Bec Hamilton: Author and co-founder of the Harvard Darfur Action Group.

Bec Hamilton, Genocide Intervention Network Representative, is a joint-degree student at Harvard Law School and the John F. Kennedy School of Government, and a co-founder of the Harvard Darfur Action Group, which mobilizes students to actively condemn the Sudanese genocide and demands the US government do the same. The group was involved in Harvard’s precedent-setting decision to divest from companies supporting the Sudanese government. Hamilton has successfully worked to get important legislation passed by Parliament in New Zealand. In 2005, she also worked for the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Before starting law school she worked in Sudan, where she executed a plan to help thousands of internally displaced persons return to their homes. A graduate of the University of Sydney, Hamilton is currently co-authoring “Not On Our Watch,” a chapter about the US advocacy movement for Darfur for inclusion in an upcoming book on Darfur edited by Alex de Waal. She also authored an article for the Harvard Human Rights Journal, “The Responsibility to Protect: From Document to Doctrine—But What of Implementation?” (PDF [1]).

It's the genocide, stupid [1]

Column by Rebecca Hamilton and Chad Hazlett, June 18, 2007

Conventional wisdom says that the youth vote is fickle, that in a world of limited budgets, campaign managers are smart to direct resources elsewhere. But new trends in youth political engagement challenge this long-standing belief. And for presidential candidates seeking to exploit these new developments, the message of 2008 may well be, "It's the genocide, stupid."

Read the complete article [1] in The Baltimore Sun.

Southern Sudan must stand up to Khartoum’s Islamists [1]

Column by Bec Hamilton, August 15, 2006

For many Americans it is hard to grasp the significance of Garang’s death. However, a rough approximation can be gained by recalling the impact on the American psyche when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Like Kennedy, Garang was a leader in life, but an icon in death.

Read the complete article [1] in Insight Magazine.

Harvard backslides on divestment [1]

Column by Bec Hamilton and Chad Hazlett, February 15, 2006

Harvard University’s decision to divest from PetroChina was indeed noble. However, the divestment campaign may prove to be unsuccessful. The university is invested in Sinopec, another company that deals with Sudan. The amount invested in Sinopec is $7 million. Harvard may have divested from one company supporting a genocidal regime. It is therefore inexplicable that they are doing substantially more business with another organization doing exactly the same thing.

Read the complete article [1] in The Boston Globe.

Darfur needs follow-through [1]

Column by Rebecca Hamilton and Ronan Farrow, November 26, 2005

This month, government-backed militia in tandem with helicopter gunships attacked three more villages in West Darfur. With more than half of the villages incinerated and some 300,000 dead, the government of Sudan’s mission to obliterate the civilian population of Darfur is nearly accomplished. ... Is this our answer to a genocide? To make nice with its perpetrators?

Read the complete article [1] published in the Boston Herald.

Sudan After Garang [1]

Column by Bec Hamilton, August 4, 2005

John Garang, the southern Sudanese leader, died in a helicopter crash. As newly installed vice president, he was symbolic of the possibilities of rapprochement between the government and rebel groups in Sudan. With his death the emerging possibility of peace seems quite distant. Factionalism between various groups will only lead to greater violence. The United States must continue to exert its influence as a catalyst of peace, especially with the demise of Garang.

Read the complete article [1] in the International Herald Tribune.

Who Says Student Activism is Dead? [2]

Column by Bec Hamilton, April 5, 2005

A group of students at Harvard University took it upon themselves to reduce the effects of genocide in Darfur. They successfully lobbied that their university divest $4.4 million of shares invested in PetroChina, a company that does extensive business with the genocidal regime in Sudan. Youth’s idealism can indeed be an unexpected source of proactive change.

Read the complete op-ed [3] in The Boston Globe.

Maybe Even 300,000 Deaths Aren’t Enough [4]

Column by Bec Hamilton, March 3, 2005

In 2004 the World Health Organization estimated that 50,000 people died in Darfur as a result of hunger and disease. This number seems to fail the litmus test in terms of branding a crisis genocide. However, it is a gross understatement. The murder of civilians likely number in the hundreds of thousands. How many Sudanese-backed murders will it take to move the world to action?

Read the complete article [5] in the Sydney Morning Herald.