La 'guerra contra las drogas' iniciada por el presidente de Filipinas, Rodrigo Duterte, está teniendo un impacto físico, emocional y económico en miles de niños por lo que el Consejo de Derechos Humanos de la ONU debería respaldar la apertura de una investigación independiente de los asesinatos y las violaciones contra menores que se han producido en el marco de la misma, reclama Human Rights Watch (HRW). En su informe 'Nuestra familia ya no está': El impacto de la 'guerra contra la 'guerra contra las drogas' en los niños en Filipinas, HRW detalla el sufrimiento de los niños que han perdido a sus padres o tutores, el impacto psicológico vivido y los problemas económicos que han venido aparejados al hecho de la muerte del cabeza de familia.

The Transnational Institute (TNI) has always believed in the need to find global answers to global problems, been a strong defender of multilateralism and an advocate of a well-functioning United Nations which stands as the guarantor of universal human rights. On the drugs question, our position is straightforward: drug control should respect human rights. An accessible but comprehensive primer on why TNI believes that human rights must be at the heart of any debate on drug control.

A recent study by Radboud University Nijmegen that concluded that regulating cannabis cultivation could improve human rights is no reason for the Netherlands to change its policy on marijuana, Minister Ard van der Steur of Security and Justice said. He argues that it can not be conclusively stated that regulating cannabis cultivation and trade will decrease violent crime. A recent vote at a meeting of the Association of Dutch Municipalities showed that the vast majority of municipalities in the Netherlands supports experiments with regulated cannabis cultivation.

Human rights lawyers who accused President Rodrigo Duterte of committing crimes against humanity appealed to Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan of the International Criminal Court (ICC) not to halt the investigation of the thousands of killings and other atrocities in the government’s war on drugs. “We ask the ICC not to allow itself to be swayed by the claims now being made by the Duterte administration,” the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), which represents some of the victims in the brutal anti-drug campaign, said in a statement. The group urged ICC to deny the government’s request for a “deferral” of the probe and proceed with a full-blown investigation of the drug war atrocities so as not to dim the “glimmer of hope” that the families of thousands of victims of alleged extrajudicial killings would still get justice.

Judges at the International Criminal Court approved a formal investigation into possible crimes against humanity allegedly committed under the leadership of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte in the context of his "war on drugs". The ICC said in a statement that judges had approved a request by prosecutors to begin the investigation into potential murder as a crime against humanity. Judges' assessment of material presented by prosecutors, was that "the so-called ‘war on drugs’ campaign cannot be seen as a legitimate law enforcement operation", but rather amounted to a systematic attack on civilians. (See also: Philippines: The International Criminal Court goes after Duterte’s drug war | Duterte is worried about the ICC. He should be)

Does the cannabis legalisation planned by the German government's traffic lights coalition violate European law and relevant UN agreements? While Bavarian Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU) presented an expert opinion by law professor Bernhard Wegener from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Munich, who answered this question with a clear "yes", LTO has received an unpublished legal study by two scientists from the University of Nijmegen, which comes to the opposite conclusion. They examined the relevant EU Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA, which obliges Member States to criminalise any form of illicit trafficking in drugs and thus also in cannabis. 

El Observatorio de Tierras de la Universidad Nacional y de la Universidad del Rosario documentó 95 incidentes entre la fuerza pública y campesinos entre diciembre de 2016 y julio de 2020. En lo corrido del año, cuatro campesinos y un indígena han muerto a manos del Ejército y la Policía Antinarcóticos. El Observatorio los reunió en un trabajo titulado “Erradicación forzada: una política que mata”, que, según la autora de la base de datos utilizada para el trabajo, Diana Ximena Machuca, es “un llamado de atención sobre el hecho de que la erradicación forzada es una política que viola derechos humanos y que va en contravía de los propósitos contemplados en el Acuerdo de Paz”. (Véase también: Erradicación forzada de cultivos de uso ilícito y derechos humanos)

The non-descript white van parked at the mosque entrance went mostly unnoticed. In conservative Malaysia, very few of the Muslim faithful on their way to prayers could ever have imagined its true purpose. After a 40-year war on drugs that has seen countless thousands of drug users locked up, the van is a symbol of a dramatic shift in Malaysia's approach to narcotics. It's a mobile methadone clinic, set up to provide support on the ground as the nation prepares to decriminalise drug use. "Looking at drug addicts as suffering a form of a disease is crucial," said Nurul Izzah Anwar, a Malaysian Government MP at the forefront of the push for what many proponents simply call "decrim".

En 1961, la Convención Única sobre Estupefacientes de Naciones Unidas dispuso “que la masticación de la hoja de coca quedará prohibida dentro de los 25 años siguientes a la entrada en vigor de la presente Convención”. El politólogo neerlandés Martin Jelsma, una de las mayores autoridades en políticas internacionales con respecto a las drogas, dice que con el retiro y posterior reingreso de Bolivia en la Convención del 61 (con la reserva sobre el masticado de coca), se debatió más la relación entre derechos humanos y de pueblos indígenas y las políticas de drogas.

Traditionally, the UN and governments have measured progress in drug policy in terms of flows and scale; principally the numbers of people arrested, hectares of drug crops eradicated and the amounts of drugs seized. For years now, IDPC and many civil society colleagues (in particular the Global Drug Policy Observatory (GDPO), CELS, the Centre on Drug Policy Evaluation, and the Social Science Research Council among others), have advocated against such an approach, because of its inability to truly assess the real impacts of drug control policy – especially for communities affected by the illicit drug trade on the one hand and by drug policies on the other.

UN member states have agreed to hold a Ministerial Segment immediately prior to the 62^nd Session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) ‘to take stock of the implementation of the commitments made to jointly address and counter the world drug problem, in particular in the light of the 2019 target date’ set out to eradicate or significantly reduce the overall scale of the illegal drug market. This advocacy note outlines the key issues for consideration by member states as they reflect on what has been achieved since the adoption of the 2009 Political Declaration and Plan of Action, including in light of the implementation of the UNGASS Outcome Document, and the implications for the next phase of the international drug policy regime.

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At the end of 2008, about 1,500 persons were released who were in Ecuadorian prisons sentenced for drug trafficking. The measure, known as “pardon for mules,” singled out a specific group of prisoners who were victims of indiscriminate and disproportionate legislation that was in effect for many years. Although with this measure, the Government of Rafael Correa took an important step in the process of reforming draconian legislation regarding controlled substances in his country, it is still to be completed with new legislation.

Read the new briefing: Pardon for Mules in Ecuador, a Sound Proposal, Series on Legislative Reform of Drug Policies Nr. 1, Transnational Institute/Washington Office on Latin America, February 2009

The Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) has assailed the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) for noting the “extrajudicial targeting” of persons suspected of drug-related activities — a violation of international drug control conventions. The DDB said it had been in constant dialogue with the United Nations body and even “expressed openness” to a visit by experts to officially assess the Philippine anti-drug campaign. The DDB said its “only request” was that the INCB “uphold an impartial stance and refrain from considering sources that have not been vetted or validated by its member-states.” In its annual report for 2021, the INCB called on the Philippine government “to take immediate steps to stop and prevent any further extrajudicial targeting and to accelerate the ongoing investigations.”

The chief of police in the Philippines has stepped down after facing historical accusations in the Senate that he protected officers who had resold confiscated drugs and received some of the profits. It was a rapid fall from grace for Oscar Albayalde, the head of the Philippine National Police (PNP), who rose to fame as the enforcer of Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs in Manila before Duterte was appointed president. Albayalde has denied the allegations. Thousands of people have been killed as part of Duterte’s campaign against illegal drugs. Amnesty International called it a “large-scale murdering enterprise”.

Tens of thousands of people may have been killed in the war on drugs since mid-2016 in the Philippines, amid “near impunity” for police and incitement to violence by top officials, the UN human rights office says in a report. The drugs crackdown, launched by President Rodrigo Duterte after winning election on a platform of crushing crime, has been marked by police orders and high-level rhetoric that may have been interpreted as “permission to kill”, according to the report. Police, who do not need search or arrest warrants to conduct house raids, systematically force suspects to make self-incriminating statements or risk lethal force. (See also: Children have become collateral damage with the Philippines’ “Drug War” scarring a generation)

La política de drogas “Sembrando Vida Desterramos el Narcotráfico” 2023-2033 que presenta el presidente Gustavo Petro en Cauca ha recibido comentarios positivos y también críticas de distintos sectores por las inconsistencias y vacíos detectados. En comparación con los enfoques punitivos predominantes en el pasado, la política formulada reconoce explícitamente que la “guerra contra las drogas” fracasó a nivel mundial, lo que exige transformar sustancialmente las premisas que criminalizan a los pequeños productores de plantas prohibidas, a los consumidores de drogas y mantienen en un segundo plano los enfoques de secuencia debida y derechos humanos también incluidos en instrumentos de Naciones Unidas. (En contexto: Los detalles del borrador de la política de drogas de Petro, que costaría 18 billones de pesos)

El proyecto de Ley Federal para la Regularización de la Cannabis avalado la víspera en comisiones, debe ser modificado a fin de no criminalizar el autoconsumo de esa droga en adultos, coincidieron senadores de Morena, PRI y PRD, quienes plantean que se elimine la obligación de realizar adecuaciones a las viviendas de los fumadores de mariguana, para establecer un espacio reservado a ello, lo que será verificado por las autoridades. Ello significa “una intromisión a la privacidad y una violación a los derechos humanos, recalcó la senadora de Morena, Jesusa Rodríguez. La senadora priísta, Silvana Beltrones, hizo notar que dentro de la regulación que se hará, debe estar presente la justicia social y asegurar la participación de campesinos y pequeñas comunidades en el mercado legal.

Black Britons are increasingly likely to be stopped and searched by police compared with white people, according to shocking new figures that challenge Theresa May’s attempt to reform the controversial power. The most authoritative analysis of the data since the Stephen Lawrenceinquiry nearly 20 years ago found that black Britons are now nine times more likely to be stopped and searched for drugs than white people, despite using illegal substances at a lower rate. In 2014, when home secretary, May announced measures to make stop and search less biased, describing it as “unfair, especially to young black men”. But instead, the study The Colour of Injustice: ‘Race’, drugs and law enforcement in England and Wales found that its use has become more discriminatory.

A “radically innovative” new analysis of global drug policies has laid bare the full impact repressive drug laws and their implementation have on millions of people worldwide, civil society groups behind its creation have said. The Global Drug Policy Index (GDPI), developed by the Harm Reduction Consortium (HRC) ranks countries on their drug policies against a series of indicators related to health, development, and human rights. It is the first tool of its kind to document, measure, and compare countries’ drug policies, and their implementation, across the world. And the results of the first index have underlined how even the best-ranked countries are falling dramatically short in aligning policies and their implementation with UN principles of human rights, health, and development.

There are good reasons to legally regulate drugs markets, rather than persist with efforts to ban all non-medical uses of psychoactive substances. Regulated cannabis and coca markets are already a reality in several countries, with more likely to follow. But ignoring or denying that such policy shifts contravene certain obligations under the UN drug control treaties is untenable and risks undermining basic principles of international law. States enacting cannabis regulation must find a way to align their reforms with their international obligations.

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