Six Mekong nations join hands eliminating drugs in Golden Triangle

[webfact]

Six Mekong nations join hands eliminating drugs in Golden Triangle

KRABI, 23 May 2016 (NNT) – Six nations along the Mekong River have joined hands in a conference, agreeing to tackle the illegal drugs trade in the Golden Triangle area.

The Minister of Justice Gen Paiboon Koomchaya today presided over a senior officials meeting under the multilateral Memorandum of Understanding on the regional narcotics suppression, held at Dusit Thani Beach Resort Hotel, Krabi Province.

The meeting was held to express the cooperation and objectives of Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to eliminate narcotic threats from the region. The meeting was attended by high-ranking officials related to drug suppression from each country, including Thailand’s Office of the Narcotics Control Board Secretary-General Narong Rattananukul.

In this meeting, Thailand has pledged its support for narcotics suppression activities in 2016, namely the capability enhancement campaign for officials working in border area coordinating offices, narcotics identification operations, the watch for the evading of initial substances and chemicals, and the patrol along the potential narcotics smuggling routes.

Participating states are focused in on narcotic issues in the Golden Triangle Area which is still known as an illegal drug manufacturing area, which affects countries in the region, while all countries have agreed to work together under the Safe Mekong campaign initiated by China to prevent the smuggling of drugs along Mekong River.

The Mekong operation plan was deployed to enhance the connectivity and regional integration in order to successfully tackle the narcotics issue in the region.


-- NNT 2016-05-24

[starky]

Hahaha please stop, best laugh I've had all day. Glad that's all sorted then.

[Chang_paarp]

More like a meeting of OPEC to set the going rate.

[tuanku]

You'd think they could have held it closer to the Golden Triangle to get a feel for the problem and maybe include some fact finding tours on the agenda. I don't really see the Dusit Thani Resort in Krabi as an appropriate venue unless you are more interested in the perks than the problem.

Seriously, this requires either the establishment of an elite and well paid (incorruptible) and well equipped multinational drugs squad with control over local forces, and power to follow drugs money and the trading of drug chemical precursors and essential manufacturing chemicals and equipment, or the legalisation and taxation of some or all currently illegal drugs to undercut the financial rewards to the manufacturers.

Either of these need to be coupled with a social programme to offer alternatives to the ordinary people for whom involvement in the drugs trade is the best or only way of providing for their families.

How successful has US FDA intervention been in Colombia and Mexico? and these are the guys with firepower resources and expertise?

[starky]

You'd think they could have held it closer to the Golden Triangle to get a feel for the problem and maybe include some fact finding tours on the agenda. I don't really see the Dusit Thani Resort in Krabi as an appropriate venue unless you are more interested in the perks than the problem.

Seriously, this requires either the establishment of an elite and well paid (incorruptible) and well equipped multinational drugs squad with control over local forces, and power to follow drugs money and the trading of drug chemical precursors and essential manufacturing chemicals and equipment, or the legalisation and taxation of some or all currently illegal drugs to undercut the financial rewards to the manufacturers.

Either of these need to be coupled with a social programme to offer alternatives to the ordinary people for whom involvement in the drugs trade is the best or only way of providing for their families.

How successful has US FDA intervention been in Colombia and Mexico? and these are the guys with firepower resources and expertise?

Mai Kaw jai

[cpofc]

This ABC 'Foreign Correspondent' report appeared as late as last month.

South East Asia Correspondent Liam Cochrane ventures into the remote Myanmar valleys that produce most of Australia’s heroin. He then takes the trail to the China border where the bulk of the processed heroin heads to the outside world.

Whilst everyone was busy blaming afghanistan .....

"We are talking about tonnes and tonnes of heroin. I think most Australians would probably think it’s coming from Afghanistan, but it’s not true. It’s actually from Myanmar."- UN official in Yangon

http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/2015/s4437682.htm

[wabothai]

They just keep busy hogwashing to allow for their paychecks to be issued every month.

Everybody knows there is no way around the 100% corrupt policing in these areas.

Just wander around in the mountains between Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son, horseshit all over the roads.

[Tomtomtom69]

You'd think they could have held it closer to the Golden Triangle to get a feel for the problem and maybe include some fact finding tours on the agenda. I don't really see the Dusit Thani Resort in Krabi as an appropriate venue unless you are more interested in the perks than the problem.

Seriously, this requires either the establishment of an elite and well paid (incorruptible) and well equipped multinational drugs squad with control over local forces, and power to follow drugs money and the trading of drug chemical precursors and essential manufacturing chemicals and equipment, or the legalisation and taxation of some or all currently illegal drugs to undercut the financial rewards to the manufacturers.

Either of these need to be coupled with a social programme to offer alternatives to the ordinary people for whom involvement in the drugs trade is the best or only way of providing for their families.

How successful has US FDA intervention been in Colombia and Mexico? and these are the guys with firepower resources and expertise?

There's a pretty swanky resort in the Golden Triangle, why didn't they stay there? The Le Meridien in Chiang Rai is also pretty good, and for something a bit different they could have even stayed at that Chinese casino, Kings Roman on the Lao bank of the Mekong opposite Chiang Saen.

Or maybe it's booty and beaches they needed?

[connda]

Sure they will.

[hyperdimension]

The meeting was held to express the cooperation and objectives of Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to eliminate narcotic threats from the region.

Did a representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime actually attend? If that was the case then there would be some conflict because the UN Office on Drugs and Crime admits to the many negative ‘unintended consequences’ of the ‘war on drugs’ and has been calling for less extremism since 2008: Making drug control ‘fit for purpose’: Building on the UNGASS decade

Did this conference mention anything about the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on the world drug problem (UNGASS) that was held from 19 to 21 April 2016 at the UN Headquarters in New York? That event marks the beginning of the end of the global war on drugs, with focus shifting away from zero-tolerance, law enforcement and punishment to evidence-based health approaches, harm minimization and human rights.

The most important section in the Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 19 April 2016 is the 4th, titled "Operational recommendations on cross-cutting issues: drugs and human rights, youth, children, women and communities":

4. We reiterate our commitment to respecting, protecting and promoting all human rights, fundamental freedoms and the inherent dignity of all individuals and the rule of law in the development and implementation of drug policies, and we recommend the following measures:

Drugs and human rights, youth, women, children, vulnerable members of society, and communities

(a) Enhance the knowledge of policy-makers and the capacity, as appropriate, of relevant national authorities on various aspects of the world drug problem in order to ensure that national drug policies, as part of a comprehensive, integrated and balanced approach, fully respect all human rights and fundamental freedoms and protect the health, safety and well-being of individuals, families, vulnerable members of society, communities and society as a whole, and to that end encourage cooperation with and among the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the International Narcotics Control Board, the World Health Organization and other relevant United Nations entities, within their respective mandates, including those relevant to the above-mentioned issues, and relevant regional and international organizations, as well as with civil society and the private sector, as appropriate;

(b ) Ensure non-discriminatory access to health, care and social services in prevention, primary care and treatment programmes, including those offered to persons in prison or pretrial detention, which are to be on a level equal to those available in the community, and ensure that women, including detained women, have access to adequate health services and counselling, including those particularly needed during pregnancy;

© Promote effective supervision of drug treatment and rehabilitation facilities by competent domestic authorities to ensure adequate quality of drug treatment and rehabilitation services and to prevent any possible acts of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, in accordance with domestic legislation and applicable international law;

(d) Continue to identify and address protective and risk factors, as well as the conditions that continue to make women and girls vulnerable to exploitation and participation in drug trafficking, including as couriers, with a view to preventing their involvement in drug-related crime;

(e) Promote, in accordance with domestic legislation, effective coordination among the justice, education and law enforcement sectors and social services to ensure that the specific needs, including mental and physical needs, of underage drug offenders and children affected by drug-related crime are appropriately considered, including in criminal justice proceedings where required, including by providing those in need with drug treatment and related support services;

(f) Implement age-appropriate practical measures,tailored to the specific needs of children, youth and other vulnerable members of society, in the legislative, administrative, social, economic, cultural and educational sectors, including measures to provide them with opportunities for healthy and self-sustained lives, in order to prevent their abuse of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, and address their involvement, use and exploitation in the illicit cultivation of crops, production and manufacturing of and trafficking in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and other forms of drug-related crime, including urban crime, youth and gang-related violence and crime, fulfilling the obligations as States parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and taking into account the United Nations Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency (the Riyadh Guidelines);

(g) Mainstream a gender perspective into and ensure the involvement of women in all stages of the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of drug policies and programmes, develop and disseminate gender-sensitive and age-appropriate measures that take into account the specific needs and circumstances faced by women and girls with regard to the world drug problem and, as States parties, implement the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women;

(h) Consider, on a voluntary basis, when furnishing information to the Commission on Narcotic Drugs pursuant to the three international drug control conventions and relevant Commission resolutions, the inclusion of information concerning, inter alia, the promotion of human rights and the health, safety and welfare of all individuals, communities and society in the context of their domestic implementation of these conventions, including recent developments, best practices and challenges;

(i) Ensure that measures to prevent the illicit cultivation of and to eradicate plants containing narcotic and psychotropic substances respect fundamental human rights, take due account of traditional licit uses, where there is historical evidence of such use, and of the protection of the environment, in accordance with the three international drug control conventions, and also take into account, as appropriate and in accordance with national legislation, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples;

Proportionate and effective policies and responses, as well as legal guarantees and safeguards pertaining to criminal justice proceedings and the justice sector

(j) Encourage the development, adoption and implementation, with due regard fornational, constitutional, legal and administrative systems, of alternative or additional measures with regard to conviction or punishment in cases of an appropriate nature, in accordance with the three international drug control conventions and taking into account, as appropriate, relevant United Nations standards and rules, such as the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for Non-custodial Measures (the Tokyo Rules);

(k) Consider sharing, through the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, information, lessons learned, experiences and best practices on the design, implementation and results of national criminal justice policies, including, as appropriate, domestic practices on proportional sentencing, related to the implementation of the three international drug control conventions, including article 3 of the 1988 Convention;

(l) Promote proportionate national sentencing policies, practices and guidelines for drug-related offences whereby the severity of penalties is proportionate to the gravity of offences and whereby both mitigating and aggravating factors are taken into account, including the circumstances enumerated in article 3 of the 1988 Convention and other relevant and applicable international law, and in accordance with national legislation;

(m) Enhance access to treatment of drug use disorders for those incarcerated and promote effective oversight and encourage, as appropriate, self-assessments of confinement facilities, taking into consideration the United Nations standards and norms on crime prevention and criminal justice, including the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules), implement, where appropriate, measures aimed at addressing and eliminating prison overcrowding and violence, and provide capacity-building to relevant national authorities;

(n) Encourage the taking into account of the specific needs and possible multiple vulnerabilities of women drug offenders when imprisoned, in line with the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules);

(o) Promote and implement effective criminal justice responses to drug-related crimes to bring perpetrators to justice that ensure legal guarantees and due process safeguards pertaining to criminal justice proceedings, including practical measures to uphold the prohibition of arbitrary arrest and detention and of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and to eliminate impunity, in accordance with relevant and applicable international law and taking into account United Nations standards and norms on crime prevention and criminal justice, and ensure timely access to legal aid and the right to a fair trial.

The Mekong nations should comply wholeheartedly with the resolution, but it seems that they remain stubbornly fixated on an insular and ignorant mindset, trying but still failing to achieve an impossible dream, whilst many other countries, including the long-time leader of the global war on drugs (U.S.A.) are starting to adapt to reality: Region’s harsh drug policies slammed by experts

A drug-free world is an impossible dream