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3-day UN special session on drug policy starts Tuesday Countries clash over death penalty at UN drug policy session
(about 13 hours later)
UNITED NATIONS — The first U.N. special session to address global drug policy in nearly 20 years is expected to feature a debate over whether countries should emphasize criminalization and punishment or health and human rights. UNITED NATIONS — The first U.N. special session to address global drug policy in nearly 20 years bristled with tension Tuesday over the use of the death penalty for drug-related offenses, as countries wrestled over whether to emphasize criminalization and punishment or health and human rights.
Hundreds of government officials, representatives of non-governmental organizations and individuals from civil society will attend when the General Assembly convenes Tuesday for a three-day special session at U.N. headquarters on the world drug problem. The outcome document adopted by member states included no criticism of the death penalty, saying only that countries should ensure that punishments are “proportionate” with the crimes.
Since the last special session on the topic in 1998, which ended with the lofty but unattainable goal of ridding the planet of illegal drugs by 2008, a growing number of government officials, drug policy analysts and individuals have criticized the international drug control system. “Disproportional penalties ... create vicious cycles of marginalization and further crime,” Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto told the gathering. He also called for the decriminalization of marijuana for medical and scientific purposes and said the international community’s responses to drug issues is “frankly, insufficient.”
Last month, The Global Commission on Drug Policy — whose members include former presidents of Mexico and Brazil, as well as former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Virgin Group founder Richard Branson — said in a statement that discussions in Vienna drafting the special session’s outcome document relied too heavily on an outdated law-and-order approach that emphasizes criminal justice and prohibition. He said Mexico in the coming days would announce specific drug policies with an emphasis on health and human rights.
The group argued that the emphasis should instead be on alternative approaches to fighting the problem, including decriminalization, abolishing capital punishment for drug-related offenses and a focus on treatment. Indonesia, which last year executed 14 people, mostly foreigners, convicted of drug-related crimes amid an international outcry, defended its stance Tuesday, saying the death penalty is not prohibited under international law.
An open letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon last week was signed by more than 1,000 people, including Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, financier Warren Buffett, several U.S. senators and artists including rock star Sting. It said the war on drugs has failed and calls for a shift in global drug policy from emphasizing criminalization to health and human rights. China, which along with countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran carries out executions for drug offenses, signaled little flexibility on its approach.
The letter, also signed by former presidents of Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Switzerland and others, said that for decades, governments have focused resources on repressing drug use, resulting in the imprisonment of millions of people, mostly the poor and ethnic minorities, and mostly for non-violent offenses. “Any form of legalization of narcotics should be resolutely opposed,” Public Security Minister Guo Shengkun told the gathering.
Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the New York-based Drug Policy Alliance which organized the open letter, predicted Monday that this week’s session would be a notable improvement from the 1998 U.N. General Assembly Special Session, where “A Drug Free World: We Can Do It” was the official motto. Prior to this week’s three-day meeting, Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, rock star Sting and hundreds of others sent an open to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon letter saying the war on drugs has failed. It said that for decades, governments have focused resources on repressing drug use, resulting in the imprisonment of millions of people, mostly the poor and ethnic minorities, and mostly for non-violent offenses
But he also said it will be disappointing in terms of where global drug policy should be in 2016. Some member states in Vienna stuck to traditional criminalization approaches, even as others including the U.S., no longer champion a global drug war. The letter’s signers, including former presidents of Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Switzerland and others, joined a growing number of government officials and drug policy analysts calling for a shift in global drug policy from emphasizing criminalization to health and human rights.
Still, he said, “All sorts of seeds were planted that will mature and blossom in coming years.” Hundreds of government officials, representatives of non-governmental organizations and individuals from civil society are attending the General Assembly special session at U.N. headquarters.
In a speech to the Third Ministerial Anti-Drug Conference in Moscow earlier this month in advance of the special session, the Secretary-General seemed to emphasize an approach that integrates both drug eradication as well as alternative approaches, saying the meeting in New York will provide a “forum to consider a full range of options.” The last special session on the topic in 1998 ended with the lofty but unattainable goal of ridding the planet of illegal drugs by 2008.
“Only an integrated development, security, governance, public health, and human rights-centered approach can effectively address the challenges posed by the world drug problem,” Ban said. On the non-medical use of drugs, the outcome document adopted Tuesday says countries should “develop and implement countermeasures and supportive public health, education and socioeconomic strategies to effectively address and counter the non-medical use and misuse of pharmaceuticals that contain narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, while ensuring their availability for legitimate purposes.”
Last month, The Global Commission on Drug Policy — whose members include former presidents of Mexico and Brazil, as well as former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Virgin Group founder Richard Branson — said in a statement that discussions drafting the outcome document adopted Tuesday relied too heavily on an outdated approach that emphasizes criminal justice and prohibition.
The group argued that the emphasis should instead be on alternative approaches including abolishing capital punishment for drug-related offenses and a focus on treatment.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.