Chaubey and the drug war

Chaubey and the drug war

The execution of Ayodhya Prasadh Chaubey in North Sumatra earlier
this week brings to a close the 67-year-old's saga of failed
judicial appeals. The Indian national was initially sentenced to
death in 1994, after being found guilty of possessing over 12
kilograms of heroin.

Much of the recent discussion surrounding Chaubey has been
centered on the moral debate over the death penalty. While
Indonesian courts continue to hand out the death penalty with
regularity, Chaubey is the first drug smuggler, either foreign or
Indonesian, to be executed in over a decade. His execution was
the first carried out in three-years, the third in nine.

It is not our intention here to deliberate the ethics of the
executed punishment. The moral debate on the righteousness of
capital or corporal punishment is a costly and private luxury,
which deserves deeper contemplation beyond this limited space.
However, Chaubey's execution highlights a common concern for
those on either side of the debate: The growing drug epidemic
facing the country.

The authorities have towed the familiar line of zero tolerance
for drug traffickers and users. In the last four years, the
courts have handed death sentences to nearly 30 traffickers, five
of whom are Indonesian. Even President Megawati Soekarnoputri, in
a demonstration of toughness, recently rejected clemency for 11
convicted drug traffickers.

While we welcome this public display of resolve, it seems to
have done little to stem the bane of our community. Such is the
prevalence of the problem that a survey released earlier this
year found that, in one in every 10 Jakarta families, someone was
struggling with substance abuse. Between November 2003 and April
2004, the narcotics division of the Jakarta Police, destroyed
over US$1.17 million worth of drugs.

The saddest part of all, is that most of those addicted had
prior knowledge of the dangers of narcotics. Their addictions
were not borne out of sheer ignorance, but stupidity. Despite the
public campaigns, tightening control and slogan of just say "no",
too many of the young are still saying "yes".

It is even more ironic that every time a major entertainment
den is busted for drugs, there always seems to be the odd off-
duty security personnel caught for illegal possession.

Irrespective of whether the death penalty is an appropriate
and civilized punishment, we believe that more has to be done in
the fight against drugs, particularly in stemming the supply side
of the problem.

Executions, harsh verdicts and exhibitions of confiscated
narcotics are not indications of the success of the battle
against widening drug abuse.

Like the public destruction of confiscated drugs by the
Jakarta Police's narcotics division, Chaubey's execution, and the
promise of more against convicted drug felons, is nothing more
than a public spectacle.

The war against drugs must be fought on multiple fronts:
soliciting the young, in the courts, cutting the distribution
line and, especially, detaining the suppliers.

The convicted drug traffickers currently on death row, for the
most part, are minor players, links in the growing drug cartel in
Indonesia. For the drug trade, their arrests are minor chinks.

We have rarely seen major drug lords brought to justice.

Chaubey and others caught smuggling illegal substances are no
benchmark for success in the battle against drugs. While we do
not wish to excuse their actions, most of them are ignorant
individuals, who for one reason or another committed these stupid
crimes in desperate need of money.

In the dark world of the narcotics trade, these couriers are
expendable. For a mere US$500 and a return plane ticket, dozens
of people willingly line up to transport innocent looking
packages across borders.

It's time for the authorities to cease resting on their
laurels, and achieve more than a few minor arrests and incidental
drug hauls.

It's time to sever alleged connections between the underworld
and rogue security elements.

It's time for the police to clamp down on their own officers
who are known drug users.

Our young are falling prey to drug dealers. What is at stake
is nothing short of the country's future.