Divesting to Help Sudan
Since 2003, Arab Janjaweed militants in Sudan have killed an estimated 70,000 Black Darfuris.
As the genocide continues today, a growing number of states and universities are employing a tactic known as “divestment” to speak out against the killings.
“Divestment” or the opposite of Investment means dropping thousands of shares of a stock en mass in hope that the drop in stock price will put pressure on companies to change their policies. In Darfur, it is thought that the government if not just apathetic to the plight of the Black Darfuris, are complicit in the killings as well. This outrageous disregard of international law, many feel, must be met head on with protest and economic pressure. By divesting from companies that do business in Sudan, protestors hope to put a choke hold on the Sudanese economy, forcing the government to change its policies or take stronger action against the Janjaweed militias.
Already, Harvard students have pushed the university to sell $4.4 million in PetroChina, a company that has several contracts in Sudan. Stanford has also made the commitment to divest. Dartmouth and the University of California are said to be following as well. New Jersey Governor Richard Codey has recently signed a bill divesting and Illinois Govener Rod Blagojevich has already done so. The two states alone will make an estimated $2 billion divestment.
As encouraging as the divestment movement is, few economic experts believe it will make more of a difference than the already in place U.S Trade sanctions. Others, such as German firm Siemens even believe that divestment is harming the situation by pulling foreign investment out of a worn torn country that desperately needs the capital to rebuild. But regardless of its effects, divestors at least know that they are not directly involved with the genocide. A long-term solution may be far off, but at least there is a start and a heart for those that are less fortunate. Perhaps this may be the only hope created from the terrible Sudan genocides.
“Divesting to Help Sudan” TIME July 11, 2005.