The death penalty for drug offences and international support for drug enforcement

The International Harm Reduction Association (IHRA) has released a new briefing written in partnership with Human Rights Watch and Penal Reform International entitled The Death Penalty for Drug Offences and International Support for Drug Enforcement.

The purpose of this briefing is to highlight the dangers associated with funding drug control activities in countries with capital drug laws as detailed in IHRA’s report Complicity or abolition? The death penalty and international support for drug enforcement.

The death penalty for drug-related crimes is a violation of international human rights law according to UN human rights monitors and treaty bodies. Such laws are also at odds with the goals of abolitionist countries that oppose the death penalty for all crimes. Yet many of these abolitionist countries provide financial assistance to counter-narcotics projects in countries where drug offences are punishable with death, putting them at risk of contributing to the practice.

This briefing provides recommendations to donor-countries to avoid such unintended consequences.