Petition to the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) Board

Subject: Immediate Divestment from All United Arab Emirates (UAE) Investments

To the CalSTRS Teachers’ Retirement Board,

We the undersigned write to you today to demand the immediate withdrawal of all CalSTRS investments with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and its sovereign wealth funds, including Mubadala.

The UAE’s genocidal role supporting the Rapid Support Force (RSF) in Sudan directly contradicts the ethical and social values of the CalSTRS membership and the public it serves. The use of our pension funds to support a regime that finances and arms a brutal civil war is unconscionable. The UAE’s flagrant and well documented involvement in the conflict in Sudan, including accusations of providing arms and financial support to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has led to widespread human rights abuses, including mass murder, rape, and slavery. Over 500,000 black Africans have been killed, 14 million have been displaced, thousands have been raped, tortured and mutilated and one million face famine conditions trapped in the desert by an RSF siege that won’t let UN food trucks through.

This is not only an ethical failure but a grave fiduciary risk. Investing in a nation actively engaged in destabilizing conflicts exposes our fund to reputational damage, geopolitical instability, and a direct link to human suffering. We believe that CalSTRS has a moral and financial obligation to ensure that our retirement savings are not used to fuel violence and oppression.

We, the undersigned, call on the CalSTRS Teachers’ Retirement Board to take the following actions immediately:

1. Cease all new investments in the UAE and its associated entities, including sovereign wealth funds like Mubadala.
2. Conduct a comprehensive review of all existing investments with direct or indirect ties to the UAE.
3. Create a clear and public timeline for the complete divestment of all assets with direct or indirect ties to the UAE and its sovereign wealth funds.

Our collective message is clear: No pensions for genocide. No blood for money. Get the UAE out of Sudan.

The integrity of our retirement system is built on the trust that it serves the best interests of California’s educators. That trust is broken when our hard-earned pension dollars are used to profit from humanitarian crises. Divesting from the UAE is a necessary step to align our financial future with our fundamental ethical principles.

We urge the CalSTRS Board to act decisively and ethically by prioritizing human rights over profits.