US Congress passes Sudan divestment bill
WASHINGTON, Dec 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress pressed for an end to the violence in the Darfur region by passing legislation on Tuesday to help investors who want to shed their holdings in companies doing business in Sudan.
The House of Representatives voted 411-0 to back the measure that aims to shield state and local governments, mutual funds and private pension funds from investor lawsuits if they divest shares of companies active in Sudan's oil, mining, power and military equipment industries.
It also denies federal contracts to companies involved in Sudan's oil, mining, power, and military equipment industries.
The bill has already passed the Senate and now goes to President George W. Bush. But his administration has criticized the legislation for interfering with foreign policy-making and it was unclear whether he would sign it into law. A U.S. State Department spokesman said the administration had some concerns about legal issues raised by the bill.
Rep. Barbara Lee, a California Democrat, said the United States had a moral responsibility to use every tool to stop the genocide in Darfur.
"It's time we put the United States, not just with rhetoric, but with action, on the right side of history," said Lee before the vote.
Experts estimate 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million uprooted in the Sudanese region's conflict, which started in 2003 and pits mostly non-Arab rebel groups against the Khartoum government and Arab militias.
The Save Darfur Coalition, an alliance of more than 180 faith-based, advocacy and human rights organizations, has asked investors to divest their holdings in companies such as Malaysia's state-owned Petronas [PETR.UL], India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp Ltd (ONGC.BO), and PetroChina Co Ltd (601857.SS), whose parent company, China National Petroleum Corp, is helping Sudan drill for oil.
The coalition says the Sudanese government uses up to 70 percent of its oil revenues to give arms and supplies to Arab militias charged with putting down the revolt.
U.S. companies are generally barred from investing in Sudan already, so the divestment mostly affects foreign companies. Bush concluded in 2004 that genocide took place in Darfur in 2004.
U.S.-based Capital Research & Management Co, Lazard Asset Management Co Ltd, and Blackstone Asia Advisors Ltd, were among the top 10 largest institutional holders of Natural Gas Corp Ltd shares as of the end of September, according to Reuters Company Views.
The same database showed Capital Research & Management Co, Barclays Global Investors NA and Vanguard Group Inc were among the top 10 investors in PetroChina, joined by units of California-based Franklin Templeton Investments and FMR Corp, better known as Fidelity Investments. (Additional reporting by Paul Eckert, editing by Leslie Gevirtz)
