Menjelang pertemuan penting dengan ASEAN pada 14 September 2021, LBHM bersama dengan 24 organisasi masyarakat sipil lainnya di Asia Tenggara bergabung untuk mengangkat isu terkait buruknya penerapan kebijakan narkotika di wilayah Asia Tenggara yang sudah bertahun-tahun terjadi. Selain itu LBHM dan 24 CSO lainnya juga mengirimkan surat terbuka kepada Kepala BNN terkait penanganan narkotika di Indonesia. Ada beberapa isu yang menjadi konsern dari kelompok masyarakat sipil:
Dampak buruk dari Overkriminalisasi, Pemaksaan Rehabilitasi, hingga Hukuman Mati;
Mempromosikan alternatif penghukuman dan peradilan yang adil (fair trial) terhadap kasus narkotika (minor);
Mendorong ASEAN untuk menyesuaikan rekomendasi kebijakan dari badan UN terkait posisi narkotika dan pemenjaraan, termasuk pengurangan dampak buruk;
Mendorong adanya pelibatan aktif dari kelompok masyarakat sipil dalam pembuatan kebijakan terkait narkotika.
For centuries, criminal laws, justice systems, and prisons have been designed for, and by, men. The 2010 United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders, also known as the ‘Bangkok Rules’, break away from this history by establishing the first set of international human rights standards that focus on the specific needs and experiences of women deprived of liberty.
Ten years after the adoption of the Bangkok Rules by the 193 countries represented at the UN General Assembly, states across the world have largely failed to implement them, while the number of women in prison has continued to raise dramatically. By 2020, an estimated 741,000 women were incarcerated worldwide, compared to 636,000 in 2010. The global female prison population is estimated to have increased by about 59% from 2000 to 2020.
This worrying trend has been fuelled by the harshly punitive drug laws adopted at the end of the 20th century. In many countries in Asia and Latin America, drug offences are the main cause for the incarceration of women. In most cases, women are detained for carrying out low-level drug activities, such as transporting drugs, that are characterised by high risk, a high degree of replaceability within illegal drug organisations, and very little financial reward.
Although theoretically ‘gender-blind’, punitive drug policies such as the disproportionate use of pretrial detention, mandatory minimum prison sentences, and the dearth of harm reduction and evidence-based treatment in prisons, have impacted women disproportionately. They have also ignored the causes for women’s involvement in illegal drug activities, which include the intersection of poverty and caretaking responsibilities, and coercion or influence at hands of a male relative or partner. In other words, they have undermined the application of the Bangkok Rules.
For advocates across the world, the 10-year anniversary of the Bangkok Rules is an opportunity to remind states that gender equality policies, criminal justice rights and drug laws are not isolated from each other. If states want to implement a genuine agenda for gender equality, they need to review the laws and policies that undermine it – including drug legislation.
This briefing paper provides analyses the concrete ways in which punitive drug legislation has impacted upon the achievement of the Bangkok Rules, and offers several recommendations on how to translate the commitments set in the Bangkok Rules into drug policy.
Upon winning the presidential election in 2014, Joko Widodo, often referred as Jokowi – launched the war on drugs in Indonesia. He claimed that Indonesia is in a drug emergency situation. This emergence is marked by the existence of 4.5 million people who use drugs in Indonesia; worse, 1.2 million of them ‘can no longer be rehabilitated because of their deteriorating condition’.
When Jokowi made such statement, it was expected that he would adopt a policy that was aimed to address the impact of drug trafficking. For example, by providing wider access to drug dependency rehabilitation. The question was and still relevant, is, how drug dependency rehabilitation is currently implemented in Indonesia?
Through this report, LBH Masyarakat seeks to provide information on how drug dependency rehabilitation is carried out in Indonesia. This report consists of information on the type, methodology, inclusiveness and participation, financing, and human resources situation with regard to implementing drug dependency rehabilitation. We find that there are barriers, both practical and structural, that hinder effective implementation of drug rehabilitation. At the end of this report, we develop recommendations for relevant stakeholders with a view that the proposed recommendations would contribute in creating drug dependency rehabilitation in Indonesia that is more accessible and with good quality.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to …?? for their tremendous help and contribution in the development of this report. We thank the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Social Affairs, and the National Narcotic Board for welcoming us to interview and observe drug dependency rehabilitation facilities under their auspices, or that they support. We thank all the patients, doctors, health care workers, and managements of drug dependency rehabilitation at YPI Nurul Ichsan, RS Jiwa Atma Husada, RSUD Sanglah, Yayasan Ar-Rahman, Yayasan Hikmah Syahadah, Balai Rehabilitasi Lido, Balai Rehabilitasi Badokka, AKSI NTB, Yayasan Karisma, Puskesmas Gambir, and RSKO Cibubur.
We thank Mainline Foundation for their support and assistance from the beginning until the finalisation stage of this report.
This report is just a part, or even a beginning of the long and winding road in the advocacy towards a more humane drug policy in Indonesia. To close this, we believe that #PrisonIsNotASolution, #BecauseEeryHumanMatters.
You can download this research by visiting this link.
