NCJ Number
161044
Date Published
1995
Length
41 pages
Annotation
In this report Human Rights Watch evaluates the impact that counternarcotics policies in Bolivia have on human rights, with a focus on the effects of Law 1008 and on respect for human rights in the Chapare, the region that produces most of the Bolivian coca that is processed into cocaine.
Abstract
Bolivia has passed laws, created institutions, and adopted antinarcotics strategies shaped by U.S. concerns and dependent on U.S. funding. The United States funds and equips Bolivia's special antinarcotics police and has stationed a large contingent of Drug Enforcement Administration personnel within Bolivia to train and guide them. The U.S. counternarcotics assistance has, however, supported programs and policies flawed by human rights abuses. Under the country's antidrug law, Law 1008, Bolivians charged with drug offenses, no matter how minor, are imprisoned without the possibility of pretrial release and must, if acquitted, remain in prison until the trial court decision is reviewed by the Supreme Court, a process that takes years. During that time, prisoners are held in overcrowded and inhumane prisons. In the Chapare, the rural area in which most of Bolivia's coca is grown and cocaine base produced, antinarcotics police harass the population, barging into homes in the middle of the night, searching people and possessions at will, abusing and beating residents, and stealing their property and money. Arbitrary arrest and detentions are routine. Human Rights Watch recommends the reform of Law 1008 in its terms and application, the establishment of guidelines for searches, the identification of law enforcement agents, the review and reform of complaint and disciplinary procedures, the monitoring of disciplinary procedures, and reporting on human rights cases. 131 footnotes