Fight the Genocide

Go to our online campaign at

www.divestsudannow.com

So far, it has claimed countless lives and displaced millions more. The torture continues to this day, with no signs of stopping.

Genocide is real. Real people are being forced from their homes. Real people are being tortured. Real people are dying. Over 400,000 people have died in Darfur alone, and the attacks by the janjaweed, local mercenaries hired by the regime, have tortured and displaced millions. The Congo has also been the victim of an ongoing genocide, with virtually no international attention.

The perpetrators of these heinous crimes are terrorists. In Darfur, they are the same people that helped Al-Qaeda carry out the attack on the USS Cole in 2000 that claimed the lives of 20 service men. In Somalia, the Islamic Courts Union aided Osama bin Ladin when he hid after the embassy bombings in the late 1990’s. In the Congo, these terrorists have fought to bring down a peace-loving and democratic regime, despite assistance from the United Nations and NATO.

This needs to stop. As a state, Michigan controls a pension fund of over $65 billion. Analysis from independent and state-controlled bodies has found that over $150 million of taxpayer money, your money, is invested indirectly in companies that fund genocide, and that fund terror.

We, Spartans For Progressive Divestment, support policies that get public money out of terror. We call for the immediate consideration and passage in the Michigan Legislature of the following bills:

SB555/HB4854: [Sponsors: Senator Hansen Clarke and Representative Alma Wheeler Smith] These bills will force Michigan to use its economic clout to urge the foreign companies complacent in the Darfur genocide to change their ways. If they refuse, Michigan would then divest its money from them into other, more profitable ones. This legislation was crafted and endorsed by the Michigan Treasury Department and tacitly by the Legislative Retirement System, the two organizations in charge of investing the money.

The “Terror Divestment” Package: [Multiple Sponsors; Primary sponsor: Sen. Cameron Brown] This package of bills will, much as Darfur Divestment above, force Michigan to withdraw its money from the foreign companies supporting state-sponsors of terror as defined by the United States State Department. Countries such as Iran, Syria, and others would be the primary targets. Legislation like this is gaining traction throughout the country, and is aiding in the Global War on Terror.

Now, though, these bills are languishing in committees. Please, we urge you, help take our tax money out of genocide and terror. Give this legislation a fair hearing, and allow Michigan to regain its preeminence as a national and world leader.

Please, help us get Michigan money out of terror. Sign up for more info at the bottom of our page or join our Facebook group, Spartans For Progressive Divestment, Here.

-Spartans For Progressive Divestment