Don’t fund substandard drug rehab facility, Japan urged

MANILA, Philippines - A human rights group has urged the Japanese government not to fund Philippine government drug rehabilitation services that fall short of international standards.         

In a letter addressed to Japan’s Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and president Shinichi Kitaoka of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) dated April 28, Human Rights Watch said the Japanese government should not support potentially abusive approaches to drug rehabilitation.

“JICA should disclose precisely what kind of drug rehabilitation services it is funding and the safeguards it has imposed to ensure that Japan isn’t supporting services or facilities that are violating the human rights of people seeking drug treatment,” Kanae Doi, HRW Japan director, said.

JICA, which funds overseas development initiatives, agreed in April of this year to provide the Department of Health  $17 million in funds for the upgrade of drug rehabilitation centers and enhancement of treatment protocols for drug dependents.        

“The Philippines desperately needs voluntary, community-based drug dependence treatment services that comport with international standards and human rights principles. However, neither JICA nor the health department has provided any details about how the Philippine government will spend those funds,” the group said.        

Doi noted that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s offer of “meaningful assistance measures to address the issue of illegal drugs” in the Philippines is questionable given the serious human-rights violations linked to (President) Duterte’s “war on drugs.”      

Since Duterte took office in June 2016, police and unidentified gunmen have killed thousands of suspected drug users and drug dealers, HRW noted.       

“The Philippine government’s response to the surge in demand for drug rehabilitation facilities – the December 2016 opening of a China-funded ‘10,000-bed mega treatment and rehabilitation center’ within the Fort Magsaysay military base 120 kilometers north of Manila – raises concerns that instead of evidence-based drug treatment services, the rehabilitation services may mirror abusive models documented by Human Rights Watch elsewhere in Southeast Asia,” Doi pointed out.       

The group said the Japanese and Philippine governments should avoid the abusive practices uncovered in Cambodia, China, Laos and Vietnam, whose reliance on involuntary drug rehabilitation approaches has been linked to serious human-rights violations.