| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
Ferre
Cannabis Sacrament Minister.
Joined: 14 Apr 2003
Posts: 7295
Location: Amsterdam
|
 Posted: Fri May 13, 2005 11:06 pm Post subject: Urgent Action on Russia Needed! |
 |
|
Email received via ENCOD.org
| Quote: |
from LIA bulletin:
We have received a worrying message from the International Harm Reduction Development of the Open Society Institute concerning the possibility of serious and negative changes to the Russian penal code. Below you will find a reading of the situation and a call for urgent action. Time is extremely short, and faxes and emails are unlikely to reach the officials involved. If you can, please send a hard copy of your letters, by courier, urging that no change be adopted before evaluation of the existing law and without consultation with drug treatment specialists. Kindly send electronic copies to Lev Levinson at lev@drugpolicy.ru
For many years, possession of almost any amount of drugs in Russia resulted in long prison sentences. The consequence was large numbers of people incarcerated, which did little to curb drug use and put many at increased risk of HIV infection in Russian prisons. In May 2004, Russia revised its penal code so that possession of small amounts of drugs ("less than ten average
doses") resulted in an administrative, rather than criminal, offense. Since adoption of the changes, 32,000 people have been released from prisons or had their sentences shortened.
Unfortunately, a government committee last week recommended that the reform be repealed, and that Russia return to a system requiring imprisonment for possession of "large" and "extra large" doses. The suggested change came at the recommendation of the Federal Office for Drug Control and Trafficking, which claimed that the 2004 reform had undermined law and order. Though the terms "large" and "extra large" doses have yet to be defined, they are identical to those used before the reform. In that scenario, a "large" dose of drugs was residue in a used syringe.
The proposed change is expected to be considered by the Duma within the month. Russian advocates are calling for international support in asking President Putin and Russian legislators to extend the period of consideration of the proposal to allow for adequate documentation of the effects of the 2004 law, and to ensure that an independent multi-sectoral committee is consulted before any changes are implemented.
Last year, President Putin emphasized the importance of focusing law enforcement efforts on traffickers and addressing drug use as a medical problem. This year, in his April 25 address to the nation, he again stated clearly that a law-enforcement approach to the drug problem was inadequate. The 2004 reform was seen as a model for other countries, and praised by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime as well as HIV prevention and human rights advocates.
Russia's HIV epidemic is already the world's fastest growing. A return to mass incarceration will only accelerate the spread of HIV.
Below you will find a couple of articles on the Russian developments and a list of addressees where the letters should be sent.
Thank you for your support.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Moskovsky Komsomolets (MK-News) April 27, 2005
Human Rights Advocates Are Worried Over Possible Toughening of Drug Laws
Moscow, April 27. (MK-News). On April 21st, the government of the Russian Federation approved a bill to toughen criminal liability for possession and use of narcotic substances. Speaking at a press conference today, Lev Levinson, head of the New Drug Policy program at the Institute of Human Rights, expressed his concern over this move of the Russian government. Levinson said that the bill includes an amendment to the Article 228 of the Criminal Code that proposes to withdraw the term of an 'average dose for one-time consumption' from the national Criminal Code. Instead, the amendment proposes to use only the terms of 'large' and 'extra-large' quantities of confiscated substances; these quantities will be determined by additional governmental resolutions and may change from time to time. According to Levinson, this bill indicates the "warrantless increase of criminal liability for ordinary drug users" and is linked to the "self-interest of law enforcement agencies."
As Levinson explained, 'an average dose for one-time consumption' (a unit of measuring the quantities of drugs) was introduced a year ago and became a 'groundbreaking decision.' The value of an average dose for one-time consumption is fixed for a particular substance and varies for different substances. (For example, the value of the average one-time dose is 2 grams for marihuana and 0.1 gram for heroin). According to the existing law, which came into effect on May 12, 2004, criminal penalties could be imposed for the possession and distribution of amounts more than 10 times the 'average dose for one-time consumption' while the possession of smaller amounts resulted in administrative charges. Thus, the existing law classifies as a 'serious crime' the possession of 20 grams of marihuana and 1 gram of heroin (before, criminal charges were imposed for the possession of 2 grams of marihuana and any quantity of heroin).
Thanks to the 2004 law, about 32,000 inmates have received lighter sentences, of whom 12,500 have been released from prisons. On average, the duration of the sentence for drug use related crimes was reduced by fourteen months. Thus, according to Levinson, the law significantly improved conditions of 'ordinary drug users,' by reducing the disproportionate criminal penalties to which they were subjected.
At the same time, as the human right advocate explained, the law caused dissatisfaction among law enforcement agencies, especially the State Committee on Narcotic Drug Control. The law caused a downturn in this federal agency's crime statistics: in 2003, they reported 180,000 drug related crimes, and in 2004, only 150,000. Thus, the government made a decision to return to harsher punishment for drug related crimes. According to the unconfirmed data from human right advocates, if the proposed amendments and corresponding government resolutions will be passed, 2 grams of marihuana and 0.5 gram of heroin will become 'large' amounts of narcotic drugs.
Another article on the proposed bill to roll back the 2004 reform, posted by the Regnum News Agency, further clarifies the grounds on which Lev Levinson's position is based. Below are some excerpts from the article:
Regnum
April 28, 2005
Will the Notion of an 'Average Dose for One-time Consumption' Disappear from the Criminal Code?
[...] Lev Levinson pointed the audience's attention to the progressive position on this issue taken by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Levinson reminded that it was Vladimir Putin who introduced last year's bill to base criminal liability for possession of illegal drugs on the system of "average doses for one-time consumption." Levinson also referred to some citations from Putin to confirm that President took this position deliberately. Those citations reveal Putin's understanding of repressive methods in the fight against drug use and drug trafficking as 'hopeless' since instead of drug traffickers, such methods target ordinary drug users - sick people who themselves are victims of trafficking. In addition, according to Levinson, Putin's most recent address to the nation also confirms that President has not changed his opinion regarding the methods to be used in the fight against drugs. According to Levinson, Putin said that "It is impossible to solve this problem with the use of prohibition alone." Levinson noted that: "What is now happening in the Government is a direct contradiction to President's statements and interests of our society."
Levinson said that the bill to withdraw the term of an 'average dose for one-time consumption' is under preparation to be introduced to the Parliament (Duma). Taking into account that Duma members were already hostile to the notion of an 'average dose,' it is likely that the new bill will be easily passed. [...]In particular, Levinson hoped that President's Legal Bureau, which should undertake the legal review of the bill, will uphold the President's position. In addition, Levinson informed that national human right institutions (including the Presidential Council to Promote Civil Society and Human Rights and Ombudsman on Human Rights in the Russian Federation) will join the battle for the preservation of the progressive provisions in the national Criminal Code.
[excerpt from Abramkin's statement]
On of the press-conference participants, Valery Abramkin, Director of the Center for Criminal Justice Reform and a member of the Presidential Council for Promotion of Civil Society and Human Rights, noted that a decrease in the number of imprisoned drug users results in the substantial decrease in the percentage of HIV-positive inmates, who represent the most 'favorable' environment for the possible emergence of the multidrug resistant TB epidemic. (Currently, Russian prisons are a breeding ground for this dangerous disease). In other words, the decrease in the influx of imprisoned drug users will improve, in particular, the sanitary and epidemiological well-being of the Russian population.
President of the Russian Federation
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin
103132, Moscow, Kremlin
Aide to the President, Head of the Presidential State Legal Directorat Larisa Igorevna Brycheva 103132, Moscow, Staraya sq. 4 fax 206 26 46
Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation
Mikhail Efimovich Fradkov
103274, Moscow, Krasnopresnenskaya nab. 2
Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Boris Vyacheslavovich Gryzlov 103265, Moscow, Okhotny Ryad st. 1 fax 692 66 41
Chairman of the Committee on Civil, Criminal, Arbitral and Procedural Legislation of the State Duma Pavel Vladimirovich Krasheninnikov 103265, Moscow, Okhotny Ryad st. 1
Chairman of the Committee on Security of the State Duma Vladimir Abdualievich Vasilyev 103265, Moscow, Okhotny Ryad st. 1 fax 692 95 75
Chairman of the Council of Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Sergey Mikhaylovich Mironov 103426, Moscow, B.Dmitrovka st., 26 fax 692-65-45
e-mail: info@mironov.ru, SMMironov@council.gov.ru
Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation
Yury Yakovlevich Chayka
109830, Moscow, Vorontsovo Pole st. 4
fax: 916-29-03
e-mail: cos@minjust.ru
|
_________________
█ Please read the Board Rules and Posting, and you
█ Radio Free Amsterdam
People who know truth, speak truth.
Those who don't, quote scriptures. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
Public Forum
Members only forum
Members Group
| 
