Not on our Watch, Not on our Dime!
SB370 - Update Georgia Legislature fails to get bill out of committee. You might ask, what is the measure of a successful 3rd annual rally for Darfur in Atlanta? It was the hope of our coalition to answer that question with Governor Sonny Perdue's signature on SB370, a bill that would divest our state's pension funds from the most egregious companies doing business with the Government of Sudan. Unfortunately, we are faced with his choice to ignore this bill entirely. Since the spring of 2007 DUACG has been working closely with the Sudan Divestment Task Force to introduce a bill to the GA legislature that has also passed in 16 other states. The Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act (SADA), signed by President Bush in December of 2007 authorizes and protects state and local divestment from foreign companies whose relationship with Sudan is helping to fuel the genocide. SB370 would have required Georgia's public pension funds to divest from companies doing business in Sudan that substantially benefit the central government, provide no benefit to Sudan's citizens, and that have failed to address their role in facilitating Sudan's genocide. None of the few companies this bill would have targeted are American. Of the $64 billion dollar fund in GA, this bill would have divested $192 million from the worst offending companies and replaced them with peer companies with no ties to the genocide in Darfur. One of the key elements of this bill was to engage the offending companies prior to divestment to encourage them to change their behavior either by ceasing to do business with the Government of Sudan or providing humanitarian aid to the Darfurians in need. The Sudanese government has a long history of responsiveness to economic pressure. The Sudan divestment movement has been under attack by President al Bashir many times since its inception. Divestment has helped push the Chinese government to reverse its previous position on peacekeepers, and successfully push for the adoption of UN Resolution 1769, authorizing a hybrid peacekeeping force for Darfur. Divestment has forced 9 major companies operating in Sudan to alter their problematic business practices or cease doing business in Sudan. Two days after the rally, Senator David Shafer sponsored SB370 with bipartisan co-sponsorship of Senators Judson Hill, Kasim Reed, Tommie Williams, David Adelman, and Dan Moody. The bill was then referred to the Retirement Committee. A general divestment hearing was held in committee on February 13th, one day after over #50 coalition members lobbied their Senators at the capital on behalf of SB370. Countless meetings and hours were spent at the capital over the ensuing weeks lobbying to get a bill specific hearing in committee. We were faced with "fiscal concerns", the "fear of setting precedence" for "social divesting" and fear of setting "foreign policy at the state level". By the House crossover deadline, chairman Senator Heath of the Retirement Committee denied the hearing and the bill died in committee. The 2008 legislative session ends towards the end of next month. Currently reviewing our options, slim as they may be, we remain unwilling to give up hope. While the genocidal theme of "never again" feels like "some other time" in GA right now, our efforts have not been in vain. We will continue our action and advocacy campaign in conjunction with the alerts we receive from The Genocide Intervention Network and the Save Darfur Coalition. I encourage you to visit their web sites for updates on current action steps towards peace in the Darfur region. www.genocideintervention.net and www.savedarfur.org In the words of Jerry Fowler, Executive Director of the Save Darfur Coalition: "President al-Bashir and his regime clearly believe they can get away with genocide in Darfur and perhaps forestall indefinitely any meaningful international civilian protection force. The world has not yet proven them wrong. The Sudanese government will only change its behavior when the political and economic cost of continuing their campaign of destruction and displacement in Darfur becomes greater than the cost of stopping it. Lives will continue to be lost if the United States and international community do not act more vigorously to impose swift and strong consequences on Sudan."		Why the Coalition Exists: The DARFUR URGENT ACTION COALITION of GEORGIA (DUACG) strives to put an end to the slaughter of innocent lives and facilitate a complete cessation of hostilities in the Darfur region of Sudan. Further, we seek to assist non-governmental and governmental agencies in assiting the victims of this crisis. The purpose of the Darfur Urgent Action Coalition of Georgia is to help galvanize the efforts of more than 100 concerned organizations into a single unstoppable force. The Coalition is designed to link needs with resources, people with organizations and organizations with events in order to have the maximum impact on our mission. Targeted Divestment Center If you have wanted to find out more about targeted divestment, we want to be your resource for questions and documentation to make a valid argument with a legislator or municipal body. While not all of our Coalition members support targeted divestment, we present this for those who want to be better prepared on this complex issue. Please take a moment to review our resources.
Upcoming Events March 19 - DUACG monthly meeting at Selig Center March 20 - Concert at The Roxy; 6-11pm to benefit Save Darfur Coalition April 8 - Benefit Night for "In Darfur" playing at Horizon Theatre - http://horizontheatre.com/ May 5 - Darfur Event with Jerry Fowler of the USHMM, Location TBA For more event info, click here.		Darfur News Roundup - Chad Declares Crisis With Recent Clashes on Darfur Border - International Observers Point to Massacres in Darfur - Don Cheadle Screens "Darfur Now" in NYC - Boston University Researcher Discusses Finding Ancient Lake in Sudan To see these and other stories, click here.