Palestinian Authority

The Palestinian Autonomous Areas (PAA) consist of the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank. These areas are scattered within the territory of Israel. Conflict has been a part of Palestinian-Israeli relations for more than half a century.

The population growth in the PAA is estimated to be at the extremely high rate of 6% for 1997. It is also very young, with roughly 46.5% estimated to be under 15 years of age. In addition, the Gaza Strip is one of the most crowded areas in the world with a population density of 2,888 per sq. km.

These factors put a constant pressure on the educational services, the labour market and social services. Together with a soaring unemployment rate and little leisure time opportunities, they make the PAA society particularly vulnerable to rising drug abuse.

The scattered location of self-rule areas and Israeli security concerns pose immense problems to trade, travel and development. There are an estimated 2,000 km of roads in the West Bank and 168 km in the Gaza Strip, of which an estimated 40% require immediate repairs There is no existing railway system. After prolonged negotiations with Israel, Gaza airport opened at the beginning of 1999. Construction of a port is envisaged south of Gaza, which would facilitate trade flows. UNODC has incorporated an activity on port control which also targets this port in its new subregional programme for the Middle East.

The Palestinian economy suffers from a number of structural imbalances, some of which may be a direct result of Israeli occupation. Other problems are connected to the speed and imbalances of the process of state building in the territories. Some malfunctions of the Palestinian economy are also related by observers to the dominating position of parts of the PLO leadership in some economic sectors.

The Palestinian Territories are highly dependent on the Israel for import and export of goods, and approximately 16% of the Palestinian workforce is employed in Israel as commuting labourers. This makes the Gaza Strip and the West Bank extremely vulnerable to repeated closures of the territories by Israel.

In 1997, the economic situation appeared to be relatively stable. GDP grew slightly by 1.2% according to government figures. Other sources record a shrinking of the Palestinian economy in 1997 with 0.8 GDP growth. Overall, the Palestinian economy has shrunk in the 1990 at an average rate of 2.7% (1995-1997).

International support of the Oslo Accord almost immediately resulted in substantial aid flows. Since then donors have pledged US$ 2.95bn. in assistance under the Paris Protocol (1994) in addition to their traditional support to the Palestinians. Major donor countries are the USA, Japan, Norway, Saudi Arabia, the World Bank and the EU.

Allegations of corruption and a questionable human rights record have badly damaged the Palestinian Authority’s image with the Palestinian population and donor countries. In general, despite the hopes that the Peace Process would improve living standards and reduce poverty levels, the reverse has in fact been the case.

Overview of Drug Control Situation

The legal system with regard to drug control is not yet harmonised in the areas under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority. For the time being, in the Gaza Strip, the old Egyptian law on narcotic drugs is applied; in the West Bank the old Jordanian law is in force both dating form the time before 1967 and not amended to cover new developments such as the 1971 or the 1988 Convention. For some aspects, the relevant provisions date back to the Ottoman period. A draft unified law based on the model law for the control of drugs of the Council of the Arab Ministers of the Interior is under preparation in cooperation with UNODC and UNESCO.

The application of the International Drug Control Conventions remains to be agreed upon by between Israel and the PA. In February 1998, the INCB has fielded a mission to the territories under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority and Israel to assess the situation with regard to the implementation of the international drug control treaties. The government of Israel holds the view that due to the mixed sovereignty in the Palestinian Autonomous Areas, the treaties are currently not applicable in these areas.

The Palestinian Authorities have also reported that the division of the occupied territories in areas A, B, and C with differing law enforcement authority for the PA makes it difficult to pursuit and arrest drug traffickers.

The Palestinian Police Forces (PPF) reported small-scale cultivation of both cannabis and opium poppy in the Palestinian Autonomous Areas. The PPF efforts resulted in the destruction of 3,415 cannabis plants in 1996, mostly seized in green houses in the North and the South of the Gaza Strip near the borders with Israel and Egypt. It is believed that successful interdiction of trafficking has led drug abusers to resort to illicit cultivation at home on balconies or hidden in flowerbeds. Some 10,600 opium poppy plants have been destroyed by the PPF during 1995. No illicit drug manufacture of drugs or diversion of precursors was reported.

According to the Palestinian police, illicit possession of and small-scale trafficking of drugs is confined mostly to male workers commuting in and out of the areas under Palestinian authority. The most trafficked drug continues to be cannabis. Government data on court cases show increasing figures for consumption and decreasing figures for trafficking in the period from 1994 to 1996. Seized drugs include Bango (cannabis herb), heroin, opium cocaine, and sedatives. Court cases involving Bango increased from 59 in 1994 to 89 in 1995 and 125 in 1996. This parallels a similar Bango surge in Egypt in the past years, both in consumption and cultivation.

Heroin is seized mainly in the West Bank, where possession and illicit trafficking of amphetamines, Flunitrazepam (Rohypnol) and Fenetylline (Captagon) are also more widespread. Cocaine appears to be more prominent in Gaza. The latter phenomenon may reflect the purchase power of some parts of the Gaza society, whereas the former patterns may be due to both the influence of the Israeli illicit market and the vicinity of the West Bank to the trafficking route in neighbouring Jordan.

Under the 1995 Interim Agreement, Israel and the Palestinians agreed on a quasi-customs union. While the implementation of this agreement has been slow, future reduction of controls may facilitate the flow of goods and thus also trafficking of illicit drugs. In drug control terms, Israel and the Palestinian Autonomous Areas are thus intrinsically linked.

The situation with regard to drug abuse is difficult to assess due to the lack of reliable data and statistics. Drug abusers in Palestine are faced with socially imposed inhibitions to admit their dependence and seek treatment. It can however be assumed, that the seizure patterns and court case data reported above also reflect abuse patterns. In addition, NGOs report that abuse of pharmaceutical products (for example those containing diazepam) is common.

The only treatment currently available is in the psychiatric hospital in Gaza town and in an out-patient treatment centre in Khan Younis in the south of Gaza, run by an NGO. A non-governmental organization (Life and Hope Anti-Drugs Association) is inthe process of establishing a specialised centre for in-patient treatment in Gaza.

The Anti Narcotics Administration (ANA) in the General Administration of the Police is responsible for combating drugs in theterritories under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority. ANA participates in the Arab Office for Narcotic Affairs, which ispart of the Arab Interior Ministers Council. ANA also participated in the Demand Reduction Forum held in Abu Dhabi (UAE) in February 1997.

In addition to governmental organisations, the Palestinian Anti-Drug Council, established in 1991 and based in Jerusalem is active in demand reduction. Currently, it has 8 branches across the territory, working in the areas of prevention, counselling and treatment. The NGO Life and Hope Anti-Drugs Association is also active in this field.

In 1997 UNDCP (now UNODC) started a project providing multi-sectoral drug control assistance to the Palestinian Authorities with a total budget of US$ 717,000. The project aims at strengthening the law enforcement and customs capacities of the Palestinian Authorities through provision of law enforcement training and equipment and through the provision of training and technical equipment for the drug control laboratory.

The UNDCP project supported the improvement of the overall national drug enforcement and interdiction capacity of the Palestinian drug law enforcement agencies. One of the main activities implemented towards this objective was the starting of a law enforcement training series. This series is implemented by the Egyptian Anti-Narcotics Administration. It has trained 160 officers from the Palestinian Anti-Narcotics Administration in 1998/99. In addition, an advanced special session for training of trainers involving 6 Palestinian officers was held.

In the demand reduction area, the project will provide personnel with training in prevention, treatment and rehabilitation measures. The first training seminar is being held from 26 June to 8 July 1999. Finally, the project supports the establishment of co-ordination structures and the development of drug control legislation in compliance with the international drug control conventions.

In 1995, the Palestinian Authorities participated in a UNDCP-organized technical consultation on sub-regional drug control, together with Egypt, Israel and Jordan. Due to the excellent cordial relations between the Cairo Regional Office and the Palestinian Authority, the PA responded positively to the UNDCP request to participate in the UNDCP Technical Consultations on Drug Control in the Middle East (Track I), held in Amman in February 1999.