US Colorado lawmakers approve ban on investments in Sudan

(Updates with Los Angeles taking similar action)

Feb 14, 2007 (DENVER) — Colorado lawmakers approved a bill Wednesday barring state pension funds from investing in companies that do business in Sudan.

Also Wednesday, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced the city will withdraw more than $27 million in retirement fund investments from companies that do business with Sudan to protest violence in the Darfur region.

The Colorado measure now must be approved in the state Senate.

“This is the strongest action that any state has ever taken against the Sudanese government,” Democratic House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, said.

“We are sending the message that we will not give a dime to the murder, rape, and torture of innocent people,” Romanoff said.

More than 200,000 people have been killed and some 2.5 million people have fled their homes since violence broke out in the region in 2003. The White House has labeled the Khartoum government’s brutal counterinsurgency tactics as genocide, a claim the government denies.

“Los Angeles is adding its voice to the international outcry over the genocide in Darfur,” Villaraigosa said in a statement. “We must stand for freedom and basic human rights for all, and we must do everything possible to stop the killing in Darfur.”

Last year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation to end state investments in Sudan.

(AP)