At the launch of the INCB annual report, President Raymond Yans finally acknowledged the relevance of international human rights principles to the implementation of the UN drug control treaties.
INCB takes a new step towards the protection of human rights by encouraging member states to consider the abolition of death penalty for drug-related offences.
Drug policy reform experts have called on the INCB and related UN institutions to urgently open up a constructive dialogue on international drug policy reform.
In a political climate in which the international drug control system and the ‘war on drugs’ are being increasingly questioned, the INCB once again seeks to defend the status quo, instead of welcoming modernisation and supporting governments to find ways to deal with new challenges and realities.
The INCB Annual Report for 2013 is to be launched today in Vienna. For more information, please visit the INCB website and read the IDPC Media Statement drafted ahead of the launch.
A representative from the IDPC secretariat attended and noted the large number of officers from Thailand’s Office of the Narcotics Control Board present.
The community representatives who took part in the workshop developed a short list of challenges to harm reduction policies, coverage and accessibility, and selected issues on which to focus future advocacy.
The publication is in fact made up of excerpts of previous INCB Reports, assembled as an intervention that the INCB hopes will guide the mid-term examination of the UNGASS review process.