Day of mourning scheduled at Russian Embassies throughout the world
On the 21st of July, the International Community of People Who Use Drugs will lead a Day of Commemoration for the victims of the War on Drugs at Russian Embassies in a sign of support for individuals living in that country. Russian drugs policies continue to claim thousands of lives every year.
Flowers, signifying the countless victims of the war on drugs, and white slippers, signifying outrage towards the brutal and inhumane relations that characterize drug policies in Russia, will serve as the primary symbols for this event.
Russia remains a country devastated by a quickly developing HIV/AIDS epidemic and contains an enormous number of drug users. According to experts, there are currently over 5 million narcotics users in Russia. Everyday, over 150 individuals are newly infected with HIV. The majority of these cases are due to a lack of access to clean syringes and needles, as well as a paucity of evidence-based drug treatment strategies such as substitution therapy and other prophylactic measures within the drug user community. Nearly as many people die everyday from overdoses. Families continue to lose their relatives and loved ones.
Effective, safe, evidence-based interventions remain illegal in Russia, and those individuals and organizations that promote the implementation of such interventions in hopes of saving lives are officially considered criminals.
Harm-reduction programs, including needle exchange, are officially accused of propagandizing drug use.
In Russia, officials claim that the effectiveness of opiate substitution therapy has not been adequately demonstrated, and thus is prohibited by law.
The consumption of any illegal substance in Russia is criminal, and lawmakers are currently considering the introduction of new, stricter legislation that will lead to the criminal prosecution of any individual convicted of using drugs.
On the November 1st, 2009, Russian activists placed flowers and white slippers at the entrance to the building of the Federal Drug Control Service of Russia in Moscow. This served as a sign of protest to the brutal practices employed against drug users and signified the need to change approaches to treatment and early interventions of both drug addiction and HIV/AIDS.
These actions resulted in the apprehension of five participants of the demonstration by the police, and in 2010 official drug policy became even more repressive and unjust.
Activities that draw public attention to the problems faced by drug users in Russia have serious consequences. The indifference of officials to our needs continues to destroy our lives and the lives of our families. We are now turning to the global community and requesting that you support us by showing up at the Russian Embassy in your own cities on the 21st of July, 2011. We will honor the countless casualties of the War on Drugs with flowers. We will express our protest of Russia’s inhumane drug policies. Lastly, we will demand that the leaders of this country answer one question:
What do you offer the citizens of Russia who are suffering from drug addiction and cannot stop using drugs?
As of now the answer to that question is unequivocal: prison or death!
Until the time comes when policy makers begin to take responsibility for the lives and health of their own citizens, we will continue to send them the white slippers, in which they continue to bury as alive!
Send parcels containing white slippers to the following address:
Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation
127051 Moscow, Rachmanovskii Prospect, 3
+7 (495) 628-44-53
www.minzdravsoc.ru
Tatyana Alekseevna Golikova – Minister of Health and Social Development, Russian Federation
Federal Drug Control Service of Russia
101000 Moscow, Maroseyka Street, 12
ФСКН России
+7 (495) 621-02-35
www.fskn.gov.ru
Victro Petrovich Ivanov – Director of Federal Drug Control Service, Russian Federation
Request: Please make videos and photos of each parcel shipped to the above-indicated addresses and names and send these materials to the following address for inclusion in a general message.