Torture Free Computer Products
The products below are computer products made in countries with fairly decent human rights records. At the end of the list is a brief summary of human rights in the countries that appear in this list. For further information about the human rights record of any country, we recommend you look at Amnesty International's news reports from monitors based in individual countries, or at their annual reports of specific countries, or the webpages of Human Rights Watch.
The product list is not exhaustive, because it has been compiled mostly by going to computer stores and physically checking the country of manufacture of items, because this information cannot be found any way else. Many manufacturers were courteous and responded to our request for information on country of manufacture of their products (Canon, Hitachi, NEC, Panasonic, Ricoh, LG). IBM and Epson were especially helpful in giving me a list of networkable printers made in torture-free countries, and the quality of technical and non-technical support from IBM on a recent purchase was high. If you know of a torture-free computer or peripheral and it is not on this list, please send details to maw16h@udcf.gla.ac.uk
Country name in parenthesis means assembled, not made, in that country.
Prices are approximate (rounded up to 1 significant digit) and in British £. To get $ or Euro price, multiply by 1.6
Networkable Computer Printers
| Company |
Model |
Country |
Price |
Comment |
| IBM |
InfoPrint 1116(4516) |
S. Korea |
300-500 |
postscript |
|
1130(4530) |
Mexico |
|
postscript |
|
1140(4540) |
Mexico |
|
postscript |
|
1145(4545) |
Japan |
|
postscript |
| Epson |
AcuLaser C8600 |
Japan |
3000 |
postscript |
|
EPL-N2750PS |
Japan |
1200-1300 |
postscript |
Home Computer Printer
| Company |
Model |
Country |
Price |
Comment |
| Samsung |
Izzi Plus II(ML1210) |
S. Korea |
200 |
12 ppm |
|
Izzi (ML-4500) |
S. Korea |
100 |
8 ppm |
|
ML 1220 |
S. Korea |
100 |
|
|
ML 1650 |
S. Korea |
300 |
16 ppm |
Flat Panel Monitors
| Company |
Model |
Country |
Price |
Comment |
| Phillips |
17" |
Hungary |
400 |
|
|
18" |
Hungary |
700 |
|
| Samsung |
17" |
UK |
400 |
|
| Hercules |
17" |
Taiwan |
600 |
|
Laptop Computers
| Company |
Model |
Country |
Price |
Comment |
| IBM |
ThinkPad |
Scotland (Greenock) |
|
|
| Apple |
Powerbook G4-687 |
(Taiwan) |
2000 |
|
Desktop Computers
| Company |
Model |
Country |
Price |
Comment |
| Apple |
PowerMac G4 |
(Ireland) |
1300 |
|
Fax Machines
Zip Drive
| Company |
Model |
Country |
Price |
Comment |
| IOMEGA |
|
(Malaysia) |
200 |
|
External Hard Drive
| Company |
Model |
Country |
Price |
Comment |
| Western Digital |
40 GB, 80 GB |
Malaysia, Thailand (USA) |
|
|
Joystick
| Company |
Model |
Country |
Price |
Comment |
| Microsoft |
Sidewinder Precision 2 |
|
40 |
|
Human Rights in Listed Countries of Manufacture
| Hungary |
Ill-treatment of Roma by police, and failure by police to protect Romani victims from racist violence.
|
| Ireland |
Death penalty removed in 2001, no executions since 1954. Mentally ill criminal offenders can be detained in solitary confinement.
|
| Japan |
Has the death penalty, and executions are carried out secretly and at arbitrary times. Prisoners are sometimes held in illegal restraining devices, but prison officials have been arrested for their use. Foreign nationals seeking immigration are often denied legal advice and medical treatment. |
| Malaysia |
Has the death penalty. Caning is one form of punishment. Indefinite detention without charge or trial. Prisoners of conscience denied access to lawyers and subjected to intense psychological pressure amounting to torture.Human rights violations in camps of foreign migrant workers. |
| Mexico |
Has the death penalty, but limited to exceptional crimes. Human rights defenders are harrassed. Disappearances occur. Over 200 migrant women workers have been killed since 1993 with little investigation into the matter. |
| South Korea |
Has the death penalty, but there have been no executions since the current president took office in 1998. There are 39 political prisoners. Trade union leaders are often harrassed. |
| United Kingdom |
The authorities failed to bring prosecutions in a number of controversial cases of deaths in custody in England. There were inadequate safeguards to prevent the suicide of young people in prisons. Paramilitary violence, in the form of shootings, beatings and sectarian attacks in Northern Ireland. Death penalty abolished in 1998 for all crimes. |
| United States of America |
Continued violation of international standards in using the death penalty against the mentally impaired, individuals who were under 18 at the time of the crime, and those who had received inadequate legal representation. Police brutality. Unjustified police shootings. Detention of foreign nationals suspected of terrorism, establishment of military commissions trying non-US citizens bypassing international fair trial norms. |
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