[xml][/xml]
The Bahamas Weekly Facebook The Bahamas Weekly Twitter
News : International : Organization of American States (OAS) Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM


OAS Roundtable Discusses Drug Problem in the Americas and the Challenges of Reducing Incarceration
By OAS
Sep 8, 2014 - 8:23:23 PM

Email this article
 Mobile friendly page
15180474721_a5dc6903ab_z.jpg
OAS Photo

The Organization of American States (OAS) today held its policy 60th Roundtable entitled "Multisectoral Perspectives on the Drug Problem in the Americas: The Challenges of Reducing Incarceration" on the eve of the celebration of the Special General Assembly that will be held in Guatemala on September 19, and whose central theme is "For a Hemispheric Drug Policy in the Twenty-first Century".

This debate on drug policy in the region started with the report prepared by the OAS on the Drugs Problem in the Americas, led by the Secretary General of the OAS, José Miguel Insulza, and presented 18 months ago to the Colombian President, Juan Manuel Santos. The report responded to a mandate from the VI Summit of the Americas that took place in Cartagena, Colombia, in April 2012.

At the opening the Roundtable, Secretary General Insulza said that after a year and a half of discussions on the topic, "one of the great consensus reached in the region regards the need to implement judicial reforms aimed at providing alternatives to incarceration". In this respect, he stated that around 3.5 million people are incarcerated in the Hemisphere, of which "at least 1.5 million are in prison for drugs, many of them for possession or consumption."

"As we noted it in the report, the application of strict drug laws has resulted in the increase of the incarceration rate in many of our countries, contributing to serious overcrowding in prisons," he said. He added that incarceration does not solve the situation but aggravates it as consumption continues in prisons, and he pointed out that the result of this approach is that "the root of the problem is not addressed—nor is it treated when there is drug dependence—at any stage of the judicial and/or criminal proceedings”.

The head of the OAS said that currently several countries in the region have decided to consider the need to take measures to reverse this situation, so that human rights and fundamental judicial guarantees are respected while maintaining and ensuring public safety. These positions will be presented at the forthcoming Special General Meeting in Guatemala”.

Insulza recalled that the Declaration adopted by the OAS General Assembly in 2013 in La Antigua Guatemala "reflects the concerns of member states" on this matter. In particular, the OAS leader referred to the issue of proportionality of punishment, which was already discussed at the Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Public Security in the Americas (MISPA) in late 2013. To that end, as Chair of the Inter-American Commission on Drug Abuse Control (CICAD), Colombia proposed toward the end of 2013 the creation of a working group aimed at analyzing and creating alternative proposals to the penal sentencing for all stages of the chain of drugs, with a gender perspective and including small-quantity drug producers, dealers and consumers. The Drug Treatment Courts added Secretary General Insulza, an initiative that the OAS supports and promotes and which is expanding, are other examples of alternative sentences to incarceration. "Over the last four years, we have gone in the region from 4 to 17 countries that are exploring, implementing and strengthening the use of this type of courts," he noted.

During the Roundtable, the Director of the Office of Policy and Legislation of the US Department of Justice, Jonathan Wroblewski, said that the reasons for reducing incarceration, which affects 2.2 million people in his country, are budgetary coss, public safety, and human rights. Wroblewski noted that the increase in prison population occurred in the 60s and 70s when there was a dramatic increase in the use of drugs such as cocaine, marijuana and opiates, and laws were tightened. The official said that the initiative “Smart on Crime” was implemented by the current US Administration to reduce incarceration, which is very costly both at the budgetary and human levels, as well as to help people convicted of misdemeanors to reinsert into society and to focus resources on the most dangerous criminals.

The Resident Magistrate of the Kingston Drug Treatment Court of Jamaica, Stephane Jackson-Haisley, said that all judges are aware of the need to seek other alternatives to incarceration. In the case of the Caribbean, Judge Jackson-Haisley indicated that judges have more discretion when rendering judgment than in other jurisdictions because they have more freedom in adopting alternative sentences such as house arrests, fines and other penalties. The Jamaican judge noted that alternative sentences are very important and emphasized their importance for women, arguing that the impact of the imprisonment of a woman is very strong within her family.

Meanwhile, the President of Intercambios Asociación Civil, Graciela Touzé, said that the “dramatic” situation of prison overcrowding in the region is largely due to drug policies implemented over the last decades. Touzé asserted that “there are actors who are particularly punished in the region, such as small users, dealers, transporters, and women.” “There is a consensus regarding the fact that the consumer must not be considered as a criminal,” she added, drawing attention to the paradox that exists in many countries of the Hemisphere where although drug use is not classified as a crime, in many instances people who are found with drugs are sentenced to prison for possession.

For his part, the Senior Associate for Drug Policy and the Andes at the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), John Walsh, said that it is important to rethink the drug policy that has not been changed in several decades. He added that the issue of incarceration is substantial and asserted that prison should be the last resort though in many countries it is the first. He criticized the fact that in reality, the law is applied disproportionately because the most powerful traffickers are not in jail while the most vulnerable ones end up in prison. He indicated that it is necessary to start from the premise that the final objective is to fight criminal organizations.

The Permanent Representative of Guatemala, Ambassador José María Argueta, who closed the Roundtable, said that none of the elements of the drugs problem “should be analyzed separately, but rather should be seen from a comprehensive standpoint.” “The countries of the Hemisphere, we are engaged in a process to make contributions with regard to the global problem of drugs, putting people at the center of it,” he added. Ambassador Argueta indicated that his country, which will host the Special General Assembly on drugs, does not wish to present its view on the subject, but is rather focused on the effort to harmonize the region’s vision on the issue.


For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Bookmark and Share




© Copyright 2014 by thebahamasweekly.com

Top of Page

Receive our Top Stories



Preview | Powered by CommandBlast

Organization of American States (OAS)
Latest Headlines
OAS General Secretariat on the Assassination of the President of Haiti
OAS Simultaneously Deploys Electoral Observation Missions in Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia
Secretary General of the Organization of American States on equitable distribution of vaccines
OAS Electoral Observation Mission in Ecuador expresses concern about lack of definition regarding electoral process
OAS Mission in Ecuador observes Post-Electoral Process and that different actors have necessary guarantees