A group of South Sudanese and European organizations have formally complained with the Norwegian National Contact Point (NCP) that Aker BP’s acquisition of Lundin Energy breaches the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, Norway’s golden standard for responsible business conduct.
The complainants submit that Aker BP and Aker ASA did not consider the human rights consequences of their acquisition and are depriving Lundin Energy of the means to repair the colossal harm it has inflicted on people in South Sudan. Consequently, they argue that Aker BP and Aker ASA are obliged to ensure that Lundin Energy’s debt to the victims of war crimes will be paid.
According to the Swedish public prosecutor, Lundin Energy has been complicit in systematic attacks on civilians with ground and air forces, massive destruction of property, the use of hunger as a weapon of war, other hideous crimes. Thousands of people died as the consequence of Lundin Energy’s request to the Sudanese armed forces to secure its operations during a cruel civil war. Lundin Energy made a fortune in South Sudan during the war and showed no concern for the fate of the population.
Aker BP’s acquisition of Lundin Energy’s oil an gas business will leave the latter without the means to come clear with its South Sudanese legacy, denying victims of war crimes their right to redress. Nevertheless, Aker BP’s shareholders, including Aker ASA, approved the acquisition on 5 April 2022. Shortly after, the Government of Norway unconditionally approved the dubious transaction. Due to Aker BP’s decision, Lundin Energy’s shareholders, most notably the family Lundin, will be able to forever disconnect their wealth from the crimes that helped to make them rich.
