Calling for Massachusetts to stop funding the Sudanese government, almost 300 politicians, students and activists lobbied in support of a Senate bill that would prohibit the state pension fund from investing in any companies that conduct business in the conflict-ridden region.
If passed, Massachusetts would join the list of several states that have stopped investing in companies with holdings in Sudan, where there has been an ongoing conflict between citizens in the Darfur region and a government-sponsored militia since 2003. The United States recognized the conflict as a genocide in 2004 and estimates hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed and millions more displaced from their homes.
Members of the Joint Committee for Public Service chairman Jay Kaufman (D-Middlesex) said the turnout for the hearing, which included actress Mia Farrow, was the largest he had ever seen at a similar event.
“People from Massachusetts know democracy means acting on our values and fighting for justice,” said Lt. Gov. Tim Murray at the hearing. “Protection of human rights and dignity outweighs the slight economic risk.”
Handouts from the hearing listed companies — including oil companies PetroChina and Sinopec – the commonwealth invests in that also fund the Sudanese government through financial dealings.
Actress-turned-activist Farrow appealed to lawmakers’ emotions as she presented a slide show of photos from two trips she made to Sudan in 2004 and 2006 as a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador.
“After visiting the region, there is no way that I can keep quiet,” she later told The Daily Free Press. “No one is safe there.
“I’m not an expert on humanitarian aid or international politics, but I can convey what I know, and I hope it is enough,” she added.
Panther Alier, one of the thousands of “Lost Boys” — a group of Sudanese refugees who emigrated to America after Sudan’s first civil war during the 1990s — testified at the hearing, as well.
“‘Lost Boys’ was a term I never wanted for myself,” he said. “Nobody should ever be lost. I survived, and [I am] here now to speak for those who may never have a chance to speak again.”
Michael Travaglini, executive director of the Pension Reserves Investment Management Board, which supervises the state pension fund’s investments, cautioned passing the legislation could eventually make the state wary of investing in many other companies that do business in other controversial regions as well. Travaglini said the state pension fund would suffer from this.
“I think we all agree that genocide is horrible, but we at [the Board] are worried about the precedent that this sets,” he said.
“If we have limited investment choices, we are going to get limited returns,” he said. “We want to make sure that everyone who works for the state can be provided for when they retire.”
Smith College English professor Eric Reeves said the stakes are high enough that he supports the bill regardless of any potential financial fallout.
“Money should not be a deciding factor,” he said.