Latest Announcements

  New Hampshire and Michigan divest from Sudan! - 7/11/08
New Hampshire Governor John Lynch has signed Sudan divestment legislation based on the Sudan Divestment Task Force's targeted model and Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm has signed legislation that includes targeted Sudan divestment.

New Hampshire and Michigan are the twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh states respectively to adopt divestment policies from Sudan. Nineteen of these states have passed the Sudan Divestment Task Force model of targeted Sudan divestment. Click here for more statistics on the Sudan divestment movement.

  Wall Street Journal: Companies hesitant to drill in Darfur due to public pressure - 7/8/08
The Wall Street Journal has reported that a consortium of companies, including Ansan Wikfs Investments Ltd. of Yemen and Sudan's state-owned Sudapet, is preparing to begin seismic exploration in Sudan’s 12A oil block, which covers much of North Darfur. However, the article reports that public pressure over the situation Darfur has made companies hesitant to begin working the region, and includes a quote from Sudanese Oil Minister Zubair Ahmed al-Hassan: "[Companies] are not operating up until now because [they] are afraid...of the image in the media saying things are terrible in Darfur."

Click here to read the article and click here to download the Sudan Company Report for more information on companies involved in Block 12A.

  Momentum builds for contract prohibition in Canada - 6/19/08
Canadian Senator Yoine Goldstein (Quebec) has published commentary in the National Post calling on Canada to adopt measures similar to the Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act in the United States and prohibit problematic companies operating in Sudan from receiving contacts in Canada. Two of the largest oil companies operating in Sudan, CNPC/PetroChina of China and ONGC of India, already have ties to the Alberta oilsands of Canada.

Click here to read Senator Goldstein’s commentary.

  South Carolina divests from Sudan! - 6/5/08
South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford has allowed Sudan divestment legislation based on the Sudan Divestment Task Force's targeted model to become law. Click here for a press release.

South Carolina is the twenty-fifth state to adopt a divestment policy and the seventeenth to pass the Sudan Divestment Task Force model of targeted Sudan divestment. Click here for more statistics on the Sudan divestment movement.

  New analysis shows "Highest Offenders" in Sudan underperform competitors - 5/27/08
The Genocide Intervention Network's Sudan Divestment Task Force (SDTF) has released an extensive analysis examining the historical and forecasted financial performance of companies identified by SDTF analysts as "Highest Offenders" in Sudan. A key finding of the new analysis, entitled Sudan Peer Performance Analysis, was that on average, the "Highest Offenders" in Sudan underperformed their peer group average by 45.97% over one year, 22.23% over three years and 7.22% over five years.

Click here to download the full analysis, here to download a press release, and here to view a featured story on the analysis in the International Herald Tribune.

   GI-NET teams with FOLIOfn to Launch First Genocide-Free Stock Screening Tool for Investors - 5/12/08
The Genocide Intervention Network (GI-NET) and FOLIOfn Investments, an online discount broker that focuses on building and managing entire portfolios, has launched a new tool to screen out companies identified as "Highest Offenders" in Sudan. Click here for a press release and more information.

  Petrofac takes substantial action in Sudan - 5/11/08
Petrofac, a London-based oilfield services company, has committed to taking substantial action in Sudan and has been moved off the "Highest Offenders" category of the Sudan Divestment Task Force's Sudan Company Report. The company has implemented a robust corporate policy in the country, including a full Human Rights Impact Assessment of its operations and meetings with the Government of Sudan and business partners to discuss the political and humanitarian situation in the country. A complete profile of Petrofac and other companies operating in Sudan can be found in the Sudan Company Report.

Since the spread of the targeted Sudan divestment movement, at least eleven companies have either ceased operations in Sudan or significantly changed their behavior in the country.

  T. Rowe Price sheds PetroChina stock - 4/11/08
T. Rowe Price has sold 55 million shares of PetroChina and has adopted a policy for analyzing risks and engaging with companies with business ties to Sudan. In a statement to Bizjournals, T. Rowe Price chairman, Brian Rogers, stated: "We do believe there's some link between a company's performance as a corporate citizen and its performance over time."

In August 2007, the Genocide Intervention Network, Amnesty International USA Business & Human Rights, and Calvert assembled a coalition of investors to file shareholder resolutions at six financial institutions (Citibank, JP Morgan Chase, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, T. Rowe Price, and Wells Fargo) calling on the institutions to adopt policies and procedures for investments linked to countries where genocide or mass atrocities are occurring. The resolutions have been withdrawn at Merrill Lynch, T. Rowe Price and Morgan Stanley for complying with the coalition's requests.

Click here for more information on the Genocide Intervention Network’s shareholder resolution campaign and other campaigns for mutual funds shareholders.

  European Union divests from PetroChina over Sudan - 3/17/08
The Members of the European Parliament’s (MEP) pension fund has divested from PetroChina, the listed arm of China National Petroleum Corporation, Sudan's largest oil partner. PetroChina was the only company on the Sudan Divestment Task Force's Highest Offenders list owned by the pension fund (click here for a full list of Highest Offenders). MEP Glenys Kinnock, stated, "The sale of the stockholdings in PetroChina sends a very clear signal that the European Parliament abhors that company's links with a regime which does little to end the violent conflict in Darfur."

The European Union’s move follows PGGM’s recent decision to divest from PetroChina. PGGM is one of the largest public pension funds in Europe. The fund made the decision to sell PetroChina after extensive efforts to engage the company over Sudan failed. According to published reports, the sale marks the first time a Dutch pension fund has decided to act against a Chinese oil operator.

While PetroChina is connected to Sudan through its parent company, PGGM notably stated that "ownership, governance and financial streams between CNPC and PetroChina overlap to such an extent that PGGM regards both organizations as a single entity."

  President Bush signs the Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act into law! - 12/31/07
U.S. President George W. Bush has signed the Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act into law. This robust new Darfur legislation, which passed both chambers of Congress unanimously, authorizes state and local governments to divest from companies that support the Khartoum government at the expense of marginalized populations in Sudan and prohibit federal contracts with those companies.

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