Britain’s overseas anti-drugs policy ‘putting people on death row’
|
Version 0 of 1. Britain is supporting an overseas battle against drugs that critics say is leading to the arrest and potential execution of people either duped or coerced into becoming “mules”. The issue is a sensitive one for the prime minister. Theresa May has made combating people trafficking a priority for her government. But human rights groups say the UK is failing to recognise the consequences of its support for a number of operations abroad that target people being trafficked to smuggle drugs. Britain has been funding and training Pakistani drug enforcement officers to intercept drugs at ports and airports through a UN initiative called the Container Control Programme. Documents dated 17 October show that the UK has given almost $200,000 (£163,000) to the programme. UK officials are also mentoring and training Pakistan customs agents, the Home Office confirmed. Last month, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime revealed that the programme had led to the seizure of drugs at Karachi airport that were bound for Saudi Arabia. Three men arrested in connection with the seizures now face potential death penalties, according to the human rights group Reprieve. There is evidence that some of those caught attempting to smuggle drugs from Pakistan are doing so under duress – to pay off family debt or because a relative is being held by a criminal gang. In other cases, those smuggling the drugs are poorly educated and unaware of the implications. The UN special rapporteur on migrant workers is one of several experts who have raised concerns that some smugglers sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia are trafficking victims. Almost four-fifths of those on death row in the kingdom are foreign nationals, most of them migrant workers from India or Pakistan. There are about 8,000 people on Pakistan’s death row, many of them being held for drugs offences. Since the country lifted the moratorium on the death penalty more than 400 people have been executed. In a letter to home secretary Amber Rudd, Maya Foa, director of Reprieve, warns that the “UK funding for counter-narcotics programmes may be not only contributing to the death penalty and other human rights abuse, but even leading to the arrest and execution of some of the very exploited people it is seeking to protect.” The Home Office denies funding the programme and insists all of its overseas engagement work is risk-assessed, which includes looking at any impact on human rights. |