The Rehab Archipelago - Human Rights Watch

Organizations either did not identify a specific mechanism in their correspondence or did
not respond to the inquiry.
Human Rights Watch also sought information on whether organizations funding or
providing services in the centers were aware of any reports of human rights abuses against
detainees. In their responses, organizations either claimed that they were not aware of any
human rights abuses or did not respond to the question.
Omitting any monitoring of the human rights conditions of detainees means that project
descriptions, reports, and evaluations routinely point out the success of project activities
in drug detention centers while failing to reflect any human rights abuses suffered by
project “beneficiaries.” In this way, implementing agencies and the donors who support
them risk ignoring the widespread and systematic human rights abuses that their project
staff or “beneficiaries” witness.
The US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief/ US Agency for International
Development
In July 2010 PEPFAR issued a policy to guide its HIV funding for people who inject drugs.
The policy notes that PEPFAR-supported HIV prevention and intervention strategies
“should be carried out in a manner consistent with human rights obligations.” 303 Further,
according to US law, USAID, and State Department funds may not used to provide
“assistance for any program, project or activity that contributes to the violation of
international recognized workers rights.” 304
USAID’s monitoring and evaluation indicators for projects in drug detention centers
include indicators such as “the number of staff trained per training” and “[n]umber of
trainees receiving [behavioral change communication] message[s],” but do not include any
human rights indicators.
USAID did not provide any information in response to Human Rights Watch’s request in
May 2011 for details on reports of human rights abuses in centers in which it has been
involved. 305 Human Rights Watch repeated the request in July 2011 and USAID indicated it
303 PEPFAR, Comprehensive HIV Prevention for People Who Inject Drugs, Revised Guidance, July 2010, p. 5.
304 See FY 2010 Appropriations Act, Sec. 7029. The term “internationally recognized worker rights” includes “a
prohibition on the use of any form of forced or compulsory labor” and “and a prohibition on the worst forms of
child labor” (which includes forced or compulsory labor of children). See 19 USC. 2467(4).
305 Letter from Gregory Beck, acting assistant administrator, bureau of Asia, United States Agency for
International Development, to Human Rights Watch, undated [received by Human Rights Watch July 1, 2011].
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