Chair of the Global Commission in Drug Policy, H. E Ruth Dreifuss, calls for an end to the criminalization of victims of narcotics abuse. The woman who served as President of Switzerland in 1999 mentioned that the most critical effort to combat the consequences of narcotics abuse is to stop the criminalization of victims of narcotics users and provide access to health facilities for them.
“Because as long as you criminalized the people, they will have no access to the treatment, they will have no possibility to say what the problem is for us to be able to help,” explained Dreifuss
According to him, decriminalization is a solution to the problem of over-population that is currently faced by countries, especially in Indonesia, because the punishment is not right for this narcotics problem. Quoting tagar.id (Indonesian online news), Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, M. Hatta Ali, said that inmates of prisons by the end of 2018 reached 256,270 of the prison capacity of 128,164. Of these, there were 41,252 prisoners of prison users of narcotics in jail in 2018.
Regarding prison conditions that have excess capacity, H.E Dr. Jose Ramos-Horta, President of Timor-Leste 2017-2012, raised the issue of protecting narcotics victims who were vulnerable to ill-treatment in prison settings. He mentioned that often women and children were victims of overcrowded prison conditions as well as oppression from groups who wanted to benefit from them.
“National support has to deploy and but also there has to be active international support to governments that they make the right policies to protect women in prison. Not only women in jail because of drugs but also in general, “said Ramos-Horta.
This activity is part of a series of initial visits by commissioners of the Global Commission on Drug Policy (GCDP) panel members to Jakarta, Indonesia. Atma Jaya University of Law is proud to have the opportunity to host a Public Seminar entitled “Sustainable Development in Indonesia: What to Learn from Global Best Practices in Drug Control?” On Wednesday (29/1) at Campus 1 Semanggi.
This activity is the result of cooperation supported by LBH Masyarakat, Atma Jaya Unika Faculty of Law, and Atma Jaya Unika Institute of Public Policy. The primary purpose of the GCDP visit to Indonesia is none other than to build communication with the Indonesian government and educational institutions in handling the spread, use, and treatment of illegal drugs.
One of the things highlighted by this commission was the government’s decision to sentence death to drug convicts. They said there was no specific relationship between the death penalty and the reduction in the number of violations of narcotics-related rules. GCDP encourages the government to review the death sentence for convicted narcotics cases. They requested that a discussion room be opened with the public and educational institutions so that they could produce decisions based on comprehensive research.
The Global Commission on Drug Policy is a panel whose members are leaders from various countries. They are political figures, former heads of government, business people who have a mission to overcome the eradication of narcotics. The primary purpose of the GCDP is to provide input for the government to formulate excellent and practical steps to reduce the harm caused by drugs and their spread.