MOROCCO
Military Exports from Canada (1990-1999)
Year
Military Value of
Equipment Military
Types Exports
1999
14
270,967
1998 10,
14 171,652
1997 14
427,305
1996
14
232,400
1995
14
37,836
1994
14
19,369
1993
14
5,503
1992
-
0
1991
11,14 230,629
1990 14
162,584
Total
$1,574,556
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: <www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/~eicb/>
-----------------------------------
Canadian Government Promotes Military Exports
Canadian Trade Mission
Between Oct. 10 and 21, 2000, International Trade Minister Pettigrew led
the Team Canada "trade mission" to Morocco, Algeria, Spain and
Portugal.
Among the delegates were some corporations whose products include military
equipment and services:
. Atelier D'usinage
Tracy Inc.
. Bombardier Aerospace
. CAE Electronics Ltd
. Cansyst Inc.
. Groupe ADF Group Inc.
. Intelcan Technosystems Inc.
. Harris Communication
S.A.
. LNS Systems Inc.
. Med-Eng Systems, Inc.
. SNC-Lavalin Inc.
. SR Telecom Inc.
Source: "Company Profiles," Trade Mission to Maghreb and Iberian
Peninsula
<http://www.tcm-mec.gc.ca/mag
hreb-iberianpeninsula/profiles-e.asp>
-----------------------------------
Human Rights Violations (1999)
King Hassan II died was succeeded by Mohammed VI. By July, the UN Mission
for the Referendum in Western Sahara registered 84,000 of the 147,000 who
applied to vote on Western Sahara's independence from Morocco. In
November, the vote was postponed again to process tens of thousands of
appeals by those excluded from voting lists.
Disappearances
In April, the Human Rights Advisory Council (AC) proposed a means to decide
on compensation claims, but only for 112 "disappearances" listed by
the AC
in 1998. In August, the new king created a commission to compensate
victims of "disappearance" and arbitrary detention and their
families. It
said it had received about 4,000 applications. By the end of 1999, the
fate of 450 people, mostly Sahrawis, who "disappeared" between the
mid-1960s and early 1990s, was not clarified. Deaths between 1976 and
1991
of some 70 Sahrawi in secret detention centres were not acknowledged by
authorities.
Breaking up demonstrations
Non-violent demonstrations were dispersed with excessive force and beatings
by security forces. Protesters in Western Sahara were most seriously
affected. The rights to freedom of expression and association continued
to
lag behind that in Morocco itself.
In September, a peaceful sit-in for socioeconomic demands by Sahrawi
students, sacked workers and people with disabilities in Western Sahara was
violently broken up by security forces, as was a march protesting the
brutal dispersement of the sit-in. Dozens of Sahrawis were severely
beaten. Many had serious injuries, including broken bones. Dozens
were
arrested and reported torture and ill-treatment.
Trials and political prisoners
Dozens went to prison for up to 15 years after unfair trials, including
protesters arrested after demonstrations in Western Sahara and unionists
arrested on strike. Allegations that dozens were tortured were not
investigated. There were 40 political prisoners, including members of
Islamist groups who had unfair trials in the 1970s, Sahrawis arrested after
pro-independence demonstrations in 1998 and at least 3, who received five
years in prison for "insulting the royal family."
Impunity
Investigations began into allegations of torture, ill-treatment and deaths
in custody in 1999 and previous years. Some security force members were
prosecuted and one was sentenced to 10 years. In most cases,
investigations into torture and deaths by security forces were dismissed.
Investigations into grave and systematic human rights violations that
occurred in the past, were not carried out. The perpetrators were not
brought to justice.
The UN Human Rights Committee urged Morocco to intensify investigations
into all those reportedly missing, release those still in detention,
provide lists of prisoners of war, inform families about grave locations of
the disappeared, prosecute those responsible for disappearances or deaths
and compensate victims or their families.
Source: Amnesty International Report 2000.
<http://www.amnesty-usa.org/ailib/>
-----------------------------------
Labour Rights Violations (1999)
The labour code does not protect unionists against discrimination including
arbitrary dismissal or interference such as employer-dominated unions.
Authorities regularly level criminal charges against strikers which can
result in fines or prison terms.
In the private sector, there was no improvement in enforcing the law.
Authorities rarely act against employers who victimise unionists, refuse to
pay minimum wage and social security or close factories illegally.
Employers collude with the police, who often use violence against
strikers. Even union elections can result in the police being
called. The
Moroccan Labour Union (UMT) said public sector members suffered
victimisation, intimidation and arbitrary punishment, and that
"sweetheart"
unions were set up in ministerial departments.
At Citibank in Casablanca, four union delegates were illegally fired after
holding a union meeting in February. Although authorities intervened, the
company refused to reinstate them. Workers held two sit-ins in protest.
Strikers sent to prison
In September, harsh jail sentences of between two and 12 months were
imposed on 23 workers for striking. The head of the UMT-affiliated
coastal
fisherman's union and two other union activists were jailed for one year.
They were arrested after clashes with police who tried to force hundreds of
fishermen to end a strike which began in September to call for better
working conditions. The UMT said ship owners were hiring non-union
workers.
In Rabat in September, 21 UMT members were sentenced to one to eight
months in prison, including the general secretary of the union branch at a
poultry plant in Temaru and a Rabat UMT official. They were striking to
protest violations of labour law and existing agreements. The company
called in police who brutally intervened. Unionists were denied
bail.
A Moroccan human rights group said that they did not receive a fair trial.
The court rejected calls for witnesses and medical experts to examine
workers for signs of torture. The police had tied them up and beat them
while local authorities watched. One hundred strikers were not rehired.
The company refused to attend meetings and authorities took no further
action. In November, police intervened in a sit-in at UMT offices in
Ra-bat to demand that sacked workers get their jobs back. The employer
illegally used strike-breakers.
In October, six agricultural workers in the UMT were arrested after a
strike demanding respect of the labour law. Bail was refused. They
were
imprisoned and charged with "withdrawing labour."
Union busting
In August, a union was formed at the Mortex plant in Sale, where mostly
foreign-owned textile plants produce for export. Management tried to
destroy the union, sacking its general secretary and 60 others. The
workers were physically attacked and were not paid for August. Management
closed the factory. In September, workers held sit-ins outside company
headquarters and public buildings.
Source: Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights (2000),
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions.
-----------------------------------
Child Labour Violations
* 69,292 children under 14 are economically active. (ILO, Yearbook of
Labour Statistics, 1999)
Where Children Work
* Children are often apprenticed before age 12 in handicraft industries.
Minors commonly work in small family workshops making rugs, ceramics, wood
and leather goods. (U.S. Dept. of State, Human Rights Report, 1999)
* 70% of housemaids interviewed in 1995 were under 13, while 25% were under
10. (Anti-Slavery International, Children working as domestic servants:
progress and challenges, submission to the UN, May 1998)
* The Government prohibits forced and bonded child labour, but does not
enforce this effectively. Adoptive servitude (whereby families adopt young
girls as indentured domestic servants), is socially accepted. The
Government does not regulate it.
Child Prostitution
* NGO activists estimate there are tens of thousands of urban teen
prostitutes.
* Forced prostitution involving Moroccans also occurs abroad. Within
Morocco it is prevalent, particularly in cities with many tourists, and
near towns with large military installations. (U.S. Dept. of State, Human
Rights Report, 1999)
Source: <http://www.globalmarch.org/worstformsreport/world/morocco.html>
-----------------------------------
Canadian Government Promotes EPZs
"ExportSource," a Canadian government website links businesses to the
AMG
International free trade zone in Rabat Morocco which is "offering office,
warehouse and factory rentals as well as a permanent expo center."
Source: <http://exportsource.gc.ca/>
-----------------------------------
TAKE ACTION!
Canadian Lawyers Association for International Human
Rights (CLAIHR)
CLAIHR established the "Western Sahara Initiative" to help ensure,
through
legal analysis and international scrutiny, that a fair and free referendum
takes place in the Western Sahara. CLAIHR has been working with other
international organizations to raise public awareness and build government
support for a resolution to the conflict, make the process more transparent
and assist in ensuring that the referendum takes place in accordance with
international law. CLAIHR's activities have focused on legal research,
fact-finding and advocacy. Legal research has been conducted by law
students from across the country.
CLAIHR's legal research and fact-finding activities have encouraged
Canadian and other government representatives, academics, the media, and
representatives of other international organizations, to become more
engaged in the issue.
CLAIHR membership is comprised of lawyers, law students, judges and people
interested in law and international human rights
Contact: CLAIHR, 575 King Edward Ave., Ottawa ON K1N 6N5. Tel: (613)
233-0398; Fax: (613) 233-0671; Email: <claihr@web.net>
Web:
<http://www.web.net/~claihr/>