On Sept. 25, California announced that it would ban state investments in Sudan. At a ceremony attended by actors George Clooney and Don Cheadle, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill adopting a targeted divestment from Sudan for California's public pension funds. This came in large part as a result of intensive activism by the Sudan Divestment Task Force, a close partner of GI-Net.
Schwarzenegger also wrote to President Bush, urging him to sign the Darfur Peace and Accountabilty Act, which Bush did on Oct. 13. The Act endorses a more comprehensive mandate and logistical support for the African Union peacekeepers in Darfur, directs the United States to aid the International Criminal Court in its investigations of war crimes in Darfur, and specifies economic sanctions for members of the Sudanese government known to have committed war crimes.
Passing the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act was a major success for the anti-genocide movement and a testament to activists' hard work over these past months. However, as GI-Net Executive Director Mark Hanis said after the bill's passage, the DPAA “has the potential to seriously curtail the genocidal activities of the government of Sudan, but only if its provisions are seriously enforced.” We in the anti-genocide movement must remain vigilant that these provisions are enforced if genocide is truly to come to an end in Darfur. We must continue to ratchet up the pressure!
—Colin, Ivan and the rest of the GI-Net team