Call for end to anti-drug aid for regimes with death penalty
Source: The Observer
Call for end to anti-drug aid for regimes with death penalty
Human rights groups urge government to stop giving money to countries such as China and Iran
Jamie Doward
The Observer, Saturday 29 December 2012
Human rights groups have urged the government to heed the recommendations of an influential parliamentary committee that has told the government to stop funnelling money into anti drug-trafficking programmes in countries that administer the death penalty.
The Observer has reported how, over the past decade, the UK has given millions of pounds to help Pakistan, China and Iran combat drug smuggling. Some of the money has been used to train staff to spot potential smugglers and to supply sniffer dogs and scanners.
But MPs and human rights groups are horrified by credible claims that the increased aid has met with a corresponding rise in arrests which, in turn, has led to more people ending up on death row, including several Britons.
Human rights groups estimate that at least 400 people have been executed for drugs offences in Iran alone since March. There are claims that the Tehran regime has used the executions to eliminate political opponents.
Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/dec/30/end-antidrug-aid-cruel-regimes
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... what with all the people we have on death row.
I'd welcome the bad press from this.
