Darfur | Call on investors stand up for human rights

Amnesty International is urging institutions with investments in oil companies operating in Sudan (and/or their various spin-offs and majority-owned subsidiaries) to use their substantial influence to strongly urge the Government of Sudan to allow UN-African Union peacekeepers to fully deploy in Darfur without obstruction or delay. Rather than calling on these stockholders to divest, we request that they actively employ their investor power as a force for positive change. Some firms have already begun to act, but the large majority are still ignoring the issue and hoping it will just go away. We need to press more investment companies to take a stand for the people of Darfur.

The conflict in Darfur, western Sudan, has led to some of the worst human rights abuses imaginable, including systematic and widespread murder, torture, rape, abduction, looting, and forced displacement. Since February 2003, hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed by both deliberate and indiscriminate attacks, and 2.6 million Darfuri civilians have been displaced. Humanitarian aid workers are under daily threat because of rampant insecurity in the region, and some aid organizations have been forced to leave the region due to banditry and violence against their workers. All parties to the conflict have committed human rights abuses, but the Sudanese government, based in Khartoum and the government-backed Janjawid militia bear primary responsibility for the systematic and widespread abusesthat have characterized the Darfur conflict over the past five years.

Much of the revenue fueling this conflict is generated by Sudan’s oil industry. Ninety percent of Sudan’s export income is derived from oil, with a majority of those revenues funding military expenditures, and virtually none supporting social development. As Sudan does not have the capital or expertise to efficiently extract and refine its own oil, it relies almost entirely on foreign companies to operate this lucrative industry, which netted the Sudanese treasury more than $5 billion in 2006.

Four foreign companies have come to dominate Sudan’s oil industry: 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) – the Big 4. These companies operate through Sudan-based consortia that have control over specific oilfield blocks for exploration, drilling, production, and services.

On July 31, 2007, the UN Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 1769 authorizing the United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force (UNAMID) for Darfur. While passage of the resolution gives hope to millions of Darfuri civilians, speedy implementation and a full deployment of more than 26,000 peacekeepers stillrequires our vigilant action.

The Government of Sudan has a long record of signing international agreements then obstructing their implementation. Urgent pressure from key actors – both economic and political – is needed to ensure Khartoum moves forward and UNAMID is fully deployed as quickly as possible.In fact, Sudan’s agreement to allow deployment of UNAMID is in large part due to China’s increasing willingness to use its substantial economic and political influence to press the Sudanese government on Darfur. You can do the same.

The Government of Sudan’s dependence on oil revenue for economic and military growth places oil companies operating in Sudan in a position of significant influence. Rallying investor pressure can help convince these companies to leverage their unique position to press Khartoum to allow the full deployment of UNAMID without impediment, and to help bring peace and human rights to the people of Darfur.

Some progress has been made but more action is needed! Less than a year since first launching this effort, several top investment firms have already begun responding. Amnesty activists from across the country have sent emails, faxes, and letters to these firms calling on them to use their influence. Though a handful responded favorably, six well-known investment firms initially met our call to action with silence: T. Rowe Price, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, and JPMorgan Chase. To encourage them further, Amnesty International USA and a coalition of socially responsible investors filed shareholder proposals to be voted on at the firms’ 2008 annual meetings, and that got their attention! Because of these shareholder resolutions, all of these companies agreed to meet with us to discuss how they might respond to the Darfur crisis, given their relationship with the Big 4. Four of the firms, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, T. Rowe Price, and Citigroup, have enacted new human rights policy statements and taken public stands on the Darfur crisis, among other steps, and we continue to meet with them regularly to monitor their progress. Of the remaining two, JPMorgan has met with us repeatedly and made meaningful efforts to address our concerns, but we are not yet convinced that the firm is doing all it can. Wells Fargo has made virtually no commitments thus far and, unfortunately, the firm’s failure to act is largely representative of how the industry as a whole is burying its head in the sand on Darfur. Call on major investors today to move Darfur onto their agenda and come into line with their industry peers.

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> Do you have questions about this campaign? Contact the Corporate Action Network at corpaction@aiusa.org