A new report from Human Rights Watch titled "Where Darkness Knows No Limits" describes a disturbing new trend in China for dealing with the estimated 5 million opium addicts in that country. In June 2008, China passed its first comprehensive narcotics control law to replace the former draconian system of dealing with drug users. The new Anti-Drug Law was initially hailed as an enlightened measure which called for drug rehabilitation rather than the harsh criminal penalties that drug users previously faced. Since the law's passage however, drug users have been typically incarcerated in what Human Rights Watch refers to as "compulsory drug detention centers" which are basically Reeducation Through Labor (RTL) camps under a different name.
Under the new legislation, the Chinese government has been placing individuals suspected of drug use into the centers -without trial or judicial oversight- for periods of up to seven years. According to the report, suspected users caught in the system are subjected to routine beatings, forced labour of up to 18 hours a day, no medical care, no skills training for reintegrating them into society, and no actual substance abuse treatment. Many former detainees have told Human Rights Watch that the abuses have led to a number of deaths while in detention.
The Chinese government is also promoting more progressive policies including harm reduction programs as well as community-based methadone and needle exchange programs to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS. In a March 2009 statement by a high-ranging government official declared that "The Chinese
Government maintains that drug treatment and rehabilitation should proceed in a
people-oriented way.” Despite the involvement of national and international treatment organizations, the use of punitive measures undermines the public statements concerning voluntary and human community-based drug treatment. While previous drug legislation allowed for incarceration of six to twelve months, the new Anti-Drug Law now calls for a minimum of two years. The vague definitions of clinical terms such as "addiction", "treatment" and "community rehabilitation" in the legislation allows local authorities extremely broad powers over who they can detain, and for how long. The legislation also allows police wide discretionary powers in searching for drugs and administering drug tests with little or no oversight by judicial or medical authorities. The detention centers are run by local police and managed by the Public Security Bureau.
Former inmates describing their stay in these centers report a total lack of drug treatment, frequent drug use, and release being based solely on arbitrary decisions made by the authorities running the centers. According to one detainee, "There is absolutely no support for quitting drugs inside detoxification centers; factory work is all there is.” While incarceration is often justified in terms of forced "detoxification", there is no medical supervision involved.
Even after their release from the centers, former detainees report tremendous stigma surrounding their incarceration which makes reintegration into the community almost impossible. Under the Anti-Drug Laws, convicted drug users are unable to register at a hotel, apply for a job, or register for drug treatment without the police being informed. The frequent unemployment, poor health, and lack of community support virtually guarantees that former detainees return to drugs and incarceration in a vicious circle.
The Human Rights Watch report concludes by calling on China to abide by international agreements and provide proper community-based drug treatment that is both humane and effective. Whether the Chinese government will acknowledge the abuses outlined in the report may well depend on international pressure.
Comments