The Darfur Consortium

An African and International
Civil Society Action for Darfur

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June 26, 2023

New York Times: Little Visible Progress on Darfur at International Conference. They came, they met, they agreed that more must be done, but a gathering here aimed at solving the crisis in Sudan’s Darfur region ended Monday with little visible progress. “We really must redouble our efforts, and I think that that was the spirit of today’s conference,” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said at a brief news conference after the day of closed meetings. “The point here was to take stock of where we are and to make sure that we are doing everything we can.” The French foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, said the delegations from 18 countries — including Sudan’s major donors, the Group of 8 industrialized nations and China — had reaffirmed their support for a joint African Union and United Nations peacekeeping force as outlined in a deal reached with the Sudanese government this month. “There is a little light at the end of the darkness,” Mr. Kouchner told reporters. But there was no announcement of which countries would contribute soldiers, nor was there any signal that China had softened its resistance to levying sanctions on Sudan, a measure that would require Chinese acquiescence to win approval from the Security Council. China is a staunch ally of Sudan and major buyer of its oil.

Connecticut Business News Journal: Nappier Says No to Genocide. State Treasurer Denise L. Nappier has instructed the state's investment managers are to divest the Connecticut Retirement Plans & Trust Funds (CRPTF) of approximately $11 million in shares of the China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., which operates in Sudan, whose government enables genocide in Darfur. Nappier concluded that the continued unstable and violent climate in Sudan, coupled with mounting international pressure, jeopardizes the long-term value of China Petroleum's business and thus poses a risk to the state's investment in the company, according to her office. Nappier's decision to divest investment in China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. comes following repeated failed attempts to contact the company about its business practices in Sudan. Nappier has also prohibited direct investment in five other companies: Bharat Heavy Electronics Ltd., Nam Fatt Corp., Oil and Natural Gas Corp., PECD Group and Sudan Telecom. "The bottom line has been, and continues to be, to get the best overall investment return that money can buy without bloodshed," said Nappier.

Associated Press: China Launches $1B African Trade Fund. China launched a $1 billion fund Tuesday to finance trade and investment by Chinese companies in Africa as part of efforts to nurture commercial ties with the resource-rich continent. The fund is part of Chinese aid and loans to Africa promised by President Hu Jintao at a November meeting with dozens of African leaders in Beijing. China has been promoting itself as a partner for Africa's development as it tries to secure oil and other resources for its booming economy and new markets for its exports. But Beijing faces complaints that it is treating Africa as a colony and that it supports oppressive regimes, such as Sudan and Zimbabwe. Activists often criticize such "tied aid" linked to donor nations' companies as inefficient. Chinese state oil companies have expanded aggressively, signing deals in Nigeria, Angola and Sudan. Human rights activists have criticized China for helping to shield Sudan, where it has large oil investments, from pressure over its handling of its ravaged Darfur region. At a Darfur conference this week in Paris, the Chinese envoy argued against imposing sanctions on Sudan and criticized calls for a boycott of the 2008 Beijing Olympics over the issue.

Voice of America: Darfur Activists Prepare For Possible Beijing Olympics Boycott. Although analysts and activists are divided as to the possibility of calls for an international boycott meeting with success, most agree that the moves towards punitive action against China have added an important element of pressure on Beijing to achieve a durable peace in Darfur. “I don’t think there’s going to be much success in getting a boycott, but I also think that the specter of protests and calls for a boycott has gotten Chinese attention in the last couple of months in a very significant way. The threat of a boycott or a disruption of the Olympics has contributed to some of the steps that China has taken (recently),” says Stephen Morrison, the head of the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington D.C.-based think tank. But Larry Rossin, a former US ambassador and presently a senior official with the Save Darfur Coalition, says “in some senses” the calls to boycott the Beijing Games have already become a separate campaign. “Our organization is supportive of the campaign to link the Olympics and Darfur in a way to try to change Chinese government positions and behavior. But that movement is not controlled by our organization and is being pushed by other individuals. So I think it’s very likely that you’re going to see self-standing organizations on this theme, but they’ll continue to have a close relationship with ourselves and other elements of the global Darfur movement - because it really is one component of an effort on all fronts to try and bring relief to the people of Darfur and an end to their agony,” says Rossin. 

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