Detaining people who use drugs in Cambodia: A dual-track system

Reports focusing on drug detention centres in Cambodia have predominantly been concerned with documenting conditions and human rights abuses in the government centres, while highlighting the failure of the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) to adopt a human rights and public health-based approach to substance use issues. They have not focused as extensively on the underlying institutional, legal and regulatory reasons that help explain, though not justify, the RGC's law-enforcement-based approach to illicit substance use in Cambodia. Therefore, this policy analysis examines Cambodia's legal and regulatory set-up, in particular how the criminal provisions of the laws governing substance use combined with the administrative mechanisms in place shape the county's drug-related practices. This paper is based on a wide-ranging literature review of primary legislative and interpretive material; international human rights, public health and drug control instruments; research papers and international reports from multilateral agencies, international non-governmental organisations, civil society and academic experts. Qualitative interviews were also carried out with key international agency, national and international NGO officers. By examining the Law on the Control of Drugs (2012), the RGC's main law covering substance use, as well as relevant administrative provisions, it becomes apparent that there are two parallel systems in place for sending people to drug detention centres in Cambodia: one based on criminal law and the other through an 'alternative' administrative avenue. This division constitutes a structural fragmentation, or two 'parallel tracks', that provide law enforcement and other relevant RGC agencies with a wide sphere of discretion for how to address drug-related issues. The result is an enhanced risk of serious human rights violations for people who use drugs in Cambodia.