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Posts with the tag divestment

Check it out here:

http://www.sudandivestment.org/home.asp
Here's the major news since our September email:

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathawayhas completely divested its massive holding in PetroChina. Berkshire sold 2.3 billion shares of theworst of the companies funding the genocide in Darfur. Buffett denies his actions had anything to dowith public pressure or genocide, but his complete divestment of PetroChina cutsthe connection between Berkshire Hathaway and the genocide in Darfur. The sell-off by one of the world's mostrespected investors is also a clear demonstration that ethical responsibility and fiduciary responsibility are not mutuallyexclusive. Since Berkshire no longer holds Petrochina, we have dropped itfrom our list of problem investment companies.

UBS (which owns the former PaineWebber) was added to our list of target companies. UBS not only acquired more than 1 billionshares of Petrochina, but also acted as the underwriter for the recent $8.94billion Petrochina public offering in Shanghai. Nobel laureates Elie Wiesel, Jody Williams andBetty Williams, along with Mia Farrow, Ruth Messinger, Justice RichardGoldstone, and Mukesh Kapila, called on UBS to aggressively engage withPetroChina. UBS ignored their request.

The Congressional Human Rights Caucus has scheduled a hearing ongenocide-free investing for December 11, 2007. The hearing will shed light on the problem of so many ordinary investorsbeing inadvertently connected to the genocide in Darfurby virtue of the large investments financial institutions make in companieslike PetroChina. We will keep you postedas more information becomes available.

Franklin Templeton. Demonstrationsand advertising in the San Francisco Bay Area have increased visibility to theproblem investments by Franklin Templeton, now the mutual fund company with thelargest holdings of PetroChina. You canview the Save Darfur Coalition ads by clicking here.

Here's what you can do to help:

Submit a shareholder resolution. Ourshareholder resolution drive is gaining traction. We've submitted nearly 75 resolutionsto 61 mutual funds across multiple companies. To put this in context, according to a recent article in IR magazine,there were a total of 322 environmental and social resolutions submitted to allcompanies for all of 2006. We'reenthused by our progress but want to do much more. We need your help. If you own shares in any of our targetedproblem investment firms, please review the information on our shareholder proposalprogram and contact us for further information on how you can help.

Send a complaint to UBS, Franklin Templeton,and other problem investment companies at InvestorsAgainstGenocide.org.
On June 28,2007 the Delaware Legislatures House of Representatives unanimously passed House Joint Resolution 9. The key sponsors were Rep. D. Blakey, Rep. M. Marshall, Sen. Henry, Rep. P. Thornburg and Rep. N. Wagner.

It states: BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives and the Senate of the 144th General Assembly of the State of Delaware, with the approval of the Governor, that we condemn the genocide occurring in the Darfur region of Sudan and urge President George W. Bush and the Delaware Congressional Delegation to continue to work with the international community to halt these human rights violations, to impose appropriate economic sanctions, and to bring humanitarian assistance and lasting peace to the Darfur region.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Delaware Public Employees Retirement System should divest from foreign companies that have a business relationship with the government of Sudan, fail to support Sudanese civilians, fail to have a corporate governance policy regarding Darfur and are unresponsive to shareholder engagement.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that copies of this Resolution be sent to President George W. Bush, the members of the Delaware Congressional Delegation and all state and local Chambers of Commerce.   Read More »
IT'S APPARENT IN TIMES OF GENOCIDE

WE MUST LEAD

OUR LEADERS

NOTE: my main blog is Link
where you can read my other posts and see pictures.

What do these locations have in common?

* Darfur, Sudan
* Rwanda
* Yerevan, Armenia
* Sarajevo, Bosnia
* Germany and surrounding countries
* Phenom Penh, Cambodia
* Nanking, China http://nankingthefilm.com/
* The land the United States of America was created upon

Human inhumanity is a legacy and a stain on all of us. All of these places have this word in common: GENOCIDE. Do you know what genocide is? It was defined December 9, 1948 at the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide… Link

And do you know the date that the United States of America ratified it? Not until November 25, 1988.

A Summary of United Nations Agreements on Human Rights: Link

I was on a nationwide, worldwide really, hour conference call today with approximately 75 others via the Save Darfur Coalition offices in Washington, D.C. I consider myself a human rights activist and Darfur community leader in the state of Rhode Island. It was a privilege today to participate in this call. We listened to the worldwide coordinator of the Olympics Torch Relay for Darfur, Jill Savett, explain the progress and plans of this huge endeavor. There will be a Torch Relay for Darfur going through countries that have had genocides: Starting at the Chad/Darfur border, where the current genocide is, continuing in Rwanda, Armenia, Bosnia, Germany, Cambodia ending in China or in a symbolic location of China (if China won't allow us in China). The Torch Relay will link the Darfur genocide to China, where the 2008 Olympics will take place. The Dream for Darfur Olympic Torch Relay will begin August 8, 2007, one year in advance of the opening ceremonies in Beijing, China of the 2008 Olympics. By the way, Steven Spielberg is producing the opening and closing ceremonies in Beijing, China, land of the Darfur genocide funding.

Link

But also, there will be a symbolic Torch Relay for Darfur in the United States of America. This United States of America Olympic Symbolic Torch Relay will begin September 9, 2007 which is the anniversary date that Secretary of State Colin Powell initially identified and acknowledged the actions as genocide in Darfur. The USA Darfur Relay will culminate on December 10, 2007, Global Day of Action for Darfur, which is also the date of World Human Rights Day.

Link

Link

…………………………………………

SaveDarfur.org has a post called "Unity Statement" that's worth checking out...

The emergency in Sudan's western region of Darfur presents the starkest challenge to the world since the Rwanda genocide in 1994. A government-backed Arab militia known as Janjaweed has been engaging in campaigns to displace and wipe out communities of African tribal farmers (notes…

…………………………………………

Why Focus on China

China has two large oil companies in Sudan, which makes money for the Sudanese government. Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir uses 70 % of the nation's budget for his military who works in coordination with the Janjaweed to commit the genocide on the Darfuri families. This is proven by human rights organizations, independent films, such as Darfur Diaries, as well as the African Union troops who have for years been documenting the stories and actions, in addition to taking pictures of the carnage. China sits on the Security Council of the United Nations and is in a position to put an end to this four and half year genocide, however it has done not only nothing to alleviate or stop the genocide, but it has done the opposite by making supportive statements repeatedly for Omar al-Bashir, the mastermind behind the genocide.

Email the National Olympic Committee to state your position on the Darfur genocide:

Link

...................................................

Please . . . please, Sign the Petition.

Tell the Olympic Committee to Bring the Olympic Dream to the People of Darfur.

Sign the Petition to the International Olympic Committee:

Link


The organizers of the Dream for Darfur's sponsored International Olympic Torch Relay for Darfur met the China Ambassador to the United States last Friday. China proved to be cognizant of this endeavor. We have their attention. It is important that we have their attention. And more.
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Gabriel Starring, who is and has been on the Chad/Darfur border for two weeks, was also on the conference call today and told us that the people in the "refugee" camps just "want to go home" and that they are in "survivor mode" in these camps. He said:

there is "no rule of law", life is "unpredictable", there is "no security", "humanitarian aid is hit and miss"

that when he was there in 2005, camps were relatively stable and things have deteriorated drastically

the people want to find hope and that they want to connect with us

the people are resilient, beautiful and strong and that he feels at one with them.

Gabriel stated that the people are no different than us and that we would want them to do for us if it was us.

Gabriel told us that videos that they have been taking there are uploaded daily and can be seen at www.stopgenocidenow.org Gabriel's group is going to leave video equipment with the people when they leave, so that the people can feel a connection to the rest of the world, which they so desperately need.

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Then, Mia Farrow spoke to us about her trip there. She said that more than the needed water and food, the people's plea is for protection, safety . . . that the UN is hopelessly paralyzed, that China sits on the Security Council and has rendered the UN toothless regarding Darfur, that Beijing pours billions of dollars into the Sudanese government's coffers and in effect are underwriting the first genocide of the 21st century, that China's oil companies' air strips in Sudan are being used for planes bombing the Darfuri families and communities, that 76% of China in a poll stated that they believe that China has the responsibility to step up and do the right thing.

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Scott Warren, for Brown University, in Providence, Rhode Island, who is the new executive director of www.standnow.org that the United States Olympic Torch Relays goals are to:

1. Influence China regarding their responsibility to use their leverage to end the Sudanese government's perpetrating the genocide on their own people

1. That the 2008 Chinese Olympics are China's "Coming Out Party" and that by shaming

them - they will do the correct thing

b. To gain media coverage of this issue of our complicity and living out our stated values of

human rights is something we also must be pressured to do as a nation

2. Make an impact on the world, the USA populace and the Presidential candidates

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I plan to organize an Olympic Torch Relay for Darfur in the state of Rhode Island

Once my plans materialize, I will post it on Link

I also will post here about the plans as we go along.

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I CALLED PRESIDENT BUSH TODAY AT

202 - 456 - 1111, as I ask you to do every day.

I was only asked what state that I am from.

Today, my message was:

"I am calling about the Darfur genocide. I believe we are standing idly by and I'd like us to stop that and take action."

When the automated message came on I just waited as if I have a rotary dial phone in order to talk to the person live. This is the President's Comment Line and she says that she will pass on the message to the President. If you and I call every day until this genocide is over, it is a small step for humankind and toward peace. It's really up to us to shine a light on our responsibility to stop genocide. Evidentally, our leaders need us to lead them in times of genocide.
The President's Comment Phone Line is open Monday through Friday
9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time
202 - 456 - 1111

email: president@whitehouse.gov

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Call your US Senators & Representatives at

1 - 800 - GENOCIDE

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Genocide flourishes when there is no accountability.

WE CAN'T SAY THAT WE CARE ABOUT JUSTICE

WHEN WE DO NOTHING TO STOP THE INJUSTICE

We each have a voice.

We each have a presence.

We have been called to be human

in the most basic way

on this subject.



Where there is a will - there is always a way.

And where there is no will - there is no way.



Silence is necessary for genocide to go on.

Our collective silence is a weapon used by the genocidaires.

Silence kills.

And we are responsible for our personal silence.

Let us not be silent.

If Peace never begins, Genocide will never end.

One World.

One humanity.

One Human Race.

One.

• http://www.Savedarfur.org
• http://www.ajws.org/
• www.sudandivestment.org/
• Link
• http://www.standnow.org/

What Legacy Will You Leave?

Call-In Day for Sen Jack Reed 1-800-GENOCIDE Wednesday May 2

      Wednesday, May 2nd is Call-In Day for Senator Jack Reed.  Call 1-800-GENOCIDE and tell him to move the legislative bill out of committee for Darfur and divestment and also to sponsor the bill.  We would like his Darfur support grade to be better than “C”.  The phone call will ask you who you want to talk to (this is a nation wide number) and ask you to press in your zip code.  Talking points will be provided before you speak with anyone.  Remember to thank Senator Reed for signing the Biden-Lugar letter to President Hu of China regarding Darfur.

May 2, 2007

Dear Person of Conscience,

We had a successful Newport Darfur Walk & Gathering Saturday, April 28.  As disappointed as I was that all three network news stations said we were either too far away from their Providence office, that they were typically under-staffed on weekends or…. to come to our event, we did get great coverage from The Newport Daily News in Monday’s paper on two pages, complete with two colored pictures. I loved the picture with all of the signs.  Incidentally the posters that were readable were so well-placed. And last Friday, they published my Darfur Letter to the Editor. 

I have retyped the entire Newport Daily News article, it can be found by clicking the title of this blog post.

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   Read More »
Below is Arch Bishop Tutu's statement on Darfur, Sudan and genocide:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

"God has a plan and we are all part of this plan.
There is hope in all things as we all work together.
As children of God we must stand together against the killing of any brother or sister.
To make changes we must be educated.
As we become educated about Darfur it will become clear from where the money stems that allows this war to continue.
By learning the truth, by using our voice then pairing the two with action, we see results.
When the money stops the greed of money will stop.
When investments in companies supporting the government stop
so does corruption.
Achieve this through divesting and support of divestment.
Contact you government officials.
Make your rights known.

Reach out to help.

Give comfort to those that hurt.
Give shelter to those exposed.
Give nourishment to those that thirst.
Share knowledge with those that look.
Give the tools needed to do for themselves.

Teach by example.

Share what you have to give,
a smile,
hope,
a book.
There is always someone who would be blessed by what you have to give.

And... always give thanks
and always love,
for God is love
and love is God."
words of Arch Bishop Tutu

This is from Arch Bishop Tutu in reference to my [rhonda varsane's] request for statement about Darfur, Sudan and genocide during April, a month of awareness.

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Money is often times more of a problem then a solution.

contact information:
rhonda varsane
972.948.7498
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