To the Editor:
Sriram Subramanian '10's recent letter ("Divestment may not effect genocide in Sudan," Feb. 28) fails to properly address both the mechanisms of targeted divestment and the rationale for taking such action. Divesting from Sudan is an effective, and necessary, method of placing economic pressure on the Sudanese government and ensuring our state is not inadvertently supporting the genocide in Darfur.
Like Subramanian, we are almost always against economic sanctions as a means of addressing global conflicts. But, as New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof recently wrote, "Sudan is an exception, a rare instance where narrowly focused divestment makes practical as well as moral sense."
The targeted divestment approach currently being considered by the State of Rhode Island, and recently implemented in both Providence and at Brown, requires divestment from only the worst offending companies conducting business in Sudan. Subramanian is mistaken; we are not divesting from Sudanese companies, but rather multinational oil and telecommunications companies providing the government of Sudan with the revenue they need to conduct their expensive genocide. Clear evidence has documented that 60-80 percent of oil revenue that Sudan receives goes directly towards its military expenditures; the same military carrying out the genocide. There is an indisputable link between the targeted multinational companies and the genocide in Darfur.
Furthermore, divestment has already proven to be effective in Sudan. The Sudanese government has a long history of susceptibility to economic pressure. The emerging Sudan divestment movement has already caught the attention of the Sudanese government, who has spent considerable time and energy attacking the effort by publishing press releases and buying full page New York Times ads against the movement. Several major companies operating in Sudan have also altered their business practices or left the country largely in response to the divestment movement. Prominent foreign policy experts and think tanks, such as the International Crisis Group and Human Rights Watch, have recently endorsed targeted divestment, calling it a critical tool for influencing the behavior of the Sudanese government and bringing long-term peace and security to the region.
The State of Rhode Island is currently considering targeted divestment legislation. Brown's Darfur Action Network has been at the forefront of this effort, working to ensure Rhode Island becomes the eighth state in the country to dissociate itself from genocide. Please visit www.DivestRhodeIsland.org to help us pass this crucial bill.
Scott Warren '09Darfur Action NetworkSudan Divestment Task ForceFeb. 28
