Sudan Divestiture Bill Passes

The state pension board will have the authority to pull the state's investments from companies that do business with Sudan under a bill that has received final approval in the House and Senate.

The 2007 Darfur Protection Act does not require automatic divestiture. But Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp (D) and Comptroller Peter Fran chot (D), who support the measure, said the pension board would use its authority to divest from companies that continue to do business with the Sudanese government.

The violence in the western region of Sudan has left more than 450,000 people dead since 2003. The country's Arab government has attempted to crush a rebel movement by destroying villages across Darfur, leaving more than 2.5 million homeless and languishing in refugee camps -- actions the U.S. government has labeled genocide.

-- Ovetta Wiggins