The Norwagian Association for Humane Drug Policies is a drug user organization working against prohibition and the criminalisation of drug users. The association is also promoting reasonable legal regulation. We strive for evidence-based harm reduction efforts, care, tolerance and respect for human rights, instead of stigmatisation. The organisation conducts regular outreach work and offers harm reduction services for active drug users in and around the open drug scenes in Oslo and Bergen. We also cooperate with several community-based harm reduction service providers around the country.

La Asociación para Políticas de Drogas Humanas en Noruega es una organización de usuarios de drogas trabajando para acabar con la prohibición y la criminalización de los usuarios de drogas. Promovemos una perspectiva de reducción de daños, de tolerancia y de respeto a los derechos humanos, en vez de la estigmatización.

L'Association Norvégienne pour des Politiques des Drogues Humaines est une organisation composée d'usagers de drogues appelant à la fin de la prohibition et de la pénalisation des usagers de drogues. L'association promeut aussi une régulation légale responsable. Nous promouvons la réduction des risques, le traitement, la tolérance et les droits humains, au lieu de la stigmatisation. L'organisation est engagée dans du travail de proximité et offre des services de réduction des risques aux usagers de drogues actifs à Oslo et Bergen.

Norwegian Association for Humane Drug Policies (FHN)

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: Stop abusive anti-drug operation and release those arbitrarily detained

This seventh edition of the IDPC webinar on the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) focuses on its 65th Session of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), which will take place in Vienna from 14-18 March 2022.

The webinar will shed light on the key issues that are likely to structure the debates, discuss tabled resolutions and opportunities for engagement (especially considering this year's hybrid format), and showcase the experience of IDPC network members in navigating and leveraging this forum for political advocacy.

 (International Drug Policy Consortium - IDPC);

 (Centre on Drug Policy Evaluation - CDPE);

 (European Network of People who Use Drugs - EuroNPUD; Norwegian Association for Humane Drug Policies -FHN).

This webinar will be in English, with simultaneous translation in Spanish and French.

CND 65: Key issues and opportunities

To: Ms Ghada Waly, Executive Director, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

Subject: Open letter on UNODC statement on International Human Rights Day 2021

We urge you to mark International Human Rights Day 2021 by calling on Member States to change drug policies and practices that violate human rights and perpetuate inequality and discrimination.

We are writing to you ahead of International Human Rights Day 2021, which will take place on the 10th December amidst escalating global demands for the reform of laws and practices that entrench racial discrimination and social inequality, including drug policies. Last year, IDPC – together with dozens of other civil society and community organisations – called on you to issue a statement on International Human Rights Day urging Member States to change drug laws and practices that undermine health and human rights. A year later, we ask you to seize this day as an opportunity to show UNODC´s alignment with other UN entities in calling for an end to drug policies and practices that perpetuate inequality and discrimination, and violate human rights.

For decades, punitive drug policies have driven widespread human rights abuses, as has been amply documented by the UN. These include the death penalty for drug offences; extrajudicial killings; arbitrary detention, often masquerading as ‘rehabilitation’; the denial of access to life-saving harm reduction services; widespread barriers to accessing controlled medicines for pain relief; the criminalisation of people who use drugs, subsistence farmers and others groups in situations of vulnerability; corporal punishment; and mass incarceration. In all of these cases, draconian drug policies have disproportionately affected people marginalised on the basis of their gender, race, ethnicity, and economic status, thus entrenching inequality and discrimination.

Along 2021, a broad range of UN entities called on Member States to reform drug policies with discriminatory outcomes. In June 2021, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention released a landmark study on arbitrary detention and drug polices, which found that ´

the war on drugs may be understood to a significant extent as a war on people. Its impact is often greatest on those who are poor, but also frequently overlaps with discrimination in law enforcement directed at vulnerable groups

´. At the same time, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights published a new ‘Agenda towards transformative change for racial justice and equality´, highlighting that ´

The discriminatory application of criminal law must be tackled at every stage, including by reforming drug-related policies

´. The High Commissioner´s proposal led to Human Rights Council Resolution 47/21, which contains key commitments to uproot systemic racism in the law enforcement and criminal justice systems. The Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS, adopted in June 2021, also showcased the international community´s commitment to ending inequalities as a step towards ending AIDS. Lastly, the new UN system Common Position on Incarceration, led by UNODC in partnership with other UN entities, notes ‘

the overrepresentation of minority and marginalized groups among prisoners, many of whom are charged with petty and nonviolent offences

support reform efforts aimed at ensuring proportionate and individualized sentencing and alternatives to conviction or punishment in appropriate cases, including for minor drug-related offences

These various commitments emerging across the United Nations are aligned with the 2018 Chief Executives Board’s UN System Common Position on drug-related matters, which makes clear that ‘

should be designed and implemented by States in accordance with their human rights obligations

’, and commits all UN agencies, including UNODC, to support drug policies ‘

that put people, health, and human rights at the centre

Similar human rights concerns have been highlighted in the just-released Global Drug Policy Index, which measures and ranks the national drug policies of 30 countries according to how well they align with the UN system Common Position on Drugs and its Task Team report of March 2019.

The theme of the 2021 International Human Rights Day is ‘Equality: Reducing inequalities, advancing human rights’, and is aimed at ´

addressing and finding solutions for deep-rooted forms of discrimination that have affected the most vulnerable people in societies

´. As such, it presents a crucial opportunity for UNODC to align itself with other UN entities in calling for the end of policies that perpetuate inequality and discrimination, while highlighting its commitment to the promotion of human rights, in line with the UN system Common Positions.

It is in this context that we urge you to issue a strong statement on International Human Rights Day, calling on states to change the drug laws, policies and practices that violate health and human rights, and entrench inequality. To be credible, such a statement should explicitly acknowledge the disproportionate impact of drug laws and drug control on people marginalised on the basis of their gender, race, ethnicity, and economic status, and urge Member States to:

Abolish the death penalty in all circumstances. Imposing capital punishment for drug offences has been found to be contrary to international human rights law by the Human Rights Committee, and the Human Rights Council.

Put an immediate end to extrajudicial killings committed in the name of drug control, as has been repeatedly called for by the Human Rights Council and UN human rights experts.

Permanently close compulsory drug detention centres, including those that masquerade as ‘rehabilitation’, and implement voluntary, evidence-informed, and rights-based health and social services, as recently called for by sixteen UN agencies, including UNODC.

Stress the urgent need to provide accessible, affordable, and adequately funded harm reduction services in community and closed settings, to fulfil the right to health and the right to life of people who use drugs, as demanded by several UN human rights bodies and experts. This is also central to UNODC’s core role as lead UNAIDS co-sponsor regarding prisons and HIV amongst people who use drugs.

Take immediate measures to address prison overcrowding, as already recommended by UNODC and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, by promoting alternatives to incarceration, and ensuring proportionate sentencing for all drug offences, including by taking into account mitigating factors – in line with the basic principle that prisons should only be used as a last resort in all circumstances.

Ensure that people who use drugs are not subject to arbitrary detention, torture, or ill-treatment – whether in state custody or public or private drug services. While under detention, people with a drug dependence or health problems associated with their drug use must be offered evidence-based treatment, harm reduction and other drug services on a strictly voluntary basis.

Promote the end of all punishment for drug use, and drug possession and cultivation for personal use, as permitted within the three drug control conventions. Such policy shifts will help to end the stigma, criminalisation, and exclusion faced by people who use drugs, and to facilitate access to health and social services, as called for by the UN system Common Position, UNAIDS, and UN human rights bodies.

Make sure that drug policies incorporate a gender-sensitive perspective. This should be done by tailoring drug services to the specific needs of women, and by ensuring that criminal laws take into account the circumstances of women involved in drug offences, as most of them come from backgrounds of poverty, marginalisation, and oppression.

Clearly outline the ways in which UNODC will work to achieve these changes, and the measures being taken to ensure that human rights are effectively embedded as a core strand for all of the Office’s work.

As the lead UN agency in drug-related matters, UNODC has the responsibility to promote drug policies that respect, protect, and fulfil human rights, in a way that is consistent with the standards developed by the UN system, and in line with the commitments set in the UN system Common Positions on drugs and on incarceration. A strong statement in the forthcoming International Human Rights Day would be an important and welcome step to signal UNODC’s unequivocal commitment.

We look forward to discussing these concerns and recommendations with you.

NGOs urge UNODC's Executive Director to mark Human Rights Day with a call to reform drug policies that entrench inequality

No mês de abril de 2019, o presidente do Brasil, Jair Bolsonaro, decretou o fim das políticas públicas de Redução de Danos no país, reforçando a guerra as drogas

. A guerra as drogas é sempre uma guerra contra as pessoas, contra a saúde, contra direitos e contra a ciência.

A decisão do atual presidente potencializa a estigmatização das pessoas que usam drogas e fomenta a militarização dos territórios compostos pela população mais vulnerável, autorizando uma verdadeira chacina de pobres e negros das periferias das cidades brasileiras.

A delegação brasileira presente a 26 edição da Conferência Internacional de Redução de Danos, realizada em Portugal, na cidade do Porto, pede o apoio da comunidade internacional para assegurar a manutenção das políticas de redução de danos no Brasil e as conquistas que essas políticas produziram ao longo dos últimos trinta anos.

1. Acción Semilla, Bolívia
2. Acción Andina, Bolívia
3. Acción Técnica Social (ATS), Colombia
4. Andean Information Network, Bolivia
5. Asociación Costarricense para el Estudio e Intervención en Drogas (ACEID), Costa Rica
6. Baltimore County Health Department in the Harm Reduction Program Syringe Services Program, EUA
7. CAFAC y Cultura Joven A.C., México
8. Campaña por la Descriminalización de las Personas Usuarias de Drogas en Bolivia
9. Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales, Argentina
10. Centro de Orientación e Investigación Integral (COIN), República Dominicana
11. Comisión Mexicana de Defensa y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos
12. Corporación Humanas, Colombia
13. Drug Policy Alliance, EUA
14. Ecuador Cannábico, Equador
15. Elementa DDHH, Colombia
16. Enlace, Espanha
17. Estudiantes por una Política Sensata de Drogas (EPSD), Bolivia
18. Federación Andaluza ENLACE
19. Frontline AIDS
20. Harm Reduction Coalition, EUA
21. Hawaii Health & Harm Reduction Center in Honolulu, HI, EUA
22. International Harm Reduction Association, Inglaterra
23. Instituto RIA (Mexico)
24. Intercambios Asociacion Civil, Argentina
25. Intercambios, Porto Rico
26. Latinoamérica Reforma, Chile
27. Law Enforcement Action Partnership, EUA
28. MUCD, Mexico
29. Observatorio de Cultivos y Cultivadores Declarados ilícitos (OCCDI), Colômbia
30. Open Aid Alliance's, EUA
31. Programa Libertas, Bolívia
32. Temblores ONG, Colombia
33. The Association for Humane Drug Policy, Noruega
34. Transnational Institute - Drugs & Democracy Programme, Holanda
35. Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), EUA

Declaração das organizações da sociedade civil sobre Brasil em HR19

In April 2019, the president Jair Bolsonaro declared the end of Harm Reduction public policies in Brazil, reinforcing the War on Drugs. The War on Drugs HAS ALWAYS BEEN a war against people, against Public Health, against Human Rights and against Science.

This decision worsens the stigmatization of people who use drugs. It also fosters the militarization of neighbourhoods composed of the most vulnerable populations; authorizing murder and imprisonment of poor and black people from the favelas and other marginalized regions of our cities.

The Brazilian delegation, present at the 26th International Conference on Harm Reduction held in Portugal in the city of Porto, requests the support of the international community to ensure the continuation of harm reduction policies in Brazil and the recognition of the achievements these policies have made over the last thirty years.

Norwegian Association for Humane Drug Policies (FHN)

Region

Translations

Related Content

Sri Lanka: Stop abusive anti-drug operation and release those arbitrarily detained

CND 65: Key issues and opportunities

NGOs urge UNODC's Executive Director to mark Human Rights Day with a call to reform drug policies that entrench inequality

Declaração das organizações da sociedade civil sobre Brasil em HR19

Brazil Statement at HR19