Amnesty International USA

Resolved: Therefore be it resolved that Amnesty International immediately recognize the correlation between this war and human rights abuses within and outside the USA; and

Be it further resolved that at the next International Council Meeting (ICM), the AIUSA delegation ask the ICM to call for research to be done to identify Amnesty International's position on the war on drugs because of its resultant human rights violations.

Some examples: In the past, AIUSA has opposed US assistance to Colombia’s security forces for their counter-narcotics operations, which have resulted in gross violations of human rights. AIUSA has continued to oppose any military assistance to Guatemala, even for counter-narcotics efforts given the egregious human rights record, continued impunity for past abuses, and recent increase in attacks against human rights defenders. AIUSA has denounced the killing of peasants in Bolivia by special drug units established and trained with US assistance. AIUSA expressed concerns about the implementation of counter-narcotics operations in Afghanistan that would empower abusive warlords with a record of massive human rights abuses. AIUSA continued to oppose any efforts to extend assistance to the abusive military regime in Burma, which has a record linking it to the drug trade and to egregious human rights abuses. AIUSA spoke out against extrajudicial executions and other abuses by Thailand’s military, which has engaged in counter-narcotics efforts and received US counter-narcotics training. AIUSA opposed US assistance for counter-narcotics operations to Indonesia’s security forces, which have been involved in gross violations of human rights.

The AIUSA publication, “Unmatched Power, Unmet Principles: The Human Rights Dimension of US Training of Foreign Military and Police Forces,” provided an important basis for advocacy concerning the human rights abuses linked to the “war on drugs,” particularly in the case of human rights abuses by US trained security force that are also involved in counter-narcotics operations. AIUSA created membership actions and conducted direct advocacy to mandate that training of foreign security forces by the US government and private contractors require courses in international human rights and humanitarian law; that the US government track the human rights record of those it trains; and that it establish an independent commission of inquiry into abuses by the School of the Americas and suspend SOA until the commission inquiry is completed.

In our women's rights work and legislative efforts against custodial sexual misconduct, we have focused on the female prison population that has been unfairly targeted and penalized for non-violent offenses. Our efforts have focused on a number of concerns related to the startling increase in the female prison population. One of the strongest linkages to this agenda are punitive sentencing laws resulting from the war on drugs.

We have highlighted cases, made press statements, developed state legislative strategies, and joined coalition efforts calling for enhanced community-based alternatives (such as drug treatment centers, rehabilitation centers) to incarceration, as well as calling for an increase in the number of such rehab and treatment programs specific to women.

AIUSA will be finalizing its approach on this issue for the 2003 ICM. Options include amending the ISP to include reference to the War on Drugs; incorporating the issue into the Research Review recommendations, and encouraging that the War on Drugs be considered in AI’s country strategy development where relevant.

There are continuing discussions in AIUSA--which are expected to lead to decisions shortly--about how best to advance thrust of this resolution at the 2003 ICM.