Divest from Darfur - Letter to NYU faculty
18 February 2005
Dear Professor,
On behalf of the Law Students for Human Rights we write to request your participation in an advocacy initiative on the current crisis in Sudan.
Your NYU retirement fund could be invested in companies doing business with the government of Sudan—a government that supports militias responsible for the deaths of at least eighty thousand people in the past two years. As you are aware, eligible NYU faculty and staff may contribute to retirement funds managed by TIAA-CREF and / or Vanguard. Both CREF and Vanguard are invested in companies that provide the Sudanese government with hundreds of millions of dollars in oil, telecommunications, and infrastructure projects. We urge you to make sure your NYU retirement account is not invested in a Fund that includes one of these companies.
Faced with a rebel insurgency in Darfur, the Sudanese government instigated an indiscriminate and vicious campaign against alleged rebel sympathizers in February 2003. With arms, money and military support supplied by the Khartoum regime, militias known as Janjaweed have obliterated hundreds of communities. The continuing destruction of Darfur may seem distant and unstoppable. Yet you can act powerfully and immediately by ensuring that your own savings are not financing the companies upon which Khartoum depends.
Human Rights Watch has documented that Khartoum’s oil profits are spent on purchasing arms which are used by, or used to support the Janjaweed. As recently as January 27, one hundred people in Southern Darfur were killed by a bombing raid in which multimillion-dollar aircraft attacked a village without running water. Sudan depends on oil revenue from a small group of companies to purchase its military equipment and arm Janjaweed members.
PetroChina, the largest investor in Sudan’s oilfields, has a tortuous and ugly history. The company was created two days after Congress had blocked the IPO of its parent on the NYSE, having deemed the parent to be complicit in Sudan’s human rights abuses. Yet the new company has also turned a blind eye to the massacres, and is the majority owner of the oil concessions in Darfur. There are financial and geographical links between Khartoum’s Janjaweed policy and PetroChina’s oil concessions. Though we are unaware of similar charges against PetroChina, the Sudanese regime has, in the past, allegedly consulted oil companies in planning military attacks to “ethnically cleanse” areas “to facilitate oil exploration activities.”
The Khartoum regime also receives critical support from ABB Ltd. , Siemens AG , and Alcatel S.A. In a press release announcing a contract to extend power lines to Sudanese oil fields, ABB claimed “to improve performance while lowering environmental impact.” Yet ABB is providing vital technological support to a regime whose “environmental impact” has destroyed hundreds of farming communities and threatened two million people with starvation.
Vanguard
Vanguard’s Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund and European Stock Index Fund funds hold millions of shares of these companies. We urge you to make sure your NYU retirement account is not invested in either Fund. Many other pension funds are available to NYU faculty, and switching funds can be done easily over the phone (1-877-662-7447). Please let Vanguard know why you are changing your retirement portfolio, and ask them to divest completely from PetroChina, ABB, Alcatel and Siemens.
TIAA-CREF
The College Retirement Equity Fund’s Stock Account and Global Equities Account are also heavily invested in these companies. By calling 800 842-2776, you can switch to one of TIAA-CREF’s other retirement savings options, including the Social Choice Fund. And as a fund owner, you can ask TIAA-CREF to divest from companies that are willing to support Sudan’s murderous Darfur policy. (To switch your accounts from TIAA-CREF to Vanguard or vice-versa, you can get the appropriate forms at www.nyu.edu/hr.) We also urge you to contact NYU Benefits at 212 998-1270 to inform them of your decision.
There is increasing recognition that divestment may be the only way to stop the killing in Sudan. While the U.N. has condemned the Darfur catastrophe, Chinese and Russian vetoes ensure that the Security Council will not impose sanctions since Sudan’s oil contracts with China are financing purchases of Russian arms. Consequently, in January, the New Jersey state assembly voted to divest its pensions from companies doing business in Sudan; momentum is growing for similar plans in California and Massachusetts. Congress, having repeatedly denounced the Khartoum regime as genocidal, recently required the identification of all companies doing business in Sudan . Please join these efforts. Make sure your retirement fund is not supporting war crimes.
Sincerely,
NYU Law Students for Human Rights
Please contact Bill Van Esveld at williamv@nyu.edu for more information.
Dear Professor,
On behalf of the Law Students for Human Rights we write to request your participation in an advocacy initiative on the current crisis in Sudan.
Your NYU retirement fund could be invested in companies doing business with the government of Sudan—a government that supports militias responsible for the deaths of at least eighty thousand people in the past two years. As you are aware, eligible NYU faculty and staff may contribute to retirement funds managed by TIAA-CREF and / or Vanguard. Both CREF and Vanguard are invested in companies that provide the Sudanese government with hundreds of millions of dollars in oil, telecommunications, and infrastructure projects. We urge you to make sure your NYU retirement account is not invested in a Fund that includes one of these companies.
Faced with a rebel insurgency in Darfur, the Sudanese government instigated an indiscriminate and vicious campaign against alleged rebel sympathizers in February 2003. With arms, money and military support supplied by the Khartoum regime, militias known as Janjaweed have obliterated hundreds of communities. The continuing destruction of Darfur may seem distant and unstoppable. Yet you can act powerfully and immediately by ensuring that your own savings are not financing the companies upon which Khartoum depends.
Human Rights Watch has documented that Khartoum’s oil profits are spent on purchasing arms which are used by, or used to support the Janjaweed. As recently as January 27, one hundred people in Southern Darfur were killed by a bombing raid in which multimillion-dollar aircraft attacked a village without running water. Sudan depends on oil revenue from a small group of companies to purchase its military equipment and arm Janjaweed members.
PetroChina, the largest investor in Sudan’s oilfields, has a tortuous and ugly history. The company was created two days after Congress had blocked the IPO of its parent on the NYSE, having deemed the parent to be complicit in Sudan’s human rights abuses. Yet the new company has also turned a blind eye to the massacres, and is the majority owner of the oil concessions in Darfur. There are financial and geographical links between Khartoum’s Janjaweed policy and PetroChina’s oil concessions. Though we are unaware of similar charges against PetroChina, the Sudanese regime has, in the past, allegedly consulted oil companies in planning military attacks to “ethnically cleanse” areas “to facilitate oil exploration activities.”
The Khartoum regime also receives critical support from ABB Ltd. , Siemens AG , and Alcatel S.A. In a press release announcing a contract to extend power lines to Sudanese oil fields, ABB claimed “to improve performance while lowering environmental impact.” Yet ABB is providing vital technological support to a regime whose “environmental impact” has destroyed hundreds of farming communities and threatened two million people with starvation.
Vanguard
Vanguard’s Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund and European Stock Index Fund funds hold millions of shares of these companies. We urge you to make sure your NYU retirement account is not invested in either Fund. Many other pension funds are available to NYU faculty, and switching funds can be done easily over the phone (1-877-662-7447). Please let Vanguard know why you are changing your retirement portfolio, and ask them to divest completely from PetroChina, ABB, Alcatel and Siemens.
TIAA-CREF
The College Retirement Equity Fund’s Stock Account and Global Equities Account are also heavily invested in these companies. By calling 800 842-2776, you can switch to one of TIAA-CREF’s other retirement savings options, including the Social Choice Fund. And as a fund owner, you can ask TIAA-CREF to divest from companies that are willing to support Sudan’s murderous Darfur policy. (To switch your accounts from TIAA-CREF to Vanguard or vice-versa, you can get the appropriate forms at www.nyu.edu/hr.) We also urge you to contact NYU Benefits at 212 998-1270 to inform them of your decision.
There is increasing recognition that divestment may be the only way to stop the killing in Sudan. While the U.N. has condemned the Darfur catastrophe, Chinese and Russian vetoes ensure that the Security Council will not impose sanctions since Sudan’s oil contracts with China are financing purchases of Russian arms. Consequently, in January, the New Jersey state assembly voted to divest its pensions from companies doing business in Sudan; momentum is growing for similar plans in California and Massachusetts. Congress, having repeatedly denounced the Khartoum regime as genocidal, recently required the identification of all companies doing business in Sudan . Please join these efforts. Make sure your retirement fund is not supporting war crimes.
Sincerely,
NYU Law Students for Human Rights
Please contact Bill Van Esveld at williamv@nyu.edu for more information.
posted by lshr at 6:26 PM
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