Rational
As drug use is still considered illegal in Lebanon, drug control efforts result in serious human rights abuses: ill treatment by police, incarceration, arbitrary detention, and denial of essential medicines and basic health services.
Drug policies, and accompanying enforcement practices, often establish systematic discrimination against people who use drugs.
In numbers, 11443 were arrested for drug use from 2009 until 2013, for which 42% of them are aged 18 to 25.
How did it all start?
Working closely with service users and their families in one hand, and having to collaborate with the judiciary system on the legal aspect of arrested drug users on the other hand allowed Skoun to observe the areas that needed improvement. Understanding the law, legal procedures and what it include in terms of rights and responsibilities has been always a must have to drug users and their families having to follow up on pending court cases.
Thus, Skoun reached out to Law Enforcement bodies to create an open dialogue about the importance of creating human rights based atmosphere at detention places, in a time national reports hit the news on the reported ill treatment incidents by police.
Skoun launched its Know Your Rights campaign aiming at informing and empowering people with regards to their legal rights during detention and prosecution.
The campaign consists of:
§ Legal sessions with the presence of Skoun's lawyer to answer questions and concerns, for service users and family members.
§ Full day training for youth. The legal component was recently administered to Skoun's ongoing "PeerNet" program, which empowers young adults to become advocates in their communities. Following the training, and with the provided skills and information, participants design a campaign themselves that is specific to the needs of their school or local community
Objectives
§ Educating youth and persons who use drugs as to their rights in general and their rights during arrest and prosecution in specific.
§ Empowering families with the knowledge needed to process legal files more effectively and seek justice when rights are violated.
§ Produce a booklet that includes all rights and responsibilities of people who use drugs as well as informing people who are being prosecuted about judiciary procedures.
§ Produce a video that informs people about their rights, violations, and effective legal complaint mechanism.
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