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ICOS Citizenship
The ICOS Citizenship programme combines innovative research and policy analysis to promote pragmatic responses to today's most pressing social challenges. ICOS aims to promote the values of citizenship and empowerment in communities at the grassroots level: processes of social transformation are achieved through multi-sector policy initiatives and joint responsibility. ICOS supports communities to become safer, paving the way for social and economic development. The ICOS Centre of Excellence on Citizenship is based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. New Approaches to Public Security and Drug PolicyRio de Janeiro, 25 – 27 February 2008
Download the complete book (PDF) Download the book by chapter (PDF) The phenomenon of illegal drugs and their impact on the public security field demands ever increasing attention from diverse countries around the world. As a challenge of global proportions, an international dialogue is needed in order to generate innovative and efficient responses. In order for our societies to progress, an adequate approach to meeting the challenges of illegal narcotics and public security is needed. The symposium served to bring attention to the public security poliy-making community the challenges posed to the public security field with the drug trafficking, and importance of drug policy.
Drug Policies
Public Security and Drugs: A Multi-
Disciplinary Vision
Public Security and Drug
Trafficking: The case of Rio de
Janeiro
Drug Trafficking and Organised
Crime With the population growth and hyperdevelopment in urban areas, a phenomenon of mega-slums is emerging, creating environments favourable to illicit activities, representing a growing challenge to public security. While organized crime benefits from the growth of mega-slums, and the mobility and ease of communication, adequate law enforcement responses become more and more difficult [Christopher Langton].
Strategies to combat organised
crime The Federal Police's combat of criminal organizations has been conducted through international cooperation in proactive investigations aimed at disarticulating their structures. Based on advanced techniques and with a legislation progresses, Brazil started the rigorous control of precursor chemicals, the criminalization of money laundering, and participation in an intensive exchange with foreign police forces, including joint investigations. Added to this international cooperation, the department is also concerned with the continuous effort of actualising, articulating and expanding its capacity to respond to emerging challenges [Roberto Troncon]. International coordination and cooperation is key if police agents and the justice system is to respond to the threat of highly capitalised criminal networks. EUROJUST is an initiative that seeks to improve the capacity of cooperation and coordination between member states' cases involving two or more states, on the judiciary level through de-bureaucratization, simplification and systemic approximation[José Luis Lopes da Mota]. The Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism (MEM) of the OAS is also a relevant initiative for the coordination of interstate cooperation on the combat of drug abuse, crime, and violence. As an effectiveness evaluation instrument of the antidrug measures implemented by the members, MEM makes possible the sharing of knowledge and allows the identification of regional weaknesses and vulnerabilities, while at the same time highlighting which areas require higher levels of cooperation [Abraham Stein]. Download the chapters (PDF):
1. The Makings of Brazilian Drug Policy Jorge Armando Félix, President of the National Anti-drug Council and Chief Minister of the Cabinet of Institutional Security of the Presidency of the Republic of Brazil, introduced Brazilian drug policy, noting that it was institutionalised just five years ago, under President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's administration.
2. The Drug Market Minister of Justice, Tarso Fernando Herz Genro, pointed to the multidimensional character of public security issues and the drug problem, which transcend class boundaries and require the engagement of a range of governmental institutions and civil society.
3. International Council on Security and Development (ICOS) - An Introduction The President of the International Council on Security and Development (ICOS), Norine MacDonald QC, concluded the first session by introducing the Council and the security and development paradigm that its work promotes.
4. Opening Address - Latin American Public Security Challenges: Regional Solutions
The first session of the seminar was on Public Security and the Problem of Drugs. Brazilian and international authorities, who act directly in reducing drug supply and demand, made presentations. Speakers demonstrated the impact of the problem of drugs on public security activities, and ways to minimize the problem.
5. Panel Chair The mediator, Vitalino Canas, Congressman and ICOS senior advisor explained that there is a confluence between Brazil and Europe regarding the multidisciplinary and multidimensional view on public security and the problem of drugs. According to Mr. Canas, Brazil avoids policies focused on repression and is today one of most progressive and innovative countries. As an example, he mentioned PRONASCI and law 11.343 (the updated Brazilian Law on drugs) which, according to him, demonstrates a progressive and correct concession.
6. Brazilian Drug Policy General Yog de Miranda Uchoa, Brazil's National Anti-drugs Secretary, started his speech evaluating the physical dimensions and geographical situation of the country, a structure prone to facilitating drug transit and consumption. General Uchoa described the creation of the national anti-drugs policy, emphasizing the integrated federal and state endeavours, and how it was updated and harmonized with the Brazilian Constitution and the UN resolutions. He affirmed that, in 2006, it was approved as law giving more emphasis to a drug user's recovery than gave to his or her arrest, as much as it emphasized the drug demand reduction.
7. The Federal Police's Systemic role in Drug Policy Luiz Fernando Corréa, Director-General of Brazil's Federal Police contextualized the role of his institution in the Anti-drugs National Policy framework. Due to the Policy, the Federal Police started to coordinate activities regarding the repression of drugs, also articulating with other governmental institutions, and transferring to state police forces the duty of investigating and curbing drug traffic. Mr. Corréa also pointed out focus points of the Federal Police: such as cooperating with foreign police institutions, improving intelligence, and expanding the institutions working capacity, in order to respond to the raising demands of its services.
8. The Complex Issue of Drugs and the Public Security Work Antonio Carlos Biscaia, the then National Public Security Secretary, discussed this issue from SENASP's perspective. Recognising the multiple aspects of the drug trade and affirming that the government's action should be multidisciplinary and coordinated, impacting at the same time, on a number of aspects. The Secretary emphasized the role of the law 11.343, while criticizing the judicial system's lack of efficiency in addressing each case. Finally, Mr. Biscaia described SENASP's duties, which initially only supported policies against drugs, but currently now, in coordination with PRONASCI, combines public security policies with social inclusion measures
9. Drug trafficking: International Cooperation in the Area of Penal Affairs José Luis Lopes da Mota, president of EUROJUST, affirmed that organised crime takes advantage of the opportunities provided by globalisation, and that the drug traffic is the most important segment of the international crime industry. Mr Lope da da Mota explained that the drug problem must be approached through multidisciplinary interventions, in order to prevent the harmful effects of over-incrimination. An increase in international cooperation and coordination are key elements for the police and justice systems to be capable of dealing with this highly profitable criminality, and detecting, processing and convicting those held responsible, while also avoiding harmful situations, such as incrimination due to poverty. Mr Lopes da Mota presented EUROJUST as a world class Juridical cooperation laboratory, since it aims to stimulate and promote Juridical coordination whenever criminal cases involve two or more states.
10. Political Rhetoric and the Gap between Policy and Practice Raymond Kendall, Honorary Secretary General of INTERPOL, and Senior Advisor to ICOS, explained that in the Special Session on drugs of the United Nations in 1998, drugs were seen as a dangerous threat to all societies. Given this, Mr Kendall explained that it is necessary to balance repression with the reduction of demand. Mr Kendall commented that Brazil's PRONASCI programme is an initiative which recognises that a multidisciplinary approach is necessary to tackle the challenge of tackling drugs and providing security. ICOS' Senior Advisor spoke of the inefficiency of periodic police operations in areas which the state does not control. In conclusion Mr Kendall highlighted the importance of security, and that security cannot be provided without development.
In the second session the speakers presented some of the implications of international criminal organisations, notably narco-trafficking organisations for regional, hemispheric and global security. The new groups, networks and criminal connections in operation in the world, and the actions taken to combat them were presented by the speakers.
11. Panel Chair Emmanuel Reinert, Executive Director of ICOS started the session introducing the negative aspects of globalisation in increasing the mobility and ease of criminal connections. Reinert also explored the "politicisation of organised crime" - criminal organisations seeking participation in local politics as a strategy to conquest the hearts and minds of communities and local leaders, in order to facilitate their criminal objectives.
12. Trends in the Global Cycle of Violence and Crime Colonel Christopher Langton, Senior Fellow for Conflict & Defence Diplomacy at IISS, explained the implications of globalisation, urban population growth, the diffusion of communications, and container transit, relating these factors with the increasing trend of groups operating outside the law in an organised fashion. Coronel Langton explained the principle tendencies in criminal groups and their sources of financing. He concluded that globalisation ever increasingly facilitates the activities of these groups, while making the task facing law enforcement more difficult.
13. Narco-traffic As A Threat To International Security Romesh Bhattacharji, former Narcotics Commissioner of India presented a case study of Afghanistan's heroin commerce. Explaining three facets of the problem: The trade in chemical precursors, the excessive profits of narco-trafficking, and the related money laundering of these products. Mr Bhattacharji gave a detailed case study of Afghanistan, where heroin export combined with the inefficiency of repressive and fiscal agencies, allows the Taliban to obtain more and more profit, contributing directly to the financing of the insurgency.
14. Illegal Drugs and Security: The Story of the Chicken and the Egg? Francisco Thoumi, Founder of the Institute for Public Policy on Drugs in Colombia, explained that drug cultivation occurs in regions where illegal activities can occur with greater ease. Thoumi explained that the production, as much as the consumption of drugs reflects un-resolved social problems in society, with a tendency to concentrate in the most vulnerable parts of society, exacerbating existing social problems. Thoumi critiqued repressive policies of combating drugs without preventative actions for their inefficiency, in failing to address the root of the problem, concluding that the challenge is to look for a solution.
15. Challenges and Responses in Brazil: The Federal Police Roberto Troncon, Director of the Combating Organised Crime Department of Brazil's Federal Police, offered an analysis of the phenomenon of narco-trafficking through the prism of organised crime, explaining the mechanisms adopted by Brazil in reducing drug supply. Troncon explained the differentiated approach of pro-active investigations aimed at disarticulating criminal organisations. The Director of the Organised Crime Department affirmed Brazil's interest in cooperation in combating drug trafficking at the domestic and international levels, and its will to increase international exchange in order to build the capacity of police agents, and encourage the transfer good practices.
16. Public Security in Rio de Janeiro José Mariano Beltrame, Rio de Janeiro's Public Security Secretary, explained the reasons that put Rio de Janeiro in the present public security situation. Mr Beltrame explained the extensive influence that drug trafficking factions and militias have over the favelas, imposing violence on people's everyday lives. The Secretary presented the work of the Secretariat of Public Security, where there is a lack of investment, equipment and human resources. The Secretary concluded that that the combat of violence should be achieved through the promoting human dignity, the generation of work and income, and social inclusion of at risk youths.
In the last session of the Symposium, the speakers discussed the consumption and traffic of drugs from a social perspective, such as legal aspects, and factors of risk and protection from drugs for youths.
17. The Role of Treatment and Punishment for Drug Offenders Antonio Nery Filho, Founder and Coordinator of The Centre for Studies and Therapy for Drug Abuse presented a hypothesis that an individual eventually uses drugs in order to escape from suffering. Mr Filho emphasised the importance of a distinction between different types of drug users, and the different types of treatment each may require. In conclusion, Mr Nery Filho highlighted preventative measures against drug abuse as essential measures.
18. The Special Criminal Courts and The Drugs Mr Joaquim Domingos de Almeida Neto, Judge at Rio Justice Tribunal explained Brazil's Law on Drugs, which distinguishes between drug users and drug dealers, passing from a retributive justice model, to a model of restorative justice. Mr Almeida Neto explained the importance of the Special Criminal Courts for processes involving drug users, as these courts permit more interaction between the Judge and parties involved. In this interaction the penalty is defined in a flexible manner, and offers educational or therapeutic outcomes, guaranteeing the individual proportionality in punitive measures.
19. Youth and Drug Trafficking in the City of Rio de Janeiro Dr. Alba Zaluar, coordinator of NUPEVI, explained the phenomenon of the growing number of youths becoming involved in drug trafficking and violent criminality. Dr Zaluar's presentation covered the themes of the process of re-democratisation in Brazil, the structure of the Military Police, the effects of informality in land rights, hypermasculinity, and was supported with data from various research projects. The anthropologist proposed pro-active and preventative measures aimed to anticipate crime and promote the socialisation of youths who in-habit "sub-normal conglomerations" where state institutions are weak and inconsistent.
20. The Rome Consensus - An Introduction Oscar Zuluaga, Special Representative of The Red Cross for The Rome Consensus for Humanitarian Drug Policy, explained that the principle of The Red Cross movement is to alleviate to human suffering. Following this, he characterised drug users and dependents as a group of people that suffer systematically, especially where policies are in place which discriminate and exclude them. As part of a solution to the problem, Mr Zuluaga highlighted The Rome Consensus, which supports raising the profile of the subject at the international level, educating youths against drug use, and the treatment and rehabilitation of drug users.
22. Concluding Remarks - International Council on Security and Development (ICOS)
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