By Perfecto T. Raymundo, Jr.
QUEZON CITY – The Amnesty International (AI) on Thursday (Nov. 28) revealed the harms of arbitrary drug detention in the Philippines.
The report “Submit and Surrender. The Harms of Arbitrary Drug Detention in the Philippines”, which is an important report about the “drug war” that started in 2016, how it was treated and how the AI was working on it was launched in a press conference at the La Breza Hotel.
It comes in light of the renewed scrutiny of violations committed under former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte in the “war on drugs” (2016-2022).
Rachel Choda-Howard said that Amnesty has documented human rights violations perpetrated against individuals selling drugs during the administration of then President Duterte.
“Ongoing war on drugs looks it was serious and large violations were committed in drug rehabilitation centers,” Howard said.
“We cannot ignore the ongoing violations during the current government,” she added.
She cited police abuses, tortures, arbitrary detention and human rights violations.
What is supposed to be an effort to protect human rights, has become a massive human rights violations.
“Our policy calls for a stop to human rights violations,” Howard said.
“The government must also address the root causes of drug addiction,” she added.
Jerrie Abella, AI’s campaigner on the Philippines, said “drug detention centers are disguised as facilities offering treatment and rehabilitation. In reality, they are places of arbitrary detention where people suffer serious human rights violations that continue even after their release.”
Abella added that drug rehabilitation in the Philippines is not treatment.
The Philippine government must move out of the punitive treatment of drug addiction and do away with the “stigma” of drug use and drug addiction.
AI also talked with another 30 people, including with the personnel and staff of the DOH Treatment and Rehabilitation Center in Taguig City and the Mega Drug Rehabilitation Center in Nueva Ecija.
Amnesty talked with one of the 16 people who were arrested in Caloocan City in 2016 who were confronted by the police in a drug raid.
The so-called “plea bargaining agreement” was an arrangement where individuals were forced to stay inside the centers throughout the duration of their sentence, which usually lasts from six months to one year.
“The Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) should end child detention,” Abella said.
They (DDB/PDEA) should review Republic Act 9165, otherwise known as the “Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002”, particularly on decriminalization of drug use especially for medical treatment.
Abella said that the Amnesty International cannot comment on an individual’s alleged involvement on drugs because they are also entitled to human rights.
He added that the reports and studies such as about the “war on drugs” that they have made public are open for references by the investigative bodies even by the international bodies such as the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Abella cited that there is no distinction between drug use and drug addiction.
Jing Pegarido, I Do Care, which started in 2015 testing and treatment of HIV/AIDS patients, said that the drug rehabilitation centers were mandated to undertake a six-month program as ordered by the court and implemented by the local government unit concerned.
Pegarido added “We have to undergo ‘withdrawal’ program because it is vital,” noting that “intervention was not evidence-based.”
He cited children who used drugs and were discriminated and were forced to stop schooling. “These children should not have been detained,” he said.
Inez Feria, Founder of No Box Philippines, a non-government organization, cited the instances of a mother who was separated from her children with no support, who had no contact with her family.
Individuals were tagged as lazy and uncooperative in “withdrawal programs”, citing “Punitive system that is dressed up as rehabilitation system.”
“This abandonment of ethics is very alarming. Barangay Drug Rehabilitation program drives this and should be scrapped. Worse, test results were shared in group chats. One that is rooted on decriminalization and one that is for drug-free obsession,” Feria said.
Feria noted that “completer” is one that has completed the full drug rehabilitation program.
“Let’s complete the full story. What’s really behind drug use or drug addiction? Don’t just focus on drug use,” she said.
Also present were representatives from the Commission on Human Rights, the UN Office on Crimes and Drugs, the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights, among others.
