The Drug Policy Advocacy Group (DPAG) – Myanmar is a discussion platform and network, composed of different organisatuions, which want to promote drug policy reform. Members include representatives of drug users and opium farmer communities and local and international NGOs working on harm reduction and sustainable development programs. DPAG advocates shifting paradigm and putting public health, community safety, human rights and development at the center of the country’s drug law and policy reform.

Drug Policy Advocacy Group

As the world continues to grapple with an unprecedented pandemic that has crippled countries, one of the many issues that has emerged is the gap that is our prison response—and how our shortcomings in this area may very well render the rest of our COVID-19 response useless. The International Drug Policy Consortium recently held a webinar covering countries in Southeast Asia to examine just that.

Southeast Asia suffers from some of the most overcrowded jails in the world. The Philippines stands at over 500% capacity, with 75% of people in detention still awaiting their sentence. Indonesia and Thailand are not far behind housing around 150% of their capacities.

Dr. Raymund Narag, one of the panelists in IDPC’s webinar on “Reducing Incarceration in the Time of COVID-19,” notes how one of the primary contributors to the continuously increasing prison population remains the harsh drug laws in the region. This is compounded by case delay due to the sheer number of people our justice systems have to process and the long prison sentences that are the norm for nonviolent drug offenses—among many other institutional issues exacerbated by disproportionate drug policing. Yohan Misero of Indonesian Act for Justice (AKSI) and Dr. Nang Pann Ei Kham of Drug Policy Advocacy Group Myanmar echo these frustrations, noting how easy it is to arrest people who use drugs in Indonesia and how 50% of people in Myanmar’s prisons are detained for drug offenses.

The poor state of jails and prisons in Southeast Asia make people in detention some of the most vulnerable for COVID-19. Overcrowding, malnutrition, and poor sanitation in the facilities have already left them with poor health and immunity. The difficulty in accessing health services and limited resources to prevent the spread of infections among the prison population only make it worse. In Cebu where Atty. Cathy Alvarez of StreetLaw in the Philippines resides, even prior to the pandemic, the eleven detention centers that spanned three of their islands were only covered by one lone doctor. As of the webinar, more than 300 people in detention in Cebu have tested positive for COVID-19.

In Myanmar, almost 25,000 people were pardoned and released from prison following the largest ever presidential amnesty granted, during local new year celebrations. In Indonesia, about 50,000 people will be freed through an early release process. The Philippines has begun this process as well with 10,000 people released from detention so far and hearings of further cases ongoing. The Philippines has also taken steps to lower the threshold for release through reducing bail amounts, with advocates aiming to have it reduced even more, and to conduct hearings through video conferencing. These initiatives are brave and important steps for countries in protecting the health of their people, but more needs to be done.

In the Philippines, although the Board of Pardons and Parole have recommended vulnerable populations in detention (such as the elderly) to be granted executive clemency, this also excludes those charged with drug offenses as they’re classified as “high-risk.” And despite having one of the highest number of releases, Indonesia’s director-general has emphasized that most people imprisoned for drug crimes are excluded (only people imprisoned for less than a 5-year term and who have completed at least ⅔ of that term are eligible for release, and due to the high level of penalties for possession any quantity of drugs, most people in prison for drug offences have greater than a 5 year sentence. Typically only people charged or convicted of consumption alone will be sentenced with less than 5 years in prison). Those who have been released have been met with hostility and discrimination in their communities, with community members still wary of those who have come out of prison and jails.

As countries navigate the COVID-19 crisis, we’re faced with the impact of our overreliance in the criminal justice system in dealing with drug-related issues. Systems that had been left behind prior to the pandemic might just be the gap that exacerbates the outbreak. We need to strengthen our health and justice institutions now to ensure that we’re not faced with the same crisis in the future.

At the same time, the stigma against people who use drugs continues to blind the justice sector from seeing just how important it is to include people involved with drugs in our emergency release responses. We cannot leave them behind. The need to advocate for better drug laws has always been urgent, but now it’s even more apparent as a matter of life and death for our communities.

Leave no one behind bars in the time of Covid-19

IDPC in collaboration with AKSI Keadilan Indonesia, the Drug Policy Advocacy Group Myanmar, LBH Masyarakat, the NoBox Transistions Foundation, Inc. and UNAIDS created this webinar about reducing incarceration in prisons and Covid-19 in Southeast Asia.

The online discussion will be held on Zoom on Thursday 14 May at 9:30am Yangon / 10am Bangkok & Jakarta / 11am Mania & Kuala Lumpur.

A blog summarising the event is available here.

Webinar - Southeast Asia: Reducing incarceration in the time of COVID-19- Recording and summary available

As COVID-19 has already caused more than 70,000 deaths worldwide, the Myanmar Authorities have to prepare for the worst. While the number of confirmed cases in the country is still low - 21 people had tested positive by the 6th of April 20202 - other Southeast Asian nations such as Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia have already reported thousands of cases each.

Detention conditions are known to greatly exacerbate the risks of contagious diseases: the World Health Organization (WHO) considers that prisoners are 100 times more likely to contract Tuberculosis (TB) than the civilian population, and are disproportionately affected by malnutrition, HIV and hepatitis.4 The rapid spread of COVID-19 prompted the WHO to warn Governments about the especially acute risks posed by potential outbreaks in prisons and other detention facilities.5 Their recommendations are especially relevant for Myanmar, as the country’s prisons operate at an average 140% of their maximum occupancy capacity and are therefore seriously overcrowded.

Potential outbreaks of COVID-19 in Myanmar prisons directly threaten the health of thousands of inmates, prison personnel and their respective families. These could also result in deadly spillover of the virus into neighbouring communities. Moreover, the greater vulnerability of prisoners to infection could rapidly lead to mounting tensions, unrest and security concerns within prisons.

Earlier this month, riots prompted by COVID-19 fears erupted in prisons in Italy, Colombia and India, resulting in dozens of deaths, injuries and escapes. 7 In an unprecedented move aimed at reducing prison overcrowding and preventing COVID-19 outbreaks in detention facilities, Australia, the USA, France, the UK, Ireland, Iran, Bahrain, Afghanistan, India and Indonesia all announced the early release of large numbers of prisoners considered to pose a low risk for public safety.

Myanmar prison authorities have started to take preventive measures such as the provision of hand soap and basins for visitors. 9 The procurement of infection control equipment is reportedly also under way. While these are positive steps, it is urgent that the Myanmar Government and relevant Departments and Authorities adopt a more comprehensive plan to prevent and mitigate COVID-19 outbreaks in the country’s detention facilities. These include prisons, but also labour camps, police stations, juvenile camps and closed drug treatment and rehabilitation centres, including those in conflict-affected areas.

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) requested earlier this month, among other measures, a mass amnesty for prisoners meeting specific criteria.10 Signatories of this declaration join their call for action. A set of key recommendations and priority interventions is proposed below. These, however, should not be considered exhaustive.

1. Release prisoners who represent a low risk for public safety to reduce overcrowding.

2. Suspend all arrests and new admissions into prisons for non-violent offences

3. Enhance preventive measures inside prisons to reduce the risks of transmission among and between inmates and prison personnel

4. Enhance access to medical services for prisoners and prison personnel

Protecting public health and safety from COVID-19: the urgent need to enhance measures in Myanmar prisons and detention facilities to prevent outbreaks

Myo Min knows all too well about the negative effects of excessive drug use. He started using methamphetamines more than a decade ago after being pressured to try it by some friends, and quickly graduated to heroin.

Since then, he has seen it all: sleepless nights, failing health, fights with his family, paranoia, and tragedy. Several years ago, a close friend became so paranoid from using drugs that he jumped from the fourth floor of a building to his death.

Despite all of this, Myo Min hasn’t managed to get himself completely clean.

“It is much easier now to buy yaba compared to before,” he said, referring to Thai word for the cheap methamphetamine pill. “I sometimes use yaba now, although not as much as before. Now I think I have things more under control.”

Myo Min’s experience is not unique in Myanmar, where health workers say that drug use is becoming increasingly common in many communities across the country.

Drug Policy Advocacy Group

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Leave no one behind bars in the time of Covid-19

Webinar - Southeast Asia: Reducing incarceration in the time of COVID-19- Recording and summary available

Protecting public health and safety from COVID-19: the urgent need to enhance measures in Myanmar prisons and detention facilities to prevent outbreaks

Why Myanmar can’t shake its drug problem