Lawmakers and activists encouraged the Wisconsin State Investment Board to divest from companies that facilitate genocide at the Capitol Wednesday.
A bipartisan bill spear-headed by state Sen. Shelia Harsdorf, R-River Falls, and state Rep. Fredrick Kessler, D-Milwaukee, stipulates that state money be invested in companies that don't indirectly fund genocide in Sudan.
Joining the politicians was the UW-Madison student group Action Sudan and their supporters, some of whom drove from Marquette University to participate in the press conference.
The authors and the activists said Sudan's government uses foreign investments to wage a north-south war and eliminate the non-Arab population of Darfur.
""Once again, the international community has failed to stop genocide. Wisconsin has a moral imperative to divest state pension funds,"" Harsdorf said. ""Genocide will not happen on our watch and not on our dime.""
August Mayai, a survivor of the genocide in Sudan, also spoke at the conference. He is one of the 4,000 Lost Boys of Sudan, who were displaced and relocated to the United States.
Mayai recounted his escape from Sudan at age seven, walking with many others more than 500 miles to Ethiopia and then Kenya. His parents were both killed years ago, but recently he was able to get in contact with a brother.
""I survived on the roots of plants for food and water,"" he said. ""By using the term genocide, we mean intervention. In Wisconsin we should withdraw our funds to buy oil because that would put economic pressure on the Sudanese government.""
Mayai is a graduate student at UW-Madison studying sociology and is currently doing research on population problems and quantifying child mortality rates in Sudan.
The total amount of divestment would be about 12 percent or $100 million of Wisconsin's total investment portfolio. Companies would be identified through research and Wisconsin's funds would be pulled from them. Currently there are about 25 companies on such a list.
""It is our moral responsibility to protect people around the world,"" said senior Neal Styka, a student protestor from Marquette University.
