Ed, Fair enough. The City of New York joins the fray against Talisman's cavalier attitudes towards human rights violations in the Sudan.
Comptroller of the City of New York
1 Centre Street
New York, NY 10007-2341
Mr. James W. Buckee
President and Chief Executive Officer
Talisman Energy, Inc.
2400, 855Q2 Street, SW
Calgary, Alberta
T2P 4J9, Canada
September 27, 1999
Dear Mr. Buckee,
I am the investment adviser and/or trustee of the New York City pension funds (the "Funds"), with combined assets totaling approximately $90 billion, including an aggregate 186,000 shares of Talisman Energy Inc., Common Stock.
I am deeply troubled by the allegations made against our company in a report titled Western Capital Aids Genocidal War in Sudan, Spurs Human Rights Violations (American Anti-Slavery GroupUs Special Report: Talisman Divestment Campaign, July 20, 1999). The report alleges that our company's operation in Sudan is a source of financial and other resources, including vital fuel to a Sudanese Air Force base for bombing missions, by which the government and its military forces are sustaining a campaign of terror against the country's southern inhabitants. It alleges that Talisman Energy is supportive of the campaign because of its economic interest in the removal of the indigenous people from lands in which the countryUs richest oil fields are located.
The report also describes a recent June raid by the Sudanese Army in which twelve hundred troops backed by tanks and planes decimated villages right near Talisman's Unity Oil Field.
The international community is appalled and outraged by the report's horrific accounts of alleged government-sponsored slave raids upon village, involving the abduction of women and children, and the mass
slaughter of men.
I understand that Talisman Energy has defended its role in Sudan, asserting that it employs many Sudanese and has helped build roads, water well, and a hospital. (The Canadian Press, September 20 1999). Even if the above positive actions are true, they do not and cannot compensate for the grief otherwise caused by our activities. Our company's position painfully brings to mind the intransigence of companies that operated in South
Africa under apartheid, incurring substantial damage to their public image and the eventual loss of capital as protestors demonstrated in front of their facilities and investors divested their stock, worldwide.
I believe a company that is doing business in a country under a repressive regime must not provide financing or other resources for the perpetuation of wrongdoing or atrocities. As long-term investors, we believe a company
that is cavalier about its moral and social responsibility presents an unacceptable investment risk. The expanding divestment campaign against Talisman Energy for alleged complicity in the horrors in Sudan is just one indication of that risk.
As the investment adviser to the funds, it is my fiduciary duty to advise the Funds' Trustees of potential risks to our investments. Therefore, I request that you respond to these allegations and inform me of our companyUs plans concerning future business in Sudan. In this regard, I
would appreciate a meeting with you, at your earliest convenience.
I look forward to your reply.
Sincerely,
Alan G. Hevesi
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