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ARMS TRADE RESOURCE CENTER

RANK

COUNTRY

U.S. ARMS SALES

FMS and commercial exports (2003)

HUMAN RIGHTS

State Department Report

RIGHT TO CHANGE GOVERNMENT

State Department Report

1

Saudi Arabia

$1,169,436,000

The Government's human rights record remained poor.

Citizens do not have the right to change their Government.

2

Egypt

$1,046,709,000

The Government respected human rights in some areas; however, its record was poor, and in many areas serious problems remained.

Citizens did not have the meaningful ability to change their government.

3

Israel

$845,562,000

The Government generally respected the human rights of its citizens; however, there were problems in some areas.

The law provides citizens with the right to change their government peacefully.

4

Taiwan

$646,775,000

The authorities generally respected the human rights of citizens; however, there were problems in some areas.

Citizens have the right to change their government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice.

5

Turkey

$523,488,000

The Government generally respected the human rights of its citizens; although there were significant improvements in a number of areas, serious problems remained.

The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their government peacefully… however, the Government restricted the activities of some political parties and leaders.

6

Singapore

$169,014,000

The Government generally respected the human rights of its citizens; however, there were significant problems in some areas.

The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their government peacefully. [But] the Government has broad powers to limit citizens' rights and to handicap political opposition.

7

Kuwait

$153,236,000

The Government's human rights record remained poor, and serious problems remained.

Citizens do not have the right to change their government.

8

Thailand

$139,576,000

The Government generally respected the human rights of its citizens; however, there were significant problems in some areas.

The Constitution provides for the right of citizens to choose or change their government peacefully… The country is a democratically governed constitutional monarchy.

 

9

United Arab Emirates

$110,130,000

Problems remained in the Government's respect for human rights.

Citizens do not have the right to change their government.

10

Bahrain

$97,052,000

Problems remained in the Government's respect for human rights.

Citizens did not have the right to change their government.

11

Jordan

$70,556,000

Although the Government respected human rights in some areas, its overall record continued to reflect many problems.

Citizens do not have the right to change their government.

11

Venezuela

$34,819,000

The Government's human rights record remained poor; despite attempts at improvement in a few areas, its performance deteriorated in other areas.

The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their government peacefully.

13

Uzbekistan

$33,971,000

The Government's human rights record remained very poor; although there were some improvements, it continued to commit numerous serious abuses.

The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their government; however, in practice, citizens could not change their government through peaceful and democratic means.

14

Philippines

$26,416,000

The Government generally respected the human rights of its citizens; however, there were serious problems in some areas.

The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their government peacefully.

15

India

$26,158,000

The Government generally respected the human rights of its citizens; however, numerous serious problems remained.

The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their government peacefully.

16

Mexico

$24,676,000

The Government generally respected many of the human rights of its citizens; however, serious problems remained in several areas, and in some states… a poor climate of respect for human rights presented special concern.

The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their government peacefully through periodic elections.

17

Colombia*

$22,378,000

Although serious problems remained, the Government's respect for human rights improved in some areas.

The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their government peacefully.

18

Brazil

$18,925,000

The Federal Government generally respected the human rights of its citizens; however, there continued to be numerous, serious abuses, and the record of several state governments was poor.

The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their government peacefully.

19

Afghanistan

$17,143,000

The Government's human rights record remained poor; although there were some improvements in a few areas, serious problems remained.

The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their government peacefully.

20

Malaysia

$13,509,000

The Government generally respected the human rights of its citizens; however, there were problems in some areas.

By law, citizens have the right to change their Government through periodic elections; however… there were irregularities that affected the fairness of elections.

21

Dominican Republic

$11,813,000

The Government's human rights record remained poor; although there were some improvements in a few areas, serious problems remained.

The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their government peacefully.

22

Morocco

$10,717,000

Although progress continued in some areas, the human rights record remained poor in other areas.

Citizens lacked the full ability to change their government.

23

Oman

$8,102,000

Although the Government respected a number of rights, many serious human rights problems remained.

Citizens did not have the right to change their government, which is a "hereditary Sultanate."

24

Nepal

$6,697,000

The Government's human rights record remained poor, and it continued to commit numerous serious abuses.

The citizens' right to change the Government was provided for by the Constitution; however, the ongoing insurgency has prevented the holding of elections.

25

Nigeria

$4,690,000

The Government's human rights record remained poor, and the Government continued to commit serious abuses.

Nationwide local government elections held during the year were not generally judged free and fair and therefore abridged citizens' right to change their government.

 

 

 

ADDITIONAL COUNTRIES THAT IMPORT U.S. WEAPONRY

26

Tunisia

$4,646,000

The Government's human rights record remained poor, and the Government continued to commit serious abuses.

There were significant limitations on citizens' right to change their government

27

Indonesia

$3,440,000

The Government's human rights record remained poor; although there were improvements in a few areas, serious problems remained.

The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their government peacefully.

28

Lebanon

$3,309,000

The Government's overall human rights record remained poor; although there were some improvements in a few areas, serious problems remained.

The right of citizens to change their government remained significantly restricted.

29

Bangladesh

$2,990,000

The Government's poor human rights record worsened, and the Government continued to commit numerous abuses.

The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their government peacefully.

30

Kenya

$2,675,000

The Government's human rights record remained poor, largely due to the abuses of its security forces; although there were a number of improvements, serious problems remained.

The Constitution provides citizens the right to change their government through free and fair multiparty elections.

31

Guinea

$1,290,000

The Government's human rights record remained poor; although there were improvements in several areas, serious problems remained.

The Government's tight control of the electoral process… effectively restricted citizens' right to change their government.

32

Qatar

$1,243,000

Although there were some improvements in a few areas, serious problems remained.

Citizens did not have the right to peacefully change their government.

Sources:

"Foreign Military Sales, Foreign Military Construction Sales and Military Assistance Facts as of September 2003," Published by Deputy for Operations and Administration, Business Operations/Comptroller, DSCA, Department of Defense.

"Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, 2004," Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Department of State, February 28, 2005.

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