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.
IDPC highlights the major gains from the 2023 OHCHR report on human rights and drug policy, and provides recommendations to Member States and UN entities for its effective implementation.
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.
The latest Human Rights Council resolution on the human rights implications of drug policy represents the most ambitious and progressive resolution on the matter to date, and should influence the outcome of the upcoming 2024 mid-term review of the 2019 Ministerial Declaration.
IDPC sheds light on key political wins including in relation to countering racial discrimination in drug policy, recognising the importance of harm reduction for the right to health, protecting Indigenous rights, and promoting engagement by UN human rights bodies in drug policy debates.
Civil society looks to the Council for leadership in encouraging and welcoming initiatives from within the UN human rights system to ensure drug policy affirms, rather than undermine, human rights.
IDPC highlights how the increasing involvement of UN human rights entities in drug policy debates has paved the way for greater, yet still insufficient, consideration of health, human rights and development.
Without seriously addressing human rights violations and promoting redress, the UN Joint Programme in the Philippines risks institutionalising these abuses.
IDPC & Amnesty International urge the Special Rapporteur on Cambodia and the Human Rights Council to urge the Cambodian government to significantly reduce arbitrary detention and incarceration, including through reviewing and amending punitive drug policies.
To reduce the violence and harms of law enforcement against people who use drugs, governments should commit to decriminalisation, harm reduction and ending stigma.
This statement was delivered by Recovering Nepal on the occasion of the adoption of the recommendations derived the Universal Periodic Review of Nepal by the Human Rights Council, during the 47th session of the Council held in June-July 2021.
The UN human rights system should continue shedding light on the destructive impact of punitive drug laws on the enjoyment of rights, including through incarceration and administrative detention.
