To date, the conflict in Darfur, Sudan, has taken the lives of about 500,000 non-Arab Sudanese and displaced 2.5 million into refugee camps since 2003.
At the moment, it appears there’s no end in sight to the genocide this conflict has sparked.
But the Palmetto State has contributed to the effort to stop the violence by adopting a targeted Sudan divestment law that prohibits investing in companies that contribute to genocide in Sudan.
The legislation prevents the South Carolina Retirement Systems from investing in 24 companies that operate in Sudan and indirectly contribute to the ongoing genocide in Darfur.
Although Gov. Mark Sanford didn’t sign Senate Bill 241, which passed unanimously in the Senate and House, it became law at midnight June 5.
On Dec. 31, President George Bush signed the Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act that allows states to adopt polices of targeted Sudan divestment.
Perhaps Genocide Intervention Network Executive Director Mark Hanis makes the best argument for national support of that act. He said people often don’t realize the seriousness of an issue until their money is affected.
Hartsville resident Lindsey Wilkes, a founding member of the Darfur Action Group and executive director of GENed, an organization that educates people about genocide, agreed.
“As South Carolinians, we definitely need to make a difference here with participation,” she said. “Educating people locally on genocide and making some noise is very important. It’s much better to be proactive rather than reactive so that we don’t get in a situation where we would have to pull out form an investment later.”
The new state legislation also “helps put pressure on Sudan to stop the genocide,” said Dr. J. Austin Watson, executive director of Lighthouse Ministries in Florence and a board member with the Darfur Action Group of South Carolina.
While many may regard the new law as a symbolic gesture at this point, as the South Carolina Retirement Systems has no ties to companies that invest in Sudan, its importance can’t be denied — especially now. Treaties are in place to keep Sudan together, but in 2011 the southern portion will have the option of separating from the north, taking with it the city of Abyei and its billions of dollars in oil revenue.
And the fact that South Carolina is just the 25th state to adopt such a law seems to demonstrate a growing awareness of the horrors taking place in an area of the globe that seems worlds away from here.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement