Sunday, July 08, 2007

A Look At The Growing Darfur Divestment Movement

Bidish Sarma

The effort to end the conflict in Darfur has led to advocacy on many different fronts, with constituents pressuring politicians and policymakers, as well as businesses and investors.  Although Sudan is often portrayed as a poor nation with few resources, many international businesses are active in the region, investing significant amounts of capital in order to access and profit from the sizable oil reserves located there.  Over the past few years, several organizations have spearheaded a state-by-state effort to pass divestment legislation that seeks to withdraw state investments from companies that are facilitating the genocidal campaign of the Khartoum government.

Divestment emerged as an important tool in the international struggle against the apartheid regime in South Africa in the 1980s.  Unlike the anti-apartheid movement, however, the current divestment campaign has been carefully tailored in response to concerns that a blanket divestment strategy would actually hurt innocent civilians in Sudan and crush the nation’s ability to reengage foreign investors in a ‘post-genocide’ world.  The ‘targeted divestment’ strategy, as described here by the Genocide Intervention Network’s Sudan Divestment Task Force, encourages shareholder engagement as a first step.  It also focuses on those companies deemed most responsible for supporting the Sudanese government.  Sam Bell of the Genocide Intervention Network elaborates on the movement in this video. At this point in time over a dozen states have already passed divestment legislation.  There is a concern, however, that the legislation passed thus far may be challenged by organizations like the National Foreign Trade Council who claim that state divestment is unconstitutional.  Earlier this year, a federal district judge in the Northern District of Illinois struck down portions of the Illinois divestment law as a violation of the Supremacy Clause, the foreign affairs power of the federal government, and the Foreign Commerce Clause.  This decision has cast doubt upon the viability of the divestment movement, but the outcome is being vigorously disputed by advocates across the country.

Divestment has the potential to financially cripple the leaders of the Sudanese government and make clear to businesses that ethical investing is important to people here.  As the Chinese government has become more responsive to public concerns about its own economic activity in Sudan (largely due to ‘Genocide Olympics’ activism), it seems clear that the multifaceted advocacy approach is bringing real pressure to bear upon the Sudanese government.  Although the government has been making concessions, the divestment movement should not lose steam.  The Save Darfur Coalition’s Divest for Darfur campaign is continuing to lobby Fidelity to withdraw investments from Sudan, and is sponsoring a day of action on July 19th.  To join the movement and find out more, find the event nearest you.