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Golden Triangle Drug Detention Centers:

Substance Abuse Treatment or Human Rights Violation?

Laura Tanksley

University of South Florida

Sarasota-Manatee

INR3202

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Professor Richard O'Brien

The Golden Triangle is the region of Southeast Asia

including Burma, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. Increased opium

poppy cultivation within the region facilitated increased

addiction. To address escalating substance abuse, government and

local police throughout the Golden Triangle operate compulsory

substance abuse rehabilitation centers known as 'reform,'

'reeducation,' 'rehabilitation,' or 'treatment' centers. Human

Rights Watch [HRW] (2012) indicated that there are 350,000

identified addicts in the region receiving 'treatment' at drug

detention centers. (“Torture,” p. 4). Are these efforts

intended as a public health service, or facilitating human rights

violations?

KEY PLAYERS

Key players to human rights abuses occurring in drug

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detention centers of the Golden Triangle include the United

Nations, the individual governments of the region, and the

members of the international community supplying funds to

continue the operation of drug detention centers despite reports

of human rights abuses.

United Nations Conventions of 1961, 1971, and 1988

reinforced the idea that substance abuse is deviant behavior to

be addressed from a criminal standpoint. The first step to

criminalization was prohibition, followed by the widely accepted

definition of drug users as criminals. According to Beckley

Foundation (2012) “The rhetoric and legislation of the UN

advances and advocates the US-led approach to drug prohibition,

labelling drug use as a ‘danger to mankind” (“Conventions,” para.

2). By deeming drug use criminal behavior, the international

players justify 'treatment' through detention practices. Imagine

the public outcry if similar chronic, long term conditions were

addressed using detention. For example, a diabetic who can't

resist the morning doughnut – the diabetic makes the rational

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choice to eat the doughnut despite adverse health consequences –

is that criminal behavior? The individual suffering from

hypertension who can't seem to lose those extra pounds, or

refuses to exercise – criminal behavior, or a lifetime of poor

choices?

The global 'war on drugs' called attention to Burma – the

second largest opium producer in the world. ALTSEAN (2004)

reported that “Opium has fuelled and prolonged civil conflict in

Burma since the 1950s, and Burmese military regimes have been an

actor, not an antagonist, in the trade” (p. 5). Burma is central

to the operation of drug detention centers in that the opium

cultivated in the region floods the Golden Triangle with an ample

supply of the drug thereby, leading to addiction. According to

Paluang Women's Organization [PWO] (2010) “We know that the drugs

being grown in our areas are being exported far and wide, to the

rest of Burma, China, Thailand and other parts of the world”

(“Poisoned Hills,” p. 4). Opium poppy cultivated in Burma has a

profound impact on addiction throughout the Golden Triangle.

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The United States attempted to force Burma to cooperate with

the 1988 UN Convention by cutting off aid. ALTSEAN (2004)

pointed out that “Since the military took power in 1988 in Burma,

the United States has suspended all bilateral aid” (p. 41). The

State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) was Burma's ruling

military regime. Evidence suggests that the SPDC not only

profits from opium poppy cultivation, but encourages the trade.

In response, Burma and the SPDC initiated a 15 year eradication

plan designed to render Burma drug-free by 2014 (ALTSEAN, 2004,

p. 162). The SPDC made several attempts to make it appear as

though opium cultivation was under control. ALTSEAN (2004)

contended “What the SPDC desires for the drug trade in Burma is

an arrangement that satisfies both their ethnic militia allies in

the mountains of the country’s north, and the international

community that it believes will reward them for any major

reduction with a resumption of international development

assistance (p. 1). Despite clandestine efforts of the SPDC,

Burma remains the second largest opium producer in the world.

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ALTSEAN (2004) determined “This is a transparent attempt at

balancing domestic and international pressure instead of showing

determination to end the drug trade” (p. 1). Since the SPDC

benefits from opium cultivation, the practice is encouraged.

Continued opium cultivation leads to increased addiction as

Burma's opium floods the Golden Triangle.

While the US cut aid to Burma as a means to force the

country to eradicate opium poppy, they continue to supply funds

to operate drug detention centers. For example, Indiavision

news (2012) reported that in “June the US Government pledged

$400,000 to support the Lao National Commission for Drug Control

and Supervision to “upgrade” facilities at a detention center

which had been the focus of one Human Rights Watch report” (para.

13). As long as drug detention centers continue to receive

unconditional aid, they will continue to operate under current

standards. HRW (2012) revealed “No mention was made of ensuring

respect for due process or the human rights of those detained or

monitored to ensure that US funding did not further rights

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abuses. (“Torture” p. 17). The US is effectively supporting

human rights abuses by subsidizing drug detention centers.

Vietnams Ministry of Labor , Lao National Commission for

Drug Control and Supervision, the military of Thailand, and Burma

Ministry of Health are responsible for the oversight and

operation of drug detention centers. Drug detention centers

operate under the guise of public health centers while mimicking

detention and forced labor practices of prisons. Since they

claim to provide a public health service, they are not subject to

due process requirements of prison systems. Therefor,

individuals can be detained for unending periods.

HISTORY

International pressure in favor of drug prohibition was

meant to reduce the supply of opium. The Beckley Foundation

(2012) reported “The global prohibition of drugs was launched in

1961 when the United Nations signed a Convention instituting a

worldwide ban on opium, cocaine and cannabis” (“Drug Control”

para. 1). The rational thought behind opium prohibition was that

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reduced supply would naturally lead to reduced demand.

Subsequent conventions escalated global drug prohibition. The

1988 UN Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and

Psychotropic Substances represented a significant escalation in

the War on Drugs approach (Beckley Foundation “Conventions,”

2012). The UN 1988 convention reinforces a criminal approach to

drug use, thereby justifying the operation of drug detention

centers. Beckley Foundation (2012) contended “Whilst it

constitutes a central UN treaty on drugs, it is primarily an

“instrument of international criminal law” (“1988 Conventions”

para. 1). Criminal classification breeds the human rights

violations that occur in the drug detention centers of the Golden

Triangle.

Proposed to offer substance abuse treatment to those

suffering from addiction, in reality drug detention centers are

nothing more than forced labor camps. According to Ali, Robert,

Baldwin, Simon Mills, Stephen, Vuong, Thu (2012) “Illicit drug

abuse treatment approach is strongly influenced by the signing of

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the UN International Drug Conventions of 1961, 1971, and 1988”

(p. 321). Rather than evidence based treatment, the common

threads among 'treatment centers' within the Golden Triangle are

arbitrary detention, forced labor, torture, starvation, and

physical and sexual abuse.

ARBITRARY DETENTION

Human rights violation within drug detention centers are

numerous and begin with arbitrary detention. At Somsanga, a drug

detention center located in Vientiane, the capitol of LAO PDR,

“Police or village militia (tamnaut baan) detain and bring people

to Somsanga” (HWR “Somsanga's” 2011, P. 7). Very few drug users

voluntarily enter the drug detention centers, and those who do,

do so under the false pretense of receiving evidence based

treatment to remain drug-free. Offenders are often detained in

drug detention centers for months, or years without due process.

Due process provides a means for appeal and a system of

accountability. Absent due process, human rights abuses continue

unchecked.

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One reason for arbitrary detention is that the international

war on drugs creates pressure on village officials to declare

their village “drugfree.” (HRW “Somsanga's” 2011, p. 7). Those

suspected of drug abuse are commonly detained to create the

illusion of a drug-free village. HRW (2011) revealed that for

Lao authorities, Somsanga functions as a convenient dumping

ground for those considered socially 'undesirable' (“Somsanga's”

p. 11). Drug detention centers are often used as a means to

detain those acting outside the social norm. According to HRW

(2012) “In some countries such as Lao PDR and Cambodia, people

are often detained in drug detention centers in “street sweeps”

of beggars and homeless people prior to holidays or international

meetings” (p. 10). 'Street sweeps' are conducted to rid the

streets of individuals casting a negative light on society. Lao

PDR authorities authorize the street sweeps in order to present a

compliant society to outsiders.

According to HRW (2012) “More than 350,000 people identified

as drug users in [countries within the Golden Triangle] are

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estimated to be currently detained for periods of months or years

in the name of drug “treatment” and “rehabilitation” (“Torture,”

p. 4). In Vietnam, drug detention centers are commonly known as

'“Centers for Social Education and Labor” or “Centers for Post

Rehabilitation Management,” which advertise as providing drug

dependency 'treatment' (HRW, “Torture,” 2012, p. 6). Despite

clear claims of providing substance abuse treatment, individuals

are often held for long periods while receiving no treatment.

HRW (2012) revealed “Individuals who had been detained in drug

detention centers in all four countries [of the Golden Triangle]

described ... being picked up by police and detained without due

process: none had access to a lawyer, a formal hearing in front

of a judge, or a process by which they could appeal their

detention” (“Torture,” p. 7). Lacking the protection of due

process, the centers have the power to determine the length of a

detainees stay.

FORCED LABOR

Forced labor of some form is a common element to most Golden

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Triangle drug detention centers. For example, Vietnam is famous

for producing 'blood cashews'. One Vietnamese center required

detainees to husk and peel a quota of cashews daily, despite the

fact that the caustic resin from the cashews is known to burn the

skin. (HRW, “Torture,” 2012, p. 6). Working conditions are not

regulated or monitored by outside authorities. “Forced labor is

central to the operation of Vietnamese detention centers and

“labor therapy” is a stipulated component of drug dependency

treatment according to Vietnamese law” (HRW, “Torture,” 2012, p.

15). The practice of forced labor is a profitable venture for

the detention centers considering that most detainees are not

compensated for their work. HRW (2012) revealed “Former

detainees reported spending their days making shoes; sewing

clothing, handicrafts, or bags; or doing construction and

agricultural work. (“Torture,” p. 14). Work performed by the

detainees is essentially free labor. Further, forced labor

practices often lead to physical abuse.

PHYSICAL ABUSE

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The practice of forced labor includes demands of work speed

and quality. HRW (2011) revealed that formerly detained

individuals often reported being beaten for violations of center

rules, including failing to work quickly enough (“Vietnam,” para.

8).

Receiving free labor isn't enough for the staff of drug detention

centers. Detainees are held to strict standards in regard to the

quality and quantity of their work – standards that are

reinforced through beatings. One former detainee reported “Once,

when he was caught playing cards with other detainees, the

rehabilitation center staff tied his hands behind his back and

beat him with a truncheon for an hour”. (HRW, “Torture,” 2012,

p. 7). The staff maintains physical and psychological power over

detainees through the use of violence. A detainee who sought

help for his addiction revealed “Throughout the five years he

spent in “treatment,” he received no therapy or counseling for

his drug use (HRW, “Torture,” 2012, p. 7). Drug detention

centers present themselves as healthcare centers while inflicting

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violence on detainees that they are supposed to care for.

Detainees have no recourse for the physical abuse that they

endure.

Another form of physical abuse used in drug detention

centers is starvation and dehydration. HRW (2012) reported,

“Former detainees in Vietnam, Lao PDR and Cambodia also reported

that detainees were tied up in the sun for hours without food or

water” (“Torture,” p. 9). Some drug detention centers use

dehydration and starvation as a means of 'controlling' detainees.

Depriving detainees of food and water can lead to a myriad of

health conditions.

SEXUAL ABUSE

Sexual abuse was reported against both women and children in

detention. One former detainee reported “witnessing center staff

take women out of the detention room and could hear as they were

sexually assaulted” (HRW, “Torture,” 2012 p. 9). Sexual abuse

occurs on a regular basis. A former guard of a drug detention

center explained, “HIV testing information was used … to identify

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'which female inmates we could sleep with without using a

condom.'” (HRW, “Torture,” 2012 p. 7). The guard rationalized

the rapes by suggesting that it was comforting for the victims.

According to HRW (2012) the guard explained, “I would sleep with

them to comfort them and then give them some heroin to make them

feel better.” (“Torture,” p. 13). If raping the women was

comforting, why was it necessary to 'calm' them afterwards? If

detainees, both men and women, were receiving evidence based

treatment instead of undergoing torture in the form of physical

and sexual abuse, starvation, and forced labor there would be no

need to 'comfort' them by giving them the narcotic substance that

landed them in the center to begin with.

SOLUTION

In March 2012, twelve UN agencies issued a joint statement

unequivocally calling for the closure of drug detention centers

(Indiavision, 2012 para. 13). Despite evidence of human rights

abuses, the centers are still in operation. The first step to

ending human rights abuses in drug detention centers is to close

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the centers and immediately release all detainees. In addition,

prompt and thorough investigations into human rights abuses must

occur with consequences imposed against the individuals or

organizations responsible for both carrying out human rights

abuses, or ignoring human rights abuses.

The second step is to end the war on drugs both nationally

and internationally. Szalavits (2012) contended, “If we want to

end human-rights abuses in drug-detention centers in Asia, we

should start by addressing the abusive 'treatment' practices in

our own backyard.” The United States leads the war on drugs,

thereby facilitating the human rights abuses which take place at

drug detention centers within the Golden Triangle.

Finally, provide evidence-based substance abuse treatment

for those in need. Supply reduction efforts in Burma, and

throughout the Golden Triangle do not have an impact on demand.

The science of addiction teaches us that to reduce demand,

addiction must be treated psychologically and physically as a

chronic medical condition requiring long term care.

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CONCLUSION

It's no wonder that the UN, and specifically the United

States aren't more concerned with the Human Rights Abuses

occurring in the drug trade and drug detention centers within the

Golden Triangle. It seems that the Golden Triangle's means for

addressing addiction is loosely based on tactics practiced in the

United States. The SPDC arresting addicts and 'bribing' them for

their release – in the United States, we call that a bail bond,

fines, and court costs. In Burma, those who cannot afford to pay

the bribe are sentenced to two years in prison – in the United

States, we call that representation by the public defenders

office. Time and time again, those who can afford expensive,

aggressive representation (drug dealers), receive much lessor

sentences than those who are forced to use public defenders (drug

users). A paradigm shift from criminalization to public health

concern is essential to ending the war on drugs, and ending the

human rights abuses in the Golden Triangle.

When the United States claims to take a public health

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approach, forced labor, physical abuse, and other human rights

abuses are often present. Szalavits (2012) suggested, “The

tactics used in U.S. treatment centers — including boot camps,

rehab centers, emotional-growth boarding schools and wilderness

programs — tend to be less extreme, but they have included

beatings, forced labor, excessive exercise and deprivation of

sleep and food to try to break participants" (para. 7). While on

a smaller scale, some of the same human rights abuses disguised

as treatment take place in US substance abuse treatment

environments. The US leads the war on drugs, and leads the

internationally community in criminalizing a public health

crisis.

Without effective treatment, drug detention centers are

merely a mixture of punishment, social control of “undesirable”

populations, and profit from forced labor (HRW, “Torture,” 2012,

p. 11). In terms of substance abuse treatment, a true paradigm

shift from criminalization to healthcare must exist before the

human rights abuses will end, both internationally and

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nationally.

References

Ali, Robert, Baldwin, Simon Mills, Stephen, Vuong, Thu (2012).

International Journal of Drug Policy. 23 (2012) 319-326.

ALTSEAN-Burma. (2004). A failing grade: Burma's drug eradication

efforts.

Beckley Foundation. (2012). The global initiative for drug

policy reform. Drug Control.

Retrieved from

http://www.beckleyfoundation.org/2011/04/03/the-global-

initiative-for-drug- policy-reform/ .

Human Rights Watch. (2011). Somsanga's secret. Arbitrary

detention, physical abuse, and suicide inside a Lao drug

detention center.

Human Rights Watch. (2012). Torture in the name of treatment.

Human rights abuses in Vietnam, China, Cambodia, and Lao

PDR.

Human Rights Watch. (2011). Vietnam: Torture, forced labor in

drug detention. Retreived from

http://www.hrw.org/news/2011/09/07/vietnam-torture-forced-

labor-drug-detention.

Palaung Women's Organization. (2010). Poisoned hills: Opium

cultivation surges under government control in Burma.

Palaung Women's Organization. (2006). Poisoned flowers: The

impacts of spiralling drug addiction in Palaung women of

Burma.

Szalavitz, Maia. (2012). Time. Human Rights Watch: Hundreds of

Thousands Still Tortured in Name of Drug Treatment.

Retrieved from http://healthland.time.com/2012/08/03/human-

rights-watch-hundreds-of- thousands-still-tortured-in-name-

of-drug-treatment/#ixzz2BBpcz9nF.

Indiavision News (2012). Drug detention centers offer torture,

not treatment: Human Rights Watch study. Retrieved from

http://www.indiavision.com/news/article/health/327929/drug -

detention-centers- offer-torture-not-treatment-human-rights-

watch-study/.