The petition
CITIZENS’ PETITION FOR DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA DIVESTMENT FROM SUDAN
Since fighting erupted in Darfur in February 2003, the Arab government’s forces in Sudan and the government-backed militias, the Janjaweed, have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. They systematically have targeted and attacked civilians from specific, non-Arab ethnic groups. The villages of Darfur in western Sudan have been bombed and raided, men and children tortured and slaughtered, and women and young girls savagely gang raped. As many as half a million people have died from direct violence resulting from the conflict and from diseases and malnutrition caused by the displacement of over four million people into crowded refugee camps. The United States Congress and Executive have declared this campaign of terror genocide; it is the systematic and planned extermination of the non-Arab black peoples of Darfur.
The Sudanese government relies on oil revenue and other funds from companies operating in Sudan, such as ABB Ltd., PetroChina Ltd., Tafneft and Sinopec, to finance the ethnic cleansing in Darfur. These companies are supporting a brutal regime that uses rape as a weapon of war and targets children for eradication. They are listed on the New York Stock Exchange and supported by investments from American mutual funds, state pension funds and university endowments. IT HAS BEEN ESTIMATED THAT THE D.C. RETIREMENT BOARD CURRENTLY HAS OVER $150 MILLION INVESTED IN MORE THAN 20 COMPANIES DOING BUSINESS IN SUDAN. Despite U.S. sanctions that prohibit trade and financial interactions between American and Sudanese companies, the corrupt Sudanese government has manipulated ways to maintain economic and commercial ties with numerous American investment firms and corporations.
WE, THE UNDERSIGNED REGISTERED VOTERS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, DECLARE IT OUR MORAL AND ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITY TO DIVEST FROM SUDAN AND CALL UPON OUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, TO PASS LEGISLATION MANDATING THE DIVESTMENT OF ALL DISTRICT GOVERNMENT-HELD ASSETS from companies that provide revenue to the Sudanese government. To remain invested in Sudan is to give tacit consent and material support to a regime that accomplishes its political objectives by the use of merciless and sadistic brutality. Divestment will send a clear message to the and the world that THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA IS A GENOCIDE-FREE ZONE!
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