UWA Pension Fund - Backing Corruption?

Last week I posted some comment from the local Cambrian News on the UWA pension scheme's continued investments in weapons manufacturer BAE Systems. The media this week has been awash with stories that focus on the bribery and corruption that the company is allegedly involved in, which I'll briefly sum up here.

In late December, an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office - which investigates major corruption, fraud and so forth - into BAE Systems for allegations that it had paid bribes to Saudi Arabian officials to secure a massive - £50bn - arms deal in 1986, was suddenly dropped after proceeding for around two years. Attorney-General Lord Goldsmith declares that this was in the public interest - 'national security'.

Was this decision in any way linked to large potential arms contracts that BAE has with Saudi Arabia? Could Saudi Arabia have threatened to cancel a new contract with BAE if the investigation continued? The OECD has demanded an explanation, considering that the UK could have broken its pledges to combat terrorism. On Monday, the Guardian reported that BAE had paid a $12m payment to a Tanzanian middleman for Tanzania - not the richest country in the world - to buy a state-of-the-art radar system. On Tuesday, it was said that the head of M16, Britain's secret intelligence system disagreed with the government's claim that the SFO inquiry was jeopardizing 'national security'. Today, top BAE executives were revealed to be considered corruption suspects by the Serious Fraud Office.

There is extensive commentary and reporting on more facets of investigations into corruption by BAE Systems at both The Guardian and BBC websites.

I don't know the ins and outs of how pension funds work and accordingly, how the right kind of pressure can be exerted on the trustees of the pension fund to disinvest in BAE Systems. If you are a UWA staff member, who presumably has pension contributions made through this fund - and refuse to condone blatant corruption, bribery and human rights abuses - I would be appreciate any advice or assistance on simply how to effectively campaign for change. You can contact me confidentially via e-mail, union.environment@aber.ac.uk.