This press release was issued by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanethem Pillay
Excerpt
This month, the international community takes stock of progress made in international drug control over the ten years since the Political Declaration of the 1998 UN General Assembly Special Session on Drugs. That Declaration recognized not only the grave effects of illicit drug use, but also the imperative for States to respond to the challenges posed by drug use in full conformity with international law, and particularly with full respect for all human rights. In reviewing our progress over the last decade and setting the course for the next, it is timely to again underscore what States’ human rights obligations demand of drug control regimes.
Individuals who use drugs do not forfeit their human rights. These include the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health (including access to treatment, services and care), the right not to be tortured or arbitrarily detained, and the right not to be arbitrarily deprived of their life. Too often, drug users suffer discrimination, are forced to accept treatment, marginalized and often harmed by approaches which over-emphasize criminalization and punishment while under-emphasizing harm reduction and respect for human rights. This is despite the longstanding evidence that a harm reduction approach is the most effective way of protecting rights, limiting personal suffering, and reducing the incidence of HIV. Let me stress that this is particularly the case for those in detention, who are already vulnerable to many forms of human rights violations...
Citation:Â Navanethem Pillay. 'High Commissioner for Human Rights calls for Focus on Human Rights and Harm Reduction in International Drug Policy' (UNHCHR Report) 2009
<http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/3A5B668A4EE1BBC2C12575750055262E?opendocument>
The full press release can be read here.