Triggering injustice: State violence in the name of drug control — IDPC joint submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on summary, extrajudicial or arbitrary executions

Submitting organisations

• International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC)
• Recovering Nepal
• Conectas Direitos Humanos
• Instituto RIA, AC

Introduction

The International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) is a global network of over 190 civil society organisations that come together to advocate for drug policies that promote social justice and human rights. This submission summarises information collected from our members and allies regarding unlawful killings by law enforcement officials in the context of drug policy.

The submission demonstrates how ‘war on drugs’ approaches to drug control lay down legal, institutional, and cultural frameworks that enable the arbitrary and disproportionate use of force by law enforcement against people who use drugs and people involved in drug activities — often leading to extrajudicial killings with general impunity. We urge the Special Rapporteur to recognise this as a global phenomenon present across regions.

This concern was also recognised by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in 2023, which noted:

“Punitive approaches to drug control, which in some countries include the militarization of law enforcement responses to counter the drug problem, have involved rapid escalation in the use of lethal force and continue to facilitate the commission of multiple and serious human rights violations, from unnecessary and disproportionate use of force to extrajudicial killings, with related impunity.”