Indonesia: More humane drug policy should put public health first, punitive actions second
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's instruction last week to law enforcers to shoot drug traffickers to combat what he called a narcotics emergency facing the nation, has drawn sharp criticism from rights activists.
Some have suggested that the president should take his cues from more sources than only the country's all-powerful National Narcotics Agency (BNN) to formulate a more humane drug policy.
Usman Hamid, Indonesia country director for the United Kingdom-based rights group Amnesty International, likened Jokowi's "shoot-on-sight" order to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's alleged tactic in his war on drugs. "Duterte's war on drugs is the wrong kind of approach for a democratic country. Indonesia must look for a better approach or best practices from other countries," Usman told the Jakarta Globe on July 23.
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