The Red Chilena is a network of people, supported by various Chilena organisations, who focus on reducing the harms and risks associated with drug use by putting together their expertise in treatment, therapy and communitarian work.

La Red Chilena es una red de personas que cuenta con el apoyo de organizaciones de varias regiones de Chile, que desde sus especificidades y diferentes ámbitos de intervención realizan acciones y prácticas conducentes a la disminución de los daños y la gestión de los riesgos de la población usuaria de drogas.

La Red Chilena est un réseau d’individus et d’organisations chiliennes facilitant un échange efficace d’information et d’expertise pour réduire les risques liés à l’usage de drogue.

Red Chilena de Reducción de Daños

Civil society groups from all over the world have released a statement condemning governments for failing to acknowledge the devastating consequences of punitive and repressive drug policies as they prepare for a UN summit on the issue next month.

In April 2016, world leaders will gather in New York to decide on the future of global drug policy, at the first UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on the topic in two decades. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for this meeting to be a “wide-ranging and open debate that considers all options.” But as the preparations continue this week in Vienna at an annual meeting of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, it is becoming clear that the ‘once in a generation’ opportunity to rethink the failed ‘war on drugs’ is unlikely to deliver.

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

Civil society statement - The UNGASS outcome document: Diplomacy or denialism?

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

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.

Registe-se para recever as Alertas mensais do IDPC e obter informação sobre questões relacionadas com as políticas de drogas.

O IDPC pede um novo enfoque para as estratégias de controle de drogas

In this declaration, organizations based in or working on Latin America and members of the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) claim the democratic and sovereign right of their countries to make any necessary corrections to current drug policy and call on the international community, meeting in the 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, to make profound reforms to current drug policies.

Red Chilena de Reducción de Daños

Region

Translations

Related Content

Civil society statement - The UNGASS outcome document: Diplomacy or denialism?

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

O IDPC pede um novo enfoque para as estratégias de controle de drogas

Latin American members of the International Drug Policy Consortium call for new approaches to drug control strategies