Fidelity Must Divest for Darfur
Why target Fidelity?
Fidelity is a major shareholder in PetroChina. It is the United States’ largest mutual fund company. Despite months of engagement by the Fidelity Out Of Sudan campaign, followed by thousands of complaints to Fidelity and the resultant bad publicity, Fidelity has not accepted responsibility for its role in contributing to the funding of the genocide in Darfur. The private engagement of Fidelity started in late September 2006 and lasted three and a half months; it involved five letters directed at 51 different senior executives, trustees, board members and fund managers at Fidelity. Divestment pressure from tens of thousands of customers and potential customers may compel Fidelity to stop investing in companies that are helping to fund the genocide in Darfur.
How can divestment from Sudan help the people of Darfur?
In the case of Darfur, there are roughly two dozen companies that are considered to be “highest offenders.†These are mostly companies that work directly with the government of Sudan to support oil exploration in the country. About 70 percent of the oil revenue is used by the government to fund the military, fueling the genocide in Darfur, which has already taken approximately 400,000 lives. Divestment creates pressure for these companies to stop direct or indirect funding of the genocide, either by pulling out of Sudan or pressuring the Government of Sudan to change its policies. The divestment campaign also raises awareness of the genocide in Darfur and has the potential to increase political pressure for other strategies to help address the crisis, such as legislation, sanctions and diplomacy.
Who’s divesting?
Eight states—California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, and Oregon—and more than 40 colleges and universities, including Harvard, Yale, and the University of California.
Is divestment really effective?
Divestment works because it creates an economic incentive for the government of Sudan to change.
The government of Sudan has shown in the past that it is responsive to economic pressure. Pressure on Sudan from China is particularly important, as China is Sudan’s primary trading and political partner. Any interruption in the flow of revenue would create problems funding the campaign of terror in Darfur. In addition, it would create a economic cost for the horrible atrocities being carried out in Darfur, thereby putting financial pressure on the Sudanese government to halt their campaign of genocide. A number of companies have already responded to the divestment movement and have altered their unacceptable behavior.
Will divestment hurt the people of Darfur?
The people of Darfur do not benefit from the current oil revenues or other investments by the worst offending companies. The revenues are used to harm them, not to help them. Targeted divestment focuses only on the “highest offending†companies. Companies providing food, medicine and health services in Sudan are exempted from scrutiny. The Darfuri community will only continue to suffer as long as oil revenues continue to fund the Sudanese government’s campaign of genocide.
For more, visit SaveDarfur.org’s Divestment page.