Drug-law alarm bells

Articles of a draft drug-control law expected to be finalised by the end of this month are
consistent with procedures used in Vietnam and China, and could result in drug users
being compelled to perform forced labour, Human Rights Watch has warned.

Joe Amon, director of HRW’ s health and human rights division, said both Vietnam and
China “ have reportedly offered assistance to Cambodia on drug policy” .

“ There is a real danger that Cambodian centres will follow the Chinese or Vietnamese
model – longer periods of detention and detainees forced to labour for private
companies,” he said.

A recent version of the draft law includes an article stipulating that treatment periods at
government-run centres can last for up to two years.

Amon said on Sunday that the present law did not specify minimum or maximum periods
for rehabilitation, but that “ the current practice is to detain people for three to six months,
sometimes a year” .

Rights groups have reported that detention periods for drug users are longer in China and
Vietnam, though Amon said this approach had not worked.

Neak Yuthea, director of the department of legislation, education and rehabilitation at
the National Authority for Combating Drugs, confirmed that Cambodia had looked to
Vietnam while drafting drug-control and rehabilitation policies.

“ We learnt from Vietnam about how they proceed in their centres and how they care for
their addicted people so that we will apply it to Cambodia,” he said.