Investors Against Genocide (IAG), a project of the Massachusetts Coalition to Save Darfur,has released its first white paper and new public survey results on investments that financially support regimes accused of genocide and crimes against humanity.
The paper addresses the American public’s increased demand for investments that are genocide-free, how the investments in question are tied to the atrocities being committed in Darfur, and how financial advisors can respond to concerned Americans’ demands and alternatives to these tainted investments.
IAG’s survey found that an overwhelming 88% of Americans want their investments to be free from any association with genocide and 84% say they will cease using any American company to manage their money that does business with firms that support such regimes.
According to IAG, 70% of the Sudanese regime’s oil revenue goes towards funding the ongoing genocide in Darfur. Even though the United States government has economic sanctions in place that bar American companies from doing business in Sudan, many American investors are unknowingly supporting the continuation of mass atrocities in Darfur due to by entrusting their investments to American companies that hold considerable investments in foreign firms that continue to conduct business with the Sudanese government. IAG notes that American firms like Fidelity Investments, Franklin Templeton, and Vanguard work with companies, like PetroChina, that directly profit from the Sudanese oil industry.
On a positive note, firms like American Funds and TIAA-CREF have responded to the American public’s demand by divesting from foreign firms doing business that enables the Sudanese government to continue its genocidal campaign.