Senator: “New Jersey Has No Place Condoning Genocide”
TRENTON – Senator Nia H. Gill, D-Essex and Passaic, the prime sponsor of legislation that would require New Jersey to divest all state-administered pension investments held in companies with ties to the Sudanese government, issued the following statement regarding the unanimous approval of the bill today by the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee:
“The actions being conducted in the name of ‘ethnic purity’ in the Sudan are an atrocity to human rights around the globe. The ongoing conflict in the Darfur region has claimed more than 200,000 lives since it began in 2003, and is nothing short of absolute religious genocide.
“New Jersey has no place condoning such genocide. We must use the political tools in our power, such as embargoes on state business with companies associated with the Sudanese government, to send a strong message to the rest of the world that in a rational, civilized world, the actions of the Sudanese regime are inexcusable and unacceptable.
“We cannot allow even the perception to exist that New Jersey would put corporate gains above the most basic human right of survival.
“New Jersey’s continued investment in companies that deal with the Sudan is contrary to the tenets we hold true in this country of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Given the Sudanese model of torture, rape and murder in the Darfur region, we must immediately separate all economic ties to the Sudan, to make a strong statement that the people of New Jersey will not tolerate such flagrant human rights violations.”
The bill now heads to the full Senate for consideration.