Oil fund linked to war crimes
The Norwegian Government Pensions Fund Global, better known as the Oil Fund, has ownership interests in three oil companies accused of complicity in war crimes in Sudan.
The Oil Fund has investments of around 750 million Norwegian kroner in Lundin Oil from Sweden, Austria’s OMV and Petronas from Malaysia, which, through Lundin Consortium, are accused of serious crimes in Sudan.
‘Unpaid Debt’, a report from the ECOS network, discusses the oil companies’ role in the conflict over the Block 5A oilfield in Sudan from 1997 to 2003. The report puts forward allegations that Lundin Consortium activities led to the commission of war crimes.
Atle Sommerfelt, General Secretary to Norwegian Church Aid – a member of the ECOS network – explains: “Enormous human suffering occurred as a result of the conflict over the oilfield. According to the report, the companies left Sudan with huge profits and failed to offer a single krone in compensation to victims.”
10,000 killed
The background to the case lies in the facts that 10,000 people were killed and almost 200,000 forcibly displaced in the southern region of Sudan in the period from 1997 to 2003.
The allegations have been denied by the companies. They claim that nothing new emerges in the report and that they actually helped bring peace to the region. The Council on Ethics to the Government Pension Fund, however, wishes to look into the case.
Council leader, Eli Ane Lund, in an interview with NTB, explains: “Generally speaking I can say that whenever such cases come to light, we investigate them. It can often be difficult, however, to link the companies with the actual violations concerned”.
Calls for investigation
“Our view is that the fund should not contribute to violations to the norms of international law. We not only assess what has actually happened but consider the likelihood of its happening again. However, I am not in a position to say anything about this particular case,” says Lund.
Norwegian Church Aid calls upon the Norwegian government to speak out immediately for compensation to victims and to request that the authorities in Sweden, Malaysia and Austria investigate the companies’ role in human rights violations.
“Moreover, the Government Pensions Fund Global and other Norwegian investors should make it perfectly clear that the companies concerned are expected to render all necessary information available to inquiry,” says General Secretary Atle Sommerfelt.
- Database Search
- Unpaid Debt A comprehensive overview of the role of the Lundin Consortium in the oil war. ECOS calls upon the Swedish, Austrian and Malaysian governments to investigate whether, as a matter of international law, Lundin, OMV and Petronas 'were complicit in the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity by others during the period 1997-2003.’ In response, the Swedish Public Prosecutor for International crimes opened a criminal investigation into ‘links between Sweden and the reported crimes’.
- In Depth For more specific information about the Lundin court case please visit the Unpaid Debt dossier.
