Justice letter opposes Sudan law

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department is increasing Bush administration pressure on Congress not to pass legislation designed to slash U.S. and foreign investment in Sudan because of the Darfur violence.

A letter to the Senate Democratic and Republican leaders even suggested the courts might be involved in knocking down a provision of the proposed Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act that would give congressional authorization for state and local governments’ divestment schemes.

The letter was circulated Friday by the Save Darfur Coalition.

“It’s ironic that the Bush administration wants to preserve a ‘kid gloves’ option while the Khartoum regime continues to employ an iron fist against the people of Darfur,” said John Prendergast, a member of the Save Darfur board.

Dated Oct. 26, the letter was the second within a week from the administration, four days after a similar document from the State Department that made some of the same arguments on constitutional and foreign policy grounds rather than legal.

The Constitution delegates foreign policy to the president. The Sudan law would punish U.S. or foreign entities for investing in Sudan while militias aligned with President Omar al-Bashir’s government wage a terror campaign in the arid Darfur region of western Sudan.

Like the State Department letter, the Justice letter emphasized as objectionable the law’s congressional authorization for U.S. state and local divestment policies.

The proposal, divestment included, has been approved by the Senate Banking Committee but has not been scheduled for a vote in the Senate.