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Save Darfur Coalition

Divestment Bill goes Forward in US Senate


By Scott A Morgan——--December 20, 2007

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In details that are emerging at this hour the US Senate has decided to take some action regarding Darfur before it begins its Christmas break. It has given its consent to allow for investors to withdraw investments from companies doing business with the Government of Sudan. This bill gives the blessing of the Senate to the efforts of groups like the Save Darfur Coalition.

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There has been growing angst around the world over the apparent Ineptness of the UN and other agencies to reign in the violence in the troubled part of Sudan. Thousands have perished and millions are either in Internal Displacement Camps in Darfur or in Refugee Camps in Chad. The violence in the region has played a role in increased strife in both Eastern Chad and the Northeastern Central African Republic. The action of the Senate follows up after several Individual states in the Union (Most recently Colorado and Florida) have urged that their Pension Funds withdraw investments from these companies, It has been reported that the withdrawal of funds from Florida will be in excess of $1 billion US. The effort in Illinois was challenged in court. This legislation also mirrors a bill that was passed in the House of Representatives as well. The main targets of this legislation are the petroleum industry, mineral extraction, production of power and the making of Military Equipment. Several Groups have compiled a list of ompanies that have invested heavily in companies that are doing business as usual in Sudan. Capital Research and Barclays are some of the investors in PetroChina Co. Ltd. Other investors include Franklin Templeton Investments and Fidelity Investments. Lazard Asset Management Co. Ltd and Capital Research and Management are investors in ONGC, according to reports at the end of September. There is opposition to this move however. Both the State an Justice Departments are against this piece of Legislation. Their official positiion is that it will undermine the diplomatic moves of the president. What those inside the beltway are forgetting is that the American people want action not words when it comes to the violence in Darfur. They have heard the State Department refer to the violence as genocide, but there have been no concrete steps taken by this administration. In January 2008, a token force of European troops will be deployed to the region. The Sudanese Government howled over which countries could send troops there to "keep the peace." This strategy is more extensive to the strategy of the Reagan Administration as it dealt with the aparteid era in South Africa. What these American activists are doing is trying to deny the dollars that may keep the violence going. It could impede the president, but how can it impede when the incumbent is doing nothing?


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