Abstract
This article will address possible conflicts between the UN Drug Conventions and Human Rights treaties, specifically in regard to countries committing human rights violations in applying drug laws. Considering that human rights are at the core of the UN System and, together with development, and peace and security, represent one of the three pillars of the United Nations enshrined in the UN Charter, it is preposterous that drug policies applied by UN Members violate the individual and social rights provided for in many international instruments that are assumed to be binding to state’s interventions. Nevertheless, there are many examples of human rights violations, such as the death penalty for drug offenses, inhumane treatment imposed on drug addicts, violations of individual guarantees in criminal cases involving drugs, and the prohibition of substances such as the coca leaf, traditionally consumed in the Andes in South America, that will be examined in this chapter.
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Notes
- 1.
There are, as of November 2011, 183 states that are parties to the Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971, according to the INCB. A total of 12 states have yet to become parties to that convention: three of them in Africa (Equatorial Guinea, Liberia, and South Sudan), one in the Americas (Haiti), one in Asia (Timor-Leste), and seven in Oceania (Cook Islands, Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu).
- 2.
General Assembly resolution 2857 (XXVI) of December 20, 1971: Safeguards guaranteeing the protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty (Economic and Social Council resolution 1984/50 of May 25, 1984). Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Being Subjected to Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (General Assembly Resolution 3452 (XXX) of 9 December 1975). See also the Compendium of United Nations Standards and Norms in Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, ST/CSDHA/16.
- 3.
“High Commissioner calls for focus on human rights and harm reduction in international drug policy,” press release, United Nations 2009; Report of the UN Secretary General, capital punishment and implementation of the safeguards guaranteeing protection of rights of those facing the death penalty, ECOSOC, 18.12.09.
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Boiteux, L., Chernicharo, L.P., Alves, C.S. (2014). Human Rights and Drug Conventions: Searching for Humanitarian Reason in Drug Laws. In: Labate, B., Cavnar, C. (eds) Prohibition, Religious Freedom, and Human Rights: Regulating Traditional Drug Use. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-40957-8_1
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