[atlas:bill]

TO THE WASHINGTON STATE INVESTMENT BOARD:

We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:

WHEREAS, The people of the state of Washington have a long tradition of concern for human rights, both in our communities and around the world; and

WHEREAS, The Washington State Constitution is founded upon the principals of popular sovereignty, due process, and the rule of law; and

WHEREAS, The state of Washington is part and parcel of the United States of America, which has signed and pledged to uphold the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Geneva Protocol which guarantee the right to self-determination of all people and prohibit torture, extrajudicial killing, and arbitrary detention; and

WHEREAS, Our state's ties with the Pacific Rim Region, including trade, investment, agriculture, industry, and tourism are increasingly significant to the economy of the state of Washington and the countries of the Pacific Rim; and

WHEREAS, People hailing from the Pacific Rim Region make up an increasing percentage of the citizens of the state of Washington, increasing our ethnic and cultural connections to the region; and

WHEREAS, The increased economic ties between the state of Washington and the Pacific Rim Region bring with them greater interdependence; and

WHEREAS, This increased interdependence brings with it a greater mutual responsibility to examine the impact that our relationship has upon the people and environment of both regions; and

WHEREAS, Since its invasion on December 7, 1975, the government of Indonesia has illegally occupied the former Portuguese colony of East Timor in violation of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights and eight separate United Nations General Assembly resolutions condemning the Indonesian occupation; and

WHEREAS, This violent and illegal occupation has caused the death of over 200,000 East Timorese, approximately one-third of the preinvasion population; and

WHEREAS, The extrajudicial executions continue in East Timor to this day, including the November 1998 massacre of over 50 civilians in the southern region of Alas, East Timor; and

WHEREAS, During this occupation the government of Indonesia has promoted the forced sterilization of many East Timorese women and has banned the use of indigenous East Timorese languages, wiping out a number of them in the process; and

WHEREAS, During this occupation, the people of East Timor have been denied the right to determine their own political status, as guaranteed under the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights; and

WHEREAS, All of these abuses have been extensively documented by independent human rights organizations including Amnesty International, the United States Catholic Bishops' Conference, and Human Rights Watch-Asia; and

WHEREAS, Many of these abuses have been corroborated by the United States Department of State; and

WHEREAS, The state of Washington is currently investing in many corporations which, in turn, are obtaining their resources from illegally occupied East Timor, in partnership with the Indonesian government and the military; and

WHEREAS, This constitutes a violation of international law that should no longer be encouraged by the state of Washington investment of citizen tax dollars;

NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that until the government of Indonesia allows a United Nations' supervised referendum in East Timor concerning its political future, preceded by the complete withdrawal of Indonesian troops from East Timor, the Washington State Investment Board shall immediately divest itself from any bank, financial institution, or other corporation which directly or indirectly has outstanding loans to any individual or corporation doing business within the geographical boundaries or coastal waters of East Timor; and

That the state of Washington not sell, rent, or dispose of any real property or purchase services, including but not limited to granting the right to lay, construct, maintain, or operate pipelines through, over, across, or under land, water, park, reservation, or highway of the state of Washington, its agencies, or political subdivisions to any person or private corporation doing business within the geographical boundaries or coastal waters of East Timor.

BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to each member of the Washington State Investment Board.