 "Photo: Lyssa Wilson")
The audience in the Strafford Room on Saturday was quiet as Ali B. Ali-Dinar, professor of African studies at the University of Pennsylvania, spoke about Sudan, his home country.
"It's not safe," said Ali-Dinar. "It's not stable. Villages are still being burned. Women are being raped."
Ali-Dinar was speaking to a rally hosted by UNH's chapter of STAND, an international anti-genocide student coalition.
The rally was held in hopes of pressuring the UNH Foundation to begin offering "Sudan-free" pension plans and campus development accounts, which would be guaranteed to not invest in companies that are supporting the government of Sudan. The African nation's government is widely blamed for funding militias that travel the Darfur region, killing and raping at random.
The UNH Foundation did not send a representative to the rally. Instead, a letter was sent Friday afternoon that STAND member Jackie Lewis said was "encouraging."
The rally had two speakers: Ali-Dinar, a Darfur native who teaches at the University of Pennsylvania; and Semhar Araia, a lawyer and Darfur peace activist.
The audience of about 40 people was quiet as Ali-Dinar spoke about the plight of the Sudanese in Darfur.
"It's a remarkable difference…to see how the conflict affects the life of people," he said referring to what he had seen in Darfur during recent visits.
Ali-Dinar said that United Nations' resolutions against the Sudanese government are nothing but "paper." Ali-Dinar pointed out that a man indicted by the United Nations for committing war crimes in Darfur has been named "Junior Prime Minister of Humanitarian Affairs" by Sudan.
"It's a great insult to the international community," Ali-Dinar said.
Semhar Araia told the audience that STAND's activism is making a difference. A bill to divest New Hampshire state government employee retirement funds from Sudan was passed by an overwhelming majority in the House and is currently waiting for committee assignment in New Hampshire's Senate, according to Araia. She also listed several ways that students can aid in the fight to divest from companies fueling the genocide in Darfur.
After both speakers, students David and Jason Bornstein performed a poem about the conflict in Darfur before Lewis lead 13 people down Main Street to the 40,000 small red flags STAND placed to represent the estimated 400,000 people killed in Darfur for a brief moment of silence.
"In the end, it is these lives and these people that we are rallying for," Lewis said.
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