ANCA AND SAVE DARFUR COALITION URGE PRESIDENT BUSH TO SIGN SUDAN DIVESTMENT BILL
armradio.am
24.12.2007 10:51
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) joined with the Save
Darfur Coalition and a range of faith-based organizations yesterday in
urging President Bush to sign the Sudan Accountability and Divestment
Act into law. The legislation, adopted unanimously by the House and
Senate despite opposition from the Departments of State and Justice,
would allow states and localities to divest from companies involved
in certain Sudanese business sectors and allow mutual fund and private
pension managers to cut ties with those same companies.
In a December 21st letter to President Bush, signed by over
thirty groups including the American Jewish World Service, Genocide
Intervention Network, Jewish World Watch, National Council of Churches,
and the US-Armenia Public Affairs Committee (USAPAC), organizations
noted that "signing of the bill, supportive public statements issued
along with the signing, the vigorous implementation of this bill, and
additional pressure on Sudan to end the violence are all necessary
ingredients of a comprehensive US policy — and will send a message
to the Government of Sudan that there are serious consequences for
its ruthless violations of international law."
Last week, upon Senate adoption of the measure, bill author, Sen. Chris
Dodd (D-CT) noted that "this legislation empowers Americans to
exercise their rights as investors, taxpayers, and pensioners to
divest from businesses directly contributing to the violence and
misery of hundreds of thousands of innocent Darfuris." House Darfur
legislation champion Barbara Lee (D-CA), who had introduced earlier
Sudan divestment legislation prominently included in this bill,
explained "Let’s stop the rhetoric and do something, do something
now that we have declared for 3 years genocide taking place. We need
to put the United States on the right side of history. Divestment
worked in South Africa when our former colleague and my mayor now,
Ron Dellums, when he led the effort in the 1980s. It can work now in
Sudan. So I urge the President to join us in saying to the Government
of Khartoum not on our watch, not on our dime."
The call coincided with the President’s signing of separate legislation
allowing US courts to prosecute non-US nationals residing in the US
who have been complicit in perpetration of genocide. Bill author,
Senate Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL), explained the
importance of the legislation.
"There is no safe haven for the hundreds of thousands of Sudanese who
have faced genocide in Darfur and yet without this law, our country
could become a safe haven for their killers. Today’s action by the
President makes it crystal clear: the legal loophole in our law is
closed and perpetrators of genocide who come to our country will now
face significant consequences."
The ANCA has, since its introduction, supported the adoption of
this legislation and worked to support its passage by the House as
part of a coalition that includes the Save Darfur Coalition, Genocide
Intervention Network, American Jewish World Service, Armenian Assembly
of America, Human Rights First, Human Rights Watch, Alliance for
Justice, and Refugees International. In a March letter to members of
the Senate, the coalition stressed that, "The United States must not
remain passive when those suspected of genocide enter or are found in
its territory. By eliminating barriers to prosecution, the Genocide
Accountability Act will ensure that perpetrators of genocide do not
evade accountability when they are found in the United States. We
welcome its introduction and strongly urge its enactment into law."
Sen. Durbin’s legislation is the first bill from the newly established
Senate Subcommittee on Human Rights and Law to become law. Sen. Durbin
and Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) are lead sponsors of the Armenian Genocide
Resolution (S.Res.106) which currently has over 30 cosponsors.