Hamilton to renew effort targeting Darfur genocide

Hamilton to renew effort targeting Darfur genocide
By Mr Alrabae Adam Ezaldeen
Oklahoma City-State Rep. Rebecca Hamilton today renewed her call for the state of Oklahoma to end indirect funding of the genocide in Darfur.
"Tragically, acts of genocide have become increasingly common in the past century," said Hamilton, D-Oklahoma City. "The world has experienced mass murder in Germany, Cambodia, and Rwanda and now in the Sudan. Every time it happens, our government officials throw up their hands and dismiss these atrocities as the acts of 'monsters,' then fail to intervene until it's too late. If we continue to stand by and do nothing, we share responsibility for the murders of innocent civilians.
Fortunately, we can break that pattern this year and stand up for the innocent people of Darfur."
Congress recently passed the Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act, which allows state and local governments to divest from companies that support the Khartoum government and also prohibits federal contracts with those companies.
Hamilton said that legislation will complement a bill she is filing in the 2008 legislation session, which convenes in February. She filed a similar bill last year that was not granted a hearing.
"I am thrilled that Congress has acted on this issue and supported the legislation by overwhelming bipartisan margins," Hamilton said. "It's time for Oklahoma lawmakers to act."
Hamilton's legislation would make it illegal for companies doing business with the Darfur region of western Sudan to receive state contracts "for so long as genocide continues within that region."
The bill will also require state entities, such as retirement plans, to divest of any stock they own in companies that do business, either directly or through holding companies, with the government Sudan.
According to Amnesty International, hundreds of thousands of people have lost their lives in Darfur since February 2003. The Sudanese government and government-backed Janjawid militia are accused of committing systematic human rights abuses including killing, torture, rape, looting and destruction of property.
"I don't believe the people of Oklahoma want their tax dollars used to indirectly subsidize slavery, mass rape and genocide,"
Hamilton said. "Oklahomans may not be able to directly intervene, but we can prevent our money from aiding those who aid the murderers."