Group calls for drug war’s end; claims thousands are wrongfully detained

MANILA, Philippines — Rights watchdog Amnesty International Philippines has called on the government to end the ongoing “war on drugs,” as it claimed that authorities are “detaining” thousands of people in “drug treatment and rehabilitation centers” against their will.

In its 61-page report “Submit and surrender: The harms of arbitrary drug detention in the Philippines,” the group alleged that people who use drugs “are being sent to government-run facilities where they are forced to go through programs that are not evidence-based.”

It added that these individuals were punished for using drugs and were forced into “abstinence” and to “undergo mandatory drug testing in violation of their right to privacy.”

“Drug detention centers are disguised as facilities offering treatment and rehabilitation. In reality, they are places of arbitrary detention where people suffer serious human rights violations that continue even after their release,” Amnesty International’s Campaigner Jerrie Abella said in a recent report.

READ: Impunity allows killings, human rights violations to thrive in PH — Amnesty International

Based on the interviews it gathered, the group said several individuals detailed “concerning” events related to their arrest, relying solely on “police informants” in conducting their raids, which was done through “coercion.”

“In each of these cases analysed by the organization, the authorities initiated the prosecution of these individuals based on unreliable evidence to put people through the criminal justice system with the aim of punishing those suspected of using drugs,” the report reads.

“In some cases, the police used torture and other forms of ill-treatment to extract ‘confessions’ or planted evidence to incriminate them. Coerced statements involving torture or other forms of ill-treatment must always be inadmissible in courts, but this has not always been the case as interviewees described,” it adds.

In line with this, the group has recommended ending the war on drugs, which started during the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

It also suggested the review “the punitive approach to drugs,” to ensure that “public health and human rights are at the center by expanding health and other social services to address the underlying socio-economic factors that increase the risks of using drugs.”

The group also urged the government to allow human rights monitoring, including the International Criminal Court investigators to have “immediate and unhindered access to the country,” among others.

Based on reports, Duterte’s brutal drug war left at least 6,000 people dead.

However, data from human rights watchdog Karapatan, showed that the former chief executive should be held accountable for the extrajudicial killings of 30,000 individuals involved with drugs.

Meanwhile, the current administration revealed last January that it plans to set up a drug treatment and rehabilitation facility for each province by June 2028.

The administration also aims to establish community-based drug rehabilitation programs (CBDRPs) and Anti-Drug Abuse Councils (ADACs) in all provinces, cities, municipalities, and barangays.

CBDRP “is a consolidated model of treatment in the community with services ranging from General interventions to relapse prevention. It is specifically designed for drug users with mild severity of addiction.”

On the other hand, ADACs exist to help in drug prevention and drug control programs.

Besides this, the country also has the Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council (BADAC), which was launched in 2016 and established under the Department of Interior and Local Government Memorandum Circulars 2015-63 and 2017-03.

The circular mandated all barangays to create the program and help law enforcement agencies in strengthening the country’s anti-illegal drugs campaign.

Under BADAC, a CBDRP offers sessions with 15 modules about self, family, and faith.

BADAC specifically caters to those under a “drug watchlist” from the Philippine National Police and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, as well as those who just got out of jail and those who underwent plea bargaining to reduce penalties.