Fédération addiction aims to create a network of professionals to guide alcohol and drug users towards a trans-disciplinary and medico-psycho-social approach to addictions.

Federation Addiction ofrece un espacio de diálogo para expertos especializados en aéreas relacionadas con las drogas (tratamiento, reducción de daños, prevención, investigación, educación, justicia, etc.). La misión de Federation Addiction es de incluir la dependencia de drogas en un contexto social, económico e ideológico más amplio.

La Fédération addiction a pour but de constituer un réseau au service des professionnels accompagnant les usagers dans une approche médico psycho sociale et transdisciplinaire des addictions.

Fédération Addiction

El IDPC se une a más de 30 organizaciones de todo el mundo que piden que se ponga fin a la operación Yukthiya y que, en su lugar, se allane el acceso voluntario a una atención basada en pruebas. Más información, en inglés, está disponible abajo.

We, the undersigned organisations, are deeply concerned about the drastic intensification of anti- drug operations in Sri Lanka leading to significant human rights violations.

On 17 December 2023 the Acting Inspector General of Police Deshabandu Tennekoon, with the endorsement of Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles, spearheaded an operation titled “Yukthiya”, with the stated aim of controlling “the drug menace”. The operation is ongoing as of 10 January 2024, with at least one thousand persons arrested daily.

This operation is unfolding in a context of already severe repression against persons who use or are suspected of using drugs, who suffer discrimination and stigma within the Sri Lankan criminal justice system and society.

Alongside the Sri Lankan police, members of the armed forces have been supporting this operation, during which several human rights violations have been reported. These violations include alleged arbitrary arrests, primarily against individuals from marginalised socio-economic communities; searches conducted without warrants or reasonable suspicion; and degrading treatment including strip searches in public as well as cavity searches. The searches and arrests have been televised, in violation not only of the right to privacy (and of basic human dignity) but also of a person’s right to be presumed innocent. According to lawyers, persons are being arrested even when no drugs are found in their possession, simply for having been arrested for drug offences or having been sent to compulsory rehabilitation in the past. The arrests of main livelihood earners and mothers have adversely impacted the ability of families to meet their basic needs during a time of economic crisis in Sri Lanka, and the wellbeing of children.

Persons are being arrested primarily under Section 54A of the Poisons, Opium and Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, an offence which is non-bailable. As a result, those arrested are bound to spend time (sometimes months) in pretrial detention, thereby exacerbating already poor conditions of imprisonment in an overburdened prison system. The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka has previously stated that the existing prison conditions and treatment of incarcerated persons are “inhumane and degrading.”At present, as per statistics issued by the Department of Prisons, the level of overcrowding of the prison system is at nearly 200% - with punitive drug policies playing a significant role: as of 2022, 63% of convicted persons were sentenced for drug-related offences.

The total reported number of arrests pursuant to operation Yukthiya has exceeded 29,000 as of 9 January 2024, while nearly 1,500 people are in administrative detention in police custody for further investigation.  At least 1,600 more persons have been sent for compulsory drug rehabilitation, in violation of several fundamental rights; including the right to the highest attainable standard of health, which includes the right to consent to and withdraw from medical treatment. “Drug treatment” in these centres is abstinence-based, essential harm reduction services are not available, and persons undergo severe withdrawal symptoms without any medical assistance while in detention. The use of violence to discipline and punish has been reported in at least two compulsory drug rehabilitation centres which are within the purview of the Bureau of the Commissioner General for Rehabilitation and are operated by the military, which is in itself a violation of international standards.

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in its statement at the conclusion of its visit to Sri Lanka in 2017 expressed concern regarding the involvement of military personnel in drug treatment and rehabilitation, the fact that strenuous physical exercise was the core component of compulsory drug treatment, and at the lack of trained professionals to monitor the health of people in detention. Furthermore, the statement highlighted the irregularities in the judicial process by which persons were sent to drug rehabilitation centres without a medical assessment.

More broadly, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture has highlighted that by denying persons access to substitution therapies, states are subjecting “a large group of people to severe physical pain, suffering and humiliation, effectively punishing them for using drugs and trying to coerce them into abstinence.” The Special Rapporteur has further stated “forcible testing of people who use drugs without respecting their autonomy and their right to informed consent may constitute degrading treatment, especially in detention settings. States are obliged to respect the enjoyment of the right to health, including by refraining from using coercive medical treatment. The requirement of informed consent, including the right to refuse treatment, should be observed in administering any treatment for drug dependence.”

Since the 2016 UN General Assembly Special Session on drugs, there is international consensus on pursuing a holistic and health and human rights-based approach to drugs, which encompasses supply and demand reduction as well as harm reduction. The 2019 Ministerial Declaration on drugs – the current global drug policy document - as well as multiple resolutions of the UN General Assembly, the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs, and the UN Human Rights Council reiterate and recommend a similar approach.

A punitive and militarised approach to drug control contravenes recognised international human rights standards and guidelines, is ineffective to protect individual and public health, and ultimately fails to make communities safer.

Africa Network of People Who Use Drugs (AfricaNPUD) (Africa)

Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN) (Asia)

Association for Humane Drug Policy (Norway)

Centre on Drug Policy Evaluation (CDPE) (Canada)

Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS) (Argentina)

Corporación Acción Técnica Social (Colombia)

Correlation - European Harm Reduction Network (Europe)

Drug Harm Reduction Advocacy Network Nigeria (Nigeria)

Foreningen Tryggere Ruspolitikk /Safer Drug Policies (Norway)

GREA - Groupement Romand d'Etudes des Addictions (Switzerland)

Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (Poland)

International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)

International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) (Global)

International Network of People who Use Drugs (INPUD) (Global)

Skoun, Lebanese Addictions Centre (Lebanon)

Zimbabwe Civil Liberties and Drug Network (Zimbabwe)

Sri Lanka: Alto a las operaciones antidroga abusivas y liberación de las personas detenidas arbitrariamente

 27 de febrero de 2024 / 14:00 (Londres) - 

Esta novena edición del seminario web del IDPC sobre la Comisión de Estupefacientes de las Naciones Unidas (CND) se centra en su 

 (y examen de mitad de período de la Declaración de 2019), que tendrá lugar en Viena del 12 al 22 de marzo de 2022.

El seminario web arrojará luz sobre cuestiones clave que tienen vocación a estructurar los debates, discutirá las resoluciones presentadas y las oportunidades de influencia, y mostrará la experiencia de la membresía de la red IDPC en la navegación y la utilización de este foro para la incidencia política.

Este evento estará disponible en inglés, español y francés.

CND 67: Temas clave y oportunidades

Durante la sesión se produjo la adopción de la nueva Estructura del Grupo de Trabajo y Grupo Central del CSFD, pero genera grave inquietud la falta de financiamiento para la estructura. Más información, en inglés, está disponible abajo.

The CSFD mandate is renewed in 2021 and the CSFD now consists of 43 different CSOs, active in the field of drug demand reduction. The 2021 CSFD Plenary Meeting was organised on 6 and 7 October as a virtual session. It was attended by members of the CSFD, and representatives of the EC - DG Home and DG Sante.

An important element during this session was the adoption of the new Working Group Structure and the election of the new CSFD Core Group, consisting of the Chair, the Vice Chair and the four Working Group Coordinators.

"I am happy to renew my commitment in chairing this amazingly diverse and productive forum, and ready to face with our new representatives of the Core group the upcoming challenges in strengthening Civil Society’s meaningfull involvement. The previous forums built a strong and quite exemplary structure to make sure CSOs are heard, and the value of the forum is recognized and its contributions are very real ; making our gathered NGOs real stakeholders in Drug Policy’s framing and implementation throughout Europe. This mandate will have to keep that perspective, and endure."

"Thanks to the CSFD Project funding, the past year has been full of activities. However, once the project funding ends in only a few months, we must rely on our resources and commitment. As vice-chair, I will support the chair and other core group members. I will also ensure secretariat support to the CSFD, meaning the maintenance and update of the CSFD website and the internal and external communication flow. I, therefore, hope that you will continue sharing your valuable ideas and thoughts so that we can fulfil our essential role as the Civil Society Forum on Drugs."

"During the upcoming CSFD term, I hope we can continue to contribute to the improvement of the implementation of the EU Drug Strategy and Action Plan in the Member States, and further improve our relationships with the European Commission and other relevant stakeholders."

"I hope that WG2 will continue to be a useful partner of the EU external action in drug policies – bringing a clear focus on public health, human rights, and civil society and community participation."

 - Chair, WG3: Linkage to National Drug Policy

"I have been working in drug policy since 2003 and have broad experience in coordinating international projects. As the chair of WG3, I aim to effectively coordinate future work following the Forum's extensive knowledge gained from developing the Quality Standards of Civil Society Involvement report and survey."

 - Chair, WG4: Emerging Issues in Drug Policy

"The issue of drugs is complex and ever changing. I hope that we shall be attentive to emerging and cross-cutting issues that are of importance for people who use drugs and their societies around Europe and try to offer solutions to address them."



The four working groups had the opportunity to meet and discuss issues to be addressed in the forthcoming period; more information on this in the coming months.

Throughout the years, the CSFD has tried to receive structural funding from the EC. Internal EC regulations allow only the coverage of travel and hotel costs during CSFD plenary meetings. In light of this, a dedicated and mandated group of CSFD members applied for funding in the EC Justice - Drug Policy Initiative Programme in 2016 and 2018. Both grants were awarded and enabled the CSFD to expand its work. These two rounds of funding have been instrumental for the CSFD to become a prominent player in the drug policy debate at EU-level and build strong ties with EU institutions.

Unfortunately, the latest proposal sent to the EC for a grant covering the period 2022-2023 was rejected. This means that beyond February 2022, the CSFD will have to continue operating without any funding. This is deeply problematic. Without secretariat support and funding for the core group and the activities in the Working Groups, activities and impact of the CSFD will be limited.

The CSFD is now discussing alternative ways for funding and has reached out as well to different EU Member States for support. 

Un renovado Foro de la Sociedad Civil sobre Drogas (CSFD) para el período 2021-2023

La Comisión Europea debería redoblar su apoyo a las intervenciones de salud pública y social en materia de políticas de drogas, e incrementar el espacio de participación en esta de la sociedad civil. Más información, en inglés, está disponible abajo.

The Civil Society Forum on Drugs, an expert group of the EU Commission, is urging the Commission to provide adequate funding and staff to drug coordination and support demand and harm reduction interventions.

The European Commission is preparing the new Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) to define budget priorities for the post-2020 period. There are many concerned civil society voices warning us that EU decision makers would like to deprioritise social and health programs while there is a growing focus on security, border control and migration issues. Drug policy is a multidisciplinary field that has strong connections to both security and health policies – and its health and social elements are often left out of consideration. The drugs unit of the European Commission, that coordinates work in this area, has been renamed the Organised Crime and Drugs Policy Unit and is seriously underfunded and understaffed. This is a significant obstacle to the strengthening of coordination efforts in the implementation of the European Union Drug Strategy and the newly adopted Action Plan for 2017-2020, an example of pragmatism, humanism, and evidence-based policies unique in the world.

The Civil Society Forum on Drugs (CSFD), an expert group of the European Commission, has sent a letter to the Commission recommending to strengthen drug coordination in the administrative structure of the European Commission, by providing adequate funding and staff to this issue. We also urge the Commission to prioritise social and public health interventions to reduce drug demand and drug-related harms in the new MFF. You can read the text of the letter below.

La sociedad civil recomienda a la UE que fortalezca la coordinación en materia de drogas

Más de 200 organizaciones sociales de todo el mundo han emitido una declaración denunciando la falta de reconocimiento por parte de los gobiernos de las devastadoras consecuencias de las políticas punitivas de drogas en la preparación de la cumbre sobre el tema que Naciones Unidas realizará el mes próximo.

En abril de 2016, los líderes mundiales se reunirán en Nueva York para decidir sobre el futuro de la política de drogas a nivel global, en la primera Sesión Especial de la Asamblea General (UNGASS) de la ONU sobre el tema en dos décadas. El Secretario General de la ONU, Ban Ki-moon hizo un llamado para que la reunión fuese “un debate amplio y abierto que considere todas las opciones”. Sin embargo, conforme los preparativos avanzan esta semana en Viena en la reunión anual de la Comisión de Estupefacientes (CND), está cada vez más claro que esta oportunidad única para repensar la fracasada “guerra contra las drogas” probablemente no dará los resultados esperados.

Suscríbase a las Alertas mensuales del IDPC para recibir información sobre cuestiones relacionadas con políticas sobre drogas.

Fédération Addiction

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Contenido relacionado

Sri Lanka: Alto a las operaciones antidroga abusivas y liberación de las personas detenidas arbitrariamente

CND 67: Temas clave y oportunidades

Un renovado Foro de la Sociedad Civil sobre Drogas (CSFD) para el período 2021-2023

La sociedad civil recomienda a la UE que fortalezca la coordinación en materia de drogas

Declaración de la sociedad civil - El documento final de la UNGASS: ¿diplomacia o negacionismo?