Human rights body says Cambodia's drug rehab centres must close

25 Jan, 2010
Source: monstersandcritics

Phnom Penh - A prominent human rights organization said Monday the Cambodian government should close all its 11 drug detention centres, describing them as abusive and unfit for their purpose.

The US-based Human Rights Watch added in its 98-page report that staff should be prosecuted for torture and other criminal acts.

'Individuals in these centres are not being treated or rehabilitated, they are being illegally detained and often tortured,' said Joseph Amon, the director of HRW's health and human rights division. 'These centres do not need to be revamped or modified; they need to be shut down.'

But the government rejected that and said more were needed.

'That is a very bad recommendation. If we release those addicted people they would be harmful to society,' said government spokesman Khieu Sopheak, adding that donor assistance for more centres and to improve existing centres would be welcome.

Khieu Sopheak said the government was looking into the report and would take corrective action where necessary, but said HRW, which is often critical of the Cambodian authorities, was 'seeing only one tree - they do not see the jungle.'

Former detainees told researchers about incidents of rape and sexual abuse, torture, beatings and the compulsory donation of blood.

The organization concluded that 'sadistic violence' was 'integral' to how the centres operate, and said treatment programmes, which revolve around military drills and physical exercise designed to make detainees sweat, were 'ethically unacceptable, scientifically and medically inappropriate, and of miserable quality.'

'There is no evidence that forced physical exercises, forced labour and forced military drills have any therapeutic benefit whatsoever,' it said. 'After a number of months in the centres, individuals are declared 'cured' because drugs are no longer physically present in the body.'

But Khieu Sopheak insisted physical exercise and sweating were vital.

'They need to do labour and hard work and sweating - that is one of the main ways to make drug-addicted people to become normal people,' he said, adding that the authorities would investigate any allegations of abuse provided the victims came forward.

HRW said no more than 2 per cent of almost 2,000 detainees who passed through drug dependency centres in 2008 were there voluntarily, and said the government should switch to voluntary, community-based drug dependency treatment programmes that match international standards.

The report said the country's drug detention centres are run by a 'haphazard collection' of government authorities, including the military police, civilian police, the Social Affairs Ministry and local authorities.