UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs adopts first ever human rights resolution

At its 51st session in March 2008, the Commission on Narcotic Drugs adopted its first ever human rights resolution. While the resolution is very weak, its adoption was a ground-breaking event as in previous years human rights had been all but off limits at the Commission. The discomfort of many Commission delegations is evident in the lack of human rights commitment in the resolution, with the Universal Declaration merely being borne in mind.

CND Res 51/12 “Strengthening cooperation between the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and other United Nations bodies for the promotion of human rights in the implementation of the international drug control treaties”

The Commission on Narcotic Drugs,

Bearing in mind the basic international drug control instruments, in particular the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961, the Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971 and the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 and also bearing in mind the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

Bearing in mind also that in the Political Declaration adopted by the General Assembly at its twentieth special session, the Assembly recognized that action against the world drug problem is a common and shared responsibility requiring an integrated and balanced approach in full conformity with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and international law, and particularly with full respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of States, non-intervention in the internal affairs of States and all human rights and fundamental freedoms,

Bearing in mind further that, in accordance with article 28 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in that Declaration can be fully realized,

Bearing in mind further that Articles 1, 55 and 56 of the Charter of the United Nations provide that the Organization shall promote universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion,

Bearing in mind further the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

Recalling General Assembly resolutions 60/178 of 16 December 2005 and 61/183 of 20 December 2006,

1. Reaffirms that countering the world drug problem is a common and shared responsibility that must be addressed in a multilateral setting, that it requires an integrated and balanced approach and that it must be carried out in full conformity with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and other provisions of international law and, in particular, with full respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of States, the principle of non-intervention in the internal affairs of States and all human rights and fundamental freedoms and on the basis of the principles of equal rights and mutual respect;

2. Requests the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to continue, within its existing mandate, to work closely with the competent United Nations entities, including the United Nations human rights agencies;

3. Requests the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to report to the Commission at its fifty-third session on the implementation of the present resolution.

Download the report of the 51st session of the CND

‘The right to health of prisoners in international human rights law’ by Rick Lines, International Journal of Prisoner Health

From the International Journal of Prisoner Health, March 2008; 4(1): 3-53

Abstract

This paper explores the health rights of prisoners as defined in international law, and the mechanisms that have been used to ensure the rights of persons in detention to realise the highest attainable standard of health. It examines this right as articulated within United Nations and regional human rights treaties, non-binding or so-called soft law instruments from international organisations and the jurisprudence of international human rights bodies. It explores the use of economic, social and cultural rights mechanisms, and those within civil and political rights, as they engage the right to health of prisoners, and identifies the minimum legal obligations of governments in order to remain compliant with human rights norms as defined within the international case law.

In addressing these issues, this article adopts a holistic approach to the definition of the highest attainable standard of health. This includes a consideration of adequate standards of general medical care, including preventative health and mental health services. It also examines the question of environmental health, and those poor conditions of detention that may exacerbate health decline, disease transmission, mental illness or death. The paper examines the approach to prison health of the United Nations human rights system and its various monitoring bodies, as well as the regional human rights systems in Europe, Africa and the Americas. Based upon this analysis, the paper draws conclusions on the current fulfilment of the right to health of prisoners on an international scale, and proposes expanded mechanisms under the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment to monitor and promote the health rights of prisoners at the international and domestic levels.

Right to Health of Prisoners in International Human Rights Law

Recalibrating the Regime: The need for the human rights-based approach to international drug policy, D Barrett, R Lines, R Schleifer, R Elliott, D. R. Bewley-Taylor

Published by the Beckley Foundation Drug Policy Programme and the International Harm Reduction Association, March 2008

The report looks at the growing tensions between the United Nations drug control system and international human rights law. It highlights that, despite numerous instances of human rights abuses perpetrated in the name of drug control, and the status of human rights in international law, there has been little engagement with this issue by the responsible drug control and human rights bodies. The report presents a series of avenues for reform at the international level to address this imbalance

Available for download via IHRA