afrol News, 5 April - Today, the Governor of the US state Iowa, Chet Culver, signed a targeted divestment bill requiring the state to divest from companies that support the government of Sudan. Iowa becomes the first US state to adopt divestment legislation this year; but the eighth US state to divest from Sudan overall.

Governor Culver signed the anti-Sudan bill after the Khartoum government repeatedly has been accused of genocide by the US federal government and countless US organisations. The bill passed the House with overwhelming support and passed the Senate with unanimous consent late last month.

In the Darfur region of Sudan, the Khartoum government is accused of attempting to eliminate its non-Arab population. In a unilateral move, the Washington government declared the crisis in Darfur to be "genocide", marking the first time the US government has taken such action while a massacre was still occurring.

To date, over 400,000 have been killed and over 2.5 million have been displaced in Darfur, according to Western sources. Official Sudanese source however hold that these numbers are heavily inflated and form part of an anti-Sudan campaign mostly headed by fundamentalist Christian groups in the US.

But also widely respected international human rights organisations and highly profiled UN leaders such as Jan Egeland have warned about genocide-like conditions in Darfur, or at least a massive humanitarian crisis and a failure by the Sudanese government to protect the human rights of the Darfuri population.

US pressure groups hold that the government of Sudan "relies heavily on foreign investment to fund its military, making divestment an effective strategic move against the crisis." Also, Sudan has historically responded to economic pressure.

The targeted approach of the Iowa bill is to "maximise the impact of divestment on the Sudanese government while minimising potential harm to both innocent Sudanese civilians and investment returns."

"Genocide should never be tolerated and the State of Iowa should not directly or indirectly be supporting the deadly campaign in Darfur," commented State Representative Dawn Pettengill of Mt Auburn, who sponsored and managed the bill in the Iowa House.

Iowa is the first of the 50 US states to pass divestment legislation in 2007, and the eighth state to divest overall. Eighteen other US states are currently considering a targeted divestment model.

"We are thrilled that the state of Iowa is joining the nation-wide campaign to target specific companies known to support the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. Iowans should continue their success and make sure all the presidential candidates know that we will not stand by in the face of genocide," commented Mark Hanis, director of the US-based Genocide Intervention Network.

Other human rights groups however hold there is little power behind the US initiative to isolate Sudan further, given Washington's very limited ties with the Khartoum government.

Amnesty International therefore recently launched a diplomatic pressure campaign towards China, which is now Sudan's major trade partner and investor, in particular in the oil sector. Amnesty holds that China has enough weight in Khartoum to urge the Sudanese government to improve conditions in Darfur and let UN peacekeepers enter the war-ravaged region.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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