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Jun 30, 2008

“Drug traffickers must be executed immediately” – Indonesia plans to speed up executions for drug offences

Monday, 30 June 2008

Indonesia has used this year’s International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking to execute two Nigerians for heroin smuggling. They are the first people to be executed for drugs in the country in four years. Despite pleas for clemency from the Nigerian Government, Samuel Iwachekwu Okeye, 37, and Hansen Anthony Nwaoysa, 40, were executed by two firing squads in Nusakambangan island, off the southern coast of central Java just before midnight (17.00 GMT) on June 26th.

Commenting on the executions, Attorney-General Hendarman Supandji and Indonesia's national police chief, General Sutanto, said that other drug offenders on death row could expect their cases to be expedited. “To give them a lesson”, said Sutanto “drug traffickers must be executed immediately”.

The executions stand in stark contrast to statements from UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon on June 26th reminding UN member states of their obligations to protect the right to life and fair trial of people in prison for drug offences. The death penalty for drugs is itself a violation of international law and expediting executions may also breach the right to fair trial if all appeals processes are not thoroughly exhausted.

In October, the Indonesian Constitutional Court upheld the legality of the death penalty for drugs in the country ruling that the right to life had to be balanced against the rights of victims of drug trafficking.

The UNODC has this year repeatedly stated that the death penalty for drugs is an inappropriate sentence, a position repeated in the 2008 World Drug Report, launched on Thursday. In the report, UNODC executive Director Antonio Maria Costa highlighted the General Assembly resolution calling for a moratorium on the death penalty for all offences as a way forward, but noted that ‘the gaps between international standards and the law of individual nations need to be bridged.’ The executions in Indonesia last week clearly illustrate that gap and its very real consequences.

Just two days earlier, China marked International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking by executing three people and sentencing a further five to death in what has become a grim yearly tradition in the country.

In March, a clause in a draft resolution calling for an end to the death penalty for drug offences failed to make it through the negotiation stages a the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs.

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Jun 25, 2008

Antwerpenaren winnen gevecht tegen de vanzelfsprekendheid van 't Stad

[Opinie] Antwerps “uitschot” wint proces tegen Stad

image216.jpg


By Koen Calliauw 24/06/2008

IndyMedia.be


Dinsdag 24 juni ’08 won het Antwerpse “Daklozen Aktiekomitee” (DAK) voor de Politierechtbank een inhoudelijk belangrijk proces. Op 1 november vorig jaar (“Alle heiligen en drugs”) voerde het DAK samen met ondermeer Free Clinic, de parochiale werking ’t Vlot en de drugverslaafden van het De Coninckplein een symbolische actie op de “Internationale Dag van de Drugverbruiker”. Een veertigtal mensen + enkele straathonden waren présent. Burgemeester Patrick Janssens niet, die zat in China naar buildings van 500 m hoog te kijken. Hij vond voor zijn vertrek nog wel de energie om de beperkte manifestatie van het “DAK”, een zelforganisatie, te verbieden…


“DAK” wint proces


De overheden die met het DAK te maken krijgen mogen zich aan het ergste verwachten. Dat is al twaalf jaar zo. “Luis in de pels van…” en bijzonder weinig geïmponeerd door “orde & gezag”. Ondanks het verbod opgelegd door de politie ging op 1 november ’07 onder een gezellig zonnetje de actie wel door. Een week later viel bij het DAK een “overlastboete” van 80 euro in de bus wegens het niet respecteren van het…samenscholingsverbod in het kader van de GAS wetgeving, de “Gemeentelijke Administratieve Sancties”. Die 80 euro was er teveel aan voor deze vertegenwoordigers van “junks” en daklozen. Betalen? Nooit! De uitspraak van de Politierechter luidt nu dat die GAS boete niet betaald moet worden, dat de administratieve proceskosten ten nadele van de Stad vallen. Zijdelings laat deze Politierechter aanvoelen dat er heel wat mis is met de GAS. Met deze uitspraak kan politiek en juridisch verder gewerkt worden.


De enige weg om een juridische oplossing te vinden was dus de Politierechtbank. Daarheen dan maar met een procedure tegen de Stad en met advocaat Edith Flamand van “Progress Lawywers Network”. Een procedure waarin ook Patrick Janssens (sp.a), als Burgemeester verantwoordelijk voor openbare orde, in zicht komt.( “Uitschot” tegen GAS” http://www.indymedia.be/nl/node/27702 ).Reeds dikwijls klaagden het DAK en anderen aan dat het Stedelijk veiligheidsbeleid ten nadele van de meer armen gevoerd wordt en ronduit discriminerend tegen de sociaal uitgesloten. Een juridische procedure inspannen tegen bvb. een boete wegens een zogenaamd verkeerd geplaatste vuilniszak is zo hoogdrempelig en duur gemaakt, dat de burger er niet aan begint en afdokt. Hier een voorbeeldje van “visie” uit de koker van Tom Meeuws, waarnemend Directeur Integrale Veiligheid van de stad Antwerpen,verantwoordelijk voor de GAS, afkomstig uit Agalav-Groen! en rechterhand van Janssens.


"Mister Propre"


Meeuws trapt eerst de voorstanders van een levende, soepele stad na. Hij trapt dus Agalev-Groen!, waaraan hij zijn carriére te danken heeft,na. Hij trapt de “Sinjoren” na, die houden van de diversiteit in de “rafelige rand”.”Mister Propre” Meeuws: “Tegenstanders van een overlastaanpak wijzen er in een filosofische bui vaak op dat overlastbestrijders de stad in feite willen uitgommen. Want een stad, het stadsleven, kan nooit harmonieus verlopen. Wrijving en conflict, ongemak en het leren omgaan met verschil behoren tot het wezen van de stad…” “Het weze duidelijk” zegt dit arrogant ventje, “we zijn in de stad die hoge retoriek…lang voorbij”. ”Wij” gaan opleggen wat “harmonieus” is en binnen de lijntjes kleurt”. Het “weze duidelijk”, Meeuws en Janssens, in deze Stad leven steeds sterker wordende krachten die jullie politiek van geregisseerde “recht & orde” aanpakken. Bijvoorbeeld het “Daklozen Aktie Komitee” en haar bondgenoten, zoals “A!A”, “Basta!”, de PVDA, de “S(r)traten Generaal”, “Ademloos”,e.a. ( http://www.basta-online.be - http://www.pvda.be/nl/home.html ) Al deze progressieve oppositionele groepen vonden elkaar en zijn goed georganiseerd om jullie te raken waar het pijn doet.


Meeuws en de politieke meerderheid willen een gladde, gecontroleerde samenleving waar “eenheidsworst” het menu vormt. Zij aarzelen niet discriminerende taal en praktijken te gebruiken. Meeuws in een “filosofische bui”:”Steden zoals Antwerpen ontvangen de komende jaren meer volk dan ooit. De spanning tussen arm en rijk,nooddruft en welstand,zal alleen maar toenemen en daarmee de vraag naar ordehandhaving en overlastbeteugeling. Het is onze overtuiging dat die spagaat almaar meer zal vragen van een lenige overheid die bereid is om overlast zonder veel poespas aan te pakken”. (Uit “Toegegeven, er is overlast in Antwerpen”, “Update in de criminaliteit, overlast en de maatschappelijke aanpak er van”- Wolters Kluwers Belgium, 2008).


“Klasse justitie”


Hier wordt bij middel van de GAS “zonder veel poespas” het recht op vrije meningsuiting aangepakt wegens het schenden van een “samenscholingsverbod” op 1 november vorig jaar. Even daarvoor kreeg de politie carte blanche om “zonder veel poespas” in te hakken op de Marokkaans bevolking. ( “Bart Debie ‘undercover’ – http://www.indymedia.be/nl/node/27947 ). Racisme, discriminatie van armen, aantasting van burgerlijke vrijheden. Ambtenaartjes als Meeuws voelen er zich in thuis, Janssens speelt in de kaart van extreem rechtse politici als Dewinter (VB). Vage begrippen als “overlast” om te beletten dat sociaal uitgesloten groepen hun eisen straat brengen. Dat was vorig jaar op het De Coninckplein glashelder. Van de flikken wordt een “lenige spagaat” verwacht om ervoor te zorgen dat de armen niet in de weg lopen van de meer rijken, die niet willen struikelen over een bedelaar of iemand die er van ellende grauw uitziet en dus “overlast” is.


Advocate Edith Flamand spreekt van een “bestuurlijke klasse justitie” daar waar de Directeur Integrale Veiligheid van Antwerpen zegt:”Kritiek op de overlastaanpak slaat in die zin om in een motie van wantrouwen ten aanzien van de bestuurskracht van steden. Dit is vanzelfsprekend noch wenselijk, noch aanvaardbaar..” Ambtenaartje Meeuws stipuleer even wat “aanvaardbaar”” zou zijn…Kritiek is dat niet! Het typeert die beleid, ook inzake de ramp met de Oosterweelverbinding en de Lange Wapper brug. Verder:” Het is niet wenselijk omdat in de renaissance die de stad nu beleeft, de verwachtingen van de burgers ten aanzien van hun lokale beleidsmakers navenant zijn. We kunnen de rol nu niet meer lossen.” Hij zegt tevens dat de Federale GAS wet bedoeld is om op “…uitputtende wijze uit te voeren…”.Niet alleen in de strijd tegen de hondendrol, maar misbruikend tegen grondwettelijke en burgerrechten. De boete die het DAK aangesmeerd kreeg is een voorbeeld van dit bewuste misbruik. Die “renaissance” zou uit de mond van Janssens kunnen komen doelend op een “propere stad” waar projectontwikkelaars poen scheppen te koste van de oude wijkbewoners, die verjaagd worden. (Sociale verdringing).


“De Stad is van de rijken!”


Het DAK won dit juridisch geding tegen de Stad. Laat dat duidelijk zijn. Het DAK moet die 80 euro niet betalen, trekt een deel van de proceskosten terug en zet samen met haar doelgroep – de “junkies” van het De Coninckplein – Tom Meeuws en Patrick Janssens voor schut. De Politierechter – Huyskens - verwerpt in zijn vonnis enkele mislukte administratieve truken van de juridische foor, aangewend door de Stad, om tot het besluit te komen dat de politierechtbank in casu de wettigheid van de Stadsbeslissing kan te beoordelen. Een onwettig gemotiveerde beslissing is een onwettige beslissing die kan vernietigd worden, wat de politierechter dan ook gedaan heeft.


Dat oordeel is in het voordeel van het DAK. Dit proces kon gezien de wetgeving slechts voor een Politierechtbank gevoerd worden. Toch is het een overwinning tegenover een politiek, juridisch ambtenaren apparaat. Het is een overwinning die uitgebreid medegedeeld zal worden aan de mensen waarover het gaat: de gemarginaliseerde, sociaal uitgesloten “junks” en “sans papiers” van het De Coninckplein die dag en nacht vervolgd worden door een flikkencorps dat zich gesteund weet door figuren als een Tom Meeuws en Janssens. De armen delen in deze overwinning. Het afgezeurd promotieverhaaltje “De Stad is van Iedereen” wordt doorprikt. De Stad is van wie de poen heeft en “de Stad” ontkent dat niet. Dat moet radicaal veranderen.


Koen Calliauw.

http://www.daklozenaktiekomitee.be

http://www.luisinpels.wordpress.com


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Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon: “No one should be stigmatized or discriminated against because of their dependence on drugs”


24 June 2008

UNIS/SGSM/053

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:


“No one should be stigmatized or discriminated against
because of their dependence on drugs”


Message on the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit
Trafficking, 26 June 2008


VIENNA, 26 June (UN Information Service) -- Ten years ago, in response to the seriousness of the world drug problem, Member States of the United Nations convened a Special Session of the General Assembly, where they committed themselves to a vigorous plan of action to reduce both the supply and demand for drugs.


Today, drugs continue to destroy lives, generate crime and threaten sustainable development. But we also have a better understanding of how to confront drug abuse and trafficking. Policymakers can draw on a growing body of evidence about drug dependence and drug-use trends. International cooperation and technical assistance are improving law enforcement capabilities. Increased development assistance is helping to reduce poverty and the sale of illicit crops by giving farmers sustainable alternatives. A stronger focus on prevention and treatment is putting health at the centre of drug-control strategies and helping to slow the spread of HIV/AIDS. And there is a growing consensus, both within communities and among states, that drug control is a shared responsibility in which we all play a part.


We still have much work to do to reduce our vulnerability to drugs. States with weak criminal justice systems and limited law enforcement capabilities need assistance to reduce illicit drug trafficking, which spreads crime, corruption and instability, and which ultimately endangers the successful realization of the Millennium Development Goals.


As we mark the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, I remind all Member States of their responsibility to fully respect the rights of prisoners who are drug dependent or are in custody for
drug-related crimes, especially their rights to life and a fair trial. I also call on Member States to ensure that people who are struggling with drug addiction be given equal access to health and social services. No one should be stigmatized or discriminated against because of their dependence on drugs.


The combined efforts over the past decade have greatly enhanced our understanding of the drug problem worldwide and strengthened our capacity and resolve to reduce the damage done by drugs to individuals, their loved ones, to communities and states. On this International Day Against Drug Abuse, let us each shoulder our responsibility to prevent and reduce the damage that drugs do, and thereby build a healthier and safer world.


* *** *



United Nations Information Service Vienna (UNIS Vienna)
P.O.Box 500
1400 Vienna
Austria
Tel.: (+43-1) 26060-4666
Fax: (+43-1) 26060-7-5899
Email: unis@unvienna.org
Website: http://www.unis.unvienna.org.


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Jun 24, 2008

Naciones Unidas: Políticas Represivas de Drogas socavan esfuerzos en la lucha contra el SIDA


Naciones Unidas: Políticas Represivas de Drogas socavan esfuerzos en la lucha contra el SIDA.


Las Estrategias de Control de Drogas amenazan el derecho a la vida y a la salud de las personas que utilizan drogas.



(Nueva York, 26 de junio 2008) - Las Naciones Unidas deben asegurar que las políticas de drogas no impidan el acceso a los servicios sanitarios para pacientes con VIH, declararon mas de 400 organizaciones que líderes que trabajan en los problemas asociados con el vih en el ámbito de la salud publica y los derechos humanos, en una carta dirigida al Secretario General Ban Ki-Moon y otros oficiales clave de las Naciones Unidades.


El envío de la carta coincide con el Día Internacional contra el Uso Indebido y el Tráfico Ilícito de Drogas patrocinado por las Naciones Unidas, 26 de junio, fecha que gobiernos de todo el mundo suelen utilizar para poner de relieve sus esfuerzos represivos en materia de control de drogas, haciendo públicas ejecuciones, incautaciones de sustancias y detenciones de usuarios de drogas.



Fuera de África, el 30% de todas las nuevas infecciones de VIH se encuentran relacionadas con el uso inyectable de drogas; las epidemias que se diseminan con mayor velocidad son aquellas que tienen lugar entre usuarios de drogas inyectables. Los Estados Miembro de las Naciones Unidas se han comprometido a asegurar el “acceso universal” a la prevención, atención y tratamiento del VIH/ SIDA para el año 2010. No obstante, las contradicciones existentes entre los abordajes de Naciones Unidas respecto de la problemática del VIH/SIDA, enfocados en la protección de la Salud Pública y los Derechos Humanos por un lado, y las políticas de drogas, basadas en medidas punitivas, por el otro, tienden a socavar los esfuerzos tendientes a proveer a los usuarios de drogas accesibilidad a los servicios públicos de salud en materia de HIV/SIDA, entre otras.



Las políticas de drogas represivas atentan contra la prevención, cuidado y tratamiento del VIH como así también contrala atención a usuarios de drogas. La negación a implementar por razones legales o políticos intervenciones de reducción de daños, tales como la metadona y el acceso a jeringas y material de inyección así como acciones focalizadas para personas que usan drogas expone a los usuarios de drogas a riesgos innecesarios de contraer VIH.



Los programas de VIH y SIDA no pueden ser eficaces si existen políticas de drogas infunden temor a los usuarios, alejándolos de los servicios de salud.



Durante los últimos años, en China, por ejemplo, el 26 de junio fue marcado por ejecuciones públicas de usuarios de drogas. A lo largo de 2002, el gobierno dirigió sesenta y cuatro ejecuciones públicas en todo el país. En la ciudad sudoeste de Chongqing se les disparó a veinticuatro personas en la mayor ejecución del día. En el año 2005, se registraron cincuenta y cinco ejecuciones motivadas por el uso de drogas durante las dos semanas previas al 26 de Junio.



“La Asamblea General de las Naciones Unidas ha expresado claramente que el control de drogas tiene que ser ejecutado considerando y respetando los derechos humanos y las libertades fundamentales,” dijo Rebecca Schleifer del Programa VIH/ SIDA de Human Rights Watch. “Sin embargo, gobiernos de todo el mundo continúan violando los derechos humanos de una manera escandalosa en el nombre del control de drogas. Estas violaciones no solo son horribles en sí mismas, además minan los esfuerzos de la lucha contra el VIH/ SIDA".



En Tailandia, las campañas anti drogas (incluyendo una guerra feroz contra las drogas en el año 2003, que ha resultado en más de 2.500 asesinatos extrajudiciales, y el lanzamiento de una nueva guerra contra las drogas en abril 2008) han ahuyentado a muchos usuarios de drogas de la prevención y tratamiento del VIH, debido a que temen a las detenciones y a la violencia policial.



"Tailandia reconoce que la tasa de infección por VIH entre usuarios de drogas es ´inaceptablemente alta´, y su política oficial es la de tratar a los usuarios de drogas como ´pacientes´ y no como ´criminales´", dijo el Director del Thai AIDS Treatment Action Group, Paisan Suwannawong. "Pero en realidad, la policía recolecta información acerca de usuarios de drogas en los centros de salud y la decisión del gobierno de revitalizar la guerra contra las drogas ha logrado que muchos usuarios de drogas teman utilizar los servicios de salud públicos, que son suyos por derecho".



Rusia enfrenta una explosiva epidemia de VIH, impulsada en gran medida por el uso compartido de material de inyección. Pero la ley rusa prohibe explícitamente el uso de enfoques más efectivos, científicamente fundamentados para el tratamiento de la dependencia al opio –mantenimiento con metadona o buprenorfina- A pesar de que Naciones Unidas apoya enfáticamente el uso de estos medicamentos como parte integral de la prevención y el tratamiento del VIH, los más altos funcionarios vinculados a la salud y la legislación en Rusia se oponen a ellos.



“Para el tratamiento de la dependencia opiácea, la metadona es crucial, como así también para la prevención de VIH entre personas que usan drogas,” dijo Vitaly Djuna, director ejecutivo de la Red Rusa de la Reducción de Daños. “Negar esta medicación a personas que la necesitan es como castigarlos con un sufrimiento grave que puede llegar incluso la muerte, solo porque se inyectan drogas.”



Los firmantes exhortan a las Naciones Unidades a que “hablen con una voz única” y estimulen políticas de drogas basadas en los derechos humanos, argumentando que la protección de los derechos humanos de usuarios de drogas es un pre-requisito para la ejecución de programas de VIH/ SIDA que resulten efectivos.



“No vamos a lograr el acceso universal a la prevención, atención y tratamiento del VIH/ SIDA sin la protección de los derechos humanos de las personas que usan drogas,” advierte la carta.



La misma concluyó con un llamamiento a los gobiernos y al sistema de las Naciones Unidas a reconocer que una buena política de SIDA requiere una política de drogas sensata y no represiva, medidas que aborden el problema de las drogas facilitando el acceso a los servicios de VIH y de salud que pueden salvar vidas.”




To read the joint letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, please visit:

http://www.hrw.org/pub/2008/hivaids/signon623final.pdf


For more information, please contact:

In New York, Rebecca Schleifer, Human Rights Watch (English, Spanish): +1-212-216-1273

In Bangkok, Paisan Suwannawong, Thai AIDS Treatment Action Group (English, Thai): +66-81-8245434

In the Netherlands, Kevin Moody, International Coordinator, Global Network of People Living with AIDS (English): +31-20-423-4114

In Moscow, Vitaly Djuma, Russian Harm Reduction Network (Russian, English): +7-495-663-2102



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Для немедленного распространения; ОOH: Репрессивная политика в области наркотиков подрывает усилия по профилактике и лечению ВИЧ/СПИДа



Для немедленного распространения
ОOH: Репрессивная политика в области наркотиков подрывает усилия по профилактике и лечению ВИЧ/СПИДа
Для того чтобы остановить растущую эпидемию ВИЧ, нужно уважать права на здоровье и жизнь людей, употребляющих наркотики,


(Нью-Йорк, 24 июня 2008 г.) – Организация Объединенных Наций должна сделать все возможное, чтобы политика в отношении наркотиков не препятствовала доступу к сохраняющим жизни услугам в сфере ВИЧ, — заявили сегодня организации, работающие в области общественного здоровья и защиты прав человека, в письме Генеральному секретарю ООН Пан Ги Муну и другим ключевым лицам ООН.


«Генеральная ассамблея ООН четко зафиксировала, что меры по контролю за наркотиками должны проводиться в соответствии с принципами уважения прав человека и основных свобод, — заявила Ребекка Шляйфер, специалист программы в области здравоохранения и прав человека правозащитной организации «Хьюман Райтс Вотч». — Но под предлогом контроля за наркотиками правительства по всему меру попирают права человека. Эти нарушения не только возмутительны сами по себе, но и противоречат усилиям в борьбе с ВИЧ/СПИДом.»


В то время как ООН отмечает 26 июня Международный день борьбы с наркозависимостью и незаконным оборотом наркотиков, нужно отдавать отчет в том, что меры по контролю за поставками и потреблением наркотиков лишают миллионы наркопотребителей жизненно важных услуг по профилактике ВИЧ, говорят «Хьюман Райтс Вотч», Международный совет СПИД-сервисных организаций, Глобальная сеть людей, живущих с ВИЧ, и более 400 ведущих организаций, действующих в сфере ВИЧ, общественного здоровья и защиты прав человека по всему миру.


Письмо призывает ООН разговаривать «одним голосом» и развивать политику в отношении наркотиков, которая будет уважать права человека. В письме утверждается, что защита прав людей, употребляющих наркотики, — обязательное условие для эффективности программ в области ВИЧ/СПИДа.


Согласно Объединенной программе ООН по ВИЧ/СПИДу (ЮНЭЙДС), почти треть всех новых случаев ВИЧ-инфекции за пределами Африки связана с инъекционным наркопотреблением. Страны — члены ООН заявили о приверженности предоставлению «универсального доступа» к профилактике, лечению и поддержке ВИЧ к 2010 году. Но противоречия между подходами ООН к ВИЧ/СПИДу, основанными на общественном здравоохранении и правах человека, и политикой ООН по контролю за наркотиками, которые сфокусированы на карательных мерах, подрывают усилия, направленные на предоставление людям, употребляющим наркотики, услуг в сфере ВИЧ и других областях здравоохранения.


Страны — члены ООН часто отмечают день борьбы с наркотиками арестами, лишением свободы и казнями людей, обвиняющихся в употреблении наркотиков, чтобы продемонстрировать свою работу по контролю за наркотиками.


Но жесткая наркополитика подрывает меры по профилактике, лечению и поддержке в области ВИЧ для людей, употребляющих наркотики. Политика и практика, ставящие вне закона ключевые программы снижения вреда, такие как заместительная терапия и доступ к стерильным шприцам, загоняют потребителей наркотиков в ситуации риска заражения ВИЧ. Жестокие меры и преследования потребителей наркотиков усугубляют для них атмосферу страха и еще дальше отгоняют их от спасительных услуг.


В последние годы, например, Китай отмечал 26 июня публичными казнями потребителей наркотиков. В 2002 г. правительство провело 64 публичных казней по всей стране, крупнейшая из которых состоялась в юго-восточном городе Чонсинь, где были расстреляны 24 человека. Правозащитная организация «Международная Амнистия» зафиксировала 55 казней за две недели, предшествовавшие 26 июня 2005 г.


В Таиланде, антинаркотические кампании — включая брутальную «войну с наркотиками» 2003 г., результатом которой стали 2500 внесудебных убийств, и объявленную в апреле 2008 г. новую «войну с наркотиками» — перекрыли доступ для множества потребителей наркотиков к лечению и профилактике ВИЧ/СПИДа, по причине страха перед заключением и насилием со стороны полиции.


«Таиланд признал, что ВИЧ-инфекция среди потребителей наркотиков «неприемлемо высока» и его официальная политика — обращаться с наркопотребителями как с «пациентами», а не «преступниками», — говорит Пайсан Суваннавонг, директор Тайской Группы по лечению СПИДа, — Но в реальности, информация о наркопотребителях из больниц идет напрямую в полицию. И решение правительства о возобновлении войны с наркотиками отпугнуло многих потребителей наркотиков от посещений служб здравоохранения.»


Россия испытывает взрывную эпидемию СПИДа, движимую в значительной части небезопасным инъекционным употреблением наркотиков. Но российское законодательство категорически запрещает использование одного из наиболее эффективных и хорошо исследованных подходов к лечению опийной наркозависимости – заместительной поддерживающей терапии метадоном или бупренорфином. Несмотря на то что агентства ООН настоятельно рекомендуют использовать эти методы как неотъемлемую часть профилактических и лечебных программ, высокие лица в российском здравоохранении и правоохранительных структурах выступают против этого.


“Заместительная терапия необходима для лечения опийной зависимости, а также профилактики ВИЧ среди потребителей наркотиков, — говорит Виталий Джума, исполнительный директор Всероссийской сети снижения вреда. — Отказ в доступе к этим методам людям, нуждающимся в них, равнозначен обречению на серьезные мучения или даже смерть для многих потребителей наркотиков».


«Мы не достигнем универсального доступа к лечению ВИЧ, профилактике и поддержке без защиты прав людей употребляющих наркотики», — предупреждает письмо.


Письмо призывает правительства и систему ООН признать, что «эффективная политика в отношении СПИДа означает здравую политику в отношении наркотиков – такие меры, которые решают проблему наркотиков не лишая доступа к службам, спасающим жизни ».


Cовместное письмо Генеральному секретарю ООН можно прочитать
по-русски: http://www.itpcru.org/treatment_preparedness/advocacy/sign_on/un
по-английски: http://www.hrw.org/pub/2008/hivaids/signon623final.pdf


Чтобы получить больше информации, свяжитесь:
В Нью-Йорке — Ребекка Шляйфер, «Хьюман Райтс Вотч» / Human Rights Watch (English, Spanish): +1-212-216-1273
В Бангкоке — Пайсан Суваннавонг, Тайская группа по лечению СПИДа / Thai AIDS Treatment Action Group (English, Thai): +66-81-8245434
В Нидерландах — Кевин Муди, Глобальная сеть людей, живущих со СПИДом / Global Network of People Living with AIDS (English): +31-20-423-4114
В Москве — Виталий Джума Djuma, Всероссийская сеть снижения вреда / Russian Harm Reduction Network (Russian, English): +7-495-663-2102


HaRdCOREhARMREdUCER
DrugWarLog
ArtCoreFromTheHardCore



For Immediate Release; UN: Harsh Drug Policies Undermine AIDS Prevention and Treatment


For Immediate Release


UN: Harsh Drug Policies Undermine AIDS Prevention and Treatment

Respect Rights to Life, Health of Drug Users to Stem Rising HIV Epidemics



(New York, June 24, 2008) – The United Nations should ensure that policies to control illicit drugs do not impede access to lifesaving HIV services, a group of public health and rights organizations said today in a joint letter to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other key UN officials (http://www.hrw.org/pub/2008/hivaids/signon623final.pdf).


“The UN has stated that drug control must be carried out while respecting human rights and fundamental freedoms,” said Rebecca Schleifer, advocate with the Health and Human Rights Program at Human Rights Watch. “But governments all over the world commit egregious human rights abuses in the name of drug control. Not only are these abuses horrific, they also undermine efforts to fight HIV and AIDS.”


Αs the United Nations marks the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on June 26, it should be aware that efforts to control the use and trafficking of drugs are denying drug users vital services aimed at preventing HIV and AIDS, said Human Rights Watch, the International Council of AIDS Service Organizations, the Global Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS, and a group of more than 400 leading HIV, public health, and human right organizations. The letter urges the United Nations to “speak with one voice” and promote rights-based drug policies, stating that protecting the human rights of people who use drugs is a prerequisite to effective HIV/AIDS programs.


According to UNAIDS, nearly one-third of all new HIV infections outside of Africa are due to injecting drug use. UN member states have committed to providing “universal access” to HIV prevention, care, and treatment by 2010. Yet contradictions between UN approaches to HIV and AIDS, grounded in public health and human rights protections, and UN drug control policies, which focus on punitive measures, undermine efforts to provide HIV/AIDS and other public health services to people who use drugs.


Member states often mark the UN-sponsored anti-drug day with drug seizures, executions, arrests, and imprisonment of alleged drug users to showcase their drug control efforts.


But harsh drug enforcement policies undercut HIV prevention, care, treatment, and support for people who use drugs. Laws or policies that deny key harm-reduction interventions, such as methadone and access to sterile syringes, put people who use drugs at unnecessary risk of HIV. Crackdowns and increased enforcement targeting people who use drugs create a climate of fear for drug users, driving them away from lifesaving services.

In recent years, for example, China has marked June 26 with public executions of drug users. In 2002, the government carried out 64 public executions across the country, the largest of which was in the southwestern city of Chongqing, where 24 people were shot. Amnesty International recorded 55 executions for drug offences during the two-week period before June 26, 2006.


In Thailand, anti-drug campaigns – including its brutal 2003 “war on drugs,” which resulted in more than 2,500 extrajudicial killings, and the April 2008 launch of a new “war on drugs” – have driven many people who use drugs away from effective HIV prevention and AIDS treatment, out of fear of arrest and police violence.

“Thailand has acknowledged that the HIV infection rate among people who use drugs is ‘unacceptably high,’ and its official policy is to treat drug users as ‘patients,’ not ‘criminals,” said Paisan Suwannawong, director of the Thai AIDS Treatment Action Group. “But in reality, police collect information about drug users from health clinics. And the government’s decision to revive the drug war has made many people who use drugs afraid to seek public health services that are theirs by right.”


Russia is facing an explosive HIV epidemic, driven largely by unsafe injection drug use. But Russian law explicitly prohibits the use of the most effective and best researched treatment approach for opiate dependence – methadone or buprenorphine maintenance treatment. Although UN agencies strongly endorse the use of these medications as an integral part of HIV prevention and treatment programs, top Russian health and law enforcement officials oppose them.


“Methadone is critical for treatment of opiate dependence as well as to prevent HIV for people who use drugs,” said Vitaly Djuma, executive director of the Russian Harm Reduction Network. “Denying this medication to people in need is like sentencing them to serious suffering or even death for injection drug use.”


“We will not achieve universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment without protecting the human rights of people who use drugs,” the letter warns.


The letter calls on governments and the UN system “to recognize that good AIDS policy requires sound drug policy – measures that address the drugs problem without impeding access to lifesaving HIV services.”



To read the joint letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, please visit:

http://www.hrw.org/pub/2008/hivaids/signon623final.pdf



For more information, please contact:

In New York, Rebecca Schleifer, Human Rights Watch (English, Spanish): +1-212-216-1273

In Bangkok, Paisan Suwannawong, Thai AIDS Treatment Action Group (English, Thai): +66-81-8245434

In the Netherlands, Kevin Moody, International Coordinator, Global Network of People Living with AIDS (English): +31-20-423-4114

In Moscow, Vitaly Djuma, Russian Harm Reduction Network (Russian, English): +7-495-663-2102


HaRdCOREhARMREdUCER
DrugWarLog
ArtCoreFromTheHardCore



Jun 22, 2008

The Canadian Harm Reduction Network and Canadian AIDS Society Launch a New Report on Harm Reduction in Canada




18 June 2008

The Canadian AIDS Society and the Canadian AIDS Society, in partnership, have launched a new publication entitled "Learning from Each Other:

Enhancing Community-Based Harm Reduction Programs and Practices in Canada." The report is the culmination of a 17-month-long study based on the findings of a harm reduction symposium and a series of focus groups, site visits and community walkabouts in nine medium-sized cities across Canada. The study was funded by the federal government's Drug Strategy Community Initiatives Fund.

"The recent judgment on the operation of Insite, Vancouver's safe injections site, reminds us that harm reduction services are fundamental healthcare rights and that to deny such services is in effect an infringement of the right to life, liberty and security of the person. Our report shows how Canadian harm reduction programs are vital to our communities through their service to a population that is often marginalized and alienated," says Monique Doolittle-Romas, Executive Director of the Canadian AIDS Society.

"These programs are making a valuable difference in people's lives and to society by helping protect the health and well-being of those most in need. They typically do this under the constraints of insufficient or insecure funding."

Targeted to health care professionals, outreach workers and service providers working in the field of harm reduction in Canada, the report highlights how various programs were developed and implemented, the challenges encountered and the lessons learned along the way. It also
provides in-depth testimony from people with drug-use experience about what works well, what does not, the impact that harm reduction programs and services have on their lives, and what can be done to improve programs.

"People who work in harm reduction and people who use drugs told us at various meetings that they don't know what is happening in other cities. The need for information sharing is critical," says Gail Flintoft, Chair of the Board of the Canadian AIDS Society. "We took this project on so that people don't have to recreate the wheel. Sharing this information will enhance harm
reduction services by enabling people to learn from each other's experiences."

"Service providers and service users alike told us that having information about the 'unknown' harm reduction - what goes on outside the major cities across Canada - would help them save both lives and money, said Walter Cavalieri Director of the Canadian Harm Reduction Network.
"Now they have it."

The report shows how community and health care organizations prevent harms related to drug use, primarily the transmission of HIV and hepatitis C. It also portrays the holistic underpinnings of the programs which cater to both the basic health and emotional well-being of people who use drugs.

Most importantly, the report shows the human side of harm reduction, including the perspectives from the many people harm reduction programs serve, in their own words. It's a celebration of the dedicated harm reduction pioneers and proponents who are working to protect the lives of people who use drugs. Often discussing issues beyond harm reduction, it also
provides a compelling glance at societal challenges, including poverty, homelessness and gentrification in urban centres.


The report can be accessed, in English and French, on the websites of the Canadian Harm Reduction Network at http://www.canadianharmreduction.com/project

and the Canadian AIDS Society at: www.cdnaids.ca/learning_from_each_other.


Jun 19, 2008

DRAFT BEYOND 2008 DECLARATION


DRAFT BEYOND 2008 DECLARATION



We, participants in the “Beyond 2008” International NGO Forum, representing the culmination of thirteen consultations in all nine regions of the world and involving over 500 NGOs from 116 countries and 65 international NGOs;

Acknowledge the long history of the Vienna Non-Governmental Organisations Committee (VNGOC) on Narcotic Drugs and its work to bring NGO contributions to United Nations drug policy events,
Note that NGOs are often the primary providers of established and innovative services for those who use illicit drugs and can thus be uniquely placed to make contact with and bring the voice of the individuals, families and communities most affected by the adverse health and social consequences of drug misuse,

Recall the Political Declaration, the Guiding Principles of Drug Demand Reduction and the Measures to Enhance International Cooperation to Counter the World Drug Problem adopted by the General Assembly at its twentieth special session devoted to countering the world drug problems together,
Welcome the CND resolutions 49/2 and 51/4 on the need to recognize and encourage the efforts of civil society, including NGOs, in addressing problems associated with the use of illicit drugs and calling for their contribution to the UNGASS review and reflection process,

Grateful for the support of our partner the UNODC and the generous financial and in kind support afforded by several members states and non-governmental organizations to realize the Beyond 2008 consultations and Forum,

Respectful of the United Nations Drug Control Conventions, the flexibility afforded within these and of the role and mandate of the CND, and welcoming the political resolve of world leaders to reduce adverse health and social consequences of drug misuse,

Acknowledge that the targets set at the UNGASS on Illicit Drugs in 1998 were ambitious and that while progress has occurred in some areas, the results achieved have been limited,

Convinced that the collective strengths of governments, the CND, the United Nations Office on Drugs, its related United Nations partner agencies and NGOs must be re-catalyzed into a common, complementary global partnership if further demonstrable progress is to be achieved to reduce adverse health and social consequences of drug misuse problems,

Note the opportunity of capitalizing on under-utilitized supportive functions of all religions and faiths to prevent drug misuse.

1. Welcome the opportunity to present three companion resolutions to this Declaration to the CND in its preparation for the High Level Meeting of 2009 on three specific areas:

Objective 1: to highlight NGO achievements in the field of drug control, with emphasis on contributions to the 1998 UNGASS Action Plan, in areas such as policy, community engagement, prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and social reintegration

Objective 2: to review best practices related to collaboration mechanisms among NGOs, governments and UN agencies in various fields, and to propose new and improved ways of working with the UNODC and CND
Objective 3: to adopt a series of high-order principles, drawn from the Conventions and their commentaries that would be tabled with UNODC and CND, for their consideration and serve as a guide for future deliberations on drug policy

2. Call upon the CND and UNODC to give these recommendations serious and due consideration

3. Commit ourselves to continue providing our experience and expertise to governmental and non-governmental agencies in efforts to find humane, just and effective responses to reduce adverse health and social consequences of drug misuse

4. Welcome the opportunity of future dialogue towards and during the High Level segment of the CND in 2009, designed to identify ways forward.

DRAFT RESOLUTION OBJECTIVE 1

TO HIGHLIGHT NGO ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE FIELD OF DRUG CONTROL, WITH EMPHASIS ON CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE 1998 UNGASS ACTION PLAN, IN AREAS SUCH AS POLICY, COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, PREVENTION, TREATMENT, REHABILITATION AND SOCIAL REINTEGRATION

Acknowledging the commitment made by Heads of States at the twentieth Special Session of the General Assembly to achieve significant and measurable results in the field of demand reduction, inter alia, by the year 2008, the commitment to report progress on achieving goals and targets by 2008 and the General Assembly request to the CND to analyze such reports,

Recalling also the Action Plan for the implementation of the Declaration on the Guiding Principles for Demand Reduction adopted by the General Assembly at its fifty-fourth session which states that civil society, including non-governmental organizations, can make an effective contribution to and should play an active role in addressing the world drug problems,

Noting the fundamental importance of primary prevention including those efforts aimed at alcohol and tobacco abuse as important and complementary efforts to reduce future illicit drug use.

Mindful that approaches to address the problem should be evidence based and supported by the scientific data and that these should be culturally and socially appropriate and focus on long term solutions not solely the mitigation of short term harms.

Noting that monitoring and data collection over time is the essential basis for evaluation and the continuing development of effective policy and practice. and welcoming the initial efforts of UNODC and the Vienna NGO Committee to provide such instruments through the Biennial reports Questionnaire (BRQ) and the NGO Questionnaire

Recognizing the important contributions made by NGO’s since 1998, as reported through the NGO questionnaire and the Beyond 2008 regional consultations, including, inter alia:

i. the substantial increase in the number of NGOs addressing drug related problems, and in the number of staff and volunteers engaged with NGOs in this field

ii. the improved networking between NGOs facilitating their engagement with relevant governmental and regulatory bodies in the development and implementation of policy, strategy and best practices at national and international level

iii. the increasing quality and range of interventions provided by NGOs, covering primary prevention, early intervention, outreach and low threshold services, treatment, rehabilitation and recovery and social reintegration

iv. efforts to prevent and address the adverse health and social consequences of drug misuse including reducing HIV and hepatitis transmission,

v. the increased attention to and advocacy for interventions which are culturally, socially and gender sensitive,

vi. their increased contributions to the research and evaluation literature

vii. the involvement of affected individuals, users and communities, for instance civic and religious leaders, indigenous peoples and peasants’ organizations, marginalized and socially excluded or isolated peoples, especially people who use drugs, in the design and implementation of policy and practice.
Recall that while the NGO Questionnaire and the Regional Consultations organized by Beyond 2008 identified the significant achievements of NGOs since the 1998 UNGASS it also identified areas which require further attention. To this end, the participants in the “Beyond 2008” International NGO Forum:

1. Call upon Member States:


a. to further increase investment, attention and priority in the development and implementation of the full range of drug demand programs, as well as alternative development projects,

b. to reaffirm their commitment to addressing drug misuse primarily as public health issue requiring expanded public health responses in line with national HIV responses and human rights approaches,

c. and NGOs to offer a plurality of services designed to make contact with people who use drugs to improve their health and social well- being and to promote rehabilitation and social reintegration,

d. and other funding bodies to sustain those interventions which through their monitoring and evaluation activities are able to demonstrate effectiveness.


2. Call upon the CND to:


a. develop a common standard against which demand and supply reduction activities can be measured in terms of their efficacy and outcomes,

b. ensure that those who are most affected by drug misuse are meaningfully and actively involved in the development of policies and programs,

c. evaluate its own work and identify ways in which its effectiveness might be improved.


3. Call upon UNODC to:


a. develop, in partnership with the World Health Organization, a global program for the definition of standards and best practices in the delivery of services and assist Member States to develop and scale up these services in accordance with the nature of the drug problem in their territory,

b. ensure that the CND is provided with the broadest possible analysis of the available research and evaluation so that its decisions are guided by the best and most relevant data and evidence, including data on the transmission of blood borne diseases,

c. develop improved monitoring and data collection tools to assist CND, Member States and NGOs to measure their achievements and assess the impact of policy and practice, in the fields of supply and demand reduction,


4. Call upon funding agencies and NGOs to include evaluation as a standard and required element for any project and to ensure that evaluation reports are published and lodged with an appropriate library, noting the importance of research and evaluation for the development of improved knowledge on what works and in what settings.


5. Support continued innovation and the testing out of new approaches by, amongst others, NGOs, using the full flexibility allowed for in the drug control conventions, recognizing that different contexts will require adapted responses and that there is a need to build and develop the knowledge base and our capacity to respond to reduce adverse health and social consequences of drug misuse.


6. Call upon Member States, UNODC and the international and regional financial institutions to develop further long- term, sustainable, ecologically-sensitive, and fully inclusive alternative development programs in cooperation with civil society organizations including peasant and farmer organizations and non-governmental organizations and to take into account traditional licit use, in line with Article 14 of the 1988 Convention.


DRAFT RESOLUTION – OBJECTIVE 2

TO REVIEW BEST PRACTICES RELATED TO COLLABORATION MECHANISMS AMONG NGOs,
GOVERNMENTS AND UN AGENCIES IN VARIOUS FIELDS, AND TO PROPOSE NEW AND
IMPROVED WAYS OF WORKING WITH THE UNODC AND CND

Acknowledging the efforts of the United Nations to improve its effectiveness by enhancing dialogue with Non Governmental Organizations and civil society

Recalling the Political Declaration adopted by the General Assembly at its twentieth special session, devoted to countering the world drug problems, which recognized that action against the world drug problems was a common and shared responsibility requiring an integrated and balanced approach that involved civil society, including non-governmental organizations,

Recognizing and respecting the authority vested in the CND by the General Assembly,
Appreciating the efforts of many UNODC country offices and national authorities in a number of countries to substantively involve NGOs in the development and implementation of drug policy and strategies.

Welcoming the formal consultative mechanisms which have been developed through which government, academic and practitioner participants have been able to explore issues of common policy interest in an open forum,

Noting that at present there are no systematic mechanisms available to consult with NGOs or with civil society generally to assist the CND or UNODC in developing their policy and programs whilst welcoming the UNODC’s efforts at increasing the engagement and participation of NGO’s in drug control matters and the Executive Directors view that “drug issues are too important to be left to government alone”

Noting that “Beyond 2008” was created to facilitate the input of NGOs into the review of the 1998 UNGASS on drugs and encouraged that it has provided a platform through which NGOs with diverse ideological positions have been able to meet and find substantial areas of common ground
To this end, the participants in the “Beyond 2008” International NGO Forum:

1) Exhort all NGO’s to come together in a spirit of shared responsibility, accountability and commitment to the betterment of all and to commit to a productive partnership among themselves, with their respective national governments and with key international institutions such as UNODC in order to advance the use of evidence informed, practical and on the ground experience to reduce the adverse health and social consequences of drug misuse in all its manifestations


2) Call upon the CND to:

a) review consultative mechanisms which have been developed by other UN entities, for example, UNESCO, the Crime Congress and UNAIDS and establish a recurring event with a specific thematic focus that would meaningfully involve governments, academics and NGOs and serve as a catalyst in stimulating informed discussion and proposals for collective action,

b) commission a review of the level of engagement and expenditure attributed to NGO activity by other UN entities and consider and approve proposals arising from such a review which can enhance the involvement and contribution of NGOs and further develop the role of the UNODC Civil Affairs Office


3) Call upon Member States to:

a) establish transparent and systematic mechanisms for engagement and consultation at a national level, including NGOs, when developing policy, strategy and practice guidance

b) welcome national policies and legislation that are supportive of civil society gatherings, discussions and request that adequate time, space and resources are provided for such consultations

c) support and seek the contribution of NGO’s on a more systematic basis by including them as expert and/or full members of their delegations to the CND


4) Call upon UNODC to:

a) implement the spirit and priorities of the General Assembly as it pertains to NGO engagement

b) work within the framework provided by the Joint UN Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and in line with global political declarations, in collaboration with co-sponsors, to develop and strengthen civil society participation structures to match such involvement in other UN agencies and programs

c) explore means to establish national NGO focal points to promote two way communication, using as a model the structures established by UNAIDS

d) promote more regional meetings to share best practice

e) support the establishment of thematic networks on specific drug-related issues, building on the work already undertaken with regard to prevention and treatment, whether at regional, trans regional or global level

f) take a more active role in promoting a comprehensive package of interventions in the response to the transmission of blood-borne infections


5) Call upon the INCB to:

a) broaden the scope of key informants used in their analysis by systematically including NGO’s in that process

b) regularly meet with representatives of civil society when conducting in-country assessments in order to have the benefit of their input and incorporate this perspective.

c) publishing reports on substantive discussions and outcomes from their meeting with Governments and NGOs


6) Call for the relationship between UNODC, CND and NGOs to be monitored and evaluated for the results achieved every two years by each party and through a joint monitoring, consultation and planning group, with meaningful NGO involvement and this evaluation should be results-based and reported to the CND as well as the UNAIDS Program Coordinating Board for further action.


DRAFT RESOLUTION – OBJECTIVE 3

TO ADOPT A SERIES OF HIGH-ORDER PRINCIPLES, DRAWN FROM THE CONVENTIONS AND THEIR COMMENTARIES THAT WOULD BE TABLED WITH UNODC AND CND FOR THEIR CONSIDERATION AND SERVE AS A GUIDE FOR FUTURE DELIBERATIONS ON DRUG POLICY

Recognizing that the Charter of the United Nations, the founding document of the organization, enshrines the binding and primacy commitment of signatories to health, human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Further noting that the present system of worldwide drug control is based on three international conventions: the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, as amended by the 1972 Protocol; the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances; and the 1988 Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, and that by 14 March 2008, 183 states were Parties to these three Convention.

Underscoring that the drug control conventions sit within a broader framework of UN treaties and declarations including, inter alia, the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the World Health Charter, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS and that there should be complementarities between these international instruments and the respective UN bodies responsible for them.
Underscoring that the rapid spread of blood borne infections, including HIV and hepatitis, and the increasing evidence of co-existing mental health disorders and problematic substance use require greater attention to be given to the health and public health aspects of drug policy.


A balanced approach

Noting that the need to take action on demand reduction is stressed in each of the three Conventions and welcoming the explicit efforts and decisions taken to address drug demand reduction including, inter alia, the Comprehensive Multidisciplinary Outline, the 1998 UNGASS Political Declaration, the Guiding Principles on Drug Demand Reduction and subsequent resolutions of the CND but noting also the discrepancy between the decisions taken and actual practice at national and international levels.

Drawing attention to the fact that the language of the Drug Control Conventions on supply control measures are mandatory on Parties while those related to demand reduction measures are not.

Concluding that despite significant and serious effort, demand reduction activities continue to lag behind supply reduction at the national and international levels and that this is reflected in the balance of discussion at the CND and in the composition of national delegations to the Commission, as well as in UNODC budgets.
Acknowledging that the conventions require that “the Parties shall give special attention to and take all practicable measures for the prevention of abuse of drugs and for the early identification, treatment, education after-care, rehabilitation and social reintegration of the persons involved and shall coordinate their efforts to these ends” 1

Recognising that under the conventions State Parties - either as an alternative to conviction or punishment or in addition to conviction or punishment for a drug law offence - may provide that the offender undergoes measures of treatment, education, after-care, rehabilitation and social reintegration, but noting that this provision is not adequately implemented

Recalling that the “medical use of narcotic drugs continues to be indispensable for the relief of pain and suffering and the treatment of addiction, and that adequate provisions must be made to ensure the availability of narcotic drugs for such purposes” Underscoring that a majority of the “Beyond 2008” regional consultations reported that the controls required for narcotic drugs created an impediment to the availability of essential drugs for pain control as well as access to substances known to be effective for the treatment of drug addiction dependence as well as in access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support and other health related services. The participants in the “Beyond 2008” International NGO Forum:


1. Call upon the CND to:

a. Re-emphasize the importance of adhering to and fulfilling the obligations and commitments of ‘soft law’ instruments such as the Comprehensive Multidisciplinary Outline, the Guiding Principles on Demand Reduction and resolutions agreed at the CND and revise the agenda of the annual session of the Commission to give greater time and priority to drug demand reduction,

b. Ensure that demand reduction and the reduction of the adverse health and social consequences of drug misuse as characterized within the drug control conventions are considered as challenges of equal importance to and as required as supply reduction activities,

c. Create Guiding Principles on Effective Treatment in consultation with relevant authorities such as the World Health Organization, UNODC, UNAIDS, et al and relevant regional organizations as well as with service providers and users. These Guiding Principles should outline a common definition of effectiveness and structural conditions including inter alia policies, facilities, services and professional development aimed at achieving the greatest positive impact,

d. Require that the competent authorities such as the INCB and UNODC regularly address countries’ performance against these standards, and report annually to the Commission on the adoption and implementation results of such Standards.


2. Call upon Member States to:

a. Ensure that the composition of their delegation to the CND reflects the agenda and functions of the Commission, to facilitate good governance and policy guidance, with an increased focus on expertise related to demand reduction and reducing the adverse health and social consequences of drug misuse,

b. Support the efforts being undertaken by WHO, in consultation with INCB and UNODC, to ensure that all drugs classified as essential medicines are widely and readily available to medical practitioners and to establish the conditions which allow access by medical practitioners to these essential medicines


3. Call upon the INCB to:

a. Give equal attention to the supply and demand reduction elements of the Drug Control Conventions in their reports, challenging countries’ poor performance and highlighting best practices and innovative approaches in both these elements with a view to fully exploring the existing latitude and flexibility of the Drug Control Conventions

b. Undertake a review of the application of criminal sanctions as a drug control measure, in consultation with other relevant bodies such as the UNHCHR, UNHRC and UNODC and to advise on the appropriateness of such sanctions commensurate to the actual offence and the opportunities for alternative sanctions.


4. Call upon UNODC to:

a. Ensure greater knowledge and understanding by the CND of the reciprocal impact of decisions made and policies adopted by the Commission and related UN agencies such as UNAIDS, WHO, UNESCO, etc.

b. Seek from Member States the funds and support to significantly enhance its analytical capacity and its ability to identify, collate and disseminate best practices in supply and demand reduction,

c. Establish a demand reduction mechanism equivalent to the Heads of National Law Enforcement Agencies (HONLEA) to provide it with improved technical guidance and information on policy and strategy and their practical application in the field


5. Call upon NGOs to:

a. Work together at appropriate levels (sub-national, national, regional or international) to develop and implement quality improvement criteria for their activities, drawing upon work which has already been undertaken in some countries and regions,

b. Undertake regular policy and practice audits of their activities, using information from a wide range of sources including their target population, to identify areas for improvement,

c. Increase transparency by publishing annual reports and financial accounts, even if not required by national or local legislation

 
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