I. INTRODUCTION
On 13th March 2001, Christian Aid published a report entitled “Scorched Earth: Oil and War in Sudan” (Scorched Earth). This was published four-months after they had the opportunity to directly engage with Lundin about their allegations but chose not to. Christian Aid’s report contains serious and wide-ranging allegations against Lundin and other oil companies operating in Sudan. Examination of its content reveals serious flaws in its methodology that render the document unreliable and inappropriate for use in a criminal investigation or trial.
Allegations contained within Scorched Earth were wholly contradicted by reports commissioned or produced by the Company. From the moment of publication of Scorched Earth, Lundin acted transparently and encouraged visits to its Sudanese area of operations so that those concerned couldsee for themselves the true state of affairs. These invitations were not accepted.
As a campaigning organisation with a mission to “challenge and change the structures and systems that favour the rich and powerful over poor and marginalised”, Scorched Earth sets out its aims.ccxc Oil companies were viewed as guilty adversaries from the outset and its report an advocacy tool.
II. LUNDIN’S RESPONSE
Following publication of Scorched Earth, Lundin conducted an investigation into the allegations. The Company also forthwith issued its existing “Policy on Sudan” and welcomed a government inquiry.ccxci These actions were soon followed by a request to the Government of Sweden to undertake a fact-finding visit to Sudan.ccxcii
On 22nd March 2001, Lundin enabled a Christian Aid representative, Mark Curtis, to participate in its Board of Directors’ meeting held by telephone. In March and April, the Company invited journalists to visit Block 5A to assess the situation for themselves. One of these trips was undertaken by Lundin’s CEO and the independent journalist Bengt Nilsson. Another trip was undertaken by the Company’s Head of Investor Relations together with journalists Anna Koblanck and Paul Hansen from Dagens Nyheter.
The Company’s findings following a fact-finding mission in Sudan were published in the report “Lundin Oil in Sudan” on 16th May 2001.ccxciii This report addressed comprehensively the allegations made by Christian Aid in Scorched Earth, key extracts from which are set out in Annex 2.
On 17th May 2001, Lundin held its Annual General Meeting in Stockholm and invited the Governor of
Unity State, John Dor, to report upon the fact-finding mission he had undertaken in relation to the key provinces named in the Scorched Earth report, namely Leer, Mayom, Rubkona and Pariang. John Dor had met “individual and [held] group audiences with tribal chiefs, local officials, politicians, and militia commanders.”ccxciv He noted that various NGOs and “government opponents” had produced reports “based on hearsay and unreliable sources” observing that the only truth to “be unearthed” is “if somebody visits the area.” In relation to the Lundin’s construction of the All Weather Road, he said “this road has brought life back to the southern part of the state that was virtually cut off completely. New villages, schools and Kraals have sprung up along the road. Old ones came back to life.” He claimed NGOs and health workers could now move freely, that a bus service had been established and that an immunisation program against measles and Polio had been facilitated by the road in Leer, Mayom and Pariang. He referred to the fact that Lundin “in cooperation with the state government ha[d] set a comprehensive rehabilitation program for schools, water wells, hospitals and electricity power stations in the southern province”, even before the Company had exported “a single barrel of oil”, which it never did.
John Dor dismissed allegations of forced displacement and said it was for “fear of Peter Gadet [that] many citizens prefer to take refuge in Bentiu or Rubkona towns temporarily.” He referred to the “feverish campaign against oil companies” which in the end “may end up harming the very people everybody claims to have a moral responsibility to represent.” He concluded by stating that “peace will not come to Sudan because Lundin Oil is given pressure to quit, peace will come to Sudan if Lundin is allowed to extend basic health services, basic education and training, basic social infrastructures to the people in the area.”
Lundin further responded to the allegations in Scorched Earth in the spring of 2001 in a number of press releases, letters to shareholders, maps and other communications, based on its first-hand experience and investigations in Sudan. At the same time, the Company offered assistance to any incoming investigation team.
Christian Aid declared in Scorched Earth that “all oil exploration and production” should stop “until a just peace is negotiated”, a request not endorsed by other international entities.ccxcv Lundin explained in the Lundin Oil in Sudan report in 2001, that none of the international bodies involved with Sudan at the time recommended a cessation or suspension of oil operations. As explained in the report: “Withholding oil revenues means withholding from the Sudanese people chances to become more self-sufficient. The international community will never be able to give enough to solve the problems of Sudan. The Sudanese can only count on their own resources, which they can develop with the assistance of foreign companies, to solve the poverty and the ills connected to it.”ccxcvi
III. INSUFFICIENT INVESTIGATION: SIX INTERVIEWEES, NO LINKAGE EVIDENCE, BIAS AND ANONYMOUS SOURCES
Scorched Earth made generic allegations against all oil companies in Sudan. In the Lundin section of the report, Christian Aid relies on only a handful of interviews from biasedccxcvii and un-named sourcesccxcviii who provide no linkage evidence to the Company. Aside from four individuals, the report relies on: (i) a press release issued by the Company, which refers to the discovery of oil;ccxcix and (ii) a press article from a Vancouver publication called “Business Wire”.ccc Surprisingly, Christian Aid did not, at any time, seek to visit Lundin in Block 5A or its office in Geneva.
While NGOs may justify the inclusion of anonymous sources in their reports, the resulting information is not suitable as evidence in court proceedings as it cannot be tested or effectively challenged.
The interviews have no details or records of substantiation. No information is provided of the qualifications of the individuals engaged to interpret the interviews, nor of the accuracy of the ccounts provided. There is no ability to test whether the interpreter conducted the work fairly and without bias. Neither have dates of contact with Christian Aid researchers been provided, nor how information was collected and the protocols, if any, which were adhered to when carrying out the interviews. The identity of the interviewers and their competence to conduct the interviews is unknown. No information is provided as to the duration of any of the interviews or how individuals were selected. No information is provided as to the steps taken, if any, to verify the true identity of the interviewees. There is no information as to whether any of the interviewees were ever offered an opportunity to confirm what had been attributed to them.
There is no reference within the report or the footnotes to indicate whether verbatim records of the interviews conducted were made and thereafter, retained. There is no information about how the transcription of the interviews was conducted and whether interview records were translated into English. Much of the information provided is unverified hearsay of unknown degree, reliability and/or origin. Particularly problematic is the report’s reliance on newspaper articles and other unverified, secondary sources such as NGO reports. Most of the claims made in the report are uncorroborated. There is no indication within the report that the claims made have ever been independently verified.
IV. CHRISTIAN AID’S PARTNERS SUPPORTED THE SPLM/A
Amongst Christian Aid’s partners in Sudan, were the New Sudan Council of Churches, the Sudanese Councils of Churches and the Sudanese Relief and Rehabilitation Agency, all of which had direct links or associations with the SPLM/A.ccci The SCC was expressly referenced as advocates in the Scorched Earth report.cccii The SCC was opposed to the oil industryccciii and called for the withdrawal of oil companies from Sudan in a statement issued in late 2000.ccciv None of these partners were impartial about the conflict and the reasons for its continuation in southern Sudan.cccv This politically influenced partnership has inevitably impacted the impartiality of the report.
As discussed in Chapter 3, the NSCC was founded in 1991 as an ecumenical organisation to serve Christians in the SPLA-controlled areas.cccvi It was opposed to oil companies operating in souther Sudan.cccvii In 1995, the NSCC wrote a letter to the oil company Arakis urging them to “disinvest in Sudan”, stating that it is “only when the nation is in peace that a conducive atmosphere for investment can become meaningful not only for investors but also for the nation and its people.”cccviii
In October 1999, the NSCC sent letters to the co-chairs of IGAD following the NSCC Roundtable “to stress the negative impact of sales of oil from the Bentiu oil fields on the conflict in the South and the unequal sharing of revenues. It called for support to the initiative of the United Council of the Church of Canada for the setting up of a Trust Fund (Escrow Account) to receive and hold the revenues for Sudan in trust until there be a just and credible peace when payment to be made distributed fairly between North and South.”cccix
Over the years, academic commentators have noted the connections between the NSCC and the SPLM/A.cccx Volker Riehl, in his article entitled “Who is Ruling South Sudan? The Role of NGOs in Rebuilding Socio-Political Order” explained the following: “NSCC is clearly on the side of the SPLM-SRRA. The Chairperson of the SPLM/A, John Garang, once called the NSCC the “spiritual wing of the Movement” and referred to the SPLM as its “civil wing.’’cccxi
Reports from the year 2000 show that Christian Aid financially supported the NSCCcccxii and provided funding for the NSCC’s “People-to-People” peace conferences in Sudan that began in 1999.cccxiii The SPLA provided security for at least one of these conferences.
Christian Aid’s partners in Sudan were not in any sense, impartial. Each had its own clearly stated political agenda in framing it as a conflict over oil resources, which permeate the report.cccxiv Crucially, in terms of transparency, none of these connections were laid bare in Scorched Earth.
V. UNRELIABILITY: VAGUE GEOGRAPHICAL REFERENCING AND LIMITED TRAVEL TO REBELCONTROLLED AREAS
Scorched Earth contains only generalised statements about the movement of people as exemplified in this extract:
“In visits to Western Upper Nile in August and November 2000, Christian Aid found thousands of Nuer civilians displaced from villages along this road, hundreds of miles away in Dinka Bahr el-Ghazal.’cccxv
These non-specific claims provide no substantive facts or information to establish the causes and exact timing of the alleged displacement. Bahr al-Ghazal is a separate region, where conflict and displacement, were caused by many factors, entirely unrelated to the operations of the oil companies. A report of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN (FAO) records that in 1998 Bahr el-Ghazal was the site of one of the worst famines in recent history. In December 2000, the FAO issued a press release that 3,000,000 people in southern Sudan were facing serious food shortages because of civil war and an emerging drought.cccxvi The visit of the FAO to Bahr el-Ghazal took place in November 2000, the same month as Christian Aid were apparently there, and its report describes continued fighting in the region as exacerbating the drought conditions. The FAO report of 2001 details Sudan as having suffered two years of serious drought and natural disasters from famine to floods, that caused the massive displacement of peoples.cccxvii The FAO does not attribute the displacement of people to the activities of the oil companies. Unlike Christian Aid, the context it provides for the displacement of peoples is that of civil war, famine, and drought.
Western Upper Nile is an area the size of the Netherlands (77,283 sq. km)cccxviii and is difficult to traverse even in the absence of insecurity.cccxix Bahr el-Ghazal is over 200,000 sq. km in size. There is however no detail in Scorched Earth as to the precise locations of the researchers’ visits in August and November 2000. Neither is any reference made to the logistical difficulties that would have been met when travelling around Bahr el-Ghazal, given the insecurity at that time and the inhospitable conditions of travel that were well known in this region.cccxx In the preparation of the report, Christian Aid did not travel to Block 5A and did not visit the Company’s places of work. Christian Aid’s researchers travelled only to rebel-controlled areas.
VI. UNRELIABILITY: THE REPORT’S ALLEGATIONS ARE FROM BIASED SOURCES
A significant number of allegations are based on information provided by two individuals, both of whom were involved in the conflicts in southern Sudan, namely Taban Deng Gai and Peter Gadet, the source for Amnesty International. Neither are impartial or reliable sources for the reasons set out below. For ease of reference, an extract of the allegations expressly attributed to Taban Deng Gai and Peter Gadet in Scorched Earth, some of which relate to other oil companies, is set out in Annex 3.
Taban Deng Gai was the former governor of Unity Statecccxxi who, in 2020, was added to the US Sanctions list “for his role in serious human rights abuses”.cccxxii The late Peter Gadet was a militia commandercccxxiii and a well-known point of contact for information for NGOs and journalists.cccxxiv Prior to South Sudan’s independence, he was on the Board of advisors of the Jarch Management Group,cccxxv which obtained oil concessions in large areas of South Sudan. Gadet was placed on the EU’s sanctions listcccxxvi following reports of atrocities committed in 2014. See Annex 4.
He was also added to the US sanctions list in May 2014 for “the targeting of civilians and fomenting
ethnic violence”, which the US State Department said were “contributing to the mounting humanitarian and human rights catastrophe unfolding in South Sudan”.cccxxvii In 2000, he was alleged by Amnesty International to have “used child soldiers well below the age of 18 in combat.”cccxxviii In 2002, one of the main researchers and writers of Scorched Earth, Julie Flint, relied on Peter Gadet as a source of information in a later article in The Guardian: “Oil Fuels Flames of War in Sudan.” In “Dying for Oil”, from September 2002, Julie Flint interviewed Peter Gadet and described him as a charismatic leader with a great ability to gather his troops. The extent to which either or both individuals provided background information or supplied witnesses to Christian Aid or its partners for the purpose of researching Scorched Earth is currently unknown. Furthermore, the extent to which Julie Flint was dependent on Peter Gadet for access to the area and her safety is not detailed anywhere in the report. Notably, no specific dates of interviews with either of these individuals are provided.
The partiality of Julie Flint as an SPLM/A sympathiser is revealed in the obituary she wrote in The Guardian when SPLM/A leader John Garang died in 2005. She described Garang as a symbol of dignity and hope for change. She stated the following in relation to the SPLA:
“The SPLA evolved – slowly, and not always surely – from its origins as a brutal, Soviet supported, insurgency towards a movement more genuinely representative of all Sudanese who craved Garang’s “new Sudan” – a secular, pluralist, democratic nation dominated by southerners and marginalised northerners.”cccxxix
It is noteworthy that by the time the report was published, the SPLM/A had been in various states of conflict with the Government of Sudan and other factions intermittently for decades. No side could be considered impartial. Notwithstanding these obvious concerns, Christian Aid proceeded to rely on these biased sources to ground their allegations against oil companies. Ultimately, Christian Aid explicitly took a stand for the Christian rebel side in the conflict. Scorched Earth also relied on the accounts of the SRRA, which is – as discussed earlier - the relief wing of the SPLM/A.cccxxx The need to obtain travel visas from SRRA officials in Nairobi to travel to SPLM/A areas at the time the Scorched Earth field trips took place was well known.cccxxxi The extent to which Christian Aid liaised with the SPLM/A and/or the SRRA in order to obtain such visas and access to the region is unclear, as is the extent to which they travelled under supervision or were monitored by the SPLM/A and/or SRRA. Ultimately, this lack of transparency and the use of fundamentally biased sources, such as Taban Deng Gai and Peter Gadet undermine the reliability of the report and raise serious questions as to its motive.
VII. UNRELIABILITY: UNCLEAR TIMEFRAME OF INVESTIGATION
The timeframe for the investigation and fieldwork, including the presence of Christian Aid researchers in Sudan is unclear. Scorched Earth refers to representatives of Christian Aid visiting Sudan in August and November 2000.cccxxxii However, several of the footnote references mention interviews having taken place in May 2000,cccxxxiii with no further explanation as to who conducted them, how the individuals were selected and whether they were ever given an opportunity to verify the accounts they had provided.
VIII. SCORCHED EARTH RELIED ON MISLEADING IMAGES
The photographic images in Scorched Earth are credited to Crispin Hughes as well as Liba Taylor.cccxxxiv Hughes is a photojournalist whose images have been used by Oxfam,cccxxxv with whom he travelled on field trips.cccxxxvi There is however, no reference in Scorched Earth to Crispin Hughes having travelled on any Christian Aid trip to Sudan.
The reliability of the images used is in question. For example, in the summary report,cccxxxvii there is an image of two boys standing next to burnt out buildings in a village named Pageri (see map below). This image is replicated in the main report.cccxxxviii However, maps show that Pageri is in fact a location close to the border with Uganda, in Eastern Equatoria, not in Unity State.
Scorched Earth references ‘The Hutchison Library’ as the source alongside the images, but not formally in the credits. This appears to be a general stock image facility, which raises further questions as to whether the photographs used accurately reflect what they purport to portray.
ccxci
Press release by Lundin Oil dated 21st March 2001
IX. BIASED AND INCOMPLETE REPORTING OF THE GOVERNMENT OF SUDAN’S LIMITATION OF ACCESS TO RELIEF PLANES AND THE SPLA’S ACTIONS
In the section entitled “Flight Bans and The Denial of Relief”,cccxxxix Christian Aid does not disclose that it was the SPLM/A’s actions as much as the Government of Sudan’s actions to limit access to relief planes and other aid operations: illegal aid flights exacerbated this tension. The report ignores the fact that the SPLM/A were routinely looting relief in attacks across the south.cccxl
X. HIDING BETWEEN THE STREAMS
In April 2002, Christian Aid alongside DanChurchAid, published a follow-up report entitled “Hiding Between the Streams: The War on Civilians in the Oil Regions of Southern Sudan” based on a 4-day assessment trip to Western Upper Nile from 28-31 March 2002. The stated purpose of the visit was to assess alleged displacement and attacks for “advocacy purposes.”cccxli The report refers to the area in question being rich in oil, held amongst others, by Lundin.cccxlii
For this report, Christian Aid partnered with two local agencies: the South Sudan Operation Mercy (“SSOM”) and the SRRA, the humanitarian wing of the SPLM/A. Commentators have alleged that the SRRA was complicit in siphoning aid to the SPLM/A, which in turn fed their war efforts.cccxliii The SSOM is largely unknown.
The mapcccxliv below shows the locations Christian Aid visited in researching ‘Hiding Between the Streams’. These locations are far from Lundin’s bases and operations.
The report contains unattributed hearsay about the displacement of individuals and unsubstantiated allegations as to the actions of the Government of Sudan. It is replete with generic references.cccxlv
Furthermore, it does not contain any footnotes or details of any interviews conducted with the unnamed individuals cited.cccxlvi Neither does it contain any linkage evidence between the alleged displacement and Lundin. In its attempts to chart displacement, Christian Aid acknowledges that:
“It is important to note that it is virtually impossible to make an accurate assessment of the numbers of people affected and their precise locations - given that there is constant movement over a very large geographic area.”cccxlvii
Given the generic referencing and lack of linkage evidence to Lundin, the report is not suitable as a reliable source of evidence in a criminal investigation or trial.
XI. CONCLUSION
Following Christian Aid’s allegations, Lundin acted with full transparency, encouraging visits to its Sudanese area of operations – invitations that were not accepted. The Company investigated and comprehensively addressed the allegations in “Lundin Oil in Sudan”, published on 16th May 2001. The facts on the ground contradicted the claims in the report.
Scorched Earth relies on only a handful of interviews from biased and un-named sources, which provide no linkage evidence to Lundin. The report contains only generalised statements about the movement of people and fails to provide substantive facts or information to establish the causes and exact timing of the alleged displacement. The report contains serious methodological flaws.
A significant number of allegations are based on information provided by only two individuals, both of whom were involved in the conflicts in southern Sudan, namely Taban Deng Gai and Peter Gadet and had their own interests to serve. Christian Aid’s partners in Sudan included the NSCC, the SCC and the SRRA, all of which had direct links or associations with the SPLM/A.
ccxcii
English translation of a letter in Swedish from Adolf Lundin to Anna Lindh, the Minister of Foreign Affairs,
dated 26th March 2001. On 25th April 2001, the Minister of Foreign Affairs replied to Adolph Lundin’s letter stating that she would “await UN report conclusions” before requesting a “particular investigation or Swedish official visit.”
ccxciii
Lundin Oil in Sudan, 16 May 2001.
ccxciv
Statement by John Dor, Governor of Unity State, Sudan, May 2001.
ccxcv
Scorched Earth, p.20.
ccxcvi
Lundin Oil In Sudan, p.20.
ccxcvii
The bias of individual named sources such as Taban Deng Gai and Peter Gadet is addressed in this
chapter.
ccxcviii
Chapter 1: 1. Block 5a: Lundin Oil, Independent aid worker, page 7, FN6; OLS Officials: page 7, no fn;
Village chiefs: page 7, no fn.
ccxcix
Scorched Earth, fn 11.
ccc
Ib., fn 3, “20 January 2001, on Sudan Thar Jath Well Testing Operation”.
ccci
NSCC working with SPLA in 1997: http://sudaninfonet.tripod.com/Nilotics_Proposal.htm Conference attended by NSCC and Christian Aid in 1995, Southern Sudan: Capacity Building Conference
Report and Joint Statement: http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Urgent_Action/DC_SSD.html Come let us Reason Together’ NSCC/SPLM, Yei 1997:
https://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/sudan-east-bank-nilotics-reconciliation-conference
Agensky, Jonathan, ‘Religion, Governance and the Peace-Humanitarian-Development Nexus in South Sudan, UN Peace Operations in a Changing Global Order’, pp.277-295, 12 October 2018. “This new relationship was exemplified by the 1997 joint SPLM and NSCC conference at the Kajiko parish center of
the Episcopal Church of Sudan. The Kajiko conference utilised the NSCC’s social capital to mitigate
tensions between ethnic groupings and help resolve a devastating SPLA split that had been exploited by
Khartoum and became responsible for the bulk of death and destruction during the war. It also
strengthened links between the SPLM/A and the Church, endorsing a set of common objectives on local peace and liberation (the ‘Yei Declaration’). Kajiko reaffirmed the Church’s commitment to the insurgency and mandated the NSCC with facilitating southern reconciliation. It laid the foundation for the Churchled ‘Person-to-Person’ peace process, which culminated in the 1999 Wunlit agreement that reunited the SPLA—paving the way for the IGAD-led peace negotiations between North and South.”
cccii
Scorched Earth, electronic copy p.3. The SCC was also described as a “partner” by Christian Aid
Chapter 6:
Christian Aid: Scorched Earth - Oil and War in Sudan
A Report On The Lundin Case
9BR CHAMBERS & RPC SOLICITORS
cccv
“NSCC was grateful for the support of DanChurchAid and ChristianAid with USAID covering air
charters”, https://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/nscc-peace-desk-update-sep-dec-1999-people-peoplepeace-process See also page 59 from UK Government reviewing its peacebuilding efforts from 1997-2001: “People only use the modern practice of signing agreements because they have been asked to. Christian Aid’s local partner, the New Sudan Council of Churches (NSCC), has also learned that each peace
conference has its own peculiar dynamic”
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/679
46/ev646.pdf
ccciv
Statement of the Sudanese Churches on the Oil Factor in the Conflict in Sudan, 12 April 2000, see
cccvi
Zink, Jesse A., ‘Christianity and Catastrophe in South Sudan: Civil War, Migration and the Rise of the
Dinka Anglicanism, (2018), p.139. Jenner states the NSCC was initiated in 1989, Torit, Eastern Equatoria as
the civil war and SCC were unable to serve churches in non-government areas. The NSCC was created to
serve SPLA held areas. Jenner, Hadley, (2000)
cccvii
“The NSCC under Ruun's leadership also has opposed oil exploration in southern Sudan, which it claims
has destroyed countless homes and villages and forced many Sudanese off their land without
compensation; and relentlessly opposed the institution of slavery, which persists in the country.”
http://www.reformiert-online.net/aktuell/details.php?id=1520&lg=eng
cccviii
NAIROBI--Churches operating in southern Sudan have protested to the Canadian Government over the oil exploration activities of a Canadian multinational corporation, Arakis Energy Corporation, in the region and its implications for peace initiatives to end the Sudanese conflict. In a strongly- worded letter the New Sudan Council of Churches draws the attention of the Canadian Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister, Andre Quellet, to "the consequences of Arakis Energy Corporation business dealing with the Sudan Government and on the future of IGADD peace initiatives in which your Government is one of the
supporters"... The oppressed people of southern Sudan feel let down by the Canadian Government because of the action of Arakis, the NSCC says, adding that: "While we acknowledge with appreciation that Canadian policy towards the Islamic Government is one of diplomatic pressure, we feel dismayed at your policy, which separates human rights concerns from trade related matters." How can business opportunities exist in a country like Sudan," asks the letter, "where citizens are humiliated, tortured and killed just because they happen to belong to a different religion and race or colour?" The letter signed by the NSCC Executive Secretary, Rev (Dr.) Haruun L. Ruun asks the Canadian government to "do everything in your power to encourage Arakis to disinvest in Sudan in order to persuade the Sudan to opt for peaceful solution in the current civil war."
cccix
NSCC Peace Desk Update Sep-Dec 1999: People to People Peace Process, 5, Jan 2000:
https://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/nscc-peace-desk-update-sep-dec-1999-people-people-peace-process; “From the NSCC Roundtable held in October a letter was sent to the co-chairs of IGAD, Italy and Norway, to stress the negative impact of sales of oil from the Bentiu oil fields on the conflict in the South and the unequal sharing of revenues. It called for support to the initiative of the United Council of the Church of Canada for the setting up of a Trust Fund (Escrow Account) to receive and hold the revenues for Sudan in trust until there be a just and credible peace when payment be made distributed fairly between North and South.”
cccx
Agensky (2018), Who Governs? Religion and order in postcolonial Africa’, p.18, f.n.17.
cccxi
Riehl, Volker, Who is Ruling in South Sudan? The role of NGOs in rebuilding socio-political order,
Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, 2001.
cccxii
https://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/nscc-peace-desk-update-sep-dec-1999-people-people-peaceprocess
cccxiv
Various sources discuss this issue: Jenner, Hadley 2000 p.8 “The conflict is in a very real sense the only “industry” available apart from that offered by the nongovernmental organizations and thus a great deal of energy is expended to make this conflict palatable in a variety of different expressions. These expressions vary depending on the audience addressed, whether to the recruits, to neighboring countries and to a wider world concerned with an array of issues from human rights, oil resources, arms sales, political influence and development, to name a very few (Miller, 2000).” [The reference to Miller is personal communication]. Tounsel, Chris, Khartoum Goliath: SPLM/SPLA Update and Martial Theology during the Second Sudanese Civil War’, Journal of Modern Africana Religions, Vol.4, No.2, (2016), pp.129-153: “From an organizational standpoint, it was politically beneficial to adopt Christianity and insert it into the war effort. After Bashir's coup, the SPLA allowed church leaders more freedom of activity within New Sudan and in their contacts with supporters overseas. Church leaders were allowed to form the New Sudan Council of Churches (NSCC), which was joined by all Southern churches in 1989 (Khartoum's Sudan Council of Churches could no longer maintain contacts with churches in SPLA-controlled areas). By 1991 the NSCC was servicing people in an SPLA-controlled area larger than Kenya. This tightening of relations between the SPLA and the church resulted in improved credentials with industrialized countries by suggesting religious freedom and Christian identity. The movement hoped that the West could be encouraged to give aid to the South, with the NSCC providing channels for assistance from Christian organizations abroad.” Agensky, Jonathan, Who Governs? Religion and Order in postcolonial Africa, Third World Quarterly, Vol.41, No.4(2020) p.593. Omaar, Rakiya and de Waal, Alex, Humanitarianism Unbound, African Rights, Discussion Paper No.5, November (1994).
cccxiii
UK Government report reviewing its peace-building efforts from 1997-2001 (p.59):
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/679
46/ev646.pdf
“The NSCC Peace Desk Update Sep-Dec 1999 thanks DanChurchAid and Christian Aid for financial support
and USAID for providing the funding for air charters for the peace conferences.”
https://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/nscc-peace-desk-update-sep-dec-1999-people-people-peaceprocess
Bradbury et al, Local Peace Processes in Sudan: a baseline study, (2006), p.18, 60.
cccxv
Scorched Earth, P.7. [Note that the footnotes also refer to interviews of individuals taking place in May
2000 e.g. fns 7, 8, 9. There is only reference to one interview in August 2000 – see Chapter 3, Footnote 8
“Interviewed in Lokichokkio, August 2000.]
cccxvi
http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/OIS/PRESS_NE/PRESSENG/TOC00E.htm
http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/OIS/PRESS_NE/PRESSENG/2000/pren0069.htm
cccxix
Hopkins, Donald R. and Withers Jnr, Craig P., Sudan’s war and eradication of dracunculiasis, The Lancet
Supplement, Vol.360, December 2002. “The land in the southern part of the country is vast, much of it is
flooded for months during the rainy season and there are few roads or infrastructure. Additional difficulties
caused by the war include mass movements of displaced people, restricted access to known or suspected endemic communities, disruptions in activities and loss of personnel and increased costs because of the need to airlift supplies. Of these challenges, only the geographic and climatic constraints are inherent”.
cccxx
Christian Aid refer only to Mariel Lou as the location of interviews in November 2000. This is close to
Wunlit, where the recent peace conferences had occurred and a village and infrastructure to accommodate 3,000 people including an airstrip for flights, had been built. It was also in SPLA territory.
According to the FAO: “Climatic hazards, outbreaks of crop pests and diseases, erratic military and random
breaches of law and order and the deterioration of roads and airstrips are features of daily life throughout Bahr al-Ghazal. These risks drastically affect both short- and medium-term household food security. Consequently, risk is the most important single obstacle to any operation in southern Sudan, and particularly to any asset-building programme.”
cccxxi
Described as A/Cdr Taban Deng Gai (TDG) (in Nasir) by Lam Akol, The Nasir Declaration: SPLM/SPLA,
2003, p.37. Akol also says TDG was part of the nine-member negotiating team at the Abuja Conference, 1992, but just as Cdr Taban Deng Gai alongside John Luk (NSCC) and D.K. Mathews (SPLA Sweden). He joined the SPLA in the 1980 and left with Machar during the 1991 split. Related to Machar by marriage via his first cousin, Angelina Teny. HRW03 p.140, say he was Governor of Unity State from 1997-1999. Christian Aid Scorched Earth describes him as “Taban Deng, a former Minister of State for Roads in the Khartoum
government. P.7. Young, John, South Sudan’s Civil War: Violence, Insurgency and Failed Peacemaking, (2019) p.15 “In response to the fraudulent 2010 elections a series of revolts broke out, the most serious of which was in Unity state on the border of Sudan. The background lay in Salva’s appointment of Taban Deng to the governorship of Unity state in 2005, although the president made the appointment conditional on him gaining acceptance of Paulino Matiep, the strong man of the state, leader of the now dissolved SSDF, and deputy leader of the SPLA under the Juba Declaration. Once he had gained the approved of Paulino, Taban turned on him and together with the SPLA chief of Staff, James Hoth, arranged for the SPLA to attack the house of Paulino, killing 12 of his bodyguards and forcing a UN evacuation of the rest of the guards to Juba. With Paulino marginalized, Taban constructed an administration which was little more than a crime ring, with most of the state finances handled by his personal representatives in Khartoum and Doha. Taban also played a key role as a conduit of military supplies from Juba to Uganda to the various rebel groups fighting in the north. Never popular, prior to the 2010 elections Taban lost the leadership of the state SPLM to former governor Dr Joseph Monytuil which should have precluded him contesting the governorship. With support from Salva, however, he ran and was opposed to the wife of Riek Machar, Angelina Teny.”
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Treasury Sanctions First Vice President of South Sudan, Taban Deng Gai, Press Statement, Mike
Pompeo, Secretary of State, January 8 2020: https://www.state.gov/treasury-sanctions-first-vicepresident-of-south-sudan-taban-deng-gai/
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Peter Gadet (alias: Peter Gadet Yaka; Peter Gadet Yak; Peter Gadet Yaak; Peter Gatdet Yaak; Peter
Gatdet; Peter Gatdeet Yaka; Peter Gatdiet). Born between 1957-1959 in Mayom County, Unity State. He
was a Bul Nuer and aligned with Riek Machar following the 1991 split. Allegiances were always loosely
defined and opportunistic as he pursued a self-interested agenda.
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References to Peter Gadet’s location in advocacy reports: Amnesty International, Human Price of Oil, state the location and date of the interview as: "In an interview conducted during an Amnesty International visit to Wicok village in October 1999." "In a meeting held in October 1999, shortly after he split from the forces of Paulino Matip, Commander Peter Gadet confirmed that the government had arranged for Paulino Matip's forces to clear the local population from the area of the oilfields. He stated, "We as Nuer have to reconcile with each other in this area and take control of what is ours. If the companies continue, we will attack the fields and we will attack the workers" (p.4 and 8 respectively). Christian Aid’s Scorched Earth in November 2000 he is located in Tam:
1.“Commander Gadet, the former government ally who defected to the south in October 1999, told Christian
Aid he had collected weapons from several of the new plants before he left the government. He had seen
military vehicles and tanks, rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns being assembled under
the supervision of Chinese engineers.”
2. “Gadet showed Christian Aid RPG-Ss that carried no identification marks. He said these weapons -
lightweight anti-tank weapons that can be pulled by hand - were among those being made in Khartoum
under the supervision of Chinese engineers. 'Most of those assembled are unmarked,' he explained. 'The
government doesn't want to show where its oil money is going” (p.20)
3. “Peter Gadet, a commander under Matip before he returned to the south, said that Matip's forces killed
scones of civilians, raped and abducted women and burned and destroyed homes south of Bentiu in the months before the pipeline opened. Gadet's own men participated in many of those abuses. He said the main purpose of the atrocities was to gain control of the oilfields” (p.24)
4. Date and location unspecified: “Commander Gadet told Christian Aid his forces had shot down three
gunships - two Russian-made Hinds and one German.18 Gadet displayed the German 'Varta' battery taken from one of the gunships, which he said had German writing Inside the cabin” (p.24) ECOS Unpaid Debt, they refer to “Gatdet in 2002, quoted in an interview in 2002” described as “present in archive footage”. P.83
Gagnon and Ryle’s 2000 report, (no date and location given) “In the case of Peter Gatdet, however, it may
be assumed that he no longer does so. In Buoth, Commander Gatdet showed the authors of this report
arms and ammunition that he had brought with him when he defected from Paulino Matiep’s militia. These
included AK-47s and PKM machine guns and bullets that had been assembled in one of three new Chinese built factories near Khartoum. Commander Gatdet described visiting these factories himself to collect these supplies. These factories are of recent construction and it is reasonable to associate their establishment
and the increased flow of arms and ammunition to various parties in the war with revenues from oil
development.”
Date and location specified as 24 April 2001, Buoth Western Upper Nile: “This rig was in Block 4 near
Rumrum. The well has been abandoned. We destroyed the containers that the company was using for the residents. The GoS was forcefully moving people from that area.”
“Commander Peter Gatdet Yaka claims that the Government of Sudan has 37 gunships most of which were
bought in 2000. He claims that forces under his control shot down three gunships in 2000 including two
Hinds and one German model, and that the bodies of the crews of the gunships were destroyed. Other
reports indicate that the government has eight gunships. Nicholas Coughlan, the Canadian consular official, suggests the total may be less.” Frank Norbury, ‘Playing God in Hell’ 24 February 2002, location described as “14km south of Nhialdiu” he stays with Commander Peter Gadet. Norbury is working with Norwegian People’s Aid. Evacuating the wounded and agreed with Gadet only to evacuate them within the ‘New Sudan’. Norbury describes
“Commander Gadet is an extremely passionate and charismatic leader and it not difficult to understand
why he is so respected and admired by both the civilian population and his men. He deeply cares for the
welfare of those in his charge and I could tell it causes great anguish and frustration to know his people are
suffering and dying without any chance of medical help.” Consistently refers to ‘New Sudan’.
By way of context, Norbury travelled to Sudan under the auspices of the ICI Foundation, which was set up
by Brian Boquist who established ICI of Oregon. Boquist was a former Special Forces lieutenant colonel in
the US Army. In 2001 they reported sales of $8.8million. With regards to Sudan, “developed a medical
training programme under US government auspices in southern Sudan, where Washington has pumped in at least $13million in recent years in support of rebel opposition (Dyncorp is another key contractor in
southern Sudan).
https://www.icij.org/investigations/makingkilling/privatizing-combat-new-world-order/
Safe Harbour International Relief, Pastor Gary Kusunoki travelled with Tom Masland for Newsweek in April 2001. They were delivering aid from Safe Harbor International Relief (approx. 38tons). Peter Gatdet is their host in Buoth and he gives them a tour while delivering tons of aid. Article also states the bulk of USAID at this time funnelled through OLS is to Norwegian People’s Aid, which is described as “beyond the boundaries of what is generally considered humanitarian practice”. Kusuonoki states “We know the SPLA is working hard to protect you. … When we come to bring food, our food goes to everybody, because everybody needs to eat. Please tell all your people that this was a gift from Jesus Christ.” Masland reports that Gadet agrees to keep 25 percent of the food and distribute the rest to the needy. https://www.newsweek.com/soldierschrist-150203
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Jarch Capital leased 400,000 hectares in Mayom County, Unity State from Paulino Matiep Nhial’s
family - https://www.africa-confidential.com/article/id/3736/Jarch_Capital_has_friends_in_the_South.
Taban Deng Gai was governor at this time. Jarch was chaired by Wall Street banker, Philippe M.Heilberg
according to Africa Confidential
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https://www.un.org/press/en/2015/sc11958.doc.htm
https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/jl2386.aspx
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https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6aa1114.html - Amnesty International Report: Sudan, 1 June
2000
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Scorched Earth Report: Abraham Riak (p.14), Medical Coordinator of the SRRA quoted; Kut Young (p.15),
SRRA relief coordinator; Peter Akec (p.17), SRRA field supervisor; Dhieu Paul (p.17), SRRA relief official. See
also Riehl, Volker, ‘Who is Ruling in South Sudan: the role of NGOs in rebuilding socio-political order’, for discussion on links between the SRRA and SPLM/A.
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Manfred Ohm travelled independently in 2000 but needed an entry permit granted by the SRRA, which
was obtained with the support of the New Sudan Council of Churches, (2013), p.21 in ‘War and Statehood
in South Sudan’.
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Scorched Earth, p.7, “In visits to Western Upper Nile in August and November 2000”,
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Ib., Chapter One: Footnotes 1, 7, 8, 9,12,17; Box i; Chapter Two: Footnotes 5,10,12,15,17.
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Ib., 7, 29, 31.
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Ib.
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Scorched Earth summary report p.7
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Ib., p.7.
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Scorched Earth p.12-17.
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See for example, Sudan Emergency Operations Committee Review (1995). Also, ‘Food Aid to Sudanese
Rebels Opposed, Human Rights Watch, December 13 1999 – letter to Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright.
`See also, ‘Crisis Response: Humanitarian Band-Aids in Sudan and Somalia’, John Prendergast, 1997.
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“To provide this documentation to interested parties to be used for advocacy purposes.” P.2, Hiding
Between the Streams: the war on civilians in the oil region of southern Sudan, Christian Aid and
DanChurchAid, March 2002.
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Hiding Between the Streams, p.5.
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Prendergast (1997), p.59 “From the beginning of OLS there were attempts to minimise the external
nature of the relief intervention by strengthening the capacity of the RRC (Relief and Rehabilitation
Commission, the Government’s principal humanitarian arm) and the SRRA. The RRC received staff members and other support from OLS. The SRRA which started from scratch in early 1989 received funds vehicles management training and other support from the United Nations children's fund (UNICEF) and NGOs. … Many officials of the SRRA are former Sudanese government bureaucrats which is reflected in the
paternalistic SRRA law according to one aid official. … One NGO official in Bahr el-Ghazal says the closest
they can get to talking to the people are the Chiefs there are SRRA minders following wherever NGO
representatives go. It is consequently very difficult to monitor and follow up on aid distributions. The role
of the SRRA has been to hide the SPLA and the Chiefs who are the true authorities in southern Sudan. The control in southern Sudan resides in the SPLA and in the tribal structures. The SRRA hides these powers. The power of the SRRA is derived solely from externally provided relief’, according to one NGO official. ‘If they have a problem with the people of a certain area, they can withhold relief or services.’ Another official concurs saying that the SRRA gets its legitimacy through what it gives out.”
https://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/4897.pdf
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This reference map is included in Chapter 2 with scale included. It is a World Food Programme map
dated 2013.
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For example, “all the people we interviewed”, “everyone spoke of…”, “in our talks with people”, “most of the displaced people.”
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Scorched Earth, p6, 9, 10
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Hiding Between the Streams, p.3.