PHNOM PENH - Rights group Amnesty International released a damning report Wednesday documenting various human rights abuses committed along the law enforcement chain related to Cambodia’s “war on drugs” that has resulted in the arrests of tens of thousands of Cambodians.
The report, titled “Substance Abuse – The Human Cost of Cambodia’s Anti-Drug Campaign,” was released on Wednesday and documents issues plaguing Cambodian law enforcement, judiciary and drug rehabilitation programs, resulting in frequent rights abuses, while also highlighting the pitfalls of severe criminalization of drug use.
The international rights group interviewed 51 people, 34 who were or previously had used drugs. It also reviewed official documents from government institutions and ministries while drafting the report. The report is limited to the harmful effects and rights violations linked to the government’s “war on drugs” started in 2017.
“Over three years since its launch, the country’s campaign against drugs has not only failed in its primary mission of reducing drug use and drug-related harms, it has led to serious and systematic human rights violations,” the report reads.
The main issues highlighted in the report were the ad-hoc mechanisms used by law enforcement in arresting alleged offenders, the consequent overcrowding in prisons, accusations of torture and abuse at drug rehabilitation centers and endemic corruption which has resulted in the incarceration of innocent people.
