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Call on investors: stand up for human rights in Darfur

Press some of the most powerful companies in the world to use their influence to help end the human rights catastrophe in Darfur. To ensure the speedy and full deployment of the UN-African Union peacekeeping force (UNAMID) in Darfur, Khartoum must hear from key economic interests, including the oil companies that they depend on for revenue. To convince these oil companies to act, we must enlist their investors as our allies. In the past year we have already had success working with several top U.S. investment firms, including Morgan Stanley and T. Rowe Price, who have committed to raising concerns about Darfur with oil companies in which they are invested. But our work is far from over. By adding your voice, we can convince even more investment companies to take a similar stand. Press investors in Sudan’s oil industry to follow the lead of companies like Morgan Stanley and T. Rowe Price to take a stand for the people of Darfur. Background on Darfur shareholder pressure

A UN Peacekeeper © AFP
Investor pressure can help leverage companies to press Khartoum to admit UNAMID without impediment.

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Message Recipients

Eddie C Brown - Brown Capital Management

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James P Cullen - Schafer Cullen Capital Management Inc.

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James Dimon - CEO, JP Morgan Chase

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J Barry Griswell - Principal Financial Group Inc.

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James B Hawkes - Eaton Vance Corp.

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Charles Johnson - Chairman of the Board, Franklin Resources

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Edward Johnson - Chairman, Fidelity Investments

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Stephen A Schwarzman - The Blackstone Group

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James H Simons - Renaissance Technologies Corp.

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John Stumpf - Wells Fargo

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Garrett Thornborg - Thornburg Investment Management Inc.

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Subject:*

Dear (recipient name),

I am writing today to ask you to use your considerable influence with companies operating in Sudan to help alleviate the human rights crisis in Darfur. Much of the revenue fueling this devastating conflict is generated by Sudan’s oil industry. Through your substantial investments in oil companies operating in Sudan (and/or their various spin-offs and majority-owned subsidiaries) you are in a unique and powerful position to help bring security and human rights to the people of Darfur. I am writing today to urge you to join other economic and political actors to press the Government of Sudan to allow the UN-AU peacekeeping force (UNAMID) to fully deploy in Darfur without delay, according to UN Security Council Resolution 1769. This is a step you can take without selling your shares.

United Nations officials have called the situation in Darfur one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world today. Hundreds of thousands of Darfuri civilians have died, two-thirds of the population relies on some form of humanitarian aid, and over 2.6 million Darfuri civilians have been displaced. Multiple parties to the conflict have committed grave human rights abuses, but the Sudanese armed forces and government-backed Janjawid militia bear primary responsibility for the systematic and widespread murder, rape, torture, abduction, looting, and forced displacement that have characterized the Darfur conflict over the past five years.

On July 31, 2007, the UN Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 1769 authorizing a UN-African Union peacekeeping force for Darfur. While passage of the resolution provided hope to millions of Darfuri civilians, ensuring the full deployment of more than 26,000 peacekeepers requires our vigilant action. The Government of Sudan has a long record of signing international agreements then obstructing their implementation – and with only some 10,000 peacekeepers on the ground more than nine months after deployment began, it is clear that more pressure is needed. Key actors – both economic and political – must take a stand to help ensure Khartoum moves forward and UNAMID is fully deployed as quickly as possible.

These actors include the four oil companies that have come to dominate Sudan’s oil industry: the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), China Chemical and Petroleum Corporation (Sinopec Corp.), Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas), and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation of India-Videsh (OVL). Revenues fueling the Darfur conflict are largely generated from Sudan’s oil industry. Ninety percent of Sudan's export income is derived from oil, and a majority of this revenue goes toward military expenditures; virtually none supports social development.

Ultimately, the Government of Sudan is responsible for ending human rights abuses in Darfur. But companies operating in Sudan cannot ignore the Darfur crisis or pretend they have no influence. As one of the largest investors in these companies, neither can you. Your firm owns holdings in one or more of these four companies (and/or their various spin-offs and majority-owned subsidiaries). I urge your firm to leverage its substantial power as a major investor to ask oil companies in Sudan to press the Government of Sudan to quickly and fully admit UNAMID without impediment.

Over 20 U.S. states, nine cities, 50 colleges and universities, numerous private institutional investors, and countless individuals have adopted Sudan investment policies regarding these companies. Recently, financial industry leaders like Morgan Stanley and T. Rowe Price have joined their ranks. These investors, with hundreds of billions of assets under management, have recognized their unique shareholder risk and responsibility associated with the Darfur crisis. I hope that you will seriously consider doing the same.

Thank you very much for considering this important request. I look forward to hearing from you.

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