Pubdate: Sat, 07 Dec 2013
Source: Cambodia Daily, The (Cambodia)
Copyright: 2013 The Cambodia Daily
Contact:  http://www.cambodiadaily.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5445
Author: Lauren Crothers
Referenced: "They Treat Us Like Animals"
http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/cambodia1213_ForUpload_0.pdf

HRW WANTS DRUG DETENTION CENTERS SHUT

The mistreatment of people detained at Cambodia's forced drug
treatment centers continues unabated, and the government should
release detainees and shutter the institutions, New York-based
advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a new report.

The report, entitled They Treat Us Like Animals, which was obtained
Friday, found that the government has failed to address serious
problems at the country's drug treatment facilities that were raised
in a previous report in 2009.

"The Cambodian government has shown callous disregard for the
well-being of the thousands of mostly marginalized people-many of them
children-who it sends to the facilities, where individuals are subject
to vicious and capricious abuse," HRW said in the report, which has
yet to be officially released.

"There should be no illusions: these centers are not intended to help
those dependent on drugs. On the contrary, Human Rights Watch has
found the centers are a means to lock away drug users and those
suspected of drug use with considerably less effort and costs than
would be incurred by prosecuting people in the justice system and
incarcerating them in prisons," the report states.

The centers, which are located in Phnom Penh, Battambang, Banteay
Meanchey, Siem Reap, Preah Sihanouk and Koh Kong provinces, vary in
capacity from 30 to 400 people-often swept up in "street cleaning"
initiatives and without establishing if the person has a drug problem.

In 2010, there were 11 such centers operating around the
country.

HRW said the number of facilities has fallen to eight, but it noted
that the "overall number of people held in them has stayed constant."

The Ministry of Social Affairs operates only one, and the others are
run by the police, military police or army.

Inside the centers, HRW found that 1 in 10 detainees is under the age
of 18.

Those rounded up and incarcerated, whether they are children,
prostitutes or drug users, are forced to perform military-like drills.
If the drills are not performed correctly, detainees can be subject to
"brutal punishment."

The report's findings were based on interviews with 33 people detained
in the centers between mid-2011 and the middle of this year, none of
whom had "saw a lawyer or judge, or were brought to court at any time
after their apprehension or during their detention in the centers,"
the report states.

"Torture in these centers also continues: former detainees told Human
Rights Watch that they were beaten, thrashed with rubber water hoses,
punished by being forced to crawl along stony ground or stand in
septic water pits, sexually abused, and forced to work," the study
says.

Last month, a report by the U.N. Office for Drugs and Crime said there
are 13 drug treatment centers around the country, six of which are
government-run, but expressed concern that the centers "do not have a
sufficient treatment focus."

Community-based drug treatment programs in Banteay Meanchey, Stung
Treng and Battambang provinces have proven successful, however, and
there are plans to expand.

HRW said the Ministry of Health should "expand access to voluntary,
community-based drug dependency treatment and ensure that such
treatment is medically appropriate and comports with international
standards."

"Forcing people into 'treatment' in drug detention centers violates
many of their human rights, including protection from arbitrary arrest
and detention, and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment," HRW said.

"These fundamental international legal violations mean that all
individuals currently detained in Cambodia's drug detention centers
should be immediately and unconditionally released."

Military Police spokesman Brigadier General Kheng Tito said he had not
heard of the new report, but that the Ministry of Interior last week
began assessing conditions in drug treatment detention centers across
the country.

The mistreatment of people detained at Cambodia's forced drug
treatment centers continues unabated, and the government should
release detainees and shutter the institutions, New York-based
advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a new report.

The report, entitled They Treat Us Like Animals, which was obtained
Friday, found that the government has failed to address serious
problems at the country's drug treatment facilities that were raised
in a previous report in 2009.

"The Cambodian government has shown callous disregard for the
well-being of the thousands of mostly marginalized people-many of them
children-who it sends to the facilities, where individuals are subject
to vicious and capricious abuse," HRW said in the report, which has
yet to be officially released.

"There should be no illusions: these centers are not intended to help
those dependent on drugs. On the contrary, Human Rights Watch has
found the centers are a means to lock away drug users and those
suspected of drug use with considerably less effort and costs than
would be incurred by prosecuting people in the justice system and
incarcerating them in prisons," the report states.

The centers, which are located in Phnom Penh, Battambang, Banteay
Meanchey, Siem Reap, Preah Sihanouk and Koh Kong provinces, vary in
capacity from 30 to 400 people-often swept up in "street cleaning"
initiatives and without establishing if the person has a drug problem.

In 2010, there were 11 such centers operating around the
country.

HRW said the number of facilities has fallen to eight, but it noted
that the "overall number of people held in them has stayed constant."

The Ministry of Social Affairs operates only one, and the others are
run by the police, military police or army.

Inside the centers, HRW found that 1 in 10 detainees is under the age
of 18.

Those rounded up and incarcerated, whether they are children,
prostitutes or drug users, are forced to perform military-like drills.
If the drills are not performed correctly, detainees can be subject to
"brutal punishment."

The report's findings were based on interviews with 33 people detained
in the centers between mid-2011 and the middle of this year, none of
whom had "saw a lawyer or judge, or were brought to court at any time
after their apprehension or during their detention in the centers,"
the report states.

"Torture in these centers also continues: former detainees told Human
Rights Watch that they were beaten, thrashed with rubber water hoses,
punished by being forced to crawl along stony ground or stand in
septic water pits, sexually abused, and forced to work," the study
says.

Last month, a report by the U.N. Office for Drugs and Crime said there
are 13 drug treatment centers around the country, six of which are
government-run, but expressed concern that the centers "do not have a
sufficient treatment focus."

Community-based drug treatment programs in Banteay Meanchey, Stung
Treng and Battambang provinces have proven successful, however, and
there are plans to expand.

HRW said the Ministry of Health should "expand access to voluntary,
community-based drug dependency treatment and ensure that such
treatment is medically appropriate and comports with international
standards."

"Forcing people into 'treatment' in drug detention centers violates
many of their human rights, including protection from arbitrary arrest
and detention, and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment," HRW said.

"These fundamental international legal violations mean that all
individuals currently detained in Cambodia's drug detention centers
should be immediately and unconditionally released."

Military Police spokesman Brigadier General Kheng Tito said he had not
heard of the new report, but that the Ministry of Interior last week
began assessing conditions in drug treatment detention centers across
the country.  
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D