North Carolina has little tolerance for companies that do business in countries that commit genocide against its own people.

That's why state House Democrats unanimously approved legislation on Tuesday requiring the state's pension and retirement funds be free of investments in companies that do business with the Sudanese government.

The country's government has come under fire since 2003 for human rights abuses in the Dafur region, which have now become killing fields. Hundreds of thousands of civilians were murdered and more than 2 million people were driven from their homes.

State Treasurer Richard Moore has begun divesting in nine companies that have done business with the Sudan. Moore will begin withdrawing the state's investments from those companies in about a year if they don't sever their business operations with Sudan.