Les Etats devraient adopter des mesures immédiates afin de mettre fin aux cas systématiques de détention arbitraire perpétués dans le cadre des lois et politiques de contrôle des drogues. Pour en savoir plus, en Anglais, veuillez lire les informations ci-dessous.

Statement by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention

GENEVA (20 March 2019) - The absolute prohibition of arbitrary deprivation of liberty and the safeguards which are in place to guard against such instances apply to everyone, including those arrested, detained or charged with drug-related offences, as well as those undergoing compulsory rehabilitation programs for drug addiction. States must take immediate measures to address systematic instances of arbitrary detention as a consequence of drug control laws and policies, says a group of UN human rights experts*.

Arbitrary detention for drug offences or drug use can occur across criminal and administrative settings. "Administrative detention of people who use drugs justified on the basis of health grounds can lead to involuntary commitment or compulsory drug treatment that is inconsistent with both international drug control conventions and international human rights law", UN experts said.

Evidence shows that what is referred to as "treatment" in many treatment centers in fact includes painful, unmedicated withdrawal, beatings, military drills, verbal abuse, and sometimes scientific experimentation without informed consent. Forced labor, without pay or at extremely low wages is used as "rehabilitation," with detainees punished if work quotas are not met. These abuses are flagrant violations of the right to be free from torture, cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment and punishment and the right to health. Reported human rights abuses in so-called drug treatment and rehabilitation centers ("rehabs"), established and run by private individuals or organizations in many countries, are disturbing development. They must be investigated and remedied.

Denial of medical treatment and/or absence of access to medical care in custodial settings may constitute cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Equally, subjecting persons to treatment or testing without their consent may constitute a violation of the right to physical integrity.

In 2012, twelve United Nations entities, including the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the World Health Organization, the UN Children’s Fund, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and UNAIDS1 called for the closure of drug detention centers and the release of the people detained there without delay. Despite this call, many States still continue to use such detention centres. As an alternative to compulsory drug detention and rehabilitation centres, States should make available voluntary, evidence-informed and rights-based health and social services in the community. Where a State is unable to close the centres rapidly, without undue delay, measures should be established immediately. Such measures should include a process to review the detention of those in the centres to ensure that there is no arbitrary detention and that any detention is conducted according to relevant international standards of due process and provides alternatives to imprisonment.

States should also establish judicial and other independent oversight and reporting over the review and closure process of the centres; and moratoria on further admission into compulsory drug detention and rehabilitation centres of people who use drugs; and should adopt gender-sensitive and evidence-based drug treatment services , including harm reduction programmes, for women in detention.

UN experts recalled that in the outcome document of the thirtieth special session of the General Assembly, on the world drug problem, all Member States of the United Nations committed to addressing and eliminating prison overcrowding and violence.

Some legal policies and practices lead to overcrowding of prisons and other places of deprivation of liberty, including tougher law and order approaches, mandatory use of pretrial detention, disproportionate lengths of sentence, frequent delays in the judicial system, poor monitoring of inmate status and release entitlement, and the failure to grant parole. States should considers measures to ease overcrowding include alternatives to deprivation of liberty, such as diversion, community service, and administrative and monetary sanctions.

The principle of proportionality, which must continue to be a guiding principle in drug-related matters. Criminalization of drug use or consumption should be avoided by all States. Custodial sentences may be imposed as a measure of last resort and should be applied proportionately to meet a pressing societal need. In order to meet the requirement of proportionate sentencing, States should revise their penal policies and drug legislation with the aim of reducing minimum and maximum penalties and decriminalizing the personal use of drugs and minor drug offences. These measures can contribute to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda of Sustainable Development Goals.

At every stage of the criminal justice system, members of vulnerable and marginalized groups who use drug, such, minorities, people of the African descent, indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) persons are discriminated against, including facing arbitrary arrest and detention. States should take measures to prohibit discriminatory practices of arrest and detention of members of vulnerable and marginalized groups in the drug control efforts, UN experts said.

The comments by the UN Working Group of Arbitrary Detention come on the occasion of 62nd session of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs, which will discuss the follow up to the thirteen special session of the General Assembly on the world drug problem held in 2016.

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention

comprises five independent experts from around the world: 

 (Republic of Korea) Chair-Rapporteur; 

 (Latvia), Vice-Chair on Communications; 

The Working Group is part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms. Special Procedures mandate-holders are independent human rights experts appointed by the Human Rights Council to address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. They are not UN staff and are independent from any government or organization. They serve in their individual capacity and do not receive a salary for their work.

Check the Database of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

For more information, please contact: Ms Lucie Viersma (+41229289380 / lviersma@ohchr.org) or write to wgad@ohchr.org

Follow the UN’s independent human rights experts on Twitter @UN_SPExperts

1. http://www.unodc.org/documents/southeastasiaandpacific//2012/03/drug-detention-centre/JC2310_Joint_Statement6March12FINAL_En.pdf

Les Etats devraient stopper les détentions arbitraires pour délits de drogues, selon les experts onusiens

L'incarcération des femmes impliqués dans des délits mineurs de drogues ne contribue pas à réduire l'ampleur du marché noir, mais perpétue un cercle vicieux de victimisation et d'injustice. Pour en savoir plus, en Anglais, veuillez lire les informations ci-dessous.

States around the world must address the specific concerns of women in drug policies, say UN human rights experts. The call by the UN Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice comes ahead of a high-level meeting on 14-15 March 2019 of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs:

 “States must urgently take concrete measures to meet their commitments to ensuring women’s rights in drug policies and programmes. This cannot happen if issues and concerns that are specific to women remain invisible and neglected. In keeping with the Sustainable Development Goals, in which gender equality is a stand-alone goal as well as being incorporated in all other goals and targets, tackling the impact of drug policies on women deserves proper attention and visibility. Drug policies cannot be effective without addressing the root causes of structural inequality and discrimination which place women in a subordinate role in society, including in the family, often leading to experiences of violence, marginalisation and domination. Marginalisation of women, poverty, gender-based violence, lack of job opportunities and absence of social protection from the State, together with the need to support their family, can drive women into committing drug-related offences. The drastic rise in the number of women in prison globally is alarming. In some parts of the world this increase is mainly due to women being convicted of drug-related offences. Proportionally, more women than men are serving jail sentences in relation to drug offences. Despite their often low-level, non-violent and first-time involvement in such crimes, women are more exposed to health and safety risks and the risks of being caught as drug carriers and disproportionately punished. Women also face insurmountable barriers in enjoying their right to fair trial because of their inability to afford effective legal representation, judicial gender stereotyping and a lack of gender-sensitive administration of justice, which often do not take into account the mitigating circumstances, such as socio-economic deprivation or coercion and the generally low-level of criminality. The incarceration of women involved in low-level drug offences does not contribute effectively to addressing the world’s drug problem. Instead, it perpetuates a vicious cycle of victimisation, placing them in situations of further injustice. States must seize the important opportunity of this high-level meeting of the Commission on Narcotics to focus on women and draw on good practices from countries which have invested in providing them with support in the form of counselling, job opportunities, and access to services aimed at reducing harm and drug dependence. These drug policies and programmes must involve women at all stages of their development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. 

The UN Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice

 was created by the Human Rights Council in 2011 to identify, promote and exchange views, in consultation with States and others, on good practices related to the elimination of laws that discriminate against women. The Group is also tasked with developing a dialogue with States and others on laws that have a discriminatory impact where women are concerned. It is comprised of five independent experts: the Current Chair:

, please contact: Ms Hannah Wu (+41 22 917 9152 / 

 related to other UN independent experts, please contact

Mr. Jeremy Laurence, UN Human Rights – Media Unit (+41 22 917 9383 / jlaurence@ohchr.org)

Follow news related to the UN’s independent human rights experts on Twitter @UN_SPExperts

Les droits des femmes devraient être centraux dans les politiques des drogues, déclarent les experts onusiens

Depuis le plan d’action adopté en 2009 par les Nations unies visant à éliminer ou réduire sensiblement la culture, la production, la consommation illégales et le trafic de drogues, le constat est amer. La politique de prohibition prônée par la Commission des stupéfiants (CND) de l’ONU à Vienne est «un échec colossal». Jeudi et vendredi derniers, la 62e session de la CND n’en a pourtant pas tiré les leçons. L’ONU n’a procédé à aucune évaluation critique. Dans sa déclaration ministérielle, très équivoque, elle parle de «progrès tangibles» tout en admettant que la production de stupéfiants et de substances psychotropes ainsi que le trafic illégal de drogues ont «atteint des niveaux record».

Membre de la Commission globale de politique en matière de drogues basée à Genève et ex-directeur du Fonds mondial de lutte contre le sida, la tuberculose et le paludisme, Michel Kazatchkine est révolté: «Je suis frappé par la mauvaise foi de cette déclaration.» Les chiffres, établis par l’International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC), un réseau de plus de 180 ONG, parlent d’eux-mêmes. Entre 2009 et 2018, la culture du pavot à opium a augmenté de 125% et celle de la coca de 30%. Le nombre de consommateurs de stupéfiants et substances psychotropes, âgés de 15 à 64 ans, a lui aussi explosé, se chiffrant à 275 millions de personnes, soit une augmentation de 31% par rapport à 2009. Enfin, le nombre de décès (overdoses, VIH, hépatite C) liés aux drogues s’est élevé à 450 000 en 2015. Plus de 800 nouvelles substances psychoactives ont fait leur apparition sur un marché mondial de la drogue estimé entre 426 et 652 milliards de dollars.

Malgré l’échec, l’ONU poursuit le dogme de la prohibition de la drogue

Alors que la société civile et des experts mondiaux se réunissent à Porto pour la 26eConférence internationale sur la réduction des risques, 334 ONG appellent la communauté internationale à s'attaquer à la crise mondiale actuelle en matière de santé et de droits humains affectant les usagers de drogues.

Les derniers chiffres sur l'épidémie du VIH, récemment publiés par l'ONUSIDA, sont alarmants. Alors que l'incidence mondiale du VIH a diminué de 25% entre 2010 et 2017, elle augmente chez les usagers de drogues injectables. En dehors de l'Afrique subsaharienne, les usagers de drogues injectables et leurs partenaires sexuels continuent de représenter environ un quart des personnes infectées par le VIH. À l'échelle mondiale, six personnes sur dix qui utilisent des drogues vivent avec l'hépatite C, alors que 168 000 usagers de drogues seraient décédés des suites d'une overdose rien qu'en 2015.

Il reste à peine plus de dix ans pour respecter l'engagement de promotion de la santé et du bien-être, de réduction des inégalités et d’accès à la justice pour tous d'ici 2030, conformément aux objectifs de développement durable (ODD). Pour atteindre ces objectifs, il est urgent de renforcer le leadership politique à tous les niveaux.

300+ ONG appellent les dirigeants du monde à s'attaquer à la crise mondiale actuelle en matière de santé et de droits humains concernant les usagers de drogues à l'occasion de la 26ème Conférence internationale sur la réduction des risques  