Human rights

News7 March 2023

On the human rights impacts of drug policy - IDPC Statement to the 52nd session of the Human Rights Council

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.

Publications1 February 2023

7th Brandenburg Forum on Drugs and Development Policies report

The Forum reunited government, UN and civil society experts to discuss development, health and human rights challenges in relation to drug control ahead of the 2024 mid-term review of implementation of the 2019 Political Declaration.

News18 January 2023

Ministers call for a human rights-centred approach to drug policies at Pompidou Group conference

The Ministerial conference concluded with the adoption of the "Lisbon Declaration", which notes, inter alia, global developments in cannabis policy and commits to the protection of people who use drugs.

Publications18 January 2023

The Cape Declaration on decriminalising poverty and status

Participants convened by the Campaign to Decriminalise Poverty and Status outline the harms of criminalisation for marginalised groups and call for urgent action to curb them through legal reforms, further research and funding for civil society.

News17 January 2023

Sri Lankan MPs: Reject the Bureau of Rehabilitation Bill

The bill would translate into increasing human rights abuses in the name of drug control, including through the involvement of the military in treatment and the expansion of compulsory detention.

Publications12 January 2023

Matrix for analysing trends in human rights violations against people who use drugs

EHRA offers a resource to facilitate the analysis and collation of documented human rights violations, as well as their submission to international accountability bodies.

Publications13 December 2022

Converging universes: 20 years of human rights and drug policy at the United Nations

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.

News10 December 2022

Statement by the INCB President on the occasion of Human Rights Day, 10 December 2022

INCB President stresses human rights obligations as a condition for States to duly implement drug control conventions.

News1 December 2022

For the third year in a row, 100+ NGOs urge UNODC Director to mark International Human Rights Day by calling for rights-affirming drug policies

Civil society organisations urge UNODC Director, Ghada Waly, to call on Member States to change drug policies and practices to fulfil the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and to place human rights at the centre of all dimensions of UNODC’s work.

Publications30 November 2022

Concluding observations on the fifth periodic report of the Philippines - Human Rights Committee

The Human Rights Committee provides recommendations to the Philippines, crucially calling for an end to the violence of its so-called 'war on drugs'.

News20 October 2022

Philippines: If we continue with "drug free", we continue to violate human rights

Without seriously addressing human rights violations and promoting redress, the UN Joint Programme in the Philippines risks institutionalising these abuses.

Publications19 October 2022

Implementation of HRC Resolution 45/33 on the protection of human rights in the Philippines

OHCHR calls on the Philippine government to adopt a transformative approach that centres rights-based solutions to enduring challenges, including in relation to the destructive war on drugs.

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