Drumbeat for Darfur

The persistence of UUSC’s Drumbeat for Darfur activists and those of colleague organizations has resulted in a major victory in the campaign to end the four-year-old genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan. On New Year’s Eve, President Bush rang out the old year by signing into law the Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act that had been approved unanimously by both houses of Congress.

The measure permits state and local governments to divest from companies doing business with Sudan and provides them with protection against lawsuits. The new law provides similar legal protection for private mutual-fund and pension-fund managers.

Several states already have divested from Sudan, and many others are considering doing the same. The new law was drafted after the National Foreign Trade Council successfully challenged Illinois’ state divestment law in court.

In approving the bill, Bush attached a “signing statement” in which he said he will implement the law to the extent that it does not interfere with the president’s constitutional power to control the nation’s foreign policy. The president has declared the humanitarian crisis in Darfur to be genocide and has supported other sanctions to end the violence. But he had voiced concerns that the divestment bill might open the door for states to take action that have an impact on U.S. foreign policy.

UUSC’s Drumbeat for Darfur campaign has been a leading force in the Sudan divestment battle that has already produced significant results. Under increasing pressure from activists, two of the world’s largest financial institutions, Fidelity Investments and Berkshire Hathaway, sold off significant holdings in Chinese petrochemical corporations.

Darfur activists continued the drumbeat with a major rally and march on the White House and the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C. The rally was held on International Human Rights Day, December 10, and urged both China, the major political and economic supporter of the genocidal Khartoum regime, and the U.S. government to use their influence, including passage by Congress of the Sudan divestment bill, to help end the Darfur crisis.

Posted January 3, 2008