Death penalty for drug offences: Abolition is a legal imperative — Statement at HRC62
62nd Session of the Human Rights Council
Joint Statement to the Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions
Item 3, 18 June
Thank you, President.
Harm Reduction International and IDPC, jointly with 7 organisations, welcome the Special Rapporteur’s report, which concludes that the death penalty is inherently incompatible with the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, as well as with the protection of human dignity. The report makes clear that abolition is not merely a policy choice, but a legal imperative grounded in international human rights law.
International standards are clear that drug-related offences do not meet the threshold of the “most serious crimes” to which the death penalty is limited to in retentionist countries. Yet, according to Harm Reduction International, 36 countries retain the death penalty for drug offences, which account for almost half of all confirmed executions globally.
The death penalty for drug offences disproportionately affects people living in poverty and those facing marginalisation, and other forms of structural vulnerability. Rather than addressing the underlying social and health factors linked to drug use and markets, such measures entrench stigma, exclusion and human rights violations.
The death penalty for drug offences represents the most extreme form of punitive drug policy, prioritising punishment over health and rights. Efforts towards abolition must therefore be accompanied by reforms grounded in evidence, public health and human rights, moving away from criminalisation and coercive approaches.
We urge States to establish immediate moratoria on executions, remove drug offences from the scope of capital punishment, and take concrete steps towards the full abolition of the death penalty.
We thank you.
Co-signatories
Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN)
Capital Punishment Justice Project (CPJP)
European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR)
Harm Reduction International (HRI)
Hayat
International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC)
Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA)
The Advocates for Human Rights (TAHR)