Massachusetts reviews policy<\/p>\n
BOSTON (Reuter): Massachusetts, which has barred companies
\nfrom doing business with the state if they do business in
\nMyanmar, will consider expanding the policy to include Indonesia
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
A legislative committee is to take up debate on a measure that
\nseeks not only to bar companies from doing business with
\nMassachusetts if they do business with Indonesia, but also calls
\nfor the state to divest its pension funds of all Indonesian
\nassets.<\/p>\n
State Representative Antonio Cabral, Democrat from New
\nBedford, said in an interview with Reuters he introduced the
\nmeasure to protest at Indonesia's treatment of East Timor, which
\n\"has been the site of human rights abuses for more than 20
\nyears.\"<\/p>\n
Jose Ramos-Horta, one of the two East Timorese to be awarded
\nthe 1996 Nobel Peace Prize, is also expected to testify at the
\nhearing.<\/p>\n
If the measure becomes law, it will force Massachusetts
\nTreasurer Joe Malone to divest the public pension funds, now
\ntotaling more than $18 billion, of all Indonesian holdings.<\/p>\n
\"We abhor human rights violations wherever they may occur in
\nthe world and we encourage the Legislature to fully debate and
\nenact Representative Cabral's bill,\" Malone said through a
\nspokesman.<\/p>\n
Massachusetts holds $5.4 million in Indonesian securities
\ndirectly and another $6.3 million indirectly through co-mingled
\nfunds. It is unclear, however, how much of the state's total
\nportfolio is tied to firms that do business in the island nation.<\/p>\n
But the United Nations has never recognized East Timor's
\nintegration into the Republic of Indonesia in 1976 and still
\nregards Portugal as the administering power.<\/p>\n
\"If this passes, it's the best thing that could happen to East
\nTimor,\" Cabral said of his bill. \"It will generate the kind of
\nattention needed to resolve the situation.\"<\/p>\n
Massachusetts is in the process of revising its list of 545
\ncompanies with which it would no longer do business. Those firms
\ninclude Sony, the Bank of Tokyo and Mitsubishi.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/massachusetts-reviews-policy-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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