Four-and-a-half years after the Sudanese goverment began using Janjaweed in counterinsurgency activities in Darfur, three years after the Bush administration declared that genocide was happening there, two-and-a-half years after Worcester residents were arrested protesting the genocide at the Sudanese embassy, and one-and-a-half years after Worcester’s Congressman was arrested for doing the same thing, the Worcester City Council may consider divesting the city’s retirement fund from Sudan.
10j. Request City Auditor and the Worcester Retirement System to divest the retirement system of any investment in the Sudan. (Perotto, Smith, Palmieri, Rushton)
It’s disappointing that it took election games to motivate this move, and though the paper estimates this will move at most a fraction of a million dollars of investment, I hope the Council votes to pass this. I don’t think it’s too little, and I don’t think it’s too late.
I also hope this helps set a precedent, and that the Council will be willing to consider international affairs that impact the city in the future. I know local activists could come up with a long list of regimes and companies that a responsibly-invested pension fund shouldn’t be involved in.