The University of California has over $131 million invested in
companies doing business in Sudan, a country whose government is
responsible for rape, disease, starvation and possible
genocide.
These companies (most notably the petroleum company PetroChina
and electronics company Siemens) directly aid the Sudanese
government. The money the government earns from these companies is
used to finance its military campaign of genocide in Darfur.
Simultaneously, the Sudanese government supports an Arab militia,
known as the Janjaweed, in their violent movement against non-Arab
Darfuris.
It is estimated that as many as 300,000 people have lost their
lives, and the United Nations says 2 million people have been
displaced and are living in makeshift refugee camps thus far. By
holding stock in the companies that fund the Sudanese government,
the UC fuels the genocide and supports unfathomable acts of
violence.
The UC Board of Regents released a list of specific companies in
which the UC holds stock after members of the UC Sudan Divestment
Taskforce attended the regents’ general meeting at UC San
Francisco on May 25. This was a momentous first step for the task
force.
The coalition is now working toward having divestment placed on
the agenda for the next regents meeting in July. But action must
begin now.
Aid to Sudan has already been shamefully delayed far too long.
Women are raped, children are beaten to death and men are being
systematically slaughtered. An estimated 20,000 people could die by
July’s regents meeting.
Justin Arana, a graduate of USC, was recently in Sudan with the
International Medical Corps. He gained access to the southern
region of Darfur, a location most gravely plagued by violence, and
visited the UCLA Darfur Action Committee to share his
experiences.
He told us hundreds of women and children arrive at the
outskirts of refugee camps every morning. Many of the
refugees’ men have been killed by the Janjaweed. All of these
people are malnourished, thirsty and sick in varying degrees.
Cholera is rampant and cases of meningitis are quickly rising to
epidemic proportions. When women leave the refugee camps in search
of firewood, rape is virtually inevitable. Janjaweed soldiers
patrol the outskirts of the camps, waiting to abuse the Darfuri
women.
Arana spoke of a militant government crazed with maintaining
absolute power. The government screens all e-mails, phone calls,
letters and other correspondences into and out of Sudan. Arana
himself was arrested and almost executed for taking pictures that
supposedly defamed the face of Sudan.
One such picture was of children giving thumbs-up signs. This
photo was considered a threat to the government because it was a
supposed sign of pro-Western sensibility. Another picture depicted
children reaching out for toys that relief workers brought for
them. Apparently, this picture made it seem as though the children
were pleading and in need, certainly not a message the Sudanese
government wants to send to the international community.
But perhaps the most moving story Arana shared with us was when
he encountered hundreds of women and children making their way out
of Darfur after walking for days through 120-degree heat and
perpetual sandstorms. Most in the group were so dehydrated they
could not speak. Though Arana wanted to help all of these people,
he only had three water bottles in his backpack.
All he could offer besides these meager provisions were kindness
and friendship. Standing among the famished crowd, a young boy
reached out and held Arana’s hand. Arana apologized, saying,
“I’m sorry. I don’t have anything for you.”
The boy simply smiled, as if Arana’s mere presence
represented eventual relief, and said, “It’s
OK.”
I say it’s not OK. The UC must cease supporting the
unthinkable monstrosities occurring in Sudan by divesting in
companies that do business there. Until the UC does so, we are all
guilty of genocide. I, along with the task force and the Darfur
Action Committee, refuse to hold this guilt any longer.
Tokushige is a second-year English student and a member of
the Darfur Action Committee. For more information on how to help,
visit www.ucdivestsudan.com.