UN experts for HR approach in talking drug problem
UNB
Ahead of the UN General Assembly Special session on the World Drug Problem (UNGASS), a group of United Nations human rights experts have called on States to use the occasion to integrate their human rights obligations in the international drug control regime, reports UNB. Well continue to pay attention to the intersection of drug policy and human rights within the scope of their respective mandates, the experts said in a statement. The experts are Juan E Mndez, UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; Christof Heyns, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; Seong-Phil Hong, Chair-Rapporteur of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention; Dainius Pras, Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health, and Benyam Dawit Mezmur, Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. They urged member States to make bold commitments and ensure that the promotion and protection of human rights is central to the development of the 2019 Political Declaration and Plan of Action on Drugs.
The UNGASS is taking place in New York from April 19 to 21, according to a message received here from Geneva yesterday. To adequately address the drug problem, States must protect, respect, and fulfill the right to health of the population by committing maximum available resources to ensure access to affordable and quality health services, the experts said. This includes access to essential medicines, palliative care, comprehensive drug prevention and education, drug treatment, and harm reduction, they mentioned.
They are concerned that the current international drug control regime remains excessively punitive, as most drug control policies at the national level are based on criminalisation, incarceration, and over-investment in law enforcement, which have proven to be serious barriers in the protection and fulfillment of human rights. Such approaches have led to overburdened criminal justice and prison systems where standards of care and living create an environment where torture and ill-treatment are more likely to happen, the experts observed. Prevention is an important part of addressing drug use among children, but it must be pursued through evidence-based interventions as well as accurate and objective educational programmes and information campaigns, they said.
