Rev. James Kuong Ninrew is the head of Assistance Mission for Africa, a leading organization in the case - courtesy

A religious leader has welcomed the charges against two executives of a Swedish oil exploration and production company for taking part in war crimes committed by the then Sudan government in Unity State.

On Thursday, two senior representatives of Lundin Energy were indicted in Stockholm, on war crimes complicity during Sudan’s civil war.

This is after a 2010 report by the European Coalition on Oil in Sudan which alleged that Lundin Oil and three other oil companies helped exacerbate the war in Southern Sudan by signing an oil exploration deal with the Sudanese government for an area the regime didn’t fully control.

That led the Swedish prosecutors to open a criminal investigation into the company six years later.

Its chairman, Ian H. Lundin, and then CEO Alex Schneiter, were informed that they were the suspects of the investigation.

Rev. James Kuong Ninrew is the head of Assistance Mission for Africa, a leading organization in the case, welcomed the charges against two executives of a Swedish oil exploration and production company.

“We are charging Lundin with the loss of human lives, loss of properties and also obtaining the area by force using the Sudan government. We are doing so on behalf of those people who have died,” Rev. James Kuong Ninrew said.

“We want to set this as a benchmark for oil companies that are operating especially in Africa and Sudan in particular to take this as a lesson that when you operate there, you need to abide by the UN rules of environment and also respect the indigenous people on that ground.

”The people of South Sudan are very happy that this is happening and this will be the first case in Europe in regard to the oil companies committing violations in Africa,” he added.

Lundin was the operator of a consortium of companies exploring site Block 5A, including Malaysia’s Petronas Carigali Overseas, OMV (Sudan) Exploration GmbH of Austria, and the Sudanese state-owned oil company Sudapet Ltd.

In 1999, the subsidiary oil firm wanted to start exploration in an area about 30,000 kilometers below Bentiu.

But they encouraged the government to take control of Block 5A for their security.

This violated a local peace deal that gave the area to SPLA, and triggered a heavy fighting that killed thousands of civilians and displaced about 200,000 others, according to observers.

Two senior members of the oil firm are accused of having connived with the Sudanese regime to orchestrate ruthless military raids characterized by lack of respect for International Humanitarian law between 1999 and 2003.

According to the Swedish court, Ian Lundin, who is the controlling family shareholder and former chief executive Alex Schneider could face up to a life sentence if found guilty.

The prosecutors in the case are also aiming to confiscate about $160m, an equivalent value of profit made by the company on the sale of business in 2003.