How can we influence these oil companies to act?
Companies must do their part to uphold international human rights norms and to prevent human rights abuses. When companies are operating in highly unstable regions where there is little or no rule of law, where violence and suffering is rampant, and where it is known that revenues are flowing to a repressive or abusive government, they can also play an important role in promoting respect for human rights. We must send the message to companies operating in Sudan that the international community will no longer tolerate them not taking a stand against the massive human rights abuses occurring in Darfur.
Take action!
• Take our online action and add your voice to encourage 10 of the top investment
companies to use their influence in Sudan
• Download the Oil in Sudan Fact Sheet and a sample letter and press your university
endowment, pension fund, or mutual fund to send a similar letter to the top US-based
investment companies with holdings in the Big 4
• Sign up for SHARE POWER, Amnesty’s grassroots shareholder activism campaign (no
stock ownership needed!)
Pressure from human rights groups and the public at large are often not enough to alter the policies or operations of companies with business in conflict zones or unstable regions.
For instance, after Talisman Energy announced its pullout from Sudan, the Sudanese government made it clear it preferred companies investing in oil exploration that were unlikely to bow to criticism from human rights groups. According to Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail in November 2003, “We preferred the Indian company [ONGC] because it is government-owned and pressures of non-government organizations on it are less than they are on private companies.” In February 2005, Sanjeev Kakran, Vice President of ONGC-Videsh, stated, “The shadows of Darfur don’t affect us.”
Our most powerful allies in influencing such companies to act are their financial backers – the stockholders of their publicly traded subsidiaries and spin-offs.
AIUSA is mobilizing institutional investors to target the publicly-listed entities of the Big 4 as one means of pressuring the state-owned companies to take action on Darfur. CNPC is the parent company of PetroChina, a publicly-listed company in which it holds a 90% interest. Sinopec Group holds 68% of Sinopec Corp, which is the only publicly traded entity in the Big 4. Further, there is overwhelming overlap in board governance and senior management between these Chinese state-owned petroleum companies and their privatized spin-offs. Similarly, Petronas has three majority-owned, publicly traded subsidiaries: Petronas Gas, Petronas Dagangan, and MISC Berhad (Malaysia International Shipping Company); and ONGC has a majority-owned, publicly traded subsidiary: Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd. The state-run companies’ majority ownership in their public entities underlines a vested state interest in how the entities perform on exchanges and markets—and are perceived by the public.
» Next: Shareholders and NGOs unite to press the Big 4 to encourage implementation of UNAMID
