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Begin New Search Topic Criminal Justice Author Luis Felipe Cruz

1. A balancing act: Drug policy in Colombia after UNGASS 2016

Author:
Luis Felipe Cruz and Isabel Pereira
Publication Date:
12-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Dejusticia
Abstract:
This document is the result of a project developed by Dejusticia in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice and Law of Colombia and the British Embassy in Colombia, with funds from the United Kingdom through its embassy in Colombia. During 2016, two historic events were held to reflect about drug strategies in Colombia: the United Nations Special Session on the World Drug Problem (UNGASS 2016) and the signing of the Peace Agreement between the Government and the FARC-EP, which includes the agreement on the “Solution to the problem of illicit drugs”. In light of the commitments made by the Colombian State, there are challenges and possibilities for drug policy reform, particularly when hoping to achieve a better balance between a criminalization perspective and the recognition and guarantee of rights to populations affected by prohibition’s harmful effects.
Topic:
Human Rights, War on Drugs, Criminal Justice, Public Policy, Drugs, and Public Health
Political Geography:
United Kingdom, Colombia, and Latin America

2. Women, Drug Policies, and Incarceration: A Guide for Policy Reform in Colombia

Author:
Rodrigo Uprimny, Margarita Martínez, Luis Felipe Cruz, Sergio Chaparro, and Nina Chaparro
Publication Date:
10-2016
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Dejusticia
Abstract:
The war on drugs has been a failure: even though more people have been incarcerated, accused of drug crimes, the consumption of substances hasn’t reduced, the narcotic traffic keeps growing and the violence associated to it has increased. The drug policy in Colombia has focused on criminalizing and imprisoning the lowest-ranking members of the drug trade, who are mainly poor people that occupy a marginal relationship with the business and with society. And there is a particular tendency for single mothers, who haven’t been able to find a formal job, to get involved in the illegal drug trade networks, developing high-risk tasks which are poorly remunerated. This document, on the one hand, makes a diagnosis about the situation of women linked with drug crimes in Colombia and the impact that has in their lives and families. On the other hand, It also offers public policy recommendations aimed at mitigating incarceration’s disproportionate effects on these women, with an eye toward preventing such effects in the future.
Topic:
War on Drugs, Women, Criminal Justice, Mass Incarceration, and Drugs
Political Geography:
Colombia