"Victims hopeful that Lundin Petroleum will pay its dues"

There is good news about South Sudan coming from Sweden. Lundin Petroleum’s Ian Lundin and Alex Schneiter are being questioned by the Swedish police for possible complicity in war crimes. For the first time in history, a competent court may soon be looking into war crimes that were committed in Sudan and South Sudan. Sweden is thereby showing true leadership. The investigation is an exemplary effort to seek accountability for corporate complicity in human rights abuses.

A court case however has limitations. Sweden cannot hold Sudanese or South Sudanese suspects to account, and it cannot easily deliver remedy to the victims. The indicted individuals represent only a segment of those who have benefitted from Sudan’s oil war, that earned Lundin Petroleum a fortune, while options for victims to obtain compensation through legal means are onerous and uncertain at best. Nonetheless, the victims of the oil war are starting to claim their right to effective remedy. Now is the time for the Swedish Government and Lundin Petroleum’s shareholders to take responsibility and realize this right.