MALAYSIA
Military Exports from Canada (1990-1999)
Year
Military Value of
Types Exports
1999
2,10,14,18 5,881,501
1998
3,10,14,18,21 91,792,358
1997
3,10,11,14,18 2,890,081
1996
4,10,11,14,18 18,231,512
1995
2,3,4,10,11,13,14 17,790,511
1994
7,10,11 11,869,506
1993
4,10,11,13 3,766,266
1992
2,10,13 2,693,089
1991
7,10 67,443
1990
10 13,495
Total $149,114,261
Sources: Export of Military Goods from
Canada, Annual Reports 1990-1999. Published by the Export Controls Division,
Export and Import Controls Bureau, Department of Foreign Affairs and
International Trade, Government of Canada. Web site: <http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/~eicb/>
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Examples of Canadian Military Exports (1990s)
Bendix Avelex Inc.
• Night
vision equipment
Value
unknown (1990)
Ploughshares Monitor, June 1994
CAE Electronics Ltd.
• MiG-29N
fighter aircraft simulator
$48
million (1995)
Project Ploughshares’ Canadian Military
Industry Database (CMID)
Lockheed Canada Inc.
• Naval
electronic countermeasures
Value
unknown (1994)
Ploughshares Monitor, Sept. 1995
Spar Aerospace Ltd.
• Helicopter
gearbox repair
Value
unknown (1992)
Ploughshares Monitor, June 1994
• S-61
helicopter main rotor parts Value
unknown (1994)
Project Ploughshares’ CMID
-----------------------------------
Canadian Government Promotes Military Exports
Langkawi
International Marine & Aerospace (LIMA)
"Canadian firms wanting to market
aerospace and defence products to Malaysia and the Pacific Rim, must consider
participation in LIMA Exhibition '99.
This showcase is Malaysia's premiere airshow. Canada's spectrum of involvement has steadily increased over the
previous two LIMAs."
Source: "The Aerospace Market in
Malaysia," April 1999. By the Cdn. Embassy in Malaysia, Team Canada Market
Research Centre and the Cdn. Trade Commissioner Service. Published by
Department of Foreign Affairs & International Trade (DFAIT) <http://www.infoexport.gc.ca/docs/47351-e.pdf>
-----------------------------------
Human Rights Violations (1999)
Reformers called for repeal of the Internal Security
Act (ISA). It allows detention without
charge for two years, renewable indefinitely.
The Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was dis-missed in 1998,
convicted of corrupt practices and sentenced to six years in prison. The politically motivated charges were a
pretext to remove him from public life.
His trial was unfair. His lawyers were intimidated. A Royal Commission said he was assaulted by
the Inspector General of Police.
Other
credible allegations of ill-treatment, amounting to torture, were not properly
investigated. Two prisoners said they
received severe physical and psychological pressure, including being stripped,
sexually humiliated, struck and threatened with indefinite detention. Authorities filed perjury charges against
three who complained of ill-treatment by police.
Assembly and association
Demonstrations supporting reform were
peaceful, but police repeatedly used excessive force including unprovoked
assaults, using fists, batons and canes.
Reports persisted of ill-treatment, including beating and kicking
protesters after arrest and in detention.
Many were denied access to legal counsel.
More
than 1,000 were reportedly arrested between September 1998 and June 1999 for
alleged participation in illegal assemblies or rioting. At least 334 were charged. Mass trials began in January. Most were acquitted, although at least 30
were found guilty and sentenced to prison or fines. In September, 54 were arrested after a rally, including leading
members of opposition parties. University
and college students accused of joining illegal assemblies faced suspension or
expulsion. Laws prohibit them from political activity without permission.
Opposition
parties and NGOs complained about the authorities’ refusal to permit public
meetings.
Curbs on expression
The threat of government prosecutions for
seditious statements curbed freedom of expression. In May, the Attorney General warned that those criticizing his
office could face sedition charges. The
trial of a women’s rights activist entered its fourth year. She was charged with publishing “false news”
in a 1995 report about ill-treatment, sexual abuse and denial of medical care
in camps detaining migrant workers.
The
government and judiciary failed to abide by the April ruling of the
International Court of Justice upholding the immunity from prosecution of the
UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers. In 1995, four defamation suits were filed
against the Special Rapporteur for comments about complaints that certain
business entities were able to manipulate Malaysian courts.
In
May, one of Ibrahim’s lawyers was sentenced to three months’ in prison for
alleging that public prosecutors tried to fabricate evidence.
Source: Amnesty International Report 2000.
<http://www.amnesty-usa.org/ailib/>
-----------------------------------
Labour Rights Violations (1999)
Government policy, restrictive legislation
and bureaucratic practices deny workers’ rights to join a union of their
choice, to organise and bargain collectively.
Many employers, including some multinationals, go to extreme lengths to
deny union recognition and evade collective bargaining.
For
10 years, union officials at U.S.-owned Harris Corp. have been intimidated,
harassed, thrown out and persecuted.
High-powered union-busting U.S. lawyers tried to kill the union.
Organising & bargaining rights
Labour laws place extensive restrictions on
basic union rights by regulating almost all aspects of union activity,
prohibiting general unions and making union mergers almost impossible. The Director General of Trade Unions (DGTU)
has used the law to remove thousands of union members, denying them recognition
and collective bargaining. The DGTU has
far-reaching powers to “supervise, direct and control unions” and can refuse to
register a union. His approval is required for unions to affiliate
internationally.
In
1974, the Electrical Industry Workers’ Union (EIWU) tried to organise in
factories. The DGTU banned the
union. A national electrical union was
refused registration. Some 160,000,
mainly women, employed by multinational electronics companies cannot form or
join a national union.
The
U.S. multinational General Electric and the Japanese Hitachi and Mitsumi
Electronics convinced the DGTU to disqualify employees from membership in the
EIWU.
Employees
of a furniture maker, Artright, could not join the Metal Industry Employees
Union because they also use wood.
Public sector unions
Employees of statutory bodies can only join
in-house unions. Industrial unions
cannot organise managerial, executive, confidential or security positions. Employers use this to prevent as many as possible
from joining. The law restricts
candidates to union office. Foreign workers
are often paid less and are effectively prohibited from joining unions,
although they often constitute 30%-40% of a workforce. The government can order a six-month
suspension of any union that threatens “security” or “public order.” Unions cannot use their funds for political
purposes.
Strikes and bargaining
Legal strikes are virtually impossible. The law excludes hiring, firing, transfer,
promotion, dismissal and reinstatement from collective bargaining. Public sector unions are limited to “giving
views” on principles governing wages and need the King’s permission to have
disputes referred to Industrial Court.
Source: Annual Survey of Violations of Trade
Union Rights (2000), International Confederation of Free Trade Unions.
-----------------------------------
Child Labour Violations
* 603,400
aged 15-19 are working. (ILO, Yearbook of Labour Statistics, 1999)
Where Children Work
* Children
work up to 17 hours/day in rubber plantations exposed to insect and snake
bites. (UNICEF, State of World’s Children, 1997)
* 100-200,000
children work in restaurants, markets, construction sites and small industries.
(Lee Wright Peter, Child Slaves, 1990)
Prostitution and Trafficking
* A
government minister said 4,200 girls and young women were reported missing in
1997. Malaysia is a source, transit and destination for trafficking in women
and girls for sexual exploitation. In
1998, the government arrested 2,250 foreign prostitutes.
* Malaysian
women are trafficked mostly to Singapore, Macau, Hong Kong, Taiwan, but also
Japan, Australia, Canada and U.S. (U.S. Dept. of State, Human Rights Report,
1999)
* 4,000
Thai boys are sold or abducted yearly and shipped to Malaysia. (Lawyers for
Human Rights & Legal Action, Flesh Trade Report, 1995-1996)
Source: <http://www.globalmarch.org/worstformsreport/world/malaysia.html>
-----------------------------------
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Third World Network (TWN)
TWN is an international network of NGOs and
individuals involved in issues relating to development, the Third World and
North- South issues. Its objectives are
to conduct research on economic, social and environmental issues pertaining to
the South; to publish books and magazines; to organize and participate in
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perspectives at international fora such as the UN conferences and
processes. Its recent and current
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seminars and workshops; and participation in international processes such as
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Contact: TWN, 228 Macalister Road, 10400
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