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WHEREAS, the government of Sudan has engaged in a policy of genocide against its own black African population in Darfur through use of its military and through sponsorship of attacks by armed Arab militias known as the janjaweed; and
WHEREAS, the janjaweed and military of the Sudanese government are responsible for bombing villages and hospitals, gang-raping civilians, summarily executing throngs of black Darfurians, using forced starvation as a weapon of war, and impeding access of humanitarian aid to the 50% of Darfurians that are now reliant on assistance; and
WHEREAS, the Sudanese government is responsible for the death of 400,000 Darfurians and displacement of 2.5 million more; and
WHEREAS, both the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate have declared, by unanimous votes, that the Sudanese regime of dictator Omar al-Bashir is committing genocide; and
WHEREAS, international companies, by conducting business operations in Sudan, bring direct foreign investment dollars to Khartoum and provide both moral and political cover to the Sudanese regime; and
WHEREAS Khartoum has funneled the vast majority of direct foreign investment into military expenditures used to perpetuate the genocide while neglecting needed development projects in the Darfur region; and
WHEREAS the government of Sudan has a history of remedying egregious behavior in response to economic pressure; and
WHEREAS, the policy and practice of genocide is abhorrent to the moral and political values of the residents of the City of Pittsburgh, and, indeed, democratic and free societies everywhere.
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NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh urges the Comprehensive Municipal Pension Trust Fund to divest the city's pension funds from companies whose business with the government of Sudan supports or enables the Darfur genocide; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh urges the Pennsylvania Legislature to enact legislation, which would divest the Commonwealth's investment funds from companies whose business with the government of Sudan supports or enables the Darfur genocide.