People power against drugs How nine year old 'Sao' won a small ...

Eastern HorizonsEastern HorizonsU N D C P

No. 7September 2001

News on the fight against drugs and crimein East Asia and the Pacific

People poweragainst drugs

How nine year old‘Sao’ won a smallbattle

Cross-borderco-operation bearsfruit

Myanmar, opiumsurvey 2001

Bridging diversity:How to Protecthigh risk groups

Maritime and ripariandrug trafficking: AnIncreasing Challengeto the Region

Sports end drugsin Bangkok

Lights on all overIndonesia

Commercial cargo ship at the Chao Praya RiverSee the article on maritime and riparian drug trafficking for more information

2 UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL DRUG CONTROL PROGRAMME

Believe it or not but it happened on 24June 2001 in Port Macquarie, NSW, Aus-tralia. Ordinary people (who claim to havesucceeded through God after longprayers) brought about the miracle, notthe government or important guys. It tookthe death of a young boy to inspire themiracle.

In 1997, a young, handsome and belovedboy, David McKay, a poly drug user dieddue to an overdose. His body decomposedfor five days in a motel before being found.No big news; just one more of the manytragedies of drug related deaths in Aus-tralia, a country with one of the highestaddiction rates to illicit drugs in the world,and one with the highest rates of youthsuicide within the Asia/Pacific region.

The story should have ended with the

People POWERFIGHTING AGAINST DRUGS ...

It is well known that illicit drugs killdreams, but it was so far unknownthat dreams can resuscitate liveskilled by drugs.

tombstone in the Port Macquarie grave-yard. But Margaret, David’ s mother, didnot give up, even after David’s death. Shewas frustrated and angry for ten yearswhile talking to hundreds of doctors, psy-chiatrists, politicians, city administrators,social services, police officers trying tosave David’s life. They told her it could not

be done. After David’s death, Margaretwas invited to Hassala Sweden to learnabout the drug rehabilitation model, whichbecame very famous in Sweden and Eu-rope for its high drug rehabilitation effi-cacy.

After this visit she became even more frus-trated and angry. That model could havesaved David but it was unknown in Aus-tralia. Back to her small town where she,as an ordinary ret ired kindergartenteacher, never had been listened to by im-portant people, she reattempted to en-gage people (and God through herprayers) to “Keep our Kids Alive”, whichwas her clear and simple message. She gotthe attention of 1,200 people at her firstPort Macquarie “Drug Summit” in 1999.

The uncommon goal was quite a chal-lenge: “Create the first Drug Free Town ofAustralia”. The initial budget to achieve thegoal: 1 million Aus$ to build a HassalaDrug Rehabilitation Centre in Port Mac-quarie. Money available: 200 Aus$.

It was laughable. But it was done. A busi-ness man called and asked “how muchwould it cost?”. “One Million $?” “You gotit, Maggie”. The furniture and equipmentof the large mansion was donated byshops and supporters of the cause.

After, less than one year, astonished poli-ticians, UN diplomats and other VIPs, whobelieve in miracles, inaugurated the “DavidMcKay Hassala drug rehabilitation farm ofPort Macquarie” with a message and astance. This initiative may be the first stepto build a drug-free town in Australia. Thegreat smiles of the first ten guests wereas big as David’s smile on a framed pic-ture.

David is back loving his mother more thanever, serving his community, the Nation,and the world through his death. May bethe seeds of “People power against drugs”will soon break new ground.

– Sandro Calvani

Margaret and associates at the David McKayHassala drug rehabilitation farm of PortMacquarie.

Against DRUGS

Mong Pauk, in the Shan State, is the headquarters of the UNDCP Wa DevelopmentProject (WADP). The area is under the control of the Wa, an ethnic minority groupliving in the Northern to the South Eastern part of the Shan State.

The area is extremely impervious due to its mountainous characteristics. The ini-tial reluctance of the local authorities to the establishment and development of theproject is not the only difficulty that UNDCP staff has to face up there. During theMonsoons season, which lasts almost 4 months, the inaccessibility of the place is theenemy number one.

Just one week ago, on 13 July, it took three days for the WADP chief, Mr. XavierBouan, to return to Yangon. He said that 17 Kilometers of road have been blownaway by landslides caused by heavy rain. Moreover, two different means – car andmotorbike – have been used to reach the nearest airport in Kengtung. If one experi-enced this adventure and succeeded in arriving to Kengtung, problems won’t be overthough. Once there, the risk of being blocked for one or two days, until weatherconditions allow an aircraft to take off, is concrete.

With this in mind, the venue of a UNDCP workshop focused on alternative devel-opment issues, scheduled for mid- July, has been moved from Kengtung – far closerto the Mong Pawk- based Wa Project – to Taunggyi. Nevertheless, in order to avoidthe adverse weather conditions a workshop can be easily relocated elsewhere, butunfortunately the areas under opium poppy cultivations cannot be shifted accordingto the seasons nor can UNDCP work there be postponed.

UNDCP in Myanmar andTHE ANNUAL ADDED ENEMY

EASTERN HORIZON 3

THREATS TO THE NEWECONOMYOne of the most significant forms oftransnational crime facing the internationalcommunity is computer-related, or “cybercrime”. These emerging threats were high-lighted during a Policy Seminar on “CyberCrime: Threats to the New Economy”,which was held on 12 June 2001 during theThird Asia Development Forum. The eventwas jointly organized by the ESCAP HumanResources Development (HRD) Sectionand the United Nations Office for DrugControl and Crime Prevention (UN-ODCCP).

Four international experts served aspanelists at the Seminar, where they en-gaged in a lively debate and discussion inorder to identify new cyber crime threatsand trends affecting the Asian economy,and examine appropriate best practice re-sponses to these challenges. The panelistswere Dr Roderic Broadhurst, Associate Pro-fessor in the Department of Sociology, Cen-tre for Criminology, University of HongKong (who also moderated the panel), MrTan Ken Hwee, State Counsel and DeputyPublic Prosecutor with the Attorney-Gen-eral’s Chambers in Singapore, Mr RaymondH. Velez, Investigator, Law and CorporateAffairs for Microsoft Thailand, Limited, andDr Lorenzo Valeri, Research Associate with

Policy onCyber Crime

the International Centre for Security Analy-sis (ISCA), King’s College, London.

The Internet is being used by hackersand criminals to transmit computer viruses,invade privacy, steal or corrupt valuable in-formation, perpetrate frauds and manipu-late stock markets. It has been exploited bypaedophiles to create and distribute childpornography and, in some cases, to be-friend or abduct children.

and international creativity.Against this backdrop, the panelists

considered three main questions. First,when prosecuting foreign-based computercrimes, what are the contradictions be-tween international law and technology?Second, what can Asian governments doto repel countless unregistered and un-regulated brokerages from fraudulentlyselling offshore securities to unsuspectingvictims? And third, how are the EuropeanUnion and other individual states gettingready to counter computer crimes, andwhat are the recent legal developments andpossible lessons for Asia?

The panelists reflected on the above-mentioned challenges, among others, andengaged in a lively discussion with the au-dience. They concluded by noting that ad-dressing the numerous problems of cybercrime will require a concerted effort fromnational governments and the internationalcommunity as a whole. Perhaps the great-est challenge to developing an effective glo-bal strategy will be to train skilled investi-gators and prosecutors and keep them upto date on the latest technological andcriminal developments.

– Laura Skolnik, HRD, UN/ESCAP

“A major concern ishow to ensure that the

Internet will develop intoa secure environmentfor learning, exchange

of ideas and internationalcreativity”

... AND CRIME

The Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF)has added Indonesia and Myanmar to its annually published listof states it considers as “soft” or “uncooperative” in the fightagainst money laundering. In reviewing their compliance withthe Forty Recommendations (the established internationalstandard for effective anti-money laundering measures), bothcountries were found to be lacking a basic set of anti-moneylaundering provisions.

More specifically, in Indonesia money laundering is currentlynot a criminal offense. Deficient are also reporting and customeridentification requirements. The drafted law on money launder-

ing under consideration by the Parliament is poised to rectifythese deficiencies.

Myanmar has not criminalised money laundering for crimesother than drug trafficking. Other deficiencies are noted in regu-lation of financial institutions, record-keeping and reporting.

In their annual review of non-cooperative countries, theFATF also pointed a finger at Nauru and the Philippines, whichare already on the list. In the event that these states fail to takethe appropriate legal steps against money laundering, the FATFrecommended stepping up surveillance of transactions from30 September 2001.

CHALLENGES AHEADfor Indonesia and Myanmar

A concerted effort will have to be madeto ensure that everyone in the developedand developing world alike has access tobasic resources such as education, com-puters, telecommunications systems thatare needed to participate in the globaleconomy. A major concern is how to ensurethat the Internet will develop into a secureenvironment for learning, exchange of ideas


SUCCESS STORY OF FIGHTING AGAINST DRUGS

Sao’s teacher isn’t safe yet, and that givesthe story a twist. Her neighbours are pro-tecting her, but they can only do so much.They live with their own fears, and lock theirdoors against things that go bump in thenight, like crying children, drunk talk, andpaedophiles. That’s why the incest went onfor as long as it did — the neighbourswouldn’t say anything, do anything. Theysaid, “its probably not as bad as that, so let itgo.” Sao’s own relatives said: “the kid is ly-ing.” Not much help there either.

This morning, Sao is kind of safe, but notentirely safe. Her grandfather left town onestep ahead of the Police. His amphetaminepills and his drinking and paedophilia and in-cest shadow him and all the booze and yabaa in Bangkok City only intensify what hemight do to her. The neighbours say openlywhere they think he’s hiding.

So once again, everyone knows exceptthe uniforms. Guess you might call it an ab-errant form of a “blind man’s bluff.” It’s sug-gested that by local practice, they work bestwith incentive. We have no incentive to offerexcept a documented case of incest, pae-dophilia and probably drug dealing. But thatdoesn’t do much at a bank tellers window,so free he is.

Drug wars, slums, kindergarten teach-ers, incest, paedophilia, police and their po-lice stations. They promised us they wouldprotect Sao and her teacher. I heard themwith my own ears: otherwise I wouldn’t say

HOW NINE YEAR OLD ‘SAO’

Let me tell you a war story. A story ofa deadly combat between a nine-year-old slum girl named Sao and hergrandfather, a paedophile. The stakesare the same as in any war: death,maiming, or if you’re lucky, injury inany case, with damage not too deep.War is war; only the weapons change.Sao won her battle. She’s alive andhealing. Her war against drugs andincest is over. But, gosh what a girl.She’s one of those one- in- a-millionkids. From what we suspect andguess, she fought her battle alone fortwo years.

won a small battle

so. The male police wanted to make a deal:we produce the child for them to see andthey protect her. We said, “Produce a womanpolice officer and we will produce the girl”.They said — and they told the truth — nowomen police officers were available. Countyour fingers and your toes plus one and youhave the number of women police officerstrained in proper questioning of young chil-dren in Bangkok City.

That was the second night, after theteacher had been detained for the secondtime. Same charges, different set of police.Arrested for “Restraining a child.” A lie ofcourse. How did the police come to think this24 - year - old kindergarten teacher was “Re-straining a child?” They were told that bySao’s grandfather, that’s how. It was his wayof getting even.

It started like this. Her mom left whenSao was seven months old and her dad dis-appeared about two years ago when Grand-mother died, leaving her with her grandfa-ther. That’s when everything turned weirdfor Sao. Five weeks ago, it became unbear-able. She began staying late at the homesof her friends, until ten or eleven at night,then sleeping outside rather than going

home to Grandfather.The neighbours started whispering, and

Sao looked worse with every new day. Samedirty clothes. A haunted look. The womenbegan talking to Sao’s kindergarten teacher.Yes, at nine years of age she is still in kinder-garten. True she went when she was four andfive, but then had to drop out, and grandfa-ther never did get around to getting her intothe first grade, but that’s another story foranother day.

Sao’s teacher was the only adult sheknew she could trust and all she asked forwas to sleep in her teacher’s house — juston the edge of the mat inside the mosquitonet so the mosquitoes and the roachescouldn’t bother her. When the teacher askedher why she didn’t want to go home, Sao wassilent.

That was enough. The teacher knew. Shephoned and we said, “Can you get the childout right now? Tonight.” She consulted withher uncle who is the community leader, andhe said: “its late, lets all go to bed and to-morrow morning I, the community leader,will bring the girl to face her grandfather. “The teacher phoned back, and we said:Lordy lord, you should get that child out right

EASTERN HORIZON 5

now!” And she did, but had to wait 3 hoursuntil everyone went to sleep. Didn’t evenwake her husband. She and Sao ran out ofthe slum, dogs howling and hailed a taxi.

The teacher had forgot to bring money,but Sao had 100 Baht she had stolen fromher grandfather. That was what she was sup-posed to get from each drug delivery shemade — they use the children, especiallygirls to make the deliveries because the po-lice are reluctant to stop and search them,but he would keep the money for booze andso Sao had to steal to get what she’s earned.So the 100 Baht was taxi fare.

They got to us about 3:20 a.m. and herteacher told Sao she could trust Noi, theHouse Mom. In the morning at school, theteacher told everyone that she did not knowwhere the girl had disappeared. At 8:00 a.m.we brought Sao to the local police stationwith Noi. Sao sat in the car, the Captain cameout to the car and asked her if she was safeand happy and wanted to stay with us. Shenodded yes. That was enough. We have agood reputation. It was entered into the Po-lice daybook.

At 3:30 p.m., just as our kindergartenwas closing and the teachers were shuttingthe doors, the police came. They told ourteacher to go down to the police station tobe questioned for possibly “Restraining achild.” They verbally forced our teacher to thestation on the word of Sao’s paedophilegrandfather. Imagine! Arrest the good guywith a complaint from the bad guy. It soundslike a bad western movie. Except in this case,the people are real.

It took hours, literally hours to clear thebooks. We all got to the station about sevenin the evening, left about three in the morn-ing. The part that took so long was that theydemanded that we bring Sao to the stationto confront her grandfather and we toldthem that was against the law. But it’s scaryin police stations. These cats are giantGoliath’s and we are David’s with noslingshots and no smooth pebbles. Therewas no one way window for the confronta-tion.

There were no women police officers, noone trained to speak of such things, no ragdoll or teddy bear for the girl to point towhere this and that might have happenedso she wouldn’t have to point to her ownbody. Just men and their guns and theirbadges and their polished boots trying todo their job quickly and efficiently, but thor-oughly miffed because we kept saying no.We refused to produce the girl. Instead wesaid we were a Registered Charitable Foun-dation and showed a copy of the entry into

the daybook of our local Precinct Station.Finally, we went home. We all understood

each other, although we didn’t agree. Themain thing was Sao that remained asleep inour Centre. Her biggest worry was if anyonewould give a hug to her teddy bear she hadleft at home. Sao did not know of our visit tothe station and that her grandfather had, fi-nally, been fingerprinted.

It’s a tiny incident - not even a footnotein the story of the Klong Toey Drug Wars,now being waged each day. But it’s a goodguy, bad guy story. Sao and her youngteacher are the good guys. The bad guys areher grandfather and his drinking buddieswho watched the incest, and suspected thedrugs, and knew he was buying the boozethey were drinking and were too afraid to sayanything. Frightened men whose fear andpossible loss of face over-rode, and poi-soned everything, even their love of children.Harsh words, but there is no nice way to tellthis story.

People like Grandfather sell these pillsto their friends, to children and even to El-ephants - a Sacred Animal here in Thailand.On the street the other night, I asked an el-ephant man “Hey Pilgrim, what was yourmedicine bill today for your large friendhere?” He said “nine pills.” Ya baa. Ampheta-mine that sells for about 45 Baht for eachpill if you buy them wholesale, 60 Baht re-tail. That’s how they keep the elephantsawake at night as they wander the Bangkokstreets and then walk back kilometres to thebit of overgrown grassland where they aretemporarily camped.

The story gets worse. The next after-noon Grandfather filed another complaintagainst the teacher. A different set of policeofficers came to her house in the slum -SUGGESTED that she should produce thechild or else. She phoned us and came toour Centre a little later with Grandfather, hiscronies, and the Police. She had no choice.When I heard, I said to myself “we’re in for abad patch of weather.” The Police and thebad guys had pushed, shoved and bulliedthe teacher calling for a showdown. We hadno choice. It was time to firmly grasp thenettle.

I told everyone to lock the doors, not tolet the Police into the Centre and the grand-father was not allowed to see Sao under anycircumstances! Sao was to be kept upstairson the third floor happily innocent of all ofthis. We demanded that any police question-ing had to be conducted by a trained womanpolice officer. No men, but it didn’t work. Saolooked down from the third floor and saweverything. She was terrified and hid under

a bed and wouldn’t come out, so two of theother girls crawled under the bed with herand held each other and cried together.

We stonewalled for four and a half houruntil a trained policewoman arrived. Sao wasquestioned with only women present. Themale Police insisted on at least seeing thegirl. We refused to let them talk to her, butthey saw she was fine and they were satis-fied.

Then the nightmare.The Police – on their own – invited

Grandfather and his cronies into our Centreto explain things in front of the teacher. Thiswas after they had promised to protect theinnocent. I was horrified. It was after ten atnight and the following day was a school day.We have 30 street kids living at the Centregoing to school in the morning. These arekids who have turned their lives around whodon’t like policemen in the best of circum-stances. Kids who were terrified by the loudvoices coming from below and knowing thatSao’s grandfather and cronies were there,and if the bad guys could come and take Sao,they could take any of them too, at any time.

My good friends reading this, it getsworse, then a bit better.

After 30 loud minutes of denials andcursing, Grandfather screamed out at thetop of his lungs “Sao I love you, and I willcome and rescue you from this hellhole.” Sheheard him and came out from under the bed,down to the second floor, where she was stillhidden from his view and screamed back, “You don’t love me! You do bad things to me!”

I asked the Police to leave immediately,asking how they could let such a thing hap-pen. Didn’t they have children of their own?Didn’t they care?

They finally got it and said they weresorry and sent Grandfather and his croniesout into the rain. The police-woman told the30 girls they were safe. And one of the po-licemen went out to his car and brought backa teddy bear he said he’d bought that dayfor his eight-year-old daughter. He gave it toSao. She thanked him, hugged Teddy, andfell asleep in the chair. However, it’s not overyet.

Grandfather is still on the run. Sao cannot go out of the Centre, but she has put onweight and eats like there’s no tomorrow –giggles a lot and whispers secrets to her newfriends. I do not know when or if she can evergo home again. We’re trying to locate herdad and long lost mom, but I’m not too surethat’s a good idea.

– Father Joe Maier, HumanDevelopment Foundation, Bangkok


Alternative development (AD) projects,seeking the replacement of opium produc-tion by other means of livelihood, are cur-rently implemented in several countries inthe region. As part of the UNDCP project“Alternative Development Cooperation inEast Asia,” a regional seminar on alterna-tive development and illicit crop eradicationwas held in Taunggyi, Myanmar 16-19 July.

Policymakers representing China, VietNam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar werepresent, as well as AD project managersand senior drug control personnel fromthe field in these countries. The aim of theseminar was to share information on poli-cies, strategies and activities in the fieldof alternative development and illicit croperadication.

Experiences from the various coun-tries at both the policy and project levelswere presented and discussed during thefirst two days of the seminar. In the dis-cussions that followed, some of the keyissues surfacing were cross border tradeand cooperation, competitiveness of ADproducts, law enforcement in AD and re-source mobilisation and allocation.

A field trip on the third day allowed theparticipants to gain significant understand-ing of innovative agricultural techniquesundertaken by Karamosia, a Japanese NGOinvolved in agricultural development, aswell as to observe local living conditions ofcommunities around Inle Lake. The fourthand final day of the seminar the participantsengaged in group discussions.

Among the recommendations madewere that community law enforcementapproaches could be incorporated in theAD projects while regular law enforcementcould not, issues such as land allocationsand tenure need to be addressed, market-ing strategies for AD products should beexplored, and joint mechanisms estab-lished to facilitate movement of AD prod-ucts across borders.

Finally, before returning to their respec-tive countries, many of the delegates tookthe opportunity to visit the newly opened

ALTERNATIVE DEVELOPMENTCOOPERATION in East Asia

Intense group discussions emerged among the participants Organic fertilizer as it is introduced by Karamosia

COOPERATION IN FIGHTING AGAINST DRUGS

Opium Elimination museum in Rangoon.The participants gave plenty of positivefeedback and they also expressed theirappreciation for the opportunity to meetand stressed how important is was that theAD environment in the region continued tonetwork and stayed in touch.

A full report of the seminar ’s con-clusions and recommendations, includingpapers and presentations, will soon beavailable at the Regional Centre.

– Lise Bendiksen, UNDCP, Bangkok

ESCAP has decided to promote legal instru-ments as tools against a “modern form of slav-ery.” With the continued rise of trafficking inwomen and children for sexual purposes inmind the United Nations Economic and So-cial Commission for Asia and the Pacific helda regional seminar on the use of legal instru-ments as weapons in the fight against this mod-ern form of slavery.

The Regional Seminar on Using Legal In-struments to Combat Trafficking in Womenand Children, which was held 1-3 August atthe UN Conference Centre in Bangkok, wasorganized by ESCAP in collaboration with the

LEGAL INSTRUMENT TOHUMAN TRAFFICKING

International Organization for Migration. Morethan 50 participants from 15 countries in Cen-tral, South, and Southeast Asia attended.

According to the United Nations, traffick-ing in women and children for sexual exploi-tation constitutes a major social problem inCentral, South and Southeast Asia. Experts areconcerned that trafficking is still on the riseand increasingly linked to international organ-ized crime.

In recent years, significant new nationaland international tools, such as the UnitedNations Protocol on Trafficking supplement-ing the Convention against Transnational Or-

EASTERN HORIZON 7

UNDCP has been working to improve theactive co-operation across and along theborders of the region within the projecttitled Development of Cross-Border LawEnforcement in East Asia. Efficient liaisonstructures and better communicationchannels within the enforcement agencieswill hopefully lead to a greater suppres-sion of drug trafficking. Some develop-ments already seem to prove that we areheading that way as, for example, the out-come of previous Cross-border Co-opera-t ion meet ings between China andMyanmar.

On 23 April 2001, under the facilita-tion of UNDCP Regional Centre, an impor-tant Chinese fugitive was arrested in Muse(Myanmar) and extradited to Chinathrough the Muse/Ruelli border crossing.This Chinese man is thought to be one ofthe key players of the heroin trade. Gov-erning one of the largest armed drugsmuggling groups within the Golden Tri-

angle, his capture is viewed as a major vic-tory for China in its counternarcotic ef-forts.

At the time of Mr Xiaolin’s arrest, eight-een members of his criminal group werealso caught and three tons of heroinseized. The detention of Mr Tan Xiaolin wasaccomplished through close co-operationbetween the Chinese and Myanmar police

CROSS-BORDER CO-OPERATIONafter twelve months of pursuit. Narcoticsproduced in Myanmar are, generally,smuggled out from South East Asiathrough China. By transit ing drugsthrough an area, history has proven thatdrugs inevitably seep into the local com-munities and China is no exception. Dueto the escalation of drug abuse that drugtrafficking causes in China, Chinese au-thorities increasingly underline the impor-tance of good counternarcotic relationsbetween the countries in the region.

Looking aheadAn Initial Needs Analysis trip for the 2nd

Phase of the Development of Cross-Bor-der Law Enforcement project was con-ducted in Myanmar at the beginning ofJuly. Places visited included Kyaing Tongand Tachileik, two areas nick-named theGolden Areas, on the Myanmar side. Heredrug trafficking is active by means of us-ing long-tail boats to reach Chieng Rai inThailand and Bo Kaew in Laos. The areasof Hpa An and Myawaddy were also vis-ited. These two areas form part of the newATS trafficking route into Mae Sot in theTak province of Thailand. A seizure of 2.6million tablets of ATS, believed to bebrought from the areas opposite Mae Sotand, thereafter, taken across the MoeiRiver in a long tail boat, were made in MaeSot on 16th July 2001.

More than 60 drug law enforcementofficials, at key inland checkpoints, riverports and key international border cross-ings, were interviewed. Despite the sensi-tive nature of the trip, due to the unsuresecurity situation (as active fighting stilloccurs in Myawaddy between the pro-Rangoon Democratic Karen BuddhistArmy (DKBA) and the anti-Rangoon KarenNational Union (KNU)), it was still very in-formative, educational and supportive forthe project. CCDAC played a co-ordinatingrole, between all drug law agencies, inpreparation for this trip.

The Myanmar government showed astrong commitment to cooperate withThailand and Laos on drug law enforce-ment matters within these border zones.Important positive commitments since thesecond phase of the project will prioritisethe Thai borders with Myanmar, Laos andCambodia.

Bears FruitCross-border co-operation such as the sharing of experiences and informationis an efficient instrument to combat and control drug trafficking. Such co-operation has proven to be difficult due to problems such as limitations ofequipment, differences as to procedural matters, lack of trust and personalrelations as well as language differences.

Cross-Border meeting

Fact finding mission

The fugitive in custody

O STOPganized Crime, have been adopted to combattrafficking.

The seminar was a forum for informationsharing and awareness-raising for governmentofficials about the range of legal instrumentsavailable to them to combat trafficking and howto adapt them to local policies. The regionalseminar was the first of four meetings to beheld throughout the region to deal in more depthwith the issue and to develop mechanisms forcooperation among countries.

For more information, please contact:Thelma Kay, Chief of the Women in Develop-ment Section, UN/ESCAP, Rajdamnern NokAvenue, Bangkok 10200, Thailand Tel: (66-2)288-1989; Fax: (66-2) 288 1018 E-mail:[email protected]


UNDCP’s mandate in the field of illicitcrops monitoring is aimed at providingtechnical assistance and working closelywith the field offices and the governmentsto establish national monitoring mecha-nisms, rather than building an in-housemonitoring team.

In this connection, it should be re-membered that in the Political Declarationadopted at the 1998 Special Session of theUN General Assembly on Drugs, MemberStates agreed to eliminate or significantlyreduce the supply of and demand for illicitdrugs by the year 2008. Subsequently,the UN General Assembly requestedUNDCP to provide Member States withthe necessary assistance to compile reli-able and internationally comparable data.

As a result, in March 1999 the Com-mission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), througha series of resolutions, recommended thatUNDCP collaborate with Governmentsthat so request, in establishing an inter-national network for monitoring the culti-vation of illicit crops. In addition, the CNDrequested UNDCP to establish a centraldata bank and information system on thebasis of information furnished by govern-ments on the cultivation of illicit crops.

The Commission also requestedUNDCP to provide requesting Govern-ments with the technical assistance thatthey require and to take steps to mobilizeinternational logistical and financial sup-port, as necessary, with a view to estab-lishing national mechanisms for monitor-ing and verification of the cultivation of il-licit crops.

Currently the Illicit Crops MonitoringProgramme – ICMP covers six countries,including Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Afghani-

Myanmar,

OPIUM SURVEY 2001stan, Laos and Myanmar. In the latter, dueto security issues and the different char-acteristics of the cropping pattern, ICMPundertook in March 2000 a field missionto validate a methodological approach uti-lizing available satellite imagery.

The findings led to the definition of amethodology that combines ground sur-vey and the use of high-resolution imageryin problematic areas. As funding for the ac-tual survey did not materialize UNDCP ini-tiated in November 2000, a limited andpartial sample-based ground survey inShan State, where some 95% of the na-tional opium poppy cultivation is concen-trated. The objective is to get a better un-derstanding of the cultivation pattern inMyanmar and collect information onopium yield, addiction and price and alsoinitiate the training of government profes-sionals for the 2002 annual opium poppysurvey.

According to the year 2000 estimates,Myanmar has 108,700 Ha under opiumpoppy cultivation, with an overall opiumproduction of 1,000 tones. In the sameyear Afghanistan resulted as the world’slargest producer of opium with a 3,275tones of opium production but with 82,172Ha under cultivation. This apparent dispro-portion is due to the fact that in Myanmarthe yield is much lower (about 10 to 13 Kg/ha) than in Afghanistan (about 35 Kg/ha).This means that Myanmar has moreopium poppy fields covering a larger area.

The Shan State is divided into 52 town-ships, themselves divided into “villagetracts”, themselves divided into villages.The 2001 opium survey covered a 25,000 squared Km area, including 11 town-ship and 100 village tracts. The total area

covered by the survey represents about 1/6 of the Shan State but it includes abouthalf of the area under highest cultivation.

Upon a randomized selection of town-ships and villages, the methodologyadopted is based on interviews of the vil-lage headman. This approach, replicatedon a village by village basis, allows the col-lection of various data such as: number ofinhabitants, number of households,number of households growing opium,opium farm gate price through the year,number of opium addicts by gender andage. The final and crucial stage of the in-terviews consists of sketching every poppyfield within the village boundaries, in or-der to identify the total number of fieldsfor village and allow the randomized se-lection of fields to be measured.

This final step includes the measure-ment of the overall extension of a field andthe collection of information for the yieldestimate. In this respect, a technique rec-ommended by the Expert Groups Meet-ing on Yield – held in Vienna in October2000 – is followed: a transect is laid inthe middle of the field. Then 5 plots of 1squared meter are selected. In the fiveplots the surveyors count the number ofpoppy flowers, immature and mature cap-sules as well as the diameter and high ofup to 10 capsules.

As a result, after the filed work, all datacollected are entered in a data base de-signed by ICMP in the year 2000 and thefinal findings of the “Myanmar opium sur-vey 2001” are expected to be released bylate August/early September, 2001.

– Information Provided byUNDCP Myanmar

UNDCP’S ACTIVITIES IN THE REGION

EASTERN HORIZON 9

The Project Demand Reduction AmongHigh Risk Groups main objective is to im-prove the capacity of the six MOU govern-ments and also NGOs to identify and re-solve emerging drug abuse problemsamong high risk groups. Since the Projectbegan in January 1998, high-risk groups,both captive and non-captive, were iden-tified in each country. Assessment meth-odologies appropriate for these groupswere developed, introduced, tested, andadopted in each country.

All countries identifiedsecondary school children asa captive target group. Streetchildren or out of school youthwere common non-captivetarget groups. An on-line da-tabase is being prepared forstoring data generated inschools and other surveysthat could be shared betweengovernments.

The participating coun-tries selected a total of nearlythirty project sites that exem-plify the diversity of the re-gion. From the rim of Chinaat such Silk Road sites asTashgar and Urumqi to capi-tal cit ies in the other fivecountries and old capitals like Chiang Maiand Luang Prabang, the mixture of cul-tures, problems, and drug use practicesis vast and complex. By agreeing to allowUNDCP to work in such varied situations,the governments both recognize the se-riousness of the problems confrontingthem as well as their trust in UNDCP ingeneral and this Project in particular.

The Project Coordinator Dr MarcMorival has devised a varied approach tomeet differing conditions in each countryso that assessing groups in these diverseconditions could be accomplished. Train-ing was conducted in all countries and inseveral international study tours. In 2000,

HOW TO PROTECThigh risk groups

delegates visited drug treatment facilitiesin Delhi and Madras. Offic ials fromMyanmar and Laos visited schools andtreatment centers in Thailand.

Support was given to national drugcontrol agencies such as newly estab-lished National Authority for CombattingDrugs in Cambodia. The Project also sup-ported innovative cooperative work be-tween the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, andSocial Action and the Standing Office forDrug Control in Vietnam that allowed them

to survey some 20,000 school studentsand then process the results.

Thailand adopted a different approachbecause it had already conducted schoolsurveys. The Project has provided a fo-rum for teachers in Thailand to developdrug demand reduction work in schoolsas part of a package aimed at all forms ofdeviant behavior. Initial results were sopositive that national authorities would liketo expand the work initiated by the projectto establish learning centers in each prov-ince in the country.

A number of suggestions aimed atmaking the Project even more innovativewere formulated: to involve more women

in its work and also to involve targetpopulations as partners in the Project andthereby obtain more accurate survey re-sults.

Major changes have occurred regard-ing drug conditions in the region since theProject’s inception. These included theemergence of ATS abuse in all the MOUcountries, increased injecting drug use,and the spread of HIV into the hetero-sexual community in all countries. Be-cause of the differing conditions in the

Project sites identified byeach country as well as thediversity of government ca-pacity, some reschedulingmight be necessary. Mobilepopulations also presentedspecial challenges. To dealwith the complicated issuesin the region, networking ofthe sort that UNAIDS is car-rying out is necessary.

Among the suggestionsmade at the meeting werethat HIV/AIDS preventionand interventions for IDUsand other high risk drug us-ers should be addressedwithin the regional strate-gies. In view of the diversity

of national capacities and of the need tocustomize interventions to individualcountries, the Project life should be ex-tended subject to availability of funds.

Activities considered necessary were:an activation of the database, a direct in-volvement of the target populations in theimplementation of the project activities andan increased consideration of the regionalissues of mobile populations and drugabuse. Furthermore it was suggested tobroaden the regional scope of the projectconsistent with the ACCORD Plan of Action.

– Myint Myint Kyi,Assistant Project Manager

Bridging diversity:


Crimes at sea such as drug smuggling, hu-man trafficking and piracy involve illegalincursions into national waters and,thereby, threaten the surrounding coun-tries’ social and political interests. Gener-ally, maritime crime constitutes criminaloffences that are connected to ships or tothe sea and normally more than one juris-diction is involved due to its transnationalcharacter. Maritime crime affects the re-gional security and stability and no onecountry can deal with this threat withoutthe involvement of neighbouring countries.

Organised Criminal Groups will utilise anykind of transport in order to transportdrugs or precursors to final processingdestinations or markets. Maritime traffick-ing, in particular, is escalating and becom-ing a major regional and global concern.In May of this year, the United States CoastGuard expressed its concern over an un-precedented surge of maritime drug traf-ficking. They estimated that over 90% ofall narcotics within the United States weresmuggled in by maritime means. Maritimetrafficking includes shipping by bulk cargoships or fishing vessels. Specially de-signed vessels and high-speed ”go-fastboats” are of large concern within the Car-ibbean region and such boats are now ap-pearing in the Asia Pacific region.

Traffickers conceal multi-ton shipments ofdrugs with commercial goods carried bylegitimate shipping services. When thevessels are specially designed for the pur-pose, hidden compartments may not beaccessed without taking the vessel apart.Moreover, the detection of containersused for the purpose of smuggling drugsand contraband is extremely difficult dueto the huge volume of global container

traffic. Systematic inspection of the con-tainer traffic is virtually impossible.

The emergence of South East Asia as amajor transportation, communication andfinancial centre, where more than a thirdof the world’s trade convoys pass through,makes the region one of the most impor-tant trading points in the world. Subse-quently, the transport by maritime meansis developing into the preferred mode forsmuggling persons or illicit goods such asnarcotics and arms. Such a shift in modeof transport is also due to various otherfactors such as the effective counter-nar-cotic efforts on land, the ability to trans-port larger quantities in one consignment(particularly beneficial for relative highvolume and low cost drugs such as mari-juana) and the larger possibility to escapedetection. Moreover, just as countries withweak jurisdictional arrangements turn intosafe havens for criminal activities, thecomplex Law of the Sea, which covers themaritime areas, functions also as a majorattraction for criminal groups.

The most important and effective re-sponse to maritime crime is national andinternational co-operation between vari-ous drug control agencies. As an exampleof effective co-operation, an event at thebeginning of this year, where two fishingtrawlers were intercepted and raided nearthe Surin group of islands in the AndamanSea, can be illustrated. In this incident theJoint Task Force in Thailand, composed ofthe Office of the Narcotics Control Board,the Royal Thai Navy and the Royal ThaiArmy, seized approximately 116 kg ofheroin and 7,798,0 00 tablets of met-amphetamine. The drugs were believed tooriginate from the Thai-Burmese border

region were they had been transportedalong the border to the port of Moulmeinin Myanmar and, thereafter, loaded ontoa Myanmar cargo ship which delivered itto the two Thai fishing trawlers in interna-tional waters. This trafficking route forshipment to Singapore or Malaysia is onthe increase, although trafficking throughThailand and China remains most impor-tant as transit route to exit South East Asia.Southern China is emerging as the newmajor area for export of narcotic drugsrather than through Hong Kong.

Historically, Hong Kong was a natural exitpoint from South East Asia due to its well-developed commercial transport infra-structure. However, Hong Kong as a tran-sit point for shipments of heroin andmetamphetamines has decreased overthe last years as a consequence of China’sconstruction of new road systems anddeep-water ports. However, Hong Kongstill remains a rather important transship-ment point for drugs and precursors. Thesame is valid for Singapore, being a majortransportation centre and thus an attrac-tive point for drug and precursor trans-shipment, not least to Indonesia.

River trafficking is also eminent withinthe region. In May of this year, three menwere charged for having smuggled570,0 0 0 metamphetamine pills fromMyanmar to Thailand. They used theMekong River for transporting the illicitdrugs and were arrested in Chiang Rai.Meanwhile, another man was arrested forhaving smuggled 24.5 kg of heroin acrossthe Mekong River at Mae Sai. The 4,200km Mekong River flows from Tibet,through Southwest China, Myanmar, Laos,Thailand and Cambodia and then flows outinto the South China Sea through theMekong Delta in Vietnam. As a result ofdisputes over demarcations, minor con-flicts along the river and the imbalancebetween material development and theneglect of social development, illegal ac-t ivit ies are on the increase along the

MARITIME AND RIPARIANDRUG TRAFFICKING:An Increasing Challenge to the RegionThe large majority of the East Asian and the Pacific countries are dependent onthe sea or the Mekong River for their economic survival. However, relativelyopen land and maritime borders with essentially unmonitorable coastlinesgreatly facilitate illicit maritime and river activities. Moreover, the region’ssparsely unpopulated coasts and the vast numbers of quasi-inhabited islandsfurther complicate the situation.

DRUG TRAFFICKING IN THE REGION

EASTERN HORIZON 11

Mekong River. Crossborder trafficking ofdrugs and humans is prominent. Just ascrimes at sea cause legal difficulties, so docrimes committed on the Mekong River.For example, there are legal problems re-garding border demarcations and watertransport jeopardising the river’s uncer-tain legal status.

The needed co-operation between statescan be divided into legislative co-operationand operational co-operation. At the mo-ment, some states are neglecting respon-sibility for vessels flying their flags whencommitting offences at sea. A better re-gional co-operation through bilateral ormultilateral agreements is therefore a fun-damental prerequisite to achieve agree-ments that would resolve such difficultieswithin maritime crime. Regional agree-ments are of particular importance for theAsia Pacific region where the large major-ity of its oceans and seas lie within so-called exclusive economic zones (EEZs).Regarding legislative co-operation, prob-lems may emerge within the EEZs as cer-tain conventions, as for example the 1988UN Convention against Illicit Traffic in Nar-cotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances,do not state whether it applies within suchzones. According to the United NationsConvent ion of the Law of the Sea(UNCLOS), EEZs should be considered ashigh seas regarding jurisdiction against

certain types of crimes such as those re-lated to resources and environment.

Regional agreements are, however,needed to apply similar jurisdiction toother offences such as drugs and humantrafficking. By using such agreementscountries could grant all states a right tosearch vessels and seize its cargo andcrew if there is sufficient evidence thatdrugs are being trafficked. Moreover, thecreation of regional co-operation wouldstand a better chance of becoming effec-tive if the regional countries already weresignatories of existing conventions, show-ing due respect to their obligations underthose conventions, and also if they had do-mestic legal and institutional arrange-ments regarding maritime crime.

The new United Nations Conventionagainst Transnational Organised Crime willhelp to address transnational organisedcrime and, hopefully, related problemssuch as maritime crime. This is an encour-aging development where the United Na-tions is taking a major step in the direc-tion of eliminating transnational threats.However, the major problem is that, aslong as this Convention has not beensigned and ratified by all the region’scountries, the authorities and law enforce-ment agencies still have to rely entirely onthe 1988 United Nations Convention

Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs andPsychotropic Substances and theUNCLOS. These Conventions include pro-visions of law enforcement efforts, but alsoprovisions for international co-operationregarding transnational maritime crime.However, the exercise of a State’s jurisdic-tion over maritime crime is very complex.It depends on where the offence takesplace; in internal waters, in archipelagicwaters, in territorial sea, in exclusive eco-nomic zones (EEZs), in the high seas, etc.It also depends on the nationality of thevessel, the victim(s), and the offender, aswell as on the nature of the offence.

Article 17 of the 1988 UN ConventionAgainst Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs andPsychotropic Substances, which was thefirst to deal specifically with drug traffick-ing by sea, provides the framework underwhich states can act against drug traffick-ers, but only on the high seas; areas notincluded are, for example, internal waters,archipelagic waters or the EEZs.

However, as maritime crime occurs in alltypes of zones, jurisdictional difficultiesarise. If a vessel only passes through astate’s territorial sea to a third country, thisstate would not be allowed to board thevessel for inspection unless the state

(see more on page 22)


Does your child lack the ability toconcentrate, to sit still, to get alongwell in social situations, or speaksout of turn in class? Well, if this isthe case, then most psychologistswould diagnosis your child withAttention Deficit HyperactivityDisorder (ADHD).

ADHD is the most prevalent psychiatricdiagnosis of children, yet it is not basedon any scientific proof. Children all aroundthe world are currently being diagnosedwith ADHD and are drugged with drugssuch as Ritalin without any scientific ba-sis. Although there is no basis for this dis-order, the APA is willing to acknowledge itas a disorder.

In 1987, the American Psychiatric Associa-t ion (APA) Diagnost ic and Statist icalManual (DSM), edition III-R, gave birth tothe disorder known as Attention DeficitHyperactivity Disorder. The decision torecognise it as a disorder was due to a votemade by the psychiatrists that attended aconvention. No medical or scientific evi-dence was given. In fact, at a national con-sensus conference on ADHD, it was con-cluded that there was no independentvalid test for ADHD, and no data exists thatADHD is due to brain malfunction. Yet,psychiatrists continue to diagnosis chil-dren with ADHD based merely on thetheory of chemical imbalances in the brain.

Relying on this theory, in the US alone500,000 children were diagnosed withADHD in 1988. Just ten years later, psy-

SCHOOL KIDS ON “LEGAL” the class action suits, expert testimonywas given as to the harm caused by theuse of amphetamines on children. Thisharm has set various alarm signals off withcertain human rights groups.

The Cit izens Commission on HumanRights (CCHR), for instance, have arguedthat such use of Ritalin is against theUnited Nations convention Article 33,which states that “Children have the rightto protection from the use of drugs, andfrom being involved in producing or dis-tributing them.” Yet, the APA has ap-proved the promotion of the use of a drug,which leaves a child in a comatose likestate and has, amongst many others,bouts with suicide during withdrawal as itsside effects.

chiatrists diagnosed 4.4 million children;this rate is beaten by today’s figure of over6 million diagnosis. This increase has notonly been limited to the US. In New Zea-land, the use of one psychiatic drug,Ritalin, rose from 340 in 1993 to nearly3,000 in 1998 and currently to more than13,000 children. Ritalin is so often pre-scribed that the southern region of NewZealand has been dubbed the “Ritalincapital.”

The increase in the use of Ritalin has beenaided through governmental and educa-tional financial assistance in the US andin New Zealand to parents and schoolsthat have children with ADHD. Thus, giv-ing parents an extra incentive to have theirchild on Ritalin. Furthermore, many recentUS media reports have insinuated that thepush for ADHD diagnosis and the drugsused to “control it” from psychiatrists mayhave to do with the fact that some drugmanufactures fund psychiatrists that re-search and advocate drugs.

The media’s criticism is not the only at-tacks that psychiatrists and the drugmanufactures have faced. In the US, therehas been three class-action suits filedagainst the APA, the psychiatric frontgroup Children and Adults with AttentionDeficit Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD),and Novartis, the manufacturer of Ritalin,alleging that these three are working to-gether to promote a disease that requiresnarcotic treatment and distribute mislead-ing information to increase the number ofdiagnoses and prescriptions of Ritalin. At

Pursuant to the General Assembly reso-lution aimed at commemorating the sig-nature of the Declaration adopted at theInternational Conference against DrugAbuse and Illicit Trafficking in 1987, allover the world, June 26 is observed as theInternational Day against Drug Abuse andIllicit Trafficking.

The Government of Myanmar, in order tostress its anti-narcotics efforts, took theoccasion to inaugurate the Yangon DrugElimination Museum. The museum’s ex-hibits range from photographs to mapsof drug trade routes.

The opening remark was delivered by Lt.General Khin Nyunt, Secretary 1 of thenational government (State Peace andDevelopment Council ). He said theproject – reportedly $1.4 million worth –represents a concrete landmark for his

Yangon D ELIMIN

HARM REDUCTIONin Chiang MaiThe Asian Harm Reduction Network (AHRN) together with the Interna-tional Harm Reduction Association (IHRA) will be hosting the 13th Inter-national Conference on the Reduction of Drug Related Harm in ChiangMai in 2002. The objective of this conference is to bring together keyplayers in the area of reduction of the health, social and economic harmassociated with drugs.

Museum

ELIMINATING HARMFUL DRUGS IN SOCIETY

EASTERN HORIZON 13

In recent years, the world has seen howeasily stability of law and order can breakdown under the pressure of organised crime.What lessons do you think the internationalcommunity can learn from these events?The most important lesson is that transnationalcrime is a growing problem which, as you pointout, undermines law and order. The best way oftackling that problem is to improve co-operationamong governments and international agenciesso that we can present a united front against theorganised criminals who are responsible fortransnational crime. This is especially the casewhere organised crime has targeted those coun-tries which are already weakened because of in-ternal conflict. In those countries, governmentsare often unable to devote resources to tacklingtransnational crime. It is therefore incumbent onthe international community as a whole to assistwhere it can in tackling the activities of organ-ised criminals at the source, because there willinevitably be a spill-over of those activities toother countries. Individual countries cannot adopta “do-it-alone” approach. Only international co-operation will be effective in combatingtransnational crime.

What are the main strategic innovationsproposed by the new Australian policy oninternational drug control?An effective strategy has to recognise that effec-tive international drug control lies beyond theconfines of any one jurisdiction. The AustralianGovernment is keen to maximise its co-operationwith governments and agencies involved in thefight against transnational crime as part of a com-prehensive strategy to deal with the drug trade.Australia sees this as a central element of ourcollective efforts to eliminate that trade. Experi-ence has demonstrated that co-operation with UNagencies can be a major element in the develop-ment and implementation of well-targeted and co-ordinated policies that meet this objective. Aus-tralia’s assistance to UNDCP is evidence of ourstrong commitment to support activities that en-sure such approaches to the task of can be im-proved and expanded.

Within Australia’s comprehensive strategythere is also emphasis given to a balanced ap-proach to all the aspects of the drug issue: de-mand reduction; alternative development oppor-tunities (crop substitution); law enforcement; leg-islative measures; harm minimisation programsand widespread education campaigns. Domesti-cally, Australia has adopted a “whole of Govern-ment” approach to the subject to ensure that there

is the highest level of collaboration betweenGovernment agencies and different levels ofGovernment in Australia including law en-forcement, customs and development co-op-eration.

What role will Australia play in the futureregional co-operation against drugs andcrime in East Asia and the Pacific?Australia’s authorities are working closely withregional and national organisations in the re-gion. Both the Minister for Justice and Cus-toms, the Hon Chris Ellison, MP, and the AFPPolice Commissioner, Mick Keelty, have vis-ited the region recently to enhance linkages andco-operation between Australia and other re-gional countries in combating organised crime.The practical results of these enhanced link-ages can be seen in the rapid growth in thenumber of training activities conducted in theregion, as well as the sharp rise in major jointoperations by Asia Pacific authorities and agen-cies. Those joint operations have been particu-larly effective in combating illicit drug andpeople trafficking, two of the most perniciousthreats to the security of countries in the re-gion. Furthermore, AusAid is in constant con-tact with national and international authoritiesto provide assistance to the areas where illicitcrops are grown. We are also particularly gladto host the next Asia Pacific meeting ofHONLEA (Heads of National Drug Law En-forcement) in Sydney in mid-October.

INTERVIEW WITH AUSTRALIAN AMBASSADOR

DRUGSAs if the side effects were not enough toworry about, Ritalin has and still is soldon the streets. In many major cities inCanada, Ritalin became widely availableon the black market just a year after theAPA recognised it as a disorder. Thedrug is now widely available because ofthe rush effect it gives. In fact, the de-mand for it is so big that children are sell-ing their prescriptions. Thus, this crazehas transformed very active children todrugged children and, in some in-stances, to drug dealers. All this trans-formation is due to a disorder that isbased on no scientific proof.

– Artemis Moutsatsos,UNDCP, Bangkok

country’s efforts to combat narcotics. Hisspeech highlighted the efforts to eradi-cate opium production by year 2005 inthe northern regions of the country aswell as the national 15- year master plan(1999-2014) for total elimination of nar-cotic drugs. Lt. General Khin Nyunt alsosaid that Myanmar is firmly resolved toachieve the later goal “with or without theinternational community’s assistance”.

UNDCP was invited to attend the inau-guration ceremony and Mr. Lemahieu,UNDCP Representative, delivered themessage of Mr. Kofi Annan on the occa-sion of the International Day against DrugAbuse and Illicit Trafficking. On behalf ofUNDCP, he also donated to CCDAC a con-tribution of 150,000 Kyats (approxi-mately $250) to support the national artcompetition for drug abuse prevention.

DRUGNATION

m

AUSTRALIA’S PLANS FOR DRUG CONTROL IN EAST ASIA:

The Australian Ambassador Speaks Out!

His Excellence Mr. Miles Kupa: the AustralianAmbassador in Thailand


INTERNATIONAL DAY AGAINST DRUG ABUSE AND ILLICIT TRAFFIC

This year’s theme for the International Dayagainst Drug Abuse and Illicit Traffickingwas Sports End Drugs. Through sport,people can develop will power, acquireself-confidence and learn to overcomelife’s obstacles with courage and firmness.Many of the UNDCP’s programmesaround the world have a connection withsport. Helping the world’s children tospend their youth within sports complexesand on the playgrounds rather than on thestreets where drugs are omnipresent.

The yearly remembrance of this day isa symbol of the United Nations strengthof mind to win the war on drugs by rein-

forcing their actions by increased co-op-eration and commitment to this purpose.However, despite many opt imist icachievements within this struggle there isstill a lot of progress to be made. The needto continue this war on drugs is under-pinned by the celebration of this day.

The event was the fruitful outcome ofa new co-operative effort. The UNDCP andits co-operative partners joined togetherwith the common goal of raising aware-ness of the threat narcotics poses on thefuture of today’s youth. These partner-ships’ assistance and contribution madethe events of the international day possi-

ble. The private sector, through varioussports companies, also took part in sup-porting a drug-free world, and a percent-age of their sales revenues made duringthe 26th of June was donated to the ThaiRed Cross Society programme entitled“The Red Cross Volunteer Student Lead-ers in Anti-Drug Abuse”.

Several inspiring and interest ingspeeches were held throughout the event.Khun Chadatip Chutrakul, the ManagingDirector of Bangkok Intercontinental Ho-tels Company Limited, held the welcomespeech and spoke about the co-operativeeffort that enabled this day.

SPORTS End DRUGSOn the 26th of June 2001, the UNDCP regional centre co-hosted,together with the Siam Discovery Centre, an event commemoratingthe International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. Thisinternationally recognised day was pronounced, for the first time,by the UN General Assembly in 1987.

in Bangkok

The crowd at the Siam Discovery Centre

EASTERN HORIZON 15

Thereafter, Mr. Kim Hak-Su, the Execu-tive Secretary of the United Nations Eco-nomic and Social Commission for Asia Pa-cific, delivered the statement the UnitedNations Secretary-General Mr. Kofi Annanprepared for this event. Mr. Kofi Annancalled for the need of a greater focus onyoung people. He underlined sport as anagent of positive change. “Where drugabuse destroys bodies and minds, sportmakes them stronger and healthier. Wheredrug abuse undermines incentive, sportinvolves striving for excellence. Where drugabuse threatens relationships, sport ena-bles participation. And where drug abusepreys on aimlessness, sport offers youngpeople focus and structure.”

The following speaker was Mr. SandroCalvani, the Representative of the UNDCPRegional Centre for East Asia and the Pa-cific who spoke about the rampant drugabuse in the Asian region and the power-ful tool that sports can serve to install val-ues and principles amongst Asian youth.He also announced the new Sports YouthMessenger, Ms. Tamarine Tanasugarn,who is the first young lady and first Asianperson ever to have gained this title. Shewill from now on join hands with theUNDCP and the civil society in the battleagainst young peoples’ drug abuse. Ms.Tamarine Tanasugarn was not able tocome and join the celebration of this dayas she was practising for the Wimbledon

tennis tournament where she performedwell.

The Thai Red Cross Society’s effortsto combat drug abuse were, subsequently,presented by the Director of the Red CrossVolunteers Bureau, Professor DamrongReinprayoon, followed by a key note ad-dress by his excellence General TammarakIsrangkool Na Ayuthaya from the PrimeMinister’s Office. The Thai government’sefforts in the battle against drugs in theregion were outlined.

The International Day against DrugAbuse and Illicit Traffic also marked the cli-max for the participants of the “Trafficagainst Drugs” bicycle campaign. The bi-cycle race started off on June 9th from theUnited Nations Building with the purposeof promoting public awareness and com-munity participation against drugs. Theparticipants headed to the Northeast, theNorth and West of Thailand where theycollected signatures against drugs and,thereby, signalling their non-acceptance ofnarcotics entering their communities.

This initiative was very much appreci-ated as it signifies a successful partnershipbetween the civil society and the United Na-tions. Many more such initiatives are hopedfor in the future. The head of the bicycleteam, Dr. Yongyuth Mayalarp, explained thedetails of the campaign and submitted thelist of signatures collected.

The second part of the InternationalDay against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficwas dedicated to an animated show withperformances in dance by the DiscoveryClub, in acrobatics by Bangkok Universi-ty’s cheerleaders and in singing by thepopular artists JR and Nancy. This part ofthe day was very much appreciated, par-ticularly by the young audience. Overall,the event was well attended, inspirationaland, hopefully, it will, together with thelinked initiatives such as the bicycle race,encourage further awareness raisingevents and numerous initiatives betweenthe civil society and the United Nations asfar as a future drug-free world is con-cerned.

– Claire Smellie, UNDCP, Bangkok

The Minister of Public Health, Ms. Sudarat Keyuraphan, leads the group

Staff of the UNDCP regional centre receiving visitors


It started with a challenge by Mr. SandroCalvani, Representative of UNDCP Re-gional Office in Bangkok, to YCAB duringhis brief visit to YCAB’s office in Jakarta.The idea was very simple: car driverswould be asked to switch on their lights atcertain hours on 26 June 2001 if theywere against drug abuse. To get the projectgoing, YCAB worked together with Na-tional Narcotics Coordinating Board of In-donesia (NNCB-I), the national policeforce, the highway transport and trafficbureau, and the local government. In In-donesia it is against the law to switch onvehicle lights in the day time, therefore thecooperation of these agencies was vital.

The success of this project would relyheavily on promotions. Extra Joss, a localhealth drink brand, helped us with thefunding for TV and newspapers advertise-ments. One day before the event, a pressconference was held at the NNCB-I office,attended by Mr. Wayne Bazant fromUNDCP, Insp. Gen. Ahwil Lutan, the execu-tive director of NNCB, and Mr. SukirnoTarjadi, Secretary General of YCAB.

At the press conference, the policeforce gave the assurance that driverswould not be fined for switching on theirlights in day time on that day. The next daymajor newspapers carried half-page ad-vertisements by Extra Joss, urging peo-ple to be involved in this campaign. We de-cided that the event would be done twiceduring rush hours, one from 08:30 to09:00 in the morning, and the second onefrom 16:30 to 17:00 in the afternoon.

JakartaIn Jakarta we got approximately 150 volun-teers ready to distribute 100,000 anti drugflyers and brochures and to invite driversto switch on their lights. As most of thesevolunteers were school students, we askedthem to help us in the afternoon only.

The response in the morning was luke-

LIGHTS ONINTERNATIONAL DAY AGAINST DRUG ABUSE AND ILLICIT TRAFFIC

all over IndonesiaThe roundabout by Hotel Indonesia is the favourite place for demonstrations in Jakarta. On June 26, 2001 the placebecame the focal point for the “LIGHTS ON” project. LIGHTS ON is a project done by UNDCP and Yayasan Cinta AnakBangsa (YCAB), a NGO in Jakarta, to commemorate the 2001 International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

Distribution of flyers toencourage drivers toturn their LIGHTS ON

warm, as drivers were very cautious. As wenoticed, there were probably 20% of carsthat had the lights on. It was a differentstory in the afternoon, however, as our vol-unteers went to approach car drivers wait-ing for traffic lights. They gave out bro-chures and asked the drivers to switch on

their car lights if they support our effort tofight drug abuse.

As captured in photos and video cam-eras, more than 90% of cars moving alongthe Sudirman and Thamrin boulevardsswitched on their lights. In other places inthe city of Jakarta, car drivers switched on

More than 90% of the carsswitched on their lights

EASTERN HORIZON 17

For the International Day AgainstDrug Abuse, 26 June 2001, UNDCP -in collaboration with the NationalCommittee on Aids, Drugs and Pros-titution Control (NCADP) - hosted anexhibition of images that are usuallyseen in passing only: the drug controlposters of the roadside.

The purpose of anti-drug public-ity is to inform and warn the public ofthe dangers of drugs and drug use.Posters, which are simple in style andcheap to reproduce, are the media most

their lights to show their moral support foranti drug campaigns. The event was re-ported in major TV and radio stations andnewspapers.

ARTS AGAINST DRUGS

phasize one aspect of the cultural di-mension of drug control work in VietNam.

The posters shown in the exhibi-tion were made by students from theColleges of Fine Arts of Hanoi and ofHCMC in 1999 for a similar occasionand the Ministry of Culture and Infor-mation has provided them for this ex-hibition.

– Doris Buddenberg,UNDCP Representative, Vietnam

widely utilized for this purpose. Through-out the world, posters have developed intoan accepted art form, within which theanti-drug poster occupies a specific placewith its often gloomy imagery and the in-herent difficulty of conveying a negativemessage: DON’T TAKE DRUGS.

In Vietnam, the tradition of poster-arthas developed from the agit-prop appli-cation, modeled on the Soviet-Style, toforms peculiar and specific to Vietnam-ese artists, expressing in this collection ofanti-drug posters their perception of drugs,drug users and drug use consequences.

Drug use - and, hence, drug control -is culturally specific. Thus, the issues tobe dealt with are not only legal, economic,political and social, but cultural as well.Without addressing the cultural specificityof drug use and drug control, UNDCP’swork would be unfocused and of limitedeffectiveness. This exhibition aims to em-

Other Indonesian citiesLocal TV stations in the cities of Medan,Yogyakarta, Makassar, Madiun, and sev-eral other cities in Indonesia reported the

commemoration of this anti drug day withdrivers switching on their lights on the ap-pointed time.

In the city of Medan (North Sumatra),about 1200 km from Jakarta, the gover-nor and the regional police chief appearedbefore the TV camera to express their sup-port for the event. The 26th of June hasnever been commemorated in such amassive way before in Indonesia.

YCAB would like to thank Mr. Calvaniand UNDCP for initiating and partly fund-ing this project. We also thank the NNCB-I and the other government agencies, themedia, the sponsor and those car driverswho took part in this project. Without theirhelp this event would not have been sucha success.

– Information provided byYCAB, Indonesia

Drivers assured; nobody will be finedfor switching on their lights


Development is not a privilegegranted to a few, but a fundamentalhuman right. This right was adoptedby the United Nations General Assem-bly back in 1986. However, for many,development still seems far away.

To stress the fact that the right todevelopment is a basic human right,which many unfortunately do notseem to enjoy, UN/ESCAP has pro-duced 52 five-minute videos empha-sizing the right to development.Through the prism, of social and eco-nomic issues in the Asia and Pacificregion, the series explores differentfacets of the right to development,from the basic provision of safe pota-ble water to healthy lifestyles for olderpersons, in an attempt to both explainand popularize it as a concept.

The entire series of five-minutesvideos is presented in the folder AMatter of Rights, which also has beenproduced by UN/ESCAP. The folderincludes a VCD which contains se-lected videos from the series. Thefolder is available from UN/ESCAP,Rajdamnrn Nok Avenue, Bangkok10200, Thailand. Telephone: (+66-2)288 1234, Fax: (+66-2) 288 1052, E-mail: [email protected],Website: http://www.unescap.org

A matterof rights

Cambodia marksINTERNATIONAL DAYAGAINST DRUGS

Cambodia celebrated the InternationalDay Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Traf-ficking by holding a ceremony in the sea-port town of Sihanoukville. Those at-tending the morning’s event includedstaff of the National Authority for Com-bating Drugs (NACD), including the Sec-retary General, H.E. Lt. Gen. Em Sam An,together with representatives from theUS Embassy, Japanese National Police,UN agencies, international and localNGO’s and several hundred secondaryschool children and teachers.

The keynote speech was given byH.E. Maj. Gen. You Sunlong, Deputy Sec-

retary-General of the NACD, on behalf ofthe Deputy Prime Minister H.E. SarKheng. In his address, Sar Kheng statedthat, “the Government has noticed withconcern that the rapid evolution of thedrug problem in Cambodia, along withthe growing spread of AIDS, poses agreat danger to the Cambodian people”.He added, “the Royal Government hasset its clear position on participation incooperation to control and suppressdrug trafficking, production and cross-border drug movements” and notedthat, “without participation of the peo-ple from all walks of life, we cannot ex-pect to succeed in tackling this compli-cated problem”.

ODCCP, which recently opened a Li-aison Office in the Cambodian capital,Phnom Penh, provided financial supportto the event, as did a variety of privatesponsors. Street banners, placards, t-shirts and caps were used to raise aware-ness of the dangers of drugs. The eventwas televised on Cambodian TV and re-ported widely in Cambodian languagenewspapers.

Anti-drug messages in the Khmer language were erected throughout Sihanoukvilleand Phnom Penh for the July 26 event

We want to live in a drug free society

INTERNATIONAL DAY AGAINST DRUG ABUSE AND ILLICIT TRAFFIC

EASTERN HORIZON 19

The full survey report for this year hasnot yet been officially released byUNDCP Headquarters, but it is agreedthat in Lao PDR, there has been a 9.5%reduction in the area under poppy culti-vation, from 19,052 hectares in 2000 to17,255 hectares in 2001. The actualopium production fell even sharper.However, the reliable indicator for moni-toring the elimination of opium produc-tion is to monitor the areas under poppycultivation.

Yield is dependant on vagaries, suchas weather, and would therefore be un-reliable as an achievement indicator,

OPIUM PRODUCTIONON DECLINE –

since weather conditions can cause an-nual figures of opium production to fluc-tuate drastically.

The results confirm the downwardtrend that we have been observing in re-cent years. However, for it to be sustain-able, the international community needsto push ahead with alternative develop-ment simultaneously. Alternative devel-opment projects in the provinces whereopium poppy cultivation is concentratedhave already been formulated and areready to come into being, only awaitingdonor funding. Why wait?

Steady decrease in Laos

The Indonesian NGO YCAB (Yayasan CintaAnak Bangsa) that works for a drug freeIndonesia has made a song and video clipillustrating the dangers of drug abuse.They believe that if prevention is the strat-egy employed, the war on drugs can bewon. However, commitment is neededacross all levels of society and it is onlythrough compassion that something canbe done. The video clip aims at just this –achieving compassion within society.

It tells the story about an Indonesianyoungster who starts taking drugs as achild. As he grows up into a young man hisdrug addiction also grows. He ends up ina rehabilitation centre where he suffersfrom despair, anger, emptiness, sorrowand pain. Thoughts of his girlfriend whodied in his arms as a result of an overdoseonly adds to his anguish and the hopeless-ness of his situation, putting him into astate of indifference as far as his own lifeis concerned. He flees from the centre andends up being hit by a car.

However, the pain due to the accidentis negligent compared to the pain his lifesituation as an addict causes him and, so,he runs on. At the end of the clip he ar-

MILLION VOICESrives at the tomb of his girlfriend where, inhis mind’s eye, he sees his life passing byuntil the day he first tried drugs. As hedies, the last image reminds us about theneed for caring people to help the youngmake other choices than drugs. A little girloffers her hand to a little boy and, thereby,helps him to leave the drug squat and turnhis back to drugs. Many choices are madewhen one is young and with the supportand help of others the greater is thechance that the right choices will be made.

The song talks about the chains thatare wrapped around drug users’ brainsand the need of such addicts to regain theliberty of their minds. The song expressesthe feelings of being lost and the absenceof peace of mind and the need of a com-passionate society in order to help addictsregain knowledge of the meaning of life.There are a million voices out there wait-ing for compassion, waiting to be heardand, by writing this song and creating thisvideo clip, the YCAB are ensuring that theyhave done their part in making thesevoices heard.


ASEAN stronglywelcomes theACCORD Plan of ActionAt the ASEAN Ministerial Meetingheld in Hanoi 23-24 July the partici-pants agreed to strongly welcome theendorsement of the ASEAN and ChinaCooperative Operations in Response toDangerous Drugs (ACCORD) Plan ofAction by the International Congress inPursuit of a Drug-Free ASEAN 2015.The ASEAN members confirmed theircommitment to strengthen coordinationby proactively advocating awareness ofthe danger of drugs, by response build-ing consensus, by sharing best practiceson demand reduction, by strengtheningthe rule of law through improved lawenforcement cooperation and legislativereview, as well as by eliminating thesupply of illicit drugs by boosting al-ternative development program andcommunity participation in the eradi-cation of illicit crops.

CRIME BUSTERSCONFERENCEA conference titled New Crimes or NewResponses was convened in CanberraAustralia on 21-22 June 2001. Among theissues discussed at the conference wereSentencing and Prosecution, DomesticViolence, Illicit Drugs and Crime,Transnational Crime, Fraud ComputerCrime, and Cross Border Crime. A keynote address was made by UN/ODCCPExecutive Director Mr. Pino Arlacchi,who spoke about the Scope and Re-sponses to Transnational Crime.

UNDCP REGIONAL ROUND UP


United Nations Thailand: UNRC Annual Report2000, Bangkok: UNRC, 2001. The report givesan introduction to both the socio-economic situ-ation in Thailand and the different UN agenciesactivities across the country. Of specific interestto people engaged in drug control activities it canbe mentioned that the report deals with the ac-tivities of the UNDCP Regional Centre for EastAsia and the Pacific as well as important cross cut-ting issues such as HIV/AIDS and Trafficking ofWomen and Children and Governance and Hu-man Rights.

The report is available from the Inter-AgencySupport Unit (IASU), Office of the Resident Co-ordinator (UNRC), 12th Floor, United NationsBuilding, Rajdamnern Nok Avenue, Bangkok10200, Thailand, Telephone: (+66-2) 288 1836,Fax: (+66-2) 280 0556, E-mail: [email protected],Homepage: http://www.un.or.th

NEW PUBLICATIONS

Common Strategy 2001-2005: The UNCountry Team (UNCT) Supporting theNational Response to the HIV Epidemicin Cambodia, Phnom Penh: UNCT, 2001.The 37 pages long report outlines the na-tional framework and lessons learned inthe fight against HIV/AIDS in Cambodia aswell as the strategy agenda covering thenext five years for the UNCT. The reporthighlights the tremendous challenge theHIV/AIDS epidemic in Cambodia consti-tutes and stresses what must and can bedone to face it.

The report is available from the Officeof the Resident Coordinator in Cambodia,No. 53, Rue Pastur, Boeng Keng Kang,P.O. Box 877, Phnom Penh, Cambodia,Tel.: (+855-23) 216 167 or (+855-23) 427718, Fax: (+855-23) 721 042 or (+855-23) 216 257,E-mail: [email protected]

MANA Update , MayangoneTownship: MANA, 20 01. Thefolder gives the reader an intro-duction to Myanmar Anti Narcot-ics Association- MANA’s activi-ties, which include demand re-duction projects, AIDS preven-tion programmes, youth educa-tion and social volunteer pro-grammes. The folder is availablefrom MANA, Building (3), Room101/102 Myaing Hay Wun Hous-ing Estate, Kyaik Waing PagodaRoad, Mayangone Township,Myanmar.

The Asian Harm Reduction Network: Supporting Responses to HIV and InjectingDrug Use in Asia, Geneva: UNAIDS, 2001. This report conducted by UNAIDS analysesthe impact of Asian Harm Reduction Network (AHRN) on the spread of HIV/AIDS amongdrug users. Most countries of the region are not yet ready to implement programmes forthe prevention of HIV/AIDS among drug users; rather, at this stage, these countries re-quire advocacy tools. Consequently, AHRN’s main activities include advocacy and as-sistance in policy development. AHRN organized and participated in numerous meet-ings and workshops with the goal of establishing a suitable environment for effectivepolicies and programmes for the prevention of HIV/AIDS among drug users. AHRN as-sisted in drafting policy guidelines and recommendations, and worked closely with vari-ous intergovernmental organizations. Conclusively, the report states that the exampleof AHRN shows that, thanks to the interactions of its members, the impact of an opennetwork can be stronger than the sum of its components.

More information is available in the report, which can be requested from UNAIDS,20 avenue Appia, 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland, Telephone: (+4122) 791 46 51, Fax:(+4122) 791 41 87, E-mail: [email protected], Webpage: http://www.unaids.org

EASTERN HORIZON 21

The latest Publications DISTRIBUTED BY UNDCP BANGKOK

LIST OF PUBLICATIONS

1/2001 National Workshop for Cross-Border LawEnforcement Cooperation in East Asia(AD/RAS/99/D91)

2/2001 First Annual Meeting of the Mutual LegalAssistance Advisory Committee(MLAAC)-AD/RAS/97/C74

3/2001 Fellowship Programme in Malaysia 04September-10 October 2000(AD/RAS/97/C74)

4/2001 Part icipants Database: Seminars,Worskhops and Meeting for 1st Phase ofDevelopment of Cross-Border Law En-forcement Cooperation in East Asia (AD/RAS/99/D91) (12 November 1999- 15January 2001)

5/2001 Review of High Risk Groups in China -Urumqui and Yining, Xinjiang AutonomousRegion (Urumqi-Yining, 15-19 September2000) (AD/RAS/98/C75)

6/2001 Directory of Drug Treatment and Rehabili-tation Services, East Asia and the Pacific

7/2001 Eliminating Opium: Lessons from Suc-ceeding in Thailand

8/2001 Cross-Border Law Enforcement Coopera-tion Meeting/Workshop (AD/RAS/99/D91)

9/2001 Status of Donor Contributions to RegionalProgrammes as of December 2000

10/2001 Eastern Horizons No. 5 March 200111/2001 Cambodia Country Profile12/2001 Pacific Islands Regional Profile13/2001 Injecting Drug Use and HIV Vulnerability:

Choices and Consequences in Asia and thePacific

14/2001 Report on Workshop “A Partnership withUnited Nations in A World Class TrainingProject”, Bangkok, Thailand, 24-25 April2001

15/2001 What they said: Press Clippings: Ministe-rial and Senior Officials Committee Meet-ings on Drug Control, Yangon, 9-11 May2001

16/2001 Eastern Horizons No.6 June 200117/2001 Sports end Drugs (Press Kit), International

Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Traffick-ing, 26 June 2001

18/2001 Annual Field Report 200019/2001 Regional Profile 200020/2001 Global Impact of the Ban on Opium Pro-

duction in Afghanistan

The above documents can be obtained throughthe website of UNDCP Regional Centre for

East Asia and the Pacific (http://www.undcp.un.or.th)

Projections for HIV/AIDS inThailand: 2000-2020, Bang-kok: The Thai Working Group onHIV/AIDS Projection, 2001. Thecomprehensive book is writtenin Thai and English. Amongother important issues the bookdescribes the present situationregarding HIV/AIDS infectionsin Thailand and forecasts thedevelopment of the next 20years. The current state of theepidemic is that 984,000 peo-ple have been infected with HIV,289,000 have died and 29,000new infections will occur thisyear. More information is avail-able in the book, which can be requested from Division of AIDS, Depart-ment of Communicable Decease Control, Ministry of Public Health,Nonthaburi 11000, Thailand, Phone: (+66-2) 590 3208, 590 3209, 5903219, 591 8411, 591 8412, Fax: (+66-2) 590 3210, 591 8413, Web page:http://aids.cdc.moph.go.th

Record Book: MinisterialMeeting: Senior OfficialsCommittee (SOC) Meetingand High Level Bilateral(HILB) Meetings on RegionalDrug Control Cooperation,Yangon: CCDAC, 2001. The fullproceedings, key speeches,and other important docu-ments from the meetings heldin Yangon 8-11 May 2001 hasbeen compiled and distributedby CCDAC (Central Committeefor Drug Abuse Control. Cop-ies can be requested fromCCDAC, Fax: (+95-1) 549-284.

APG: Asia / Pacific Group onMoney Laundering: First An-nual report 1999 - 2000, Syd-ney: APG Secretariat, 2001. Thefirst annual report from APGgives a view of the activities ofAPG during the year 1999 -2000. It provides the reader witha regional snapshot of ant i-money laundering measures inthe Asia/Pacific and also outlinesthe directions and priorities forthe future. The report is availablefrom APG Secretariat, 1st Floor,201 Elizabeth Street, Sydney2000, Australia, Phone: (+61-2)9373 2438, Fax: (+61-2) 93732499, E-mail: [email protected]


Together we can is the title of UNAIDS’ most recent publication dealing withthe AIDS issue. Keeping in mind that AIDS by now has been known for 20yeas, an evaluation of past efforts and directions for future activities areincluded among the subjects discussed in the publication. The issues arediscussed in a comprehensive and very informative way stressing the pointthat HIV/AIDS is not only a health issue, but also an issue of developmentand good governance. As it is stated by the UN Secretary-General Kofi A.Annan in the preface: “Where it takes hold, the AIDS epidemic feeds onexisting economic and social problems.

Ultimately, the test of our leadership will be how decisively we addressthe enduring poverty, inequality and inadequate infrastructures that are theenablers of this terrible disease. It is only by doing so that we can empowerindividuals, communities and countries to play their full part as leaders inthe fight against HIV/AIDS.”

The challenge humanity is facing does also call for good leadership. HIV/AIDS is triggering national emergencies around the globe. It is destroyingthe lives of individuals and communities, wiping out hard-earned economicand social development gains and threatening social and political stability.

However, as it is described in the publication, the HIV/AIDS epidemiccan be slowed down, even reversed. The epidemic will yield to potent re-sponses. The challenge is to constantly and decisively deliver these re-sponses at a consequent and global scale.

For more information please see:Together We Can, Geneva: UNAIDS, 2001. Available from UNAIDS, 20 Avenue Appia, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland, Phone: (+4122) 791 46 51, Fax: (41 22) 791 41 87, E-mail: [email protected] Web page: http://www.unaids.org

Together WE CAN

could prove that the mere presence of thisvessel affects the peace of the coastalstate. Due to such complexities, it is easyto see how organised criminal groups cantake advantage of loopholes within the ju-risdiction. In an effort to address this prob-lem, the UN adopted a resolution in 1998addressing the issue of illicit traffic by seawhich recommended the implementationof bilateral and multilateral agreements toincrease regional co-operation concerningthis problem and the promotion of commonmaritime law enforcement procedures.

Legal reforms are not the only answer tothe problem. At the operational level lim-ited resources will have to be more effi-ciently used to implement a better com-munications network and worldwide intel-ligence system. Restrictions on informa-tion exchange due to questions of sover-eignty and liability need to be overhauled.

Some countries’ lack of resources to ef-fectively combat drug trafficking may beovercome by permitting operational as-sistance by neighbouring countries lawenforcement personnel. Already availableresources such as the military’s nationalsecurity personnel and equipment should,in times of peace, be permitted by nationallaws to support the counter-narcotic ef-forts, as was done in the case of the sei-zure in the Andaman Sea.

Also, more detailed information needs to bemade available about the operational as-pects of successful seizures along theMekong River and at Sea in order to estab-lish the most effective ways of combatingdrug trafficking by maritime means. Finally,the private sector, for example, exportersand carriers, together with the port authori-ties, also need to become more involved inthe counter-narcotic efforts.

Thus, increased co-operation within the

Southeast Asian region is a prerequisiteto overcome the threat of drug traffickingon seas and rivers. Such an increase of co-operation is already facilitated by theUNDCP through arranging workshops andinvolving existent and future projects forsuch a purpose. At the end of last year aninformal working group on maritime co-operation met in Vienna during which sub-jects, such as what practical measures touse in order to eliminate maritime traffick-ing and how to increase the co-operationregarding this problem, were treated.

Furthermore, the implementation of aspecific project dealing with the elimina-tion of trafficking along the Mekong Riverhas been discussed, but, in the meantime,UNDCP projects such as Cross BorderLaw Enforcement Co-operation work tosuch an effect.


Maritime and riparian drug trafficking(continued from page 11)

PREVENTING DRUGS AND HIV/AIDS

EASTERN HORIZON 23

Ms Narumi Yamada (Japan) has re-cently joined us as our Senior ProgrammeManagement Officer. She brings with herover 10 years of operational work expe-rience in Asia and the Pacific within theUNDCP. Previously, she was Officer-in-Charge of the South Asia, East Asia andthe Pacific Programme at UNDCP head-quarters in Vienna. Prior to that she servedthis UNDCP Regional Centre as Assist-ant Director at the time of its creation in1992. She has also worked for the ILOand within the management-consultingfield. We wish her luck with her new as-signment.

Miss Lise Bendiksen (Norway) joinedthe Regional Centre in July as an internfrom Norway. Ms. Lise Bendiksen holdsan MA in Political Science from the Uni-versity of British Columbia in Vancou-ver with focus on international relations,ethics and security. Before joining the Re-gional Centre as an intern she worked atthe Permanent Mission of Norway to theUN with development, social and humanrights issues, the drug resolution beingone of her responsibilities. She holdsteaching assistant positions at the Uni-versity of Oslo and does consulting(evaluations of project activities) for theWorld Bank.

Mr Bengt Juhlin (Sweden) our SeniorProgramme Co-ordinator has left the Re-gional Centre to start up the ODCCP Li-aison Office in Cambodia. He will be theHead of the Office and serve as the Sen-ior Programme Management Co-ordinator for the project titled Strength-ening the Secretariat of the National Au-thority for Combating Drugs (NACD)and the National Drug Control Pro-gramme of Cambodia. We wish him andthe Liaison Office in Cambodia successand all the best.

Mr Shogo Kanamori, (Japan) our As-sociate Expert, has left the Regional Cen-tre after having served here for two years.Mr. Shogo Kanamori has now changedhis duty station and will serve the head-quarters in Vienna during the final yearof his contract. The Regional Centre looksforward to a continued positive co-opera-tion with the headquarters, not leastthrough our former associate expert.Good luck Shogo!

PERSONALIA

Colombo plan secretariatMOVES TOWARD ATSPREVENTION in the regionAmphetamine-type stimulant abuse wasthe key issue surrounding a recent re-gional seminar on prevention in East andSouth East Asian. The one-week eventtackled strategic issues and solutions to-ward prevention in schools, workplacesand community settings.

The seminar was organized andfunded through the Drug Advisory Pro-gramme of the Colombo Plan Secretariat.

Locally hosted in Manila from 21 –25May by the Dangerous Drugs Board, withtechnical expertise from the Philippinesand the UNDCP Regional Centre for EastAsia and the Pacific, national delegates

Participants of the seminar

from ASEAN member countries as well asChina and the Republic of Korea, system-atically reviewed the regional and na-tional ATS abuse trends and identifiedpriority target groups in each social sec-tor. They also established strategic objec-tives that were translated into nationalwork plans. The event also attracted con-siderable local media attention since civilunrest in Manila during the previous weekhad been partly attributed to the abuseof ATS.

– Wayne Bazant, Demand ReductionAdvisor, UNDCP, Bangkok

Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam signed aJoint Declaration on Drug Control Co-operation on the 13th June, 2001, afterhaving concluded their trilateral meet-ing that focused on further counter-nar-cotic co-operation.

On the 12th June 12, 2001, seniorofficials from Cambodia separately heldmeetings with high-level officials fromLaos and Vietnam on the effective fight-ing against drug-related activities andreached the consensus of strengthen-ing their co-operation when dealing

with drug problems.These meetings reflect the efforts

and determination of drug authorities ofthe three countries to expand theirfriendly co-operation in order to preventproduction, trafficking and abuse of il-licit drugs.

The continuous increase of co-op-eration in the area between Cambodia,Laos and Vietnam is a step towards aDrug Free ASEAN in 2015 – a goalwhich, recently, was set up at an inter-national congress in Bangkok.

TRILATERAL MEETINGon drug control

UNDCP EASTERN HORIZONS is published by the United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) in Bangkok,Thailand with contributions from the country offices in Vietnam, Lao PDR and Myanmar.Articles, comments and relevant information with photos or tables attached are welcomed. Submissions should not exceed 500 words.Full name and signature must accompany all letters to the editor. Articles and letters may be edited for purposes of space and clarity.Editor: Peter Lunding, Tel: (66 2) 288-2537 Email: [email protected] editor: Claire Smellie, Tel: (66 2) 288-1963 , E-mail: [email protected] further information, please contact: UNDCP Regional Centre for East Asia and the Pacific, 14th Floor, United Nations BuildingRajdamnern Nok Avenue, Bangkok 10200, Thailand Tel: (+66-2) 288-2091 Fax: (+66-2) 281-2129 Website: http://www.undcp.un.or.th

Not an official document. For information only. Opinions expressed in this newsletter do not necessarily reflect the view of the United Nations.

we canTogether

The HIV/AIDS epidemic has penetrated every regionof the world. In some countries, its devastating passageis only beginning. In others, it is unraveling decades ofprogress and deepening fault lines that already dividesocieties. The toll on human life is extreme. This is aglobal crisis that demands global action.

Two decades of efforts have provided the insightsneeded to turn the epidemic around.

Leadership at all levels and in all walks of life is vital.But political and other top-level leaders bear a specialresponsibility to set the examples that spur othersinto action. Their persistent commitment is essentialin guaranteeing that coherent national plans operateeffectively and that sufficient resources are channeledinto responses. It must also ensure that the actionsstraddle different sectors and involve as many actorsas possible.

Effective responses draw guidance and inspirationfrom the activities of communities, with particularfocus on young people and women. The best of themclosely involve people living with HIV/AIDS and thoseaffected by the epidemic.

The success stories underscore the fact that theprotection of human (including social and economic)rights is essential. They confirm the need to tackle,nationally and internationally, the many disparitiesthat fuel the epidemic. And they prove the utility andimportance of the links between strong prevention,care and support programmes.

“We face a terrible epidemic, but we are farfrom powerless against it. We can halt thespread of AIDS. We can even reverse it …Above all, the challenge of AIDS is a test ofleadership. Leadership has formed the basisof whatever progress we have achieved so far.I am thinking of individuals who spoke out inthe earliest days of the disease—at times quiteprovocatively—in order to get the issue ontothe agenda. Or the many citizens’ groups thathave overcome obstacles of shame, stigma andtaboo to provide essential services and support.Or men and women in the private sector whohave recognized that the struggle against AIDSmakes good business sense, and have takensteps to protect their employees. Or scientistsdedicated to the pursuit of a safe andeffective vaccine.”

Kofi A. Annan, United Nations Secretary-General

We knowwhat has to be done.We know what works.

NOWis the time to act.

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