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TO PROVIDE THAT UNTIL A PEACE AGREEMENT BETWEEN SUDAN AND THE REBEL GROUPS IN THE DARFUR REGION OF SUDAN IS ENTERED INTO OR UNTIL SUDAN AGREES TO ACCEPT A UNITED NATIONS PEACEKEEPING FORCE IN DARFUR, NO GOODS OR PRODUCTS MANUFACTURED, GROWN, OR MADE IN THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA MAY BE EXPORTED DIRECTLY OR THROUGH INDIRECT MEANS TO SUDAN THROUGH SOUTH CAROLINA PORTS, AND TO PROVIDE CIVIL PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. The General Assembly finds that:
(1) there are presently atrocious acts of genocide being conducted in the western Sudanese region of Darfur;
(2) Darfur is the battleground in a sporadic series of Sudanese civil wars going back a half-century, pitting the ethnic Arabs who dominate the government against black Africans who feel discriminated against;
(3) international criticism has fallen on Sudan over the actions of the Arabs' Janjaweed militia, fighters with automatic weapons on horseback or camels;
(4) when two African rebel groups in Darfur began attacking scattered Sudanese outposts in February 2003, the Janjaweed swept down on African villages in what observers have described as a systematic campaign of rape, pillage, and slaughter calculated to drive the blacks from the region;
(5) Sudan's government and the Darfur rebels are now engaged in peace talks but these have stretched out over more than two years without a treaty;
(6) fighting and resulting hunger and disease over the last three years have killed tens of thousands of people. Millions have been forced from their homes and the conflict has increasingly drawn the world's attention;
(7) there needs to be meaningful and forceful steps taken to force the Sudanese government to stop the genocide.
SECTION 2. Until a peace agreement between Sudan and the rebel groups in the Darfur region of Sudan is entered into or until Sudan agrees to accept a United Nations peacekeeping force in Darfur, no goods or products manufactured, grown, or made in the State of South Carolina may be exported directly or through indirect means to Sudan through South Carolina ports. Any manufacturer, producer, or shipper who violates the provision is subject to a civil fine of one thousand dollars for each violation to be imposed by the Attorney General of this State after investigation and after notice and an opportunity to be heard. Decisions of the Attorney General are appealable in a court of law.
SECTION 3. This joint resolution takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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