Policing Drug Users in Russia: Risk, Fear, and Structural Violence

Abstract

We undertook qualitative interviews with 209 injecting drug users (IDUs) (primarily heroin) in three Russian cities: Moscow, Barnaul, and Volgograd. We explored IDU's accounts of HIV and health risk. Policing practices and how these violate health and self, emerged as a primary theme. Findings show that policing practices violate health and rights directly, but also indirectly, through the reproduction of social suffering. Extrajudicial policing practices produce fear and terror in the day-to-day lives of drug injectors, and ranged from the mundane (arrest without legal justification; the planting of evidence to expedite arrest or detainment; and the extortion of money or drugs for police gain) to the extreme (physical violence as a means of facilitating “confession” and as an act of “moral” punishment without legal cause or rationale; the use of methods of “torture”; and rape). We identify the concept of police bespredel—living with the sense that there are “no limits” to police power—as a key to perpetuating fear and terror, internalized stigma, and a sense of fatalist risk acceptance. Police besprediel is analyzed as a form of structural violence, contributing to “oppression illness.” Yet, we also identify cases of resistance to such oppression, characterized by strategies to preserve dignity and hope. We identify hope for change as a resource of risk reduction as well as escape, if only temporarily, from the pervasiveness of social suffering. Future drug use(r)-related policies, and the state responses they sponsor, should set out to promote public health while protecting human rights, hope, and dignity.

RÉSUMÉ

Maintenir l’ordre parmis les consommateurs de drogues en Russie: Risques, crainte, et violence structurales

Nous avons effectué des entrevues qualitatives auprès de 209 utilisateurs de drogues injectables (UDI) (principalement d’héroïne) dans trois villes de Russie: Moscou, Barnaoul et Volgograd. Le point de vue des UDI sur le VIH et la prise de risques pour la santé ont été exploré. Les pratiques policières ainsi que la façon dont celles-ci violent l’individu ainsi que sa santé ont émergé comme un thème principal. Les résultats montrent que les pratiques policières violent directement la santé et les droits des individus, mais aussi indirectement par la production de souffrances sociales. Les pratiques policières extrajudiciaires produisent de la peur et de la terreur dans le quotidien des UDI, allant de pratiques plus communes (arrestation sans justification; installation de preuves afin de faciliter l’arrestation et la détention; extorsion d’argent et de drogues au profit de la police) à des pratiques extrêmes (violence physique comme moyen de faciliter la «confession» et acte de punition «morale» sans raison légale ou rationnelle; utilisation de méthodes de «torture»; et viol). Nous avons identifié le concept de police bespredel–vivre avec le sentiment qu’il n’y a pas de limite au pouvoir de la police-comme un facteur clé dans la perpétuation de la peur et la terreur, ainsi que du stigma intériorisé et du sentiment fataliste d’acceptation du risque. La «police bespredel» est considérée comme une forme de violence structurelle contribuant à la «maladie de l’oppression». De plus, nous avons aussi constaté des cas de résistance à cette oppression caractérisée par des stratégies de préservation de la dignité et de l’espoir. Nous avons identifié l’espoir de changement comme une ressource de réduction du risque et une échappatoire, quelque fois temporaire, à

RESUMEN

Controlando a drogadictos en Rusia: riesgo, miedo y violencia estructural

Emprendimos entrevistas cualitativas con 209 usuarios de drogas (principalmente heroína) en tres ciudades Rusas: Mosco, Barnaul, y Volgograd. Exploramos cuentos de los inyectores sobre VIH y de riesgos de salud. Las prácticas de la policía y como estos violan la salud y el ‘personal’ emergieron como temas principales. Resultados demuestran que las prácticas de policía violan derechos de salud y derechos humanos no solo directamente pero también indirectamente, por la reproducción de sufrimiento social. Las prácticas de la policía extrajudicial producen temor y terror en la vida diaria de inyectores, y oscilan entre el mundano (detención sin justificación legal; la plantación de evidencia para expedir el arresto o detención; extorsión de dinero o drogas para ganancia policial) hasta el extremo (violencia física como un método de ‘tortura’; y violación sexual). Identificamos el concepto de bespredel policial – viviendo con el sentido que no hay “limites” al poder policial – como una llave de perpetuar temor y terror, estigma internalizado, y un sentido fatalista de aceptación de riesgo. ‘Bespredel policial’ es analizado como una forma de violencia estructural, contribuyendo a la ‘enfermedad de opresión’. Pero también, identificamos casos de resistencia a esa opresión, caracterizado por estrategias de preservar dignidad y esperanza. Identificamos esperanza para el cambio como un recurso de reducción de riesgo y también la fuga, aun temporario, de la omnipresencia de sufrimiento social. Políticas de drogas en el futuro, y las respuestas que fomenta el ‘estado’, deben promover salud publica y al mismo tiempo proteger derechos humanos, la esperanza y la dignidad humana.

Keywords :

• injecting drug use
• human rights
• HIV/AIDS
• risk
• fear
• police
• Russia
• structural violence, oppression illness

Notes

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6 Westermeyer, J. (1976) The pro-heroin effects of anti-opium laws, Arch Gen Psychiatry, 33:1135–1139.

7 McCoy AW. The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade. Brooklyn, NY, Lawrence Hill Books, 1991.

8 Molly Charles, Dave Bewley-Taylor and Amanda Neidpath (2005). Briefing paper Ten, October 2005. Drug Policy in India: Compounding the Harm? The Beckley Foundation Drug Policy Programme.

9 Ibid.

10 Legal and Policy Concerns related to IDU Harm Reduction in SAARC Countries. (2007).A Review commissioned by UNODC Regional Office for South Asia. Lawyers Collective HIV/AIDS Unit.

11 WHO 2001. Regional Health Forum. WHO South East Asia Region. Volume 5, Number 1, 2001

12 Ibid.

13 Ibid.

14 Drug Use and HIV Vulnerability – Policy Research Study in Asia (2000). Task Force on Drug Use and HIV Vulnerability. UNAIDS, UNODCCP.

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20 Molly Charles, Dave Bewley-Taylor and Amanda Neidpath (2005). Briefing paper Ten, October 2005. Drug Policy in India: Compounding the Harm? The Beckley Foundation Drug Policy Programme.

21 Dorabjee JD, Samson LJ (2000). A multi-centre rapid assessment of injecting drug use in India. International Journal of Drug Policy 2000;11:99–112.

22 McCoy AW. The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade. Brooklyn, NY. Lawrence Hill Books, 1991.

23 Westermeyer, J. (1976) The pro-heroin effects of anti-opium laws, Arch Gen Psychiatry, 33:1135–1139.

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25 Assessment of Compulsory Treatment of people who use drugs in Cambodia, China, Malaysia and Viet Nam: an application of selected human rights principles. WHO WPRO 2009.

26 Ibid.

27 Theodore M. Hammett, Zunyou Wu, Tran Tien Duc, David Stephens, Sheena Sullivan, Wei Liu, Yi Chen, Doan Ngu & Don C. Des Jarlais. (2007) ‘Social evils’ and harm reduction: the evolving policy environment for human immunodeficiency virus prevention among injection drug users in China and Vietnam. Addiction, 103, 137–145.

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29 Zunyou Wu, Sheena G Sullivan, Yu Wang, Mary Jane Rotheram-Borus, Roger Detels (2007). Evolution of Chinas response to HIV/AIDS. The Lancet, Vol 369. www.thelancet.com.

30 Zou K.

31 Zunyou Wu, et al. 2007.

32 Zonyou Wu (2009). Presentation at the UN Regional Task Force on Injecting Drug Use and HIV/AIDS in Asia and the Pacific Meeting. July 2009.

33 Zunyou Wu, et al. 2007.

34 Asia Regional HIV/AIDS Project. Law Enforcement Manual 2005.

35 Theodore M. Hammett, Zunyou Wu, Tran Tien Duc, David Stephens, Sheena Sullivan, Wei Liu, Yi Chen, Doan Ngu & Don C. Des Jarlais. (2007) ‘Social evils’ and harm reduction: the evolving policy environment for human immunodeficiency virus prevention among injection drug users in China and Vietnam. Addiction, 103, 137–145.

36 Rittel, H.W.J., and Webber, M.M. (1973). Dilemmas in a general theory of planning. Policy Science, 4: 155–169.

37 This issues is discussed with appropriate citations in Logan, TK; Walker, R; Jordan C.E. and Leukefeld, C.G. (2006) Women and victimization: Contributing factors, interventions, and implications. Washing, DC: American psychological Association, p. 78.