PERS asked to cut Sudan ties

CARSON CITY — Gov. Jim Gibbons on Thursday asked the state retirement system to fully divest itself of funds held in companies that provide economic support to the government of Sudan because of its genocide campaign against the people in the Darfur region.

Gibbons noted in his letter, which also was signed by legislative leaders, that the Public Employees Retirement System already has made significant progress in divesting from companies doing business with the Sudan, reducing its investments from $58 million in April to about $1.3 million currently. This occurred not because of action by PERS but because some companies that were listed as the “worst offenders” have since been de-listed.

The remaining investments are $1.1 million with Alstom, a power and transport company, and $214,000 with Lundin Petroleum.

The investments are a miniscule percentage of the PERS portfolio, which amounts to about $19 billion.

The reductions came as a result of changes in the listings by the Sudan Divestment Task Force and Genocide Intervention Network of the worst offenders. Rolls Royce pulled out of Sudan. The state system has $3 million invested in the company. The French company Schlumberger, where PERS has $54 million invested, was removed from the list because the company has taken a strong humanitarian role in the region. The company is in oil field development.

“American companies are prohibited by law from operating in the Sudan because of the genocide being conducted and sponsored by the Sudanese government against the people of the Darfur region,” Gibbons said. “It is equally vital that we are not supporting foreign companies who are providing financial aid to that government as well.

“I strongly urge Nevada PERS to honor the request that Sen. (Bill) Raggio, Speaker (Barbara) Buckley and I have made of them in this letter,” he said.

PERS Executive Officer Dana Bilyeu said in April it is not a simple decision to divest from companies on the worst offender list. There is no single list that details the names of companies whose investments end up hurting people in Sudan, she said.

“The problem is there are competing divestment lists,” Bilyeu said.

She made the comments after a speech to the Legislature by Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., in which he touched on his opposition to investments that benefit the Sudan government.

More than 2 million people have died in Sudan in a 20-year civil war that ended in 2003. Another 200,000 have died since then in attacks by the government in the Darfur region.