{"id":154455,"date":"2026-01-20T13:26:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T12:26:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/?p=154455"},"modified":"2026-04-02T12:30:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T10:30:59","slug":"carl-bildt-oil-peace-and-contradiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/154455-carl-bildt-oil-peace-and-contradiction.html","title":{"rendered":"Carl Bildt: oil, peace and contradiction"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cI do not recall.\u201d The recurring phrase ran through his testimony, on January 15. While the testimony of Carl Bildt, a leading politician in Sweden, failed to provide decisive clarification in the Lundin trial, it did shed light on the mechanisms used to limit liability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

On 18 June 2001, just after nine o\u2019clock in the evening, Carl Bildt sits down to write an email to the board of the Swedish oil company he has just been elected to. The subject line reads \u201cBoarding Meeting in Stockholm,\u201d and it is addressed to Ian Lundin and Alexandre Schneiter \u2013 both senior executives of Lundin Oil, now accused of complicity in war crimes<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bildt served as Prime minister of Sweden (1991\u20131994), and later became its Foreign affairs minister (2006\u20132014). He was invited to join the board in the spring of 2000 after several NGO reports had accused the company over its Sudan concession and the consequences of oil exploration during the civil war. His international contacts could help the board in finding solutions in relation to the conflict and provide knowledge of the local political context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEnergy issues are generally quite political, and the Lord has placed the resources in areas that are at times problematic,\u201d Bildt has explained when describing his role on the board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bildt writes that he sees \u201cmore signs that things are heading in the wrong direction.\u201d He says that the Sudan People\u2019s Liberation Movement (SPLA), in rebellion against the government of Sudan, \u201care making gains in their offensive and the regime will respond. I have not heard of problems in the oil areas, but we can expect a large influx of refugees.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He adds that the SPLA rebels will likely try to strike at oil installations, and that the company must be prepared both \u201con the ground\u201d and in the media, since they are their \u201creal targets.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next morning, on 19 June at 09:07, Bildt writes a new email saying that \u201cthe company must not be seen as a defender of the government,\u201d because Sudan\u2019s army \u201chas bombed indiscriminately\u201d and attacked a location where the United Nations distributes food to refugees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A minute later, at 09:08, Ian Lundin replies that he agrees with Bildt\u2019s assessment and writes that \u201cthe propaganda in the West is coordinated\u201d with the rebels\u2019 \u201cattacks on the oil areas,\u201d and that the government army will now probably have to carry out certain offensive measures to \u201cmaintain some kind of stability in the area.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The exchange is a small part of the evidence contained in the 80,000-page preliminary investigation that forms the basis of the longest trial in Swedish history<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most high-profile witness<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For more than two and a half years, courtroom 34 at Stockholm District Court has been occupied three days a week by one of the most far-reaching criminal proceedings ever held in Sweden. The so-called Lundin trial<\/a> concerns allegations that oil exploration in what was then southern Sudan between 1999 and 2003 was facilitated through serious violations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over time, the daily grind of hundreds of hearings has thinned media attendance. But on the morning of 15 January 2026, journalists once again filled the courtroom to capacity. The reason was the testimony of, by far, the most high-profile witness to appear so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI, Carl Bildt, solemnly declare and affirm on my honour and conscience that I will speak the whole truth and conceal nothing,\u201d he said as he took the stand, before being reminded that he was testifying under criminal liability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bildt is not accused of any crime. Nor is he the most central witness in a case that includes more than sixty testimonies, 32 plaintiffs and a decade-long investigation. Yet his appearance crystallized one of the trial\u2019s core questions: how far does responsibility extend when corporate activity intersects with armed conflict?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Carl
On Thursday, 15 January 2026, the Lundin trial courtroom, usually deserted by the press, saw journalists rush in to hear an internationally renown witness: Carl Bildt, former Prime Minister, Foreign Minister of Sweden, and former member of the board of Lundin Oil. Photo: \u00a9 Blankspot<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A witness called by the prosecution<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The defendants are former executives of Lundin Oil, now Orr\u00f6n Energy after the sale of its oil and gas assets. Prosecutors allege that the company\u2019s operations in Block 5A were made possible through military campaigns carried out by Sudanese government forces and allied militias \u2013 campaigns that involved war crimes against civilians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prosecution\u2019s legal theory<\/a> is one of aiding and abetting. Under international criminal law, this does not require direct participation in the crimes themselves, but knowledge that one\u2019s conduct contributes to their commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is in this context that Bildt\u2019s testimony matters. As a board member during part of the relevant period, prosecutors argue, his knowledge is relevant to what the company\u2019s leadership knew \u2013 or chose not to know \u2013 about events on the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked whether he bore responsibility for the company\u2019s activities, Bildt replied it was about \u201ctaking responsibility together for the decisions of the board\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From a country at war to a narrow operational corridor<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When Bildt sat down before the judges, Sudan initially appeared in his account as a vast and complex country at war. Over the course of the day, that landscape steadily contracted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prosecutors presented incident logs, UN assessments and NGO reports documenting aerial bombardments, village burnings and forced displacement across Block 5A. Bildt responded by drawing a firm boundary around what he considered relevant knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBlock 5A is large,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat happened in all parts of the block, we could not possibly have an understanding of. We could only have an understanding of those parts where we could see things with our own eyes. That lies in the nature of things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again and again, he described events outside as occurring \u201ca good distance away\u201d, \u201cearlier\u201d, or in areas where the company had no presence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked whether he had been in Block 5A, Bildt answered \u201cboth yes and no\u201d. He described flying in a small aircraft from Khartoum but being unable to land in Rubkona because the airstrip was flooded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom the air, I still got a sense of the character of the area,\u201d he said, adding that whether this counted as having been there was \u201ca matter of definition\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI do not recall\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A recurring phrase ran through the testimony: I do not recall<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bildt said he did not remember reading a 1999 report by M\u00e9decins Sans Fronti\u00e8res documenting widespread aerial bombings of civilian targets in southern Sudan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When confronted with internal security logs describing attacks on oil installations, ambushes on company contractors and bombings attributed to government forces, his response was equally consistent: \u201cNo, I was not informed of this,\u201d he said after one such incident was read out. \u201cI will testify about what I know, and this I did not know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t

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At one point, prosecutors presented a detailed incident from February 2000, in which the Lundin\u2019s owned Thar Jath drilling rig<\/a> was bombed with a 500-pound bomb followed by twelve artillery shells. According to the log, the Sudanese army claimed responsibility, explaining it had bombed \u201cthe wrong coordinates\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI see that the army says it made a mistake,\u201d Bildt responded. \u201cBut this was not something that was reported to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked about a separate incident \u2013 on 29 February 2000, a truck that belongs to the company hired by Lundin to build the oil road is attacked, 13 people are killed and several others are injured \u2013 Bildt also says that he received no information about this either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI found it remarkable how few security incidents there were,\u201d Bildt said. \u201cI had some experience of conflict areas, and there was \u2013 I must say \u2013 unusually little of that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLocal conflicts\u201d and shifting loyalties<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As prosecutors pushed further, Bildt repeatedly framed violence as the result of local dynamics rather than state policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere were clashes in the area between militia groups,\u201d he said after reading a log describing armed confrontations. \u201cIt is difficult to know exactly where this is on the map.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked whether he was aware that militias were uniting to fight government forces, he replied: \u201cThat is not particularly remarkable. SPLA was opposed to the army \u2014 that was the core of the conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a document from March 2000 referring to plans by government forces to \u201cburn the rebels out\u201d south of Bentiu was put to him, Bildt responded: \u201cThat the military was involved in the war could be read in the newspapers. That was not remarkable. Starting fires \u2013 no.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Internal reports and \u201chypothetical reasoning\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Prosecutors also presented weekly reports from Lundin\u2019s local manager, Ken Barker, sent to Geneva and describing the security situation in Block 5A as \u201ccondition BLACK\u201d \u2014 the most severe classification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am not familiar with this document,\u201d he said when one was read out in court. \u201cBut it is not strange that the army was present \u2014 nor that they wanted the road to be completed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minutes from a board meeting noting that \u201csecurity problems\u201d had made it impossible to complete the work programme also failed to jog his memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo I remember this? The answer is no,\u201d Bildt said. \u201cBut if you suspend operations, that costs money.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then prosecutors presented the first corporate social responsibility report commissioned by Lundin, outlining three strategic options for Sudan: \u201cbusiness as usual\u201d; withdrawal; or continued presence combined with cooperation with NGOs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bildt read the document carefully before concluding: \u201cThis is hypothetical reasoning. It is not a description of what was \u2014 but of what could be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe area\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The most consequential moment came when prosecutors asked Bildt to clarify what he meant by \u201cthe area\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is Rubkona, Bentiu, and the road down towards Thar Jath,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pressed further on whether bombings could have occurred in parts of Block 5A where the company did not operate, Bildt replied: \u201cThat I would be certain of, if I had heard about it. And I did not hear about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the end of the day, the term \u201cLundin area\u201d had acquired a precise meaning: not the legal concession known as Block 5A, but a narrow operational corridor defined by roads, airstrips and facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe use \u2018Lundin area\u2019 in different senses,\u201d Bildt said under questioning. \u201cBy \u2018Lundin area\u2019, I mean where we actually were and where we could see what was happening \u2013 not Block 5A as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Oil was a factor for peace\"<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Throughout his testimony, Bildt returned to a broader narrative: that oil could be a force for peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI informed the leadership,\u201d he said of his meetings with Sudanese officials. \u201cWhat was obvious to me was that oil was a factor for peace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aerial bombardments, he said in one meeting with Sudanese negotiators, were \u201cuseless\u201d \u2014 a remark he later clarified in court as meaning \u201cmilitarily meaningless\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From a civilian perspective, he added: \u201cIt is obviously not good to be bombed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet prosecutors pointed to emails in which Bildt warned that oil installations were \u201creal targets\u201d and acknowledged that oil extraction risked exacerbating the conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reading one such email (read below) aloud in court, Bildt remarked spontaneously: \u201cIt is well formulated.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A case beyond Sweden<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The lawyer of Lundin, Torgny Wetterberg, presented Bildt with a document dated 24 July 2002, containing a report that summarizes all the meetings Bildt held in Nairobi and Sudan during a \u201cfact-finding mission.\u201d The list shows that he met with SPLA-affiliated aid organizations, Americans, the then President of Sudan Omar al-Bashir, and many other actors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked what they gained from these meetings, Bildt replies that he gained knowledge of the conflict and that \u201cthe allegations that appeared in the reports did not recur in the conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWestern eyes and ears in the area were stabilizing. No one said that we should leave, and steps were taken toward some form of peace,\u201d Bildt says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the memorandum summarizing Bildt\u2019s trip, it is stated that his conclusion was that \u201cno army wants to fight a war it cannot win.\u201d It also notes that revenues from oil were not as large as many believed at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Point four notes that none of the people Bildt spoke with wanted the company to leave, though representatives from the South wanted operations to be suspended. Bildt also notes that the local population wanted engagement from the oil companies for an increased pressure on the regime to allow humanitarian actors access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bildt\u2019s testimony did not resolve any central issues in the Lundin case. Instead, it illuminated the mechanics by which responsibility can be narrowed \u2014 not by denying that atrocities occurred, but by redefining where they are deemed relevant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the end of the hearing, Block 5A had been reduced from a vast concession in a war-torn region to a road, a town and a handful of sites visible from the air.<\/p>\n\n\n

\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t
Recommended reading<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t
\"In<\/div><\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\tEyes from Space in Lundin\u2019s Trial\r\n\t\t<\/a>\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI do not recall.\u201d The recurring phrase ran through his testimony, on January 15. While the testimony of Carl Bildt, a leading politician in Sweden, failed to provide decisive clarification in the Lundin trial, it did shed light on the mechanisms used to limit liability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":151,"featured_media":154470,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2801],"tags":[3078,2769,2683],"ji_location":[2481,2495],"class_list":["post-154455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-universal-jurisdiction","tag-lundin","tag-politics","tag-war-crime","ji_location-south-sudan","ji_location-sweden"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCarl Bildt: oil, peace and contradiction<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u201cI do not recall.\u201d The recurring phrase ran through his testimony, on January 15. 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