REVS PLUS seeks to inform, train and raise awareness on HIV/Aids among people in situations of vulnerability. The organisation advocates for a judicial and social environment that is favourable to the deployment of health and care interventions for key populations, free from stigma and discrimination.

REVS PLUS busca informar, capacitar y crear conciencia sobre el VIH / SIDA entre personas en situaciones de vulnerabilidad. La organización aboga por un ambiente social y de justicia que sea favorable al despliegue de intervenciones de salud y atención para poblaciones clave, sin estigmas ni discriminación.

REVS PLUS cherche à informer, former et sensibiliser les personnes en situation de vulnérabilité au VIH / SIDA. L'organisation plaide pour un environnement judiciaire et social propice au déploiement d'interventions de santé et de soins pour les populations clés, exemptes de stigmatisation et de discrimination.

REVS PLUS

89 ONG soulignent la nécessité de s'attaquer aux impacts nocifs des politiques répressives en matière de drogues qui sapent les droits humains. Pour en savoir plus, en anglais, veuillez lire les informations ci-dessous.

To: Ms Ghada Waly, Executive Director, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

Subject: Open letter on UNODC statement on International Human Rights Day 2021

We urge you to mark International Human Rights Day 2021 by calling on Member States to change drug policies and practices that violate human rights and perpetuate inequality and discrimination.

We are writing to you ahead of International Human Rights Day 2021, which will take place on the 10th December amidst escalating global demands for the reform of laws and practices that entrench racial discrimination and social inequality, including drug policies. Last year, IDPC – together with dozens of other civil society and community organisations – called on you to issue a statement on International Human Rights Day urging Member States to change drug laws and practices that undermine health and human rights. A year later, we ask you to seize this day as an opportunity to show UNODC´s alignment with other UN entities in calling for an end to drug policies and practices that perpetuate inequality and discrimination, and violate human rights.

For decades, punitive drug policies have driven widespread human rights abuses, as has been amply documented by the UN. These include the death penalty for drug offences; extrajudicial killings; arbitrary detention, often masquerading as ‘rehabilitation’; the denial of access to life-saving harm reduction services; widespread barriers to accessing controlled medicines for pain relief; the criminalisation of people who use drugs, subsistence farmers and others groups in situations of vulnerability; corporal punishment; and mass incarceration. In all of these cases, draconian drug policies have disproportionately affected people marginalised on the basis of their gender, race, ethnicity, and economic status, thus entrenching inequality and discrimination.

Along 2021, a broad range of UN entities called on Member States to reform drug policies with discriminatory outcomes. In June 2021, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention released a landmark study on arbitrary detention and drug polices, which found that ´

the war on drugs may be understood to a significant extent as a war on people. Its impact is often greatest on those who are poor, but also frequently overlaps with discrimination in law enforcement directed at vulnerable groups

´. At the same time, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights published a new ‘Agenda towards transformative change for racial justice and equality´, highlighting that ´

The discriminatory application of criminal law must be tackled at every stage, including by reforming drug-related policies

´. The High Commissioner´s proposal led to Human Rights Council Resolution 47/21, which contains key commitments to uproot systemic racism in the law enforcement and criminal justice systems. The Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS, adopted in June 2021, also showcased the international community´s commitment to ending inequalities as a step towards ending AIDS. Lastly, the new UN system Common Position on Incarceration, led by UNODC in partnership with other UN entities, notes ‘

the overrepresentation of minority and marginalized groups among prisoners, many of whom are charged with petty and nonviolent offences

support reform efforts aimed at ensuring proportionate and individualized sentencing and alternatives to conviction or punishment in appropriate cases, including for minor drug-related offences

These various commitments emerging across the United Nations are aligned with the 2018 Chief Executives Board’s UN System Common Position on drug-related matters, which makes clear that ‘

should be designed and implemented by States in accordance with their human rights obligations

’, and commits all UN agencies, including UNODC, to support drug policies ‘

that put people, health, and human rights at the centre

Similar human rights concerns have been highlighted in the just-released Global Drug Policy Index, which measures and ranks the national drug policies of 30 countries according to how well they align with the UN system Common Position on Drugs and its Task Team report of March 2019.

The theme of the 2021 International Human Rights Day is ‘Equality: Reducing inequalities, advancing human rights’, and is aimed at ´

addressing and finding solutions for deep-rooted forms of discrimination that have affected the most vulnerable people in societies

´. As such, it presents a crucial opportunity for UNODC to align itself with other UN entities in calling for the end of policies that perpetuate inequality and discrimination, while highlighting its commitment to the promotion of human rights, in line with the UN system Common Positions.

It is in this context that we urge you to issue a strong statement on International Human Rights Day, calling on states to change the drug laws, policies and practices that violate health and human rights, and entrench inequality. To be credible, such a statement should explicitly acknowledge the disproportionate impact of drug laws and drug control on people marginalised on the basis of their gender, race, ethnicity, and economic status, and urge Member States to:

Abolish the death penalty in all circumstances. Imposing capital punishment for drug offences has been found to be contrary to international human rights law by the Human Rights Committee, and the Human Rights Council.

Put an immediate end to extrajudicial killings committed in the name of drug control, as has been repeatedly called for by the Human Rights Council and UN human rights experts.

Permanently close compulsory drug detention centres, including those that masquerade as ‘rehabilitation’, and implement voluntary, evidence-informed, and rights-based health and social services, as recently called for by sixteen UN agencies, including UNODC.

Stress the urgent need to provide accessible, affordable, and adequately funded harm reduction services in community and closed settings, to fulfil the right to health and the right to life of people who use drugs, as demanded by several UN human rights bodies and experts. This is also central to UNODC’s core role as lead UNAIDS co-sponsor regarding prisons and HIV amongst people who use drugs.

Take immediate measures to address prison overcrowding, as already recommended by UNODC and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, by promoting alternatives to incarceration, and ensuring proportionate sentencing for all drug offences, including by taking into account mitigating factors – in line with the basic principle that prisons should only be used as a last resort in all circumstances.

Ensure that people who use drugs are not subject to arbitrary detention, torture, or ill-treatment – whether in state custody or public or private drug services. While under detention, people with a drug dependence or health problems associated with their drug use must be offered evidence-based treatment, harm reduction and other drug services on a strictly voluntary basis.

Promote the end of all punishment for drug use, and drug possession and cultivation for personal use, as permitted within the three drug control conventions. Such policy shifts will help to end the stigma, criminalisation, and exclusion faced by people who use drugs, and to facilitate access to health and social services, as called for by the UN system Common Position, UNAIDS, and UN human rights bodies.

Make sure that drug policies incorporate a gender-sensitive perspective. This should be done by tailoring drug services to the specific needs of women, and by ensuring that criminal laws take into account the circumstances of women involved in drug offences, as most of them come from backgrounds of poverty, marginalisation, and oppression.

Clearly outline the ways in which UNODC will work to achieve these changes, and the measures being taken to ensure that human rights are effectively embedded as a core strand for all of the Office’s work.

As the lead UN agency in drug-related matters, UNODC has the responsibility to promote drug policies that respect, protect, and fulfil human rights, in a way that is consistent with the standards developed by the UN system, and in line with the commitments set in the UN system Common Positions on drugs and on incarceration. A strong statement in the forthcoming International Human Rights Day would be an important and welcome step to signal UNODC’s unequivocal commitment.

We look forward to discussing these concerns and recommendations with you.

Les ONG exhortent la Directrice exécutive de l'ONUDC à marquer la Journée des droits humains par un appel à la réforme des politiques en matière de drogues qui perpétuent les inégalités

L’ICASA de 2021est une occasion importante de faire progresser la réponse au VIH en mettant l’accent sur l’importance des interventions affirmant les droits et réduisant les risques pour lutter contre l’épidémie parmi les usagers de drogues. Pour en savoir plus, en anglais, veuillez lire les informations ci-dessous.

The International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa (ICASA) is the headline conference in the region, and an important opportunity to advance the HIV response. However, people who use drugs and the harm reduction community have been consistently marginalised and under-represented at these events.

Despite the 2019 conference (in Kigali, Rwanda) having more than 8,500 delegates and an objective to “Rethink gender norms, human rights-based approaches and inclusion towards equitable and accessible HIV and AIDS services including key populations”, there was once again very little focus on harm reduction, and poor visibility for people who inject drugs. This crucial aspect of the HIV response was restricted to only two satellite events and around five poster presentations.

We are calling on ICASA to proactively address this imbalance, starting with preparations for the 2021 conference.

Proposed Objective: To raise the profile of evidence-based harm reduction programs and promote integrated rights-based and stigma free interventions and policies for Africans who use drugs.

It is estimated that there may be as many as 2 million people who inject drugs in Africa, of whom more than 11 percent are living with HIV. Yet services remain woefully unavailable, and only a few African countries have adopted this approach – most often with external funding, and through NGOs rather than state provision. According to UNAIDS, people who inject drugs account for 8 percent of all new HIV infections in Sub-Saharan Africa, and 37 percent of all new infections in the Middle East and North Africa. This is a population that cannot be overlooked if we are to end AIDS in Africa.

Furthermore, the conference in Uganda is an opportune moment for this conversation – the host country itself has begun to embrace the harm reduction approach in response to its own domestic drug use challenges.

Plus de 60 ONG travaillant en Afrique appellent l'ICASA de 2021 à mettre l'accent sur l'importance de la réduction des risques dans la lutte contre le VIH

Ce séminaire en ligne fait partie d'une série multilingue disponible en espagnol et en anglais.

28 février 2019 (12h00 - 12h30 PM | Heure de Londres)

Ce séminaire en ligne sur la Commission des Stupéfiants est axé sur sa 62ème session et le Segment Ministériel de 2019, qui aura lieu à Vienne du 14 au 22 mars de 2019. Le séminaire décortiquera les enjeux contentieux qui ont vocation à structurer les débats, discutera les résolutions soumises à la considération de la plénière, et mettra en avant l'expérience des membres du réseau IDPC pour tirer des leçons sur comment naviguer et participer activement de ce forum.

CND 62 et Segment Ministériel de 2019: Enjeux clés et opportunités

L’atelier multisectoriel de réflexion sur l’élaboration de la stratégie nationale de lutte contre la drogue au Burkina Faso, a ouvert ses portes le Mercredi 5 Décembre 2018 à Koudougou sous la présidence de Abdoulaye Ouédraogo, secrétaire général du ministère de la sécurité. . L’objectif de cet atelier qui va durer 48H est d’identifier des propositions d’action pour la mobilisation de ressources qu’elles soient financières ou techniques pour l’élaboration de la stratégie nationale de lutte contre la drogue.

‘’La drogue est devenue un phénomène qui prend de l’ampleur non seulement au Burkina, mais dans la sous-région Ouest Africaine. Autrefois, on pensait que le Burkina servait de pays de transit, mais on constate que les burkinabè consomment la drogue que ce soit en milieu urbain mais également dans les zones rurales. Malheureusement la frange jeune est celle qui est la plus concernée et vous savez que cette frange jeune constitue le devenir et l’avenir de notre pays. Et paradoxalement, on constate que sur le plan normatif, il n y a pas un référentiel qui nous permet véritablement d’encadrer les actions de lutte en la matière’’ a expliqué Abdoulaye Ouédraogo, secrétaire général du ministère de la sécurité. C’est donc dans le but de permettre une mobilisation de ressources conséquente à l’élaboration de la stratégie nationale de lutte contre la drogue que cet atelier a ouvert ses portes à Koudougou. En effet, l’atelier multisectoriel de réflexion sur l’élaboration de la stratégie nationale de lutte contre la drogue au Burkina Faso se tient grâce à l’ONG REVS PLUS (Responsabilité Espoir Vie Solidarité) avec le soutien de l’association AIDES en collaboration avec le Conseil National de Lutte contre la Drogue (CNLD).

Pour Charles Somé, chargé de plaidoyer des droits humains de REVS PLUS, cet atelier intervient pour réfléchir dans quelle mesure un référentiel national multisectoriel pourrait être dégagé pour apporter des réponses intégrées sur l’abus des drogues au Burkina. ‘’Pour ce qui est de l’ONG REVS PLUS, nous nous réjouissons pour avoir été impliqué dans la mission conjointe de l’ONUDC qui a évalué le plan d’action de mise en œuvre de la politique des drogues dans notre pays. Et c’est donc à l’issue de l’évaluation à mi-parcours de ce plan d’action que le constat a été dégagé qu’il manque un référentiel au Burkina pour véritablement apporter une riposte équilibrée, soucieuse de la santé publique des usagers et respectant les droits humains, mais aussi contribuant à réduire la demande et l’offre en ce qui concerne les substances psychotropes‘’ a soutenu Mr Somé. A Babacar Diouf de l’ONUDC, de renchérir qu’autrefois zone de transit de la drogue, l’Afrique de l’Ouest est devenue une zone de consommation avec plus de trente millions (30 000 000) de consommateurs ; d’où leur intervention au Burkina Faso, poursuit-il, pour appuyer le gouvernement à avoir un plan stratégique, toute chose qui selon lui aidera le pays à se protéger du trafic et de l’usage des drogues.

REVS PLUS

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Les ONG exhortent la Directrice exécutive de l'ONUDC à marquer la Journée des droits humains par un appel à la réforme des politiques en matière de drogues qui perpétuent les inégalités

Plus de 60 ONG travaillant en Afrique appellent l'ICASA de 2021 à mettre l'accent sur l'importance de la réduction des risques dans la lutte contre le VIH

CND 62 et Segment Ministériel de 2019: Enjeux clés et opportunités

Lutte contre la drogue : ‘’L’Afrique de l’Ouest regorge plus de 30 000 000 de consommateurs de drogue’’, Babacar Diouf