Speech of A. Zelichenko at the Conference in Tbilisi, October 12-14, 2005
"Police and Harm Reduction - the Kyrgyz model of cooperation"
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I would like to thank you for inviting me. This is my second visit to Georgia. Each time I am here I feel "high energy" of this friendly country. Last time I told the teachers from the police Academy about Afghanistan drug expansion and I saw true interest in my colleagues' eyes...
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I would like to tell some words about the changes made since the publication of the report under discussion:
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By the initiative of a number of NGOs and government presented by the Agency of the State Drug Control with the representatives of the civil society, scientists, parliamentarians, practicing lawyers in August this year, there are four working groups formed. Their activities are financed by SOROS-Kyrgyzstan, and their objective is to change the drug policy through changes to the legislative base. Thus, the changes shall affect:
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The Criminal Code;
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The Administrative Code;
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Law "On Drug Substances and Precursors";
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Law "On Organizing Narcological Aid to the Population" - in direction of their further humanization.
For the sake of parity and impartiality we managed to defend the approach, during which two working groups shall be headed by state officials, and other two - by the representatives of the civil sector. As mentioned before, the composition of the groups is quite diversified including a whole spectrum of interested organizations and persons. In elaborating the proposals the world experience is taken into account, including the concept of "single dose" and other private practice. I want to hope that the new anti-drug legislation of Kyrgyzstan shall correspond to the spirit of time, shall consider all necessary novelties and tendencies of anti-drug lawmaking.
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On June 27 of this year, the Parliament adopted, and on August 13 the President signed the Law "On HIV/AIDS in Kyrgyzstan". The normative act had passed through a competent international expertise and is recognized fully correspondent to the time and situation. I would like to mention that the Law reliably protects the rights of those with the virus of AIDS and PLWHA. Those interested can apply to me to get acquainted with this Law.
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I was also asked to tell about the "Kyrgyz model" of teaching the employees of the law enforcement the philosophy, theory and practice of "Harm Reduction" and of establishing partnership relations with them. In the position of an International Consultant of the IHRD, I do not represent Kyrgyzstan at this Conference; however, as I witnessed the involvement of our defense and law enforcement agencies in the orbit of "Harm Reduction", I will dare to share my experience with you. I would like to state right at the outset that not everything is favorable in this respect even today; however, it goes without a doubt, that at present, the Republic has been significantly advanced in respect with the questions of "Harm Reduction" and relations with the law enforcement structures.
How did we manage this?
"Harm Reduction" in Kyrgyzstan, like in many other countries, started with the realization of the programs of needle and syringe exchange. Like in any other corners of the world, at the beginning the millionaires gave a hostile reception to such measures, perceiving them as the attempt to legalize drug addiction; they used to capture activists. Unfortunately, Kyrgyzstan was not successful enough to avoid a common mistake of having started the programs without preparing the police to perceive new rules in a due manner. Volunteers were arrested; there were stop-checks and raids to the points of syringe exchange organized, etc. It became clear that one could not do without contacts with defense and law enforcement agencies.
And NGOs applied to them. The agencies were extremely hard to persuade. They started with the pieces of information about the personal security of the militiamen. They taught how to avoid infections while supervising and personal searching. At the given stage, even the representatives of NGOs had to be obstinate and make some changes to the relations with the police: for instance, at one of the forums, a furious representative of the law machinery, representing the interests of sex-workers, shouted to me: "The militiamen have become too boorish. They say: "Do you want us to help you? Send to Krakow." Can you imagine this?". "Let send! Prostitutes may be sent, but not militiamen. How do you like that?" But she really sent them!
From bad to worse! They found so called "Key Figures" - advanced militia authorities. They were sent on a foreign tour to Krakow. At returning the colleagues told they saw the reverse of the medal. As a result, one of those collaborators was appointed in the post of the First Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, today heading the biggest sub-division of State Drug Control...
Afterwards, the defense and law agencies were taught everywhere. Great number of NGOs having elaborated curricula and programs including lectures, seminars, interactive types of teaching and role-games, got engaged in this work. The activists went to militia lecture rooms, took the employees out of town and organized picnics with them. A program for prevention HIV/AIDS was introduced to the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic; commemorative booklets on prevention were printed and presented to the employees of the organs of internal affairs. Lots of leaflets and booklets were printed. And, at last, there came an Order by the Minister of Internal Affairs "On participation of the employees of the organs of internal affairs in prevention of HIV infection", strictly stipulating the necessity for protecting the individual rights.
At the same time, the lawyers' network expanded. At present, many participants of rehabilitation programs have ID Cards with the lawyers' telephone numbers to call in case of their apprehension. After several won trials and managerial "reproofs", patrols prefer not to get mixed up with the clients of the programs, for it costs a lot for themselves. Not so long ago, a representative of a lawyer's clinic "Adilet" present here was able to make a legal precedent - the court totally acquitted an arrested with minor amounts of drugs with the past record of theft...
All of these activities continue till present. Besides, the newspaper of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kyrgyzstan "The Statya" having received not great grant from the Fund of Soros, got involved in the propaganda of "Harm Reduction" and in its issues covers positive experience in this direction. The Department against drug business of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic, having received sufficient literature and computer software tutorials incorporated the issues of "Harm Reduction" in the job training curriculum. This means that more than two hundred officers of militia, and mainly executive employees, were involved in the process of general education. By the way, the literature for them was gathered from every possible corner of the world: it was sent by OSI, Budapest, was presented by "Soros-Kyrgyzstan", local NGOs and Fund "Anti-AIDS" used to gather it, etc.
And the latest news: This year, the IHRD-New-York and "Soros-Kyrgyzstan" allotted great grant to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan to elaborate the training program for students and practical workers of the organs of internal affairs to study philosophy, theory and practice of "Harm Reduction". The fundamental difference of the future program is that it will not end with the money spent. The program after its pilot probation is planned to be included in the curriculum of the Academy by joint orders of the Ministry of National Education and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kyrgyzstan. The program shall be studied along with such significant law disciplines, as law sciences, criminalistics and psychology. It is supposed that other countries will also join this tendency in the future by the principle "Trainer-to-Trainer". The certain number of them shall be trained in Bishkek and the teachers of the Academy shall visit the training sites.
The program is being elaborated at this stage, and we will be grateful for any comments as how to make it more thorough and productive.