It’s incredibly rare for corporate executives to be held accountable for grave human rights violation,” says Wade. “For the first time, the leadership of a multinational company is being put on trial in a European country on allegations that they were complicit in war crimes in the conduct of their business activities.”


She adds: “There are very few opportunities for victims of grave international crimes to seek redress, so in that sense this is an incredibly important trial.”

‘What made me sorry is that people came to the church seeking safety and were not able to get it’: Reverend James Ninrew Dong outside the district court building in Stockholm.


Rev James Ninrew Dong, of the Presbyterian Church in South Sudan, fled Leer after religious buildings were targeted. The priest, who is a witness and a plaintiff in the case, said he felt compelled to testify: “They attacked us. They displaced us. What made me sorry is that people came to the church seeking safety and were not able to get it. They were also displaced.”


For him, the case demonstrates the different standards applied by European companies operating in Africa. “Sweden is the champion of peace in the whole of Europe and this is where the Nobel prize is always done,” he says. “We were surprised to see that some citizens of the same country do not even care and do not even listen to what the history is.”


For the case to finally be in court is a relief, he adds. “Can they do that in Norway? Can they do that in Sweden? Can they do that in any of the European countries? Of course no – the answer is no.”


View original: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/31/sudanese-confront-swedish-oil-giant-over-their-days-of-slaughter 

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Related Reports


Sudan Watch - November 20, 2021

'Complicity' in war crimes alleged: Top Lundin Energy executives charged over Sudan legacy

The Swedish Prosecution Authority (SPA) has laid criminal charges, including "complicity in grave war crimes", against Lundin Energy chairman Ian Lundin and director Alex Schneiter, related to the company's legacy operations in Sudan. 

Pictured in 2009: The Thar Jath oilfield lies in Block 5A in South Sudan. It was discovered in 2001 before South Sudan's independence and before Lundin Energy sold its stake in the block Photo: AFP/SCANPIX

https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2021/11/complicity-in-war-crimes-alleged-top.html

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Sudan Watch - November 19, 2021

Swedish oil executives charged with complicity in Sudan war crimes

SWEDEN has charged two executives (pictured below) of a Swedish oil exploration and production company for complicity in the military's war crimes in Sudan from 1999 to 2003. Full story here below. 

https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2021/11/swedish-oil-executives-charged-with.html

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Sudan Watch - June 04, 2019

Military takeover in Sudan: 

A timeline of key events in Sudan’s unfinished revolution

Click on this USAID 2001 Sudan Oil and Gas Concessions Map to see Block 5A in Unity State, South Sudan.


https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2019/06/military-takeover-in-sudan-timeline-of.html


ENDS

Saturday, November 20, 2021

'Complicity' in war crimes alleged: Top Lundin Energy executives charged over Sudan legacy

Full copy of news report published at Upstream Online.com

Written by IAIN ESAU in London 

Dated 11 November 2021 14:22 GMT UPDATED  17 November 2021 16:08 GMT

'Complicity' in war crimes alleged: Top Lundin Energy executives charged over Sudan legacy

Swedish Prosecution Authority lays charges against chairman Ian Lundin and director Alex Schneiter after 11-year investigation into historic operations of Lundin Oil

Pictured in 2009: The Thar Jath oilfield lies in Block 5A in South Sudan. It was discovered in 2001 before South Sudan's independence and before Lundin Energy sold its stake in the block Photo: AFP/SCANPIX


The Swedish Prosecution Authority (SPA) has laid criminal charges, including "complicity in grave war crimes", against Lundin Energy chairman Ian Lundin and director Alex Schneiter, related to the company's legacy operations in Sudan.

Lundin Oil was a key player in war-torn Sudan between 1991 and 2003, when it exited Block 5A.

It quit the country fully in 2009, two years before the country split into South Sudan — which holds most of the oil — and Sudan, through which the south's oil is exported.

The SPA said Lundin Oil was active in Sudan when control of oilfields in the country's southern region became a contentious issue in a long-running civil war.

The SPA — which began its probe into the company's Sudan activities in 2010 and has now generated an 80,000-page report — said the two men are "suspected of having been complicit in war crimes committed by the then Sudanese regime with the purpose of securing the company’s oil operations in southern Sudan".

Lundin 'refutes' charges

The Stockhom-listed independent said it "refutes that there are any grounds for allegations of wrongdoing by any of its representatives", stressing that both executives "strongly deny the charges and have the full support of the board in contesting them at trial".

Lundin Energy said in a statement today the charges against its chairman and director refer to periods of operations in Sudan running between 1999-2003 and 2000-2003, respectively.

The charges include claims against Lundin Energy involving a forfeiture of economic benefits of about SKr1.39 billion ($159 million) and a corporate fine of SKr3 million.

This forfeiture represents a gain of SKr720 million the company made when selling its Sudanese business in 2003.

The prosecution said the company was actively exploring Block 5A in Unity State, which eventually became one of the areas worst affected by the war.

Military forces from the south were originally charged with providing security around Lundin Oil's assets when the company started operations in 1997, said the SPA, claiming that a militia group allied to the Khartoum government tried to take control of Block 5A, but failed, although its attacks led to "great suffering" among civilians.

Khartoum-militia protection

In 1999, the SPA said that Sudan's military, together with the same militia group, led operations to take control of the area and create the necessary conditions for the company to continue its activities, leading to a conflict that was still underway when Lundin Oil quit the block in 2003.

The SPA believes Sudan's government, through its military and the militia allied to the Khartoum regime, carried out a war that conflicts with international humanitarian law and, according to Swedish law, constitutes grave war crimes.

Systematic attacks

Public prosecutor Henrik Attorps, SPA's head of the Sudan probe, said: ”In our view, the investigation shows the military and its allied militia systematically attacked civilians or carried out indiscriminate attacks. Consequently, many civilians were killed, injured and displaced from Block 5A.”

Chief public prosecutor Krister Petersson, alleged that directly after the military went into Block 5A in May 1999, in breach of a local peace agreement, "Lundin Oil changed its view of who should be responsible for security around the company’s operations", requesting from Sudan's government that its military should undertake this role, "knowing that this meant" the use of "force."

"Complicity"

He said: "What constitutes complicity in a criminal sense is that (the company) made these demands despite understanding or... being indifferent to the military and the militia carrying out the war in a way that was forbidden according to international humanitarian law.”

The SPA alleges that Ian Lundin and Schneiter "continued to promote crimes that the (Sudan) military and its allied militia were to commit to enable continued oil operations until March 2003."

"Comprehensive" evidence

The SPA said its evidence is "comprehensive" and centres on civilians who were attacked.

"We will also hear witnesses who followed and studied the situation in Sudan and... met refugees and heard their stories. We will rely on written reports from the area, primarily from the UN and other international organisations as well as from journalists who observed the area”, said public prosecutor Karolina Wieslander.

In terms of support for its allegations of complicity in war crimes, the SPA said this consists of Lundin Oil's internal reporting, its communications with Sudan's government and witnesses connected to the company.

In total, the SPA said it has carried out about 270 interviews with about 150 people.

As a result of these charges, Ian Lundin will not stand for re-election as chairman at Lundin Energy's 2022 annual general meeting, but both he and Schneiter will remain board directors.

"Incomprehensible decision"

Commenting on the charges, Ian Lundin said: “This is an incomprehensible decision by the SPA since it is not supported by any evidence in the investigation, a situation that has not changed for the last 11 years.

"I know that we have done no wrong and that we will ultimately prove this in court."

He was placed under investigation by the SPA in 2016 and interviewed for the first time a year later.

Lundin Energy said it is "extremely concerned about the fairness, reliability and legal basis of the investigation and about the credibility and accuracy" of reports from a non-governmental organisation "that seem to form the basis of the prosecution case."

While the company did not name the NGOs, Amnesty International and Christian Aid have both published reports on the Sudan conflict.

"No evidence"

"In the company’s firm opinion," said Lundin Energy, "there is no evidence linking any representative to the alleged primary crimes and this will be fully demonstrated at trial."

The company said it is "firmly convinced" it was a positive force for development in Sudan and operated there "responsibly", as part of an international consortium, and in "full alignment" with the policy of constructive engagement endorsed by the United Nations, European Union and Sweden at the time."

"No legal basis" to fines and forfeitures

Lundin Energy said it will "firmly contest the claims for a corporate fine and forfeiture."

The company said the forfeiture amount is less than announced by the SPA in 2018, and believes "there is no legal basis for any such claim."

Lundin Energy pointed out that the SPA's decision to lay charges is another step in a lengthy legal process that may take "many years" to reach a conclusion. (Copyright)

View original: https://www.upstreamonline.com/people/complicity-in-war-crimes-alleged-top-lundin-energy-executives-charged-over-sudan-legacy/2-1-1097152

Friday, November 19, 2021

Swedish oil executives charged with complicity in Sudan war crimes

SWEDEN has charged two executives (pictured below) of a Swedish oil exploration and production company for complicity in the military's war crimes in Sudan from 1999 to 2003. Full story here below.

Note, in this site's sidebar there is a USAID 2001 Sudan Oil and Gas Concessions Map. Click on title above the map to view a larger version and see Block 5A. Also, in the sidebar there is a search box. Type in the words 'Darfur oil' to read related reports in the archive of this 18-year-old site. 

Full copy of article published at India Express.com 
Dated 11 November 2021 07:08 PM  
Written by The Associated Press (AP) 
Sweden charges two oil executives for war crimes in Sudan 


COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) - Sweden has charged two executives of a Swedish oil exploration and production company for complicity in the military's war crimes in Sudan from 1999 to 2003, including in its dealings with the country's regime to secure the company’s oil operations in the African nation. 

The two, who were not identified by the Swedish Prosecution Authority, had “a decisive influence” on the business of Stockholm-based Lundin Oil AB in Sudan, the prosecutors said, adding one was indicted for complicity for the period May 1999-March 2003, and the other for the period October 2000-March 2003. 

Lundin Oil later became Lundin Petroleum and is now known as Lundin Energy. 

From 1983 to 2005, Sudan was torn apart by a civil war between the Muslim-dominated north and Christian south. 

A separate conflict in Darfur, the war-scarred region of western Sudan, began in 2003. Thousands of people were killed and nearly 200,000 displaced. 

A 2010 report by an activist group, the European Coalition on Oil in Sudan, alleged that Lundin Oil and three other oil companies helped exacerbate the war in southern Sudan by signing an oil exploration deal with the Sudanese government for an area the regime didn’t fully control. That led the Swedish prosecutors to open a criminal investigation into the company.  Six years later, its chairman, Ian H. Lundin, and then CEO Alex Schneiter, were informed that they were the suspects of the investigation. 

Lundin was the operator of a consortium of companies exploring site Block 5A, including Malaysia’s Petronas Carigali Overseas, OMV (Sudan) Exploration GmbH of Austria, and the Sudanese state-owned oil company Sudapet Ltd. 

Our ”investigation shows that the military and its allied militia systematically attacked civilians or carried out indiscriminate attacks," Public Prosecutor Henrik Attorps said in a statement. In a reaction, Lundin spokesman Robert Eriksson said the Swedish prosecutors decision to issue charges was “incomprehensible" and called the investigation “unfounded and fundamentally flawed." 

“Both Ian and Alex strongly deny the charges, and we know that Lundin did nothing wrong. There is no evidence linking any representatives of Lundin to the alleged primary crimes in this case," said Eriksson, head of Lundin's media communications, said. 

After the Sudanese military went into Block 5A in May 1999, Lundin Oil “changed its view of who should be responsible for the security around the company’s operations,” the prosecution said, and added that the company requested that the military should now be made responsible for the security, knowing that this meant that the military would then need to take control of Block 5A via military force. 

"What constitutes complicity in a criminal sense is that they made these demands despite understanding or, in any case being indifferent to the military and the militia carrying out the war in a way that was forbidden according to international humanitarian law”, the Chief Public Prosecutor Krister Petersson said. 

Eriksson said that Lundin operated in Block 5A “responsibly, as part of an international consortium, and in full alignment with the policy of constructive engagement endorsed by the United Nations, European Union and Sweden at the time.” 

The authority said that there also was a claim to confiscate an amount of 1.4 billion kronor ($161 million) from Lundin Energy AB, which, according to the prosecutor, is the equivalent value of the profit of 720 million kronor ($83 million) which the company made on the sale of the business in 2003. 

”It is important that these serious crimes are not forgotten. War crimes are one of the most serious crimes that Sweden has an international obligation to investigate and bring to justice," Attorps said. 

Photo: Sweden Flag (Photo | AFP) 


PHOTO CREDIT: the above photo of the two oil executives is from a Financial Times.com report dated 11 Nov 2021 entitled 'Swedish oil executives charged with complicity in Sudan war crimes' - Lundin case is first prosecution of corporate bosses for such serious offences since Nuremberg trials: https://www.ft.com/content/8fd015a3-622f-4741-86ca-97d462f3ed9d

1. Charged: Lundin Energy chairman Ian Lundin. Photo: LUNDIN ENERGY

2. Charged: Lundin Energy director Alex Schneiter Photo: STIAN LYSBERG SOLUM/NTB/SCANPIX

3. Pictured in 2009: The Thar Jath oilfield lies in Block 5A in South Sudan. It was discovered in 2001 before South Sudan's independence and before Lundin Energy sold its stake in the block Photo: AFP/SCANPIX


PHOTOS: the three photos cited above can be viewed in a report at Upstream: https://www.upstreamonline.com/people/complicity-in-war-crimes-alleged-top-lundin-energy-executives-charged-over-sudan-legacy/2-1-1097152


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