The “Drug Law Reform in South America” Project, based in Peru, is focused on the functioning of the State penal system in South American countries where controlled substances are produced, transformed, transported and consumed. In its first stage, the project centers on the law-designing process at the Congress and the functioning of the penitentiary system. In the second stage, it is centered on the Police, the Public Ministry and the functioning of the Judiciary.

El objetivo central de CIDDH es de plantear, debatir, proponer e incidir en políticas públicas de reforma legal en materia de control de drogas y lucha contra el tráfico de drogas en América Latina, poniendo énfasis en los campos de la salud pública, el desarrollo integral de los Andes Amazónicos, la seguridad y el orden público, el fortalecimiento del estado de derecho, la administración de justicia, el control penal y el sistema penitenciario, bajo un enfoque de promoción y vigencia de los derechos humanos.

L’organisation péruvienne CIDDH est centrée sur le fonctionnement du système pénal dans chaque pays sud-américain où l’on produit, transforme, transporte et consomme des substances contrôlées.

Centro de Investigacion Drogas y Derechos Humanos (CIDDH)

According to the peru-based center for Research on Drugs and Human Rights, the policies implemented by the Peruvian government for over 20 years in alignment with the United States have failed and are the cause for major human rights violation against farmers in drug trafficking areas. The overall study was compiled by the Center for Legal and Social Studies in Argentina in collaboration with 17 organizations throughout the region. The spokesperson for the Center for Research on Drugs and Human Rights, Ricardo Soberón, argued that “an environment of authoritarianism and arbitrariness is reproduced with lack of transparency [and] accountability. This has ultimately led to a severe situation of violating the fundamental rights of the farmers that are suspected to be members of Shining Path or drug traffickers. This situation is maintained year after year under the pretext of fear and it does not allow to resolve the problems of poverty."

Keep up-to-date with drug policy developments by subscribing to the IDPC Monthly Alert.

Peru: Drug policy lead to human rights violations

Based on Human Rights Council Resolution A/HRC/28/L.22, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is planning to draft a report on the impact of drugs and drug control on human rights in order to feed into the 2016 UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on drugs, which will be held in 2016.

In order to feed into the report, a series of NGOs submitted letters highlighting the impact of drug control on human rights. Please click on each link below to read these submissions:

Keep up-to-date with drug policy developments by subscribing to the IDPC Monthly Alert.

NGOs highlight human rights violations committed in the name of drug control

More than 80 social organizations from various regions of the world condemned the enforced disappearance of 43 Mexican students in the context of that country’s “War on Drugs” and failed security policies, which only serve to spawn more violence and institutional corruption. We urge the Mexican State to investigate the disappearances and punish these crimes.

The consequences of the ‘War on Drugs’ in Mexico: executions and enforced disappearances of students

For a month now, 43 Mexican students—ages 17 to 25, from the teacher training college Normal Rural Raúl Isidro Burgos in Ayotzinapa—have been missing after a series of violent episodes that allegedly involved, among others, Iguala’s municipal police in the state of Guerrero, Mexico.

These tragic events, in which 6 people were killed and 20 injured, once again reveal the social cost of the so-called War on Drugs in Mexico and its failed security policy. Both have resulted in more violence, grave human rights violations committed by the security forces themselves, and increasing levels of state corruption.

On September 26th, about 80 students from the Escuela Normal in Ayotzinapa were held up by local police while travelling in three buses. Without notice, police blocked the road and opened fire indiscriminately, killing and wounding 26 people. The surviving students witnessed how municipal police made their classmates get into cars. However, they were never taken before any judicial authority.

Various Mexican State forces have been looking for the missing 43 students, discovering clandestine graves with unidentified corpses in the vicinity of Iguala. Victims’ relatives are waiting for the result of tests by independent experts to identify the bodies. However, as additional clandestine graves are found, more questions emerge in this already dramatic scenario regarding the quantity of bodies surreptitiously buried in that area of the country.

It is essential that a paradigm shift be effected in drug and security policies to avoid similar cases of institutional violence and corruption in the future.

Social organizations elsewhere echo the demand of victims’ relatives and Mexican human rights groups that a search-and-rescue mission be carried out for the 43 students. We also urge the Mexican State to investigate and punish these crimes, as well as determine all the political responsibilities involved.

‘They took them alive, we want them back alive!’

Abogadas y Abogados del Noroeste Argentino en Derechos Humanos y Estudios Sociales- ANDHES, Argentina

Abogadas y Abogados para la Justicia y los Derechos Humanos, Mexico

AIDS Foundation East-West- AFEW, The Netherlands

Asamblea Permanente por los Derechos Humanos- APDH, Argentina

Asistencia Legal por los Derechos Humanos- ASILEGAL, Mexico

Asociación Civil por la Igualdad y la Justicia – ACIJ, Argentina

Asociación de Reporteros Gráficos de la Republica Argentina- ARGRA, Argentina

Asociación Lucha por la Identidad Travesti – Transexual- ALITT, Argentina

Asociación para la Prevención de la Tortura- APT

Asociación para la Unidad de Nuestra América- AUNA, Argentina

Asociación Para Una Vida Mejor de Personas Infectadas/Afectadas por el VIH-Sida en Honduras- APUVIMEH, Honduras

Asociacion Pro Derechos Humanos- APRODEH, Peru

Associação Juízes para a Democracia- AJD, Brazil

Brazilian Harm Reduction Network- REDUC, Brazil

Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir- CDD, Argentina

Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir, Spain

Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Montaña Tlachinollan, Mexico

Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Universidad Católica Andrés Bello, Venezuela

Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas, AC, Mexico

Centro de Documentación en Derechos Humanos “Segundo Montes Mozo S.J.”- CSMM, Ecuador

Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales- CELS, Argentina

Centro de Investigación Drogas y Derechos Humanos- CIDDH, Peru

Centro de Políticas Públicas y Derechos Humanos, Peru

Centro de Promoción y Defensa de los Derechos Sexuales y Reproductivos- Promsex, Peru

Centro Nicaragüense de Derechos Humanos, Nicaragua

Centro por la Justicia y el Derecho Internacional- CEJIL

Colectiva Mujer y Salud de República Dominicana, Dominican Republic

Comisión de Justicia y Paz de Colombia, Colombia

Comisión Ecuménica de Derechos Humanos- CEDHU, Ecuador

Comisión Mexicana para la Defensa y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos- CMDPDH, Mexico

Comité de América y Caribe para la Defensa de los Derechos de las Mujeres- CLADEM

Comité de Familiares de las Víctimas- COFAVIC, Venezuela

Coordinadora de Trabajo Carcelario (Rosario - Santa Fe), Argentina

Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos, Peru

Defensa de Niñas y Niños Internacional- DNI, Costa Rica

Derechos Humanos Integrales en Acción, A.C.

Documenta, análisis y acción para la justicia social, Mexico

Drug Policy Project, Institute for Policy Studies, United States

Due Process of Law Foundation- DPLF, United States

Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights- EIPR, Egypt

Equipo de Reflexión, Invetigación y Comunicación de la Compañía de Jesús, Honduras.

Escuela de Derechos Humanos de la Defensoria del Pueblo, Venezuela

Fundación Memoria Histórica y Social, Argentina

Fundar Centro de Análisis e Investigación, Mexico

Grupo Interdisciplinario por los Derechos Humanos- GIDH, Colombia

Instituto Brasileiro de Análises Sociais e Econômicas- IBASE, Brazil

Instituto de Estudios Comparados en Ciencias Penales de Guatemala –ICCPG, Guatemala

Instituto de Estudios Legales y Sociales- IELSUR, Uruguay

Instituto de Género, Derecho y Desarrollo- INSGENAR, Argentina

International Drug Policy Consortium- IDPC

Madres de Plaza de Mayo, Línea fundadora, Argentina

Movimiento Autónomo de Mujeres, Nicaragua

Movimiento por la Paz con Justicia y Dignidad, Mexico

Oficina Jurídica para la Mujer de Cochabamba – OJM, Bolivia

Plataforma Interamericana de Derechos Humanos, Democracia y Desarrollo- PIDHDD Regional

Programa de Derechos Sexuales y Reproductivos de la Facultad de derecho y Ciencias Sociales de la Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina

Sinergia, Asociación Venezolana de Organizaciones de Sociedad Civil, Venezuela

Students for Sensible Drug Policy, United States

Unidad de Protección a Defensoras y Defensores de Derechos Humanos – UDEFEGUA, Guatemala

Washington Office on Latin America- WOLA, United States

Instituto Lationamericano de Seguridad y Democracia- ILSED

One month after 43 Mexican students disappeared

The 4th International Forum on the Coca Leaf, organised by the 

Research Centre on Drugs and Human Rights (CIDDH), 

the Peruvian Association on Coca Leave (APEHCOCA) and the Plurinational State of Bolivia, was celebrated in La Paz, Bolivia.

The forum was celebrated in a context of change on regional drug policies, the possible uses of the coca leaf and new approaches on alternative policies. This Forum gathered 18 researchers and social stakeholders from across Europe, North America and Latin America, to discuss the current role of the coca leaf, its production/industrialisation, future markets and modern uses beyond Bolivia.

This event was considered as a major success, not only by the organisers but also by the media that covered the event. CIDDH has monitored the impact of the event and has collected around 30 national and international media features and articles.

Attendance to the forum was also impressive. We welcomed around 180 people each day, including the official participation of Ministers, government representatives, local academics and coca leaders from Bolivia and the Andean region. Carlos Romero, Minister from the Bolivian government, opened and closed the event and participated actively throughout the event.

Academics, researchers, political leaders and government representatives that attended the event shared discoveries and reached important conclusions (Click here to read the conclusions). They emphasized the need to recover the usage of the coca leaf, both for cultural purposes and for wider use in order to benefit from its nutritional and therapeutic values and from its effects in modern medicine.

In addition, the panellists suggested that it was necessary to depict coca issues based on a more inclusive and extensive human rights approach, by remembering its cultural and ancestral claims, as well as its economic and commercial benefits. Considering this, the debates on the conclusions focused on regional identity and integration, health and the nutritional value of the coca leaf, the legal status of the coca leaf for exportation and the concrete experiences on business entrepreneurship to industrialise this product.

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4th International Forum on the Coca Leaf - La Paz, Bolivia

For the past few years, civil society in the American region has attached great importance to ensuring a fruitful and efficient collaboration in order to impact our governments, the International Drug System, and … the OAS. And we did win a very serious battle! After obtaining such as a burning issue as the War on Drugs to figure on the General Assembly’s agenda, we went even further.

We obtained a special mention of our position in the OAS report and in the Declaration, we were there at the Event (this participation actually happens to be the biggest participation of civil society in the OAS in the history, with more than 300 representatives). And, last but not least, our collective letter was mentioned by President Perez Molina himself.

We can really say we have reached a significant step ahead and can be proud of ourselves. However, it is needless to say that, as big as this battle is, it is still just a battle, and that war is not yet to be over, particularly in México, Colombia and Central America. We need to put in practice, soon any particular experience of change and reform. Ecuadorian and Bolivian high officials have recently declared to be in favor of discussing alternative approaches.

Letter from the Investigation Center on Drugs and Human Rights’ Team on drug policy reform in the Americas

The undersigned organizations welcome the open debate on drug policies that have driven some countries of Latin America in recent months. General Assembly to be held in the former will be an opportunity to discuss the limits and harms of existing policies and the possible adoption of alternatives.

In recent years it has become even more evident the need to discuss the scope and relevance of drug policy adopted in each of the countries of the Americas, as empirical evidence has emerged solid, broad and diverse that such policies are ineffective and have serious negative effects, especially if they are analyzed from a human rights perspective. Prohibitionist policies and the war on drugs have intensified violent conflict in the region, to create a huge illegal market controlled by complex criminal organizations. These conflicts are generally located in impoverished areas, further deepening the deterioration of living conditions and stigmatization of its inhabitants.

In our capacity as organizations promoting respect and effective guarantee of human rights we want to emphasize that the review of drug policy in the region is necessary both empirical and normative reasons.

From an empirical, evidence-based research, increasingly clearly show that drug policies are having a negative impact on human rights in the region. On the one hand, tend to repressive policies directly violate human rights of thousands of people, especially those that their redress, often without the basic criminal guarantees compliance, and those who are sent to jail, as they often face inhumane conditions, such as those associated with overcrowding. These policies tend to have disproportionate impacts on certain groups, especially vulnerable and in that way, and end breed discrimination violating fundamental rights.

Moreover, prohibitionist policies have contributed to the formation of armed groups engaged in criminal activity that stands between drug trafficking and violent phenomena that produce important and in this way affect the rights of people in the Americas. Because violence is the primary form of illegal market regulation, trafficking of prohibited substances is necessarily accompanied by the traffic in arms, fighting for territories, corruption and undermining democratic institutions, especially the police, the justice and government institutions. The revision of the paradigm of the 'war on drugs' should be seen as part of an initiative to reduce violence.

From a policy perspective it is also clear today that the international human rights obligations should prevail over those who have acquired on psychoactive substances prohibited or controlled. This is due to international commitments in human rights law ranks higher, as the duty of states to respect human rights is a mandate that is based in the United Nations Charter, a treaty that predominates over any another convention, and also the principle of the duty of states to respect human rights has been considered by many as a standard indoctrinators Ius cogens or peremptory norm of international law, which does not support an agreement to the contrary. Therefore, the international drug law should be understood and interpreted, and if necessary adapted, in a manner that is consistent with international human rights obligations. The guiding principle of policy should always be centered on the citizen, and the protection of their rights.

This model has served to broaden prohibitionist social gaps, economic inequities, political differences and international asymmetries. Specific and effective practices of states show that the international regime around drugs has not changed in the century that has elapsed since its initial configuration. Importantly, this regimen as rigid a critical juncture for both its credibility and its legitimacy are seriously eroded.

Therefore, we call on the governments of the Americas to strengthen their commitments to human rights against drug policy, and to that extent, discuss and rethink existing initiatives, in order to place human rights in the center of the debate.

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Estados Unidos

Associação Brasileira de Saúde Coletiva (ABRASCO), Brasil

Associação Brasileira de Saúde Mental (ABRASME), Brasil

Asociación Civil por el Derecho a la Salud, Argentina

Associação pela Reforma Prisional (ARP), Brasil

Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos (APRODEH), Perú

Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) – Canadá

Centro de Análisis Forense y Ciencias Aplicadas (CAFCA), Guatemala

Centro Brasileiro de Estudos de Saúde (CEBES), Brasil

Centro Cáritas de formación para la atención de las farmacodependencias y situaciones críticas asociadas, Mexico

Centro de Derechos Humanos Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez (Centro Prodh), México.

Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Montaña “Tlachinollan”, México

Centro de Direitos Econômicos e Sociais (CDES), Brasil

Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS), Argentina

Centro de Estudos de Segurança e Cidadania da Universidade Cândido Mendes, Brasil

Centro de Investigación Drogas y Derechos Humanos (CIDDH), Perú.

Colectivo por una Política Integral de Drogas (CUPIHD), México

Comisión Colombiana de Juristas, Colombia

Comité de Familiares de Detenidos-Desaparecidos (COFADEH), Honduras

Consorcio Internacional sobre Políticas de drogas (IDPC)

Coordinadora de Derechos Humanos del Paraguay (CODEHUPY), Paraguay

Coordinación Nacional de Organizaciones de Mujeres Trabajadoras Rurales e Indígenas (CONAMURI), Paraguay

Dejusticia – Centro de Estudios de Derecho, Justicia y Sociedad, Colombia

Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), Estados Unidos

Gabinete de Assessoria Jurídica às Organizações Populares (GAJOP), Brasil

Harm Reduction Coalition (HRC), Estados Unidos

Intercambios Asociación Civil, Argentina

Instituto de Defesa do Direito de Defesa (IDDD), Brasil

Instituto de Estudios Legales y Sociales del Uruguay (IELSUR), Uruguay

México Unido contra la Delincuencia (MUCD), México

Movimiento de Mujeres por la Paz Visitación Padilla, Honduras

Movimento Nacional da Luta Antimanicomial (MNLA), Brasil

Observatorio de Derechos Humanos de Pueblos Indígenas, Argentina

Observatorio de Derechos Humanos de Rio Negro, Argentina

Oficina de Washington para Latinoamérica (WOLA), Estados Unidos

Puente, Investigación y Enlace (PIE), Bolivia

Red Chilena de Reducción de Daños, Chile.

Open Letter to the governments of the region present in the OAS General Assembly

Los días viernes 6 y sábado 7 de julio se organizó un Conversatorio-Taller sobre “Activismo cannábico e implementación de la Línea Verde en Trujillo”. Desde el 2011, el CIDDH ha implementado una línea de atención llamada “Línea Verde”, la cual provee de asistencia e información legal a todos los peruanos sindicados y detenidos arbitrariamente por posesión no punible de drogas (marihuana, en su mayoría). A ellos se les brinda información personalizada y consejería legal a fin de evitar actos de abuso y corrupción a nivel prejudicial.

Dicho Conversatorio-Taller se realizó con el apoyo de LegalizaPerú , una asociación que brinda orientación legal e información sobre el uso y cultivo de plantas con principios psicoativos declaradas ilegales para uso individual directo, dentro de un marco de respeto a las libertades individuales y el estado de derecho, el CIDDH busca implementar la Línea Verde en la ciudad de Trujillo.

El evento se realizó en la en la Casa del Abogado (Colegio de Abogados de La Libertad) y contó con la participación de docentes universitarios, estudiantes, activistas, abogados, miembros de la policía y del Ministerio Público, así como autoridades locales. Las actividades se desarrollaron en torno a temáticas como el activismo cannábico, el funcionamiento de la Línea Verde, así como la labor legal y las buenas prácticas a nivel prejudicial.

El día 7 de julio, se llevaron a cabo una pequeña campaña de información y sensibilización sobre marihuana así como visitas a diversas comisarías de la zona (Huanchaco, Alambre y Ayacucho).

De igual manera, para el mes de setiembre del presente año, esperamos reanudar las actividades de refuerzo en torno a la línea verde en la ciudad de Trujillo a través de un segundo evento con el objetivo de desarrollar propuestas, análisis y objetivos finales.

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Línea Verde en Trujillo

Since 2011, CIDDH has implemented a hotline called The Green Line (or Línea Verde in Spanish) which provides legal information and assistance to all Peruvians who are questioned and arbitrarily arrested for drug use (mostly cannabis). They are provided with personalized information and legal advice in order to avoid persistent abuse and corruption on behalf of law enforcement officers.

The educational component holds a very important place as it establishes guidelines for CIDDH’s operators, law enforcement officers, and especially drug users. As a matter of fact, it allows them to find a common ground when faced with issues such as arbitrary detention of drug users and pretrial detention. It also allows law enforcement officers to better interpret the criminal and constitutional law in terms of proportionality and rationality.

Even though Peru’s Criminal Code does not criminalize the possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use (art. 299) – up to 8 gr. of cannabis, Law Enforcement Officers frequently detain drug users by virtue of the Constitution (art. 2.24.f) which states that in cases Illicit Drug Trafficking pretrial detention in Police Stations is effective for up to 15 days – 24 hours for other offences. Law Enforcement Officers threaten drug users based on the latter as a means of achieving a twofold objective: 1) acts of corruption and/or 2) investigate drug users so that they “rat out” petty dealers. As a result of this malpractice, detentions for possession of small amounts of drugs account for roughly 60% of all drug-related detentions . Moreover, law enforcement officers’ actions often result in a threat to a person's physical or psychological integrity

As a watchdog, CIDDH has filed several formal complaints to law enforcement officers regarding the arbitrary detention of drug users, acts of corruption and intimidation, as well as physical abuse. Furthermore, these complaints have been sent to the Ombudsman for further investigation. In this line, CIDDH’s hotline acts as a watchdog at law enforcement level as it prevents such illegal acts. Even though CIDDH’s Hotline has managed to provide legal assistance 47 people, it is challenging to resolve the cases at street level. Despite CIDDH’s efforts to avoid acts of corruption on behalf of law enforcement officers, it has been particularly difficult to achieve this goal as this is a mainstream cultural practice both in Peruvian institutions and society. CIDDH has been able to change Police practices and administrative procedures in some cases as several of Lima’s Police Stations have been acquainted with CIDDH’s hotline and therefore know that when someone who is being arrested at street level for possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use calls CIDDH’s Hotline they do not proceed with the detention.

In order to meet the growing demand of legal information and services at national level, CIDDH on expanding its legal and paralegal services to other cities in Peru. This is why CIDDH is planning on organizing workshops in three different cities – Arequipa, El Agustino (Lima), and Trujillo. These workshops aim at training a lawyer and empower activists in charge of disseminating The Green Line and distributing advocacy material so as to provide legal information and services to cannabis users.

The Green Line hotline

Nesta declaração, as organizações da América Latina e as que trabalham na região, pertencentes ao Consórcio Internacional sobre Políticas de Drogas (IDPC), reivindicamos o direito democrático e soberano de nossos respectivos países para corrigir tudo que é necessário na atual política de drogas. Exigimos também que a comunidade internacional reunida na Thematic Debate of the 66th Session of the United Nations General Assembly on Drugs and Crime as a Threat to Development on the Occasion of the UN International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, and the International Conference of Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Heads of Specialized National Agencies on the Global Drug Problem, realize profundas reformas nas políticas de drogas vigentes.

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Centro de Investigacion Drogas y Derechos Humanos (CIDDH)

Region

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