FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                           Contact: Allyn Brooks-LaSure, 202-478-6174
May 1, 2007                                                                                                    or Ashley Roberts, 202-478-6181

Save Darfur Coalition joins call for Sudan divestment with ‘Divest for Darfur’ initiative, national ad campaign

New poll shows overwhelming majority of Americans would withdraw investments linked to genocide in Darfur

WASHINGTON - The Save Darfur Coalition today launched the Divest for Darfur campaign, adding a robust print and broadcast advertising element to the existing call for targeted divestment from “highest offending” companies conducting business in Sudan. Through national advertising and direct action, the Divest for Darfur campaign will urge Fidelity Investments and Berkshire-Hathaway to divest from PetroChina, with the ultimate goal of pressuring the Sudanese government into seeking a peaceful resolution to the ongoing crisis in Darfur. As part of the campaign launch, coalition officials released recent poll results that underscore the American public’s overwhelming support for divestment. The advertisements and poll details are available online at www.savedarfur.org/divestnews.

“The American people clearly don’t want their personal investments bankrolling genocide,” said David Rubenstein, executive director of the Save Darfur Coalition. “To the American people, these profits just aren’t worth it. The goal of the Divest for Darfur movement is to align Fidelity and Berkshire-Hathaway investment choices with the views of the American people.

A national poll released by the coalition indicates that a staggering percentage of Americans (71 percent) believe that companies should take into account human rights abuses such as genocide when investing overseas rather than base their investment decisions on economic criteria only. In fact, three-quarters (77 percent) say they would switch their investments if they learned that those managing their funds had significant investments in firms that were active in Sudan. [The poll was a nationally representative telephone survey of 1,022 American adults conducted April 12-15, 2007. The margin of error is +/- 3.1 percent.]

Divest for Darfur’s launch marks the beginning of the coalition’s aggressive advertising campaign calling on Fidelity Investments to cut its ties to genocide. Fidelity is a major investor in PetroChina, which is heavily involved in Sudan’s very profitable oil industry and is considered to be one of the “highest offenders” among international businesses. Despite months of engagement and thousands of complaints, Fidelity has thus far refused to accept any responsibility for these investments. Print advertisements directed at Berkshire-Hathaway will appear on billboards in the Omaha region in addition to regional publications.

Broadcast ads began airing today on CNN and targeted print ads will run in various markets across the country. The advertisements are available online at www.savedarfur.org/divestnews. Coalition advocates and divestment partners last week staged rallies and protests at Fidelity Investments offices throughout the country. Similar activities are planned as part of the Divest for Darfur initiative.

U.S law prohibits most American companies from operating directly in Sudan. However, U.S. firms are legally able to invest in foreign companies that operate in Sudan, several of which make a significant contribution in Sudan’s economy, indirectly funding the genocide. According to research by the Sudan Divestment Task Force, Sudan has historically been responsive to economic pressure when diplomatic pressure has come up short.

“Many people ask what they can do as individuals to help stop the genocide in Darfur,” Rubenstein said. “A simple step is making sure that they are not inadvertently supporting the genocide in Darfur through their investments. Beyond that, individuals must encourage institutions they support, universities, investment firms, state and local governments, to end their contributions to genocide.”

A number of companies, including Siemens AG, ABB Ltd. and Rolls-Royce, have already cut their ties to Sudan in light of the genocide. Ten states – Maryland, Colorado, Iowa, California, Oregon, Illinois, Vermont, New Jersey, Connecticut and Maine – have passed resolutions divesting state funds; campaigns are under way in 15 additional states. Universities, such as Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Dartmouth, University of Pennsylvania, and the University of California system, have also passed divestment measures. Congress is currently considering legislation (S. 831 and H.R. 180) that would support divestment.

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About the Coalition: The Save Darfur Coalition's mission is to raise public awareness about the ongoing genocide in Darfur and to mobilize a unified response to the atrocities that threaten the lives of two million people in the Darfur region. An alliance of more than 180 faith-based, advocacy and humanitarian organizations, the coalition’s member organizations represent 130 million people of all ages, races, religions and political affiliations united together to help the people of Darfur.

About Divest for Darfur: The Save Darfur Coalition’s Divest for Darfur campaign encourages and promotes targeted divestment as a strategy to exert financial pressure on the government of Sudan to change its policies and bring peace to the people of Darfur. More than 70 percent of Sudan’s oil revenue is channeled to Sudan’s military, which is engaged in a campaign that the U.S. State Department, Congress, and President Bush have labeled as genocide. The campaign is managed in close partnership with our affiliated organizations: the Sudan Divestment Task Force, a project of the Genocide Intervention Network, and Fidelity Out of Sudan. The campaign is also coordinated with American Jewish World Service, the NAACP, STAND, the Jewish Council of Public Affairs, and other coalition members with divestment policies.