By Muralikumar Anantharaman

BOSTON (Reuters) - Shareholders of six more Fidelity Investments funds rejected on Wednesday a proposal to halt investments in companies linked to genocide, bringing to 12 the number of funds to block the idea floated by activists.

The rejection of the proxy proposal at the world's biggest mutual fund company demonstrates the difficulty that activists face in linking investments to social and moral issues even as pressure grows on companies and governments to cut investment ties with companies doing business in places such as Sudan.

The non-binding proposal had asked the boards of 32 Fidelity funds in all to "screen out investments in companies that, in the judgment of the board, substantially contribute to genocide, patterns of extraordinary and egregious violations of human rights, or crimes against humanity."

The proposal garnered support ranging from 20 percent to 31 percent from the six funds.

"Proposal No. 3 has not been approved," a Fidelity official told shareholder meetings at its Boston office, referring to the human rights resolution.

Six other Fidelity funds already rejected the proposal in the past two months, making it the first U.S. mutual fund group to hold votes on such as measure.

Fidelity, which manages about $1.5 trillion (770 billion pounds) in assets in 450 funds, had urged shareholders to reject it. The company has long maintained its investments are legal under U.S. laws and it is obligated to achieve the best returns for shareholders.

Company officials said at the meetings on Wednesday that investors who did not agree with its stand on the issue were free to exit the funds. They said the danger in adopting the proposal was that similar ones around a whole host of issues could crop up.