Harm Reduction International identify key moments where drug policy will be addressed in the upcoming 54th Session of the Human Rights Council, presenting significant prospects for reform.
OHCHR present their report to the Human Rights Council on the impact of the world drug problem on human rights, urging policymakers to shift towards a health and human-rights centred approach to drug policy.
On 10 October 2023, World Day will continue to reflect on the relationship between the use of the death penalty and torture or other cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or punishment and build on the momentum started in 2022.
Following the the first known execution of a woman in two decades in Singapore and a string of recent executions for drug-related offences, Helen Clark, former New Zealand Prime Minister condemns the use of the death penalty in all cases and under any circumstances.
The cruel and alarming surge in drug-related executions in Iran serves as a stark reminder that the death penalty violates the right to life and should be opposed in all cases without exception.
PRI and TIJ provide an overview and highlight how the criminalisation of drugs remains a key contributing factor to the rising global prison population and prison overcrowding.
The Civic Futures Initiative explore (among other 'wars') the impact that Duterte’s oppressive and securitised 'war on drugs' in the Philippines had on the civic space of those who advocate against the drug policy and document abuses under it.
Experts welcomed the abolition of the mandatory death penalty and the government's willingness to consider decriminalisation, whilst underscoring criminalisation should not be replaced with mandatory treatment.
The OHCHR condemned the imminent execution of Tangaraju Suppiah, whose case was mired in procedural flaws and in violation of international human rights law.
Whilst rolling back from an earlier pledge for total abolition, the reforms give judges discretion to replace capital punishment for a range of criminalised activities, including drug trafficking.
HRI's twelfth report documents the drastic increase of drug-related executions that have taken place over the course of 2022, the inadequate responses of institutional actors, and the robust resistance of civil society.
