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DIVESTMENT OF FUNDS IN COMPANIES THAT DO BUSINESS WITH THE GOVERNMENT OF SUDAN

WHEREAS, the Board has a fiduciary obligation to invest the University's endowment prudently and for the benefit of the University; and

WHEREAS, the threshold for divestment based on factors other than business reasons must be very high and should not be taken lightly. The corporate action about which the complaint is made must be gravely offensive and cause much social injury, and the Board finds that the situation in Sudan exceeds this threshold; and

WHEREAS, there is clear and mounting evidence that the government of Sudan is committing genocide against the people of its Darfur region; and

WHEREAS, approximately 400,000 people have been tortured and killed, and some 2.5 million displaced in and around Darfur; and

WHEREAS, on July 22, 2004, the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives unanimously adopted a joint resolution declaring the atrocities in Darfur to be genocide; on September 9, 2004, Secretary of State Colin Powell declared that genocide had been committed, and quite possibly still was being committed, in Darfur; on June 1, 2005, President Bush reiterated that the U.S. government believes genocide is taking place in Darfur; and a January 2005 report by the United Nations condemned the Sudanese government and the Janjaweed militias for committing "serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law", and Sudanese government officials may have committed genocidal acts; and

WHEREAS, the Finance Committee has determined that divestment of investments in multinational companies that directly support the activities of the Sudanese government is an appropriate response to the situation in Darfur because a number of multinational companies, particularly in the energy and telecommunications fields, provide the government of Sudan with substantial financial resources and the infrastructure to continue the sponsorship of genocidal actions in Darfur; and

WHEREAS, although the University does not currently have direct investments in such companies, the Board's action shall preclude future direct investment in these companies; and

WHEREAS, this targeted divestment strategy is intended to indicate disapproval of the actions of the Sudanese government without causing harm to innocent Sudanese citizens.

RESOLVED, that the Board requests that the University of Virginia Investment Management Company (UVIMCO) divest any and all direct investments managed by UVIMCO, in multinational companies identified as having direct business ties to the Sudanese government or companies whose business activities are in direct support of these companies and the activities of the government. The following are the specific criteria for companies targeted for divestment:

• 1. Provide revenues to the Sudanese government through business with the government, government-owned companies or government-controlled consortiums;


• 2. Offer little substantive benefit to those outside of the Sudanese government or its affiliated supporters in Khartoum, Northern Sudan and the Nile River Valley-this "outside" population specifically includes the country's disaffected Eastern, Southern, and Western regions; and


• 3. Have demonstrated complicity in the Darfur genocide; and

RESOLVED FURTHER, that the above resolution shall expire September 29, 2011, unless renewed by the Board.