The Lundin Oil Trial – get our weekly reports from the trial

For the first time in history, the leadership of a multinational company is put on trial in a European country to answer charges of alleged complicity of war crimes in the conduct of their business activities. The accused individuals are Swedish citizen Ian Lundin, former chairman of the company, and the Swiss citizen Alexandre Schneiter, who was its former CEO. Both are charged with aiding and abetting international law violations in South Sudan in what was at the time the southern parts of Sudan. 

12,000 people are reported to have been killed, and 160,000 displaced, as Sudan’s military and allied militia groups attacked villages and settlements to protect Lundin Oil’s operations. Read more about the case here.  

Regular updates on the trial 

Civil Rights Defenders is a politically and religiously independent human rights organisation. For over forty years we have worked with human rights defenders promoting democracy and human rights in some of the most repressive countries in the world. Our experts on core international crimes are closely monitoring the proceedings and providing regular updates from the courtroom at the Stockholm District Court. A new report will be published on our website every week throughout the entirety of the trial. Read about the 11 instances where Lundin and Schneiter allegedly aided and abetted the Sudanese government and regime-led militia groups in their violations of the laws of war, why the defense claims the case should be dismissed and how the trial unfolds in the courtroom.

Through legal means

Through legal means, Civil Rights Defenders work to hold perpetrators of grave international crimes accountable and to achieve justice for the victims of such crimes. Alongside the Lundin Oil trial, we monitor and report from the trial in the case regarding serious crimes against international law and murder in Iran in the late 1980s. We have also filed criminal complaints against representatives of the Syrian regime to Swedish authorities for war crimes and crimes against humanity after the Syrian regime used sarin gas against civilians in at least two attacks; on Khan Sheikhoun in 2017 and al-Ghouta in 2013.

Civil Rights Defenders in South Sudan

After having been closely following the development of human rights for a long time, Civil Rights Defenders is now opening an office in Juba, South Sudan. There is a large number of humanitarian organisations operating in the country, but there is a need to establish a long-term presence of human rights and democracy actors. The new office is going to be run by local experts and staff to support the local human rights movement and our partners with building organisational capacity, improve the security for their staff, engaging the community, and work with ensuring accountability for those violating human rights – as in the case of Lundin Oil.

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