Madam, - John O'Shea is right to say (February 3rd) that military intervention is necessary to save Darfur, and that political will is the only missing ingredient in bringing this rescue about. Calling for intervention, however, is unlikely to hasten its occurrence: tangible steps to punish Khartoum for its prosecution of genocide must be taken.
For one thing, public pension funds can remove their holdings from companies that have consistently funded the Bashir government (70 per cent of whose oil revenues is spent on military hardware). Indeed, the International Crisis Group, in its study "Getting the UN into Darfur", explicitly called for such a move as a way of putting pressure on Khartoum.
By way of the National Pension Reserve Fund (NPRF), Ireland has some €460 million invested in companies operating in Sudan, some of which - Indian energy consortium ONGC and Chinese oil firm PetroChina - have a documented complicity with those directing the terror against Darfur.
By targeting these companies and removing our investments from them, it is possible to turn off the tap that finances the violence, thus making the Sudanese government more amenable to international pressure.
This strategy has already started working. Siemens and ABB, two of Europe's largest firms, are pulling all non-humanitarian concerns out of Sudan, citing shareholder divestment among their reasons. Concurrently, the Bashir government agreed to a 60-day ceasefire with rebels - a sign of concessions they may be willing to make.
Sudan is an extremely poor country, saddled with massive debts; without the oil and foreign investment boom it is currently enjoying, it would not be getting away with wholesale murder in its western provinces. If we can target this revenue, and make it too costly for Khartoum to continue the genocide, real progress toward stopping the killing will have been made. - Yours, etc,
SEAN COLEMAN,
Ireland Campaign Manager,
Sudan Divestment Task Force,
Brian Avenue,
Dublin 3.