REDUC aims to discuss, plan, elaborate, articulate and support scientific and social actions, as well as strengthen public policies that favour harm reduction-related issues.

REDUC tiene como objetivo discutir, planear, elaborar, articular y apoyar actividades científicas y sociales, así como fortalecer las políticas públicas que favorecen la reducción de daños.

REDUC vise à débattre, planifier, élaborer, s’exprimer et soutenir les actions scientifiques et sociales, afin de renforcer les politiques publiques qui favorisent la réduction des risques.

Rede Brasileira de Redução de Danos e Direitos Humanos (REDUC)

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

LONDON [27 JUNE 2019] – Harm Reduction International and almost 120 human rights organisations from around the world – including Amnesty International and the International Commission of Jurists – published open letters today calling on the United Nations’ major drug control bodies to intervene and help stop Sri Lanka’s move to resume executions after 43 years.

President Maithripala Sirisena signed the execution warrants this week for four people convicted of drug-related offences.

The letters – sent to the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) and UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) – underscore that the death penalty for drug offences violates international human rights law. The signatories state that “Remaining silent as Sri Lanka puts an end to a 43-year de facto moratorium on executions would strike a blow to the INCB’s and UNODC’s commitments to human rights compliance as a core principle of international drug policy.”

Giada Girelli, human rights analyst at Harm Reduction International, said: “There is simply no evidence that the death penalty is an effective deterrent against the drug trade. President Sirisena’s move is a gross violation of human rights – UN bodies must urge authorities in Sri Lanka to reverse this and work to consign the death penalty to the history books.”

Harm Reduction International’s latest research shows that global executions for drug offences fell by almost 90% from 2015-18, in large part because of judicial reforms in Iran. Of the 35 countries that retain the death penalty for drug offences, only four carried out executions in 2018 (China, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Singapore).

Over 100 human rights groups urge UN to demand Sri Lanka halt executions of drug offenders

LONDON (2nd August 2016) – Civil society groups from across the globe, 

have called on UN drug control authorities to urge an immediate stop to the extrajudicial killings of suspected drug offenders in the Philippines. Since 10th May 2016, more than 700 people have been killed by police and vigilantes in the Philippines for being suspected of using or dealing drugs, as a direct result of recently-elected President Duterte’s campaign to eradicate crime within six months.

Until now, however, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) – the UN agencies responsible for global drug control – have failed to condemn the Philippines for these gross human rights violations committed in the name of drug control.

375 non-governmental organisations today sent an open letter to the UNODC Executive Director, Mr. Yury Fedotov, and the INCB President, Mr. Werner Sipp, asking them to take immediate action aimed at putting a stop to the extrajudicial killings.

“We are calling on the UN drug control bodies to publicly condemn these atrocities in the Philippines. This senseless killing cannot be justified as a drug control measure”, said Ann Fordham, Executive Director of the International Drug Policy Consortium. “Their silence is unacceptable, while people are being killed on the streets day after day”, she continued.

The open letter asks the UNODC and the INCB to call on President Duterte to:

Immediately end the incitements to kill people suspected of using or dealing drugs,

Act to fulfil international human rights obligations, such as the rights to life, health, due process and a fair trial, as set out in the human rights treaties ratified by the Philippines,

Promote evidence-based, voluntary treatment and harm reduction services for people who use drugs instead of compulsory rehabilitation in military camps, and

Not to reinstate the death penalty for drug offences.

Senior Research and Communications Officer

*******************************************

Key data on the Philippines drug policy crisis:

President Rodrigo Duterte was elected President on 30th May 2016 and began his presidential term on 30th June. He declared a war on drugs in which both police and civilians are encouraged to kill drug user/traffickers

704 people have been killed between the 10th of May 2016 to the 29th of July 2016 (ABS CBN News)

Communications Office Secretary Martin Andanar said 60,000 drug dependents have surrendered to authorities (Daily Mail).

Statements by international human rights groups:

Amnesty International, 10th May: Philippines: New President should break cycle of human rights violations, not compound them

Amnesty International, 30 June: Philippines: President Duterte must break the cycle of human rights violations

Human Rights Watch, 25th July: President Duterte’s Mixed Messages on Rights in the Philippines

Human Rights Watch, 12th July: Philippine Officials Shrug at Surge in Drug Killings

Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates & Citizen’s Council for Human Rights, 14th July: Stop the bloodshed, human rights defenders tell Duterte

Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates & Citizen’s Council for Human Rights, 14th July: Extra Judicial Killings: Normalizing Criminality Under the Guise of Peace and Order

Drug Policy Alliance, 25th July: Philippines President Makes Good on Pledge to Mass Murder People Who Use or Sell Drugs, Calls for "No Mercy" in State of the Nation Address

Asian Network of People Who Use Drugs & International Network of People Who Use Drugs, July: Philippines: An Entreaty to End the Killing, to End the Poverty and Exclusion

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

Over 300 NGOs call on the United Nations to take immediate action on the hundreds of extrajudicial killings of suspected drug offenders in the Philippines

Professor Elisaldo Carlini from the Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) has promoted medical marijuana since 1970. He is the head of all the four symposia about cannabis which recently happened in Brazil.

The IV Symposium on Medicinal Cannabis took place on May, 15, 2014, and focused on patients who need treatment via medicinal cannabis and its components. However, today, these patients struggle with access to such treatment, mainly due to bureaucracy.

On the first day, the Deputy Director of the National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA), Luiz Klassmann, presented the vision of the agency and affirmed that ANVISA was not discussing the possible cultivation of cannabis, but rather the medical use of its isolated compounds. He also said that cannabis is due to be included in the List C1 – i.e. the list of substances subject to special control and accessible under prescription, as is the case for morphine derivatives.

As a response to this proposal, Raquel Peyraube, advisor to the Ministry of Health of Uruguay, then declared: "I think that medical cannabis has to have its own regulation, we should not adapt an existing model to it, otherwise the consequences could be dreadful. And this type of regulation [proposed by ANVISA] only benefits the pharmaceutical industry".

The discussion of the first day of the symposium therefore highlighted the fact that many federal legislative barriers do need to be overrun.

The second day of the Symposium began with reports of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) – Wanda Tubertini, representative of the Brazilian Association of Multiple Sclerosis (ABEM) said: "I talked about this with some friends, and one of them told me that they would arrange for the plant to be grown, but what about the fear to use? And what about the side effects? The doctors do not talk to you about this! If I didn’t need to go [to the dealer], I am sure that I would be one of the first to use cannabis because I suffer from a lot of pain, which are often debilitating”.

The morning discussions clearly pointed out to one problem: the lack of knowledge by physicians regarding treatment by cannabis. Mark A. Ware, doctor at the Canadian McGill University and a member of the Canadian Consortium for the Investigation Of Cannabinoids (CCIC) stated: "There is stigma around cannabis and cannabinoids which is very difficult to change. Canada took 10-15 years to begin to understand this topic. Our organisation [ICC] promotes online events and conferences on the subject. My call to Brazil is that anyone who is involved in a possible regulation of cannabis allows for patients to be treated in order to assess whether the use of marijuana will lead to changes in the health and life of that patient”.

The Symposium ended with speeches delivered by two senior officials involved in the debate around medical marijuana – Congressman Paul Teixeira (PT-SP) and the Secretary of SENAD (National Secretariat for Drug Policies) Vitore Maximiano. Mr. Teixeira talked about the failure of the war on drugs and honored the director of CEBRID, Dr. Elisaldo Carlini. Taking the Uruguayan regulation of cannabis, the Congressman declared that there was a need to address this issue in Brazil, although he believed it was not appropriate to do so this year, in view of the electoral repercussions it could have. The Congressman will be the rapporteur of the two Bills on the regulation of cannabis in the country – a proposal by Jean Wyllys and another by Eurico Junior. Katiele, a woman whose story is well-known in Brazil because she imported CBD to treat her daughter, did not agree with the statement. She said that she did not have time to wait and asked the Congressman for his help to put pressure on the ANVISA so that they truly understand the desperation of affected families.

The event undoubtedly generated attitudes in favor of medical marijuana in the country. The two government authorities present on this last day of the symposium showed that there are people in Brazil who are interested, and in favor of changing the laws in order to offer medical marijuana.

However, and unfortunately, less than 10 days after the event ended, ANVISA postponed a vote for the reclassification of cannabis.

Brazil discusses medical cannabis at international symposium

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.

Rede Brasileira de Redução de Danos e Direitos Humanos (REDUC)

Region

Translations

Related Content

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

Over 100 human rights groups urge UN to demand Sri Lanka halt executions of drug offenders

Over 300 NGOs call on the United Nations to take immediate action on the hundreds of extrajudicial killings of suspected drug offenders in the Philippines

Brazil discusses medical cannabis at international symposium

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