How it All Started

 In the first episode of the Lundin War Crimes Trial, we meet two experts who take us back to when it all began. What was the connection between oil and the war in Sudan? How did Lundin’s search for oil affect the people who lived in the area and how did the world react to the crimes that were committed?

 Participants:
•    Dr Leben Moro, Director of Planning, Innovation and Quality Assurance at the University of Juba.
•    Marina Peter, the founder of the European Coalition on Oil in Sudan, the network that stood behind the Unpaid Debt report.

 Host:
 •    Halima Athumani

 Background:
This is the Lundin War Crimes Trial, that is brought to you by Pax and Global Idé. The music in this podcast is made by the artist JJ Kang and edited by Roos Boer, producer and editor Kajsa Sörman. Visit unpaiddebt.org for more background and updates from the trial. There you may also listen to more interviews with victims and experts, read expert analysis, an interactive map of attacks in Lundin’s concession area and access background information about the case.

This is the Lundin War Crimes Trial, a podcast series produced by PAX and Global Idé about the case against the Swedish company Lundin, that has been charged with complicity in war crimes in South Sudan from 1999 to 2003.

Thousands of people were forced to leave their homes and an estimated 12 000 people lost their lives.

Can a Swedish court bring them justice?

Resources on unpaiddebt.org:

•  Read the report: Unpaid Debt, 
• Read more about the actors in the conflict, 
• Look at the map to uncover where the crimes were committed, 
• Read more about the Lundin concortsium, 
• More reports and background

 Who are we:
The European Coalition on Oil in Sudan (ECOS) was established in 2001, following a call from Sudanese churches and civil society to end the oil war. ECOS called upon oil companies to suspend their operations in Sudan until the war would be over and the conditions would allow that oil exploitation to benefitted the country. Between 2001 and 2012, ECOS represented over 50 European organisations and carried out research and advocacy on oil in Sudan on their behalf. The coalition produced a dozen studies and advocated with governments and the business sector to promote that Sudan’s oil wealth would contribute to peace and prosperity. One of them is Unpaid Debt.

When Sudan and South Sudan separated in 2011, the priorities of the members of ECOS shifted and ECOS gradually ceased to function. The Dutch peace movement PAX has since then followed the case closely together with the Swedish NGO and think tank Global Idé.

Find more information here.