The Andrey Rylkov Foundation for Health and Social Justice is a Russian NGO, with the mission to promote and develop humane drug policies based on tolerance, protection of health, human rights and dignity.

La Andrey Rylkov Foundation es una ONG russa, cuya mision es de promover y desarrollar políticas sobre drogas humanas que sean basadas en los principios de tolerancia y de protección de la salud, de los derechos humanos y de la dignidad humana.

Cette ONG russe a pour but de promouvoir et de développer des politiques en matière de drogues qui soient humaines, tolérantes, et protectrices de la santé, des droits humains et de la dignité humaine.

Andrey Rylkov Foundation for Health and Social Justice

 urges countries to stop the war on drugs and provide full rehabilitation to the victims! On 26 June, the Andrey Rylkov Foundation joins the global advocacy campaign, 

, to shed light on the devastating consequences of the War on Drugs in Russia and its expansion into Ukraine. Collaborating with Drugreporter, the Foundation releases a short video exposing the atrocities inflicted by punitive drug policies, aiming to raise global awareness and demand urgent change.

The War on Drugs, a failed and harmful approach to drug policy, has faced widespread criticism for its ineffectiveness, racism, lack of scientific basis, and inhumane nature. Despite these concerns, conservative politicians worldwide continue to embrace this ideology, perpetuating human rights violations against people who use drugs and creating fertile ground for authoritarian leaders.

Russia serves as a tragic example of the consequences of global drug prohibition, where the Putin administration’s War on Drugs has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people and countless others facing imprisonment, torture, and discrimination. The government’s refusal to address public health issues, such as the spread of HIV/AIDS and limited access to essential medicines for drug dependency, further compounds the crisis.

 has been at the forefront of providing unauthorized harm reduction services in Moscow and documenting rights violations against people who use drugs countrywide. The Foundation’s work has shed light on the challenges faced by individuals with drug dependencies and the urgent need for adequate treatment and support. The Foundation strongly condemns the increasing criminalization and mass imprisonment implemented by the Russian government, as well as the suppression of information on harm reduction and effective drug treatments. It calls for accountability for the crimes committed in the name of the War on Drugs. It urges human rights and drug policy communities worldwide to seek justice and provide full political and social rehabilitation to the survivors of the War on Drugs.

As we observe Support Don’t Punish Day, the Andrey Rylkov Foundation remains dedicated to consolidating evidence, raising awareness, and advocating for a more humane and reasonable approach to drug policy. The dismantling of the War on Drugs ideology and the restoration of historical justice are crucial for a just and equitable society.

The global 'war on drugs' breeds monsters like Putin

On 19 June 2009 Kostya Proletarsky, a drug user and HIV activist, died of tuberculosis meningitis at the Botkin Hospital in St. Petersburg, Russia. His death was the result of three years of mistreatment and torture at the prison facility No. 4 in Karelia, Russia. In Russia, where drug treatment is barely available, imprisonment becomes the main “solution” to the problem of drug addiction. But unfortunately, these institutions don’t cure. Instead, prisons kill.

The animated hand drawn documentary, featuring the original audio interview with Kostya and his mother, Irina, aims to commemorate Kostya Proletarsky and many others who have not survived prison systems around the world.

This animated movie is produced by the Rights Reporter Foundation, narrated by Anya Sarang, directed by István Gábor Takács, and is hand drawn frame by frame by Lili Rontó.

The documentary film was screened at 7 film festivals around the world, and won the main prize of the 65th Hungarian National Independent Film festival, and of the Madrid Film and Human Rights Film Festival in 2020.

For background materials, press kit and other resources, visit: https://www.drugreporter.net/kostya
Or contact: takacsistvangabor@rightsreporter.net
For more information on the Andrey Rylkov Foundation, visit: https://rylkov-fond.org/

This video is produced by the Rights Reporter Foundation, a non-profit organisation, which is not supported by any governments or political parties. If you like our shows, please support our work on our website, https://drugreporter.net/support/. Make a donation today and become our supporting member.

Kostya Proletarsky - A documentary on the violence of prisons and the need to end the 'war on drugs'

The Andrey Rylkov Foundation has decided to limit access to its website with materials on Russian and international drug policy, health and human rights resources for people who use drugs. We have decided to temporarily shut down our website in light of a new government attack on the organization.

On Thursday, April 16th the major Russian government-owned news channel Rossiya-24 ran a prime-time news piece where they accused the Andrey Rylkov Foundation of distributing ‘narco-propaganda’, a couple of days after the Federal News Agency (RIAFAN) had run an “investigation” with similar accusations. The investigation was prompted by an earlier news piece, “Thousands on methadone withdrawals”, published by opposition outlet Mediazona, where ARF has shared the challenges we face during the COVID-19 crisis providing assistance to people who use drugs. The Mediazona news piece described people who use drugs as one of the most vulnerable populations, especially in Russia, where they don’t have access to effective drug treatments based on globally-recognised science and medicine and instead are forced into painful withdrawals.

The next day, Vasiliy Piskarev, the chair of the State Duma Security Committee, published a statement on the Duma website accusing us of attempting to decriminalize drug use and promoting drugs propaganda, and informs that he had passed this information onto the authorities in order to initiate a new series of check-ups.

Russian NGO accused of “narco-propaganda” over COVID-19 advocacy for people who use drugs

 especially because of the 22nd International AIDS Conference ‘Building Bridges, Breaking Barriers’ in Amsterdam. With the focus on EECA, the 

 contributed to the EECA buzz during plenary sessions, panel discussions and the communities’ zone at the conference as well as across the city of Amsterdam through various cultural activities. Together with our partners we did a great job and increased representation from the EECA region from 3,9% to 10,5%, compared to AIDS 2016.

We continued to implement a lot of projects. One of them was “Bridging the Gabs: health and rights for key populations 2.0’, which programs have been executed in 4 countries: Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Ukraine. We piloted an innovative approach in the project ‘Improved TB/HIV prevention & care – Building Models for the Future’, we had a lot of activities in Russia and supported the Andrey Rylkov Foundation for Health and Social Justice to deliver services to people who use drugs in Moscow. Also, within the project ‘Fast-track TB/HIV responses for key populations in EECA cities’ we organized study tour to Amsterdam for healthcare professionals, municipal representatives and NGO staff from Kazakhstan, Georgia and Ukraine, and supported 3 training seminars within the Cities Project in Georgia.

Elton John AIDS Foundation Emergency Support Fund

 together with Aidsfonds received funding for 3 years from the Elton John AIDS Foundation to manage the Emergency Support Fund for Key Populations in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. This is an important Fund for us because nowadays not more than 30% of people living with HIV in EECA can currently access the treatment.

All these results are only a small part of what we have done over the past year. Our goal is to keep the attention to the EECA region and its challenges. Therefore, we will continue to advocate at the international, regional and national levels for support for the key populations at risk for HIV, TB and viral hepatitis.

Eastern Europe and Central Asia: Right in the spotlight - Annual Report 2018

In 2019, February more than 40 womxn from Europe and Central Asia met in Barcelona to work together on intersectional feminism, drug policy, harm reduction and human rights, where the Barcelona Declaration was initiated. If you/ your organization would like to support the Declaration, please complete the form below.

On International Women’s Day 2019, we declare that the War On Drugs is a war on Womxn Who Use Drugs

The War On Drugs is racist, sexist, classist and heterosexist, and disproportionately affects womxn of colour, youth and womxn in poor communities.

As womxn, trans and gender non-conforming people surviving this war, we reject the widespread stigma, discrimination and criminalisation we face in our daily lives. We call for complete reform and transformation of the current system of prohibition. We call for an end to the ignorant and negative rhetoric.

Drug treatment services are gendered, classed, sexualised and racialised. Drug ‘treatment’ itself is based on spurious and outdated research, and allows unbridled and unregulated power over the individual. We reject these methods and the ideologies underpinning them.

Global and systemic oppressions violate our rights, as womxn, trans and gender non-conforming people who use drugs, and situate us in multiple, interconnected, vulnerable positions, which lead to numerous harms:

As womxn who inject drugs, we have a higher prevalence of HIV and Hepatitis than men. Despite this, we don’t appear in data and endure discrimination and exclusion from social and health services. The few resources we have tend to be masculinised and inaccessible as well as often not meeting our needs, interests or expectations.

We are disproportionately impacted by structural violence and social control from the State (policing, limited access to legal aid, extortion, long prison sentences, rape, extrajudicial murder and capital punishment).

The majority of womxn in prison are sentenced for non-violent drug related offences. Womxn of colour, ethnic minorities, non-binary or trans, and the homeless are particularly targeted. In several countries, we face detention in compulsory, unregulated ‘treatment” centres , often for indefinite periods with little or no access to judicial processes. Incarceration in closed settings creates a context for increased human rights violations, such as rape and extortion.

We often experience endemic violence and exclusion within our own communities and families. Not only are we more likely to be assaulted by our partners, but we are less likely to have recourse to justice and protection

We suffer intrusion into our bodily and physical integrity, maternal and family life and domestic space. We face routine violations of our sexual and reproductive health rights, by both community and state such as coerced sterilization and pregnancy termination.

Stigma that assumes womxn who use drugs cannot take care of their children and misinformation on the effects of drug use feeds into strong pressures to end pregnancy. When we don’t terminate our pregnancies, there’s a strong possibility we will lose custody of our children.

Those of us who are sex workers, and especially trans womxn and womxn living with disabilities cope with an unacceptable and compounded web of stigma, discrimination and social exclusion.

Despite living with these and other multiple forms of violence daily, Womxn Fighting back Against the War On Drugs are resourceful, enterprising, creative and strong. We possess remarkable resilience. We fight back against prohibition with solidarity, mutual support and leadership, building our networks from the grassroots to the global, from immediate action to long-term strategies to end this war on womxn who use drugs. We embrace intersectional and anti-prohibitionist feminism that integrated queer/trans-inclusive and non-ableist approaches, racial justice and the right to use drugs and experience pleasure. We work to reclaim our bodily sovereignty, including rights to the full range of sexual and reproductive health, gender-sensitive health services, and rights to use drugs. We do not ask for charity but for solidarity. We demand to live in safety and freedom.

This declaration is an invitation to join forces with womxn like us, womxn who demand an end to the War on Drugs and the negative impact it has on all our lives.

“Let us all cause some trouble and begin to change the world with and for women who use drugs with our powerful conceptual armaments in hand

Our bodies – our choice, our rights, our voice.

The Barcelona declaration

Auditorium Pictet B
Maison de la Paix
Chemin Eugène-Rigot 2
1202 Geneva

Monday 28 January 2019
17h30 - 19h
Followed by a reception

In 2009, UN member states set 2019 as the target date for eradicating the illegal drug market. Next year, the international community will take stock of progress and delineate the global drug strategy for the next decade. In the absence of a formal review for the last 10 years of drug control, the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) has produced a civil society shadow report, which assesses the progress made, or lack thereof, against the objectives of 2009. The analysis shows that the scale of drug cultivation, production, trafficking and use has increased exponentially over the past decade, and the negative impacts on human rights have been severe. This conference aims to encourage an exchange of ideas on policy and practice regarding drug control policies at the multilateral level and discuss how punitive drug policies impact the International Geneva mandates. The event will be available on live-stream here:

, Former Prime Minister of New Zealand and former Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, Member of the Global Commission on Drug Policy

, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the United Nations Office at Geneva

, Assistant Director-General of the World Health Organization

, Professor, International History, the Graduate Institute, Geneva

, Executive Director of the International Drug Policy Consortium

, President of the Andrey Rylkov Foundation

, Chair of the Global Commission on Drug Policy

This conference is organised in partnership with the Global Commission on Drug Policy and with the support of 

 and the International Drug Policy Consortium.

The lost decade in the global war on drugs

“It used to be that you’d be walking on your way to score, and if you’d see a policeman, you’d give them three 

 [about 10 cents], and they’d tell you to wrap your business up quickly because undercovers were about to bust the spot,” says Sasha, a 40-something heroin user from Crimea (formerly Ukraine).

In 2014, as the Ukraine crisis erupted, “little green men” started popping up across the Crimea—a Black Sea peninsula the size of Maryland dangling off the south of Ukraine. A “referendum” was held in which 95.5 percent of the population 

backed joining the territory up with Russia. In the political surprise of the century, Vladimir Putin later admitted that the mysterious strangers in green uniform were Russian troops.

Crimea’s history—and tensions reignited this week with the Russian capture of three Ukrainian naval vessels—is complicated. For all the international outrage, the 2014 change in power was 

bloodless. But for one group of people, it was life-or-death.

Once Crimea went under Russian control, the territory’s “registered drug addicts” found themselves cut off from their methadone supplies, which they’d previously got courtesy of Kiev. They were in for a nasty surprise when the new leadership bannedtheir medication, in line with the rest of Russia.

“They gave it a few days, but then the feds and the Cossacks got together and came down on the dealing spots. They broke arms, legs, everything.”

Rather than risk withdrawal, many went back to using heroin, subject to dodgy doses and harsh enforcement. Within a year, over a hundred of them had died.

Russia’s harm reductionists are once again under attack

The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), monitoring the implementation of the Convention by the States Parties, recommended Russia to reconsider their approach to drug policy. The CRPD was only recently established in the UN – The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities came into effect in 2008. Currently, there are 147 signatories. Russia ratified the Convention in 2012. In accordance with Article 35, the government submitted its first report on the implementation of rights expressed in the Convention, which was evaluated in 2018. At the same time, the Andrey Rylkov Foundation (ARF) as the Secretariat of the Russian Public Mechanism monitoring drug reform, submitted its 

, which highlighted the problems faced by persons with disabilities as a result of the repressive drug policy in the Russian Federation. The report stated that in 2013 over a million people with mental-health related disabilities (PMHD) were living in Russia. The estimated number of people who use drugs was between two and seven million.

In Russia, it is a widespread opinion that mental health issues amongst drug users are an effect of psychoactive substances. For this reason, instead of treating patients on general principles, they are subjected to repressive policies and unscientific methods of treatment, arrested by the police, convicted and sentenced to imprisonment. In total, 12 violations of the Convention were reported, including the general principle of non-discrimination. Upon examination of Russia’s report on the implementation of the rights expressed in the Convention, CRPD created recommendations for Russia. The recommendations contained several suggestions based directly on the ARF shadow report. Accordingly, CRDP urged to take into consideration the recommendations for Russia put forward in October 2017 by another UN committee – the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR). CESCR expressed concerns of the level of drug addition and the punitive drug policy, which prevents drug users from seeking medical assistance, entering harm reduction programs and imprisons them for drug-related crimes. Consequently, CESCR recommended Russia to reconsider imprisonment for drug possession and start combating the stigma towards drug addicts, providing them medical assistance, adopting harm reduction programs and take more effective measures to diminish the spread of HIV/AIDS.

The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recommends Russia to change their drug policy approach

Since 2009, we provide harm reduction services to people who use drugs in Moscow. The political and financial climate as well as the epidemiologic situation are not very supportive for our work - Russia still has one of the fastest growing HIV epidemics in the world with more than 1 million cases being registered and more then 50 000 HIV positive people living in Moscow. Officially registered number of people who use drugs living in Moscow is over 30 000 people. Unsafe injection of drugs is still the major cause of HIV transmission in Russia (more than 60% of all new cases), HIV epidemic is escalating in the country and its capital, but the government still denies the effectiveness of harm reduction measures and provides zero support to NGOs working on HIV prevention among key affected populations. Russian drug policy is still known as one of the most conservative and repressive among those around the world - it continues to declare a zero tolerance towards drug use inflaming the stigma and discrimination towards people who use drugs because of their drug dependence and primarily they are considered not as patients who need proper treatment and support but as criminals. It restricts the access for drug users to vitally important for them information on health issues and to the health services needed such as needle exchange programs and opioid substitution treatment.

Andrey Rylkov Foundation for Health and Social Justice

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