poledriver
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Nobel Peace Prize: Santos calls for 'rethink' of war on drugs
The President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, has used his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech to call for the world to "rethink" the war on drugs.
He said the zero-tolerance policy might be "even more harmful" than all the other wars being fought worldwide.
Mr Santos's government and the country's biggest rebel group, the Farc, signed a peace deal last month.
Bob Dylan, the first songwriter ever to receive the Nobel literature prize, did not collect his award in person.
He received a standing ovation nevertheless.
Has the war on drugs been lost?
Juan Manuel Santos: From hawk to dove
The conflict with the Farc rebels in Colombia has killed more than 260,000 people and left millions internally displaced.
Accepting the prize for his efforts in the peace process, Mr Santos paid tribute to the families of victims of the conflict.
He said the "great paradox" of peacemaking was that "the victims are the ones who are most willing to forgive, to reconcile and to face the future with a heart free of hate".
In a deviation from his prepared remarks, he asked the representatives of the victims present to stand and be recognised for their own efforts in the peace process, to much applause.
He previously pledged to donate the prize money - eight million Swedish krona ($925,000) - to help the conflict's victims.
"I have served as a leader in times of war - to defend the freedom and the rights of the Colombian people - and I have served as a leader in times of making peace," he said. "Allow me to tell you, from my own experience, that it is much harder to make peace than to wage war."
No war on drugs
Mr Santos said it was "time to change our strategy" on drugs, and that Colombia had "paid the highest cost in deaths and sacrifices" in the so-called war on drugs.
The term, coined by US President Richard Nixon more than four decades ago, refers to US-led efforts to stop drug production at its source. In Latin America this has included on-the-ground policing, and fumigation of coca fields from the air.
"We have moral authority to state that, after decades of fighting against drug trafficking, the world has still been unable to control this scourge that fuels violence and corruption throughout our global community," he said.
"It makes no sense to imprison a peasant who grows marijuana, when nowadays, for example, its cultivation and use are legal in eight states of the United States.
"The manner in which this war against drugs is being waged is equally or perhaps even more harmful than all the wars the world is fighting today, combined."
Cont -
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38275292
The President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, has used his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech to call for the world to "rethink" the war on drugs.
He said the zero-tolerance policy might be "even more harmful" than all the other wars being fought worldwide.
Mr Santos's government and the country's biggest rebel group, the Farc, signed a peace deal last month.
Bob Dylan, the first songwriter ever to receive the Nobel literature prize, did not collect his award in person.
He received a standing ovation nevertheless.
Has the war on drugs been lost?
Juan Manuel Santos: From hawk to dove
The conflict with the Farc rebels in Colombia has killed more than 260,000 people and left millions internally displaced.
Accepting the prize for his efforts in the peace process, Mr Santos paid tribute to the families of victims of the conflict.
He said the "great paradox" of peacemaking was that "the victims are the ones who are most willing to forgive, to reconcile and to face the future with a heart free of hate".
In a deviation from his prepared remarks, he asked the representatives of the victims present to stand and be recognised for their own efforts in the peace process, to much applause.
He previously pledged to donate the prize money - eight million Swedish krona ($925,000) - to help the conflict's victims.
"I have served as a leader in times of war - to defend the freedom and the rights of the Colombian people - and I have served as a leader in times of making peace," he said. "Allow me to tell you, from my own experience, that it is much harder to make peace than to wage war."
No war on drugs
Mr Santos said it was "time to change our strategy" on drugs, and that Colombia had "paid the highest cost in deaths and sacrifices" in the so-called war on drugs.
The term, coined by US President Richard Nixon more than four decades ago, refers to US-led efforts to stop drug production at its source. In Latin America this has included on-the-ground policing, and fumigation of coca fields from the air.
"We have moral authority to state that, after decades of fighting against drug trafficking, the world has still been unable to control this scourge that fuels violence and corruption throughout our global community," he said.
"It makes no sense to imprison a peasant who grows marijuana, when nowadays, for example, its cultivation and use are legal in eight states of the United States.
"The manner in which this war against drugs is being waged is equally or perhaps even more harmful than all the wars the world is fighting today, combined."
Cont -
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38275292
