Le retrait de la feuille de coca des substances sous contrôle international est une étape vers la décolonisation de la politique des drogues - Déclaration lors de la HRC57

La décision d'inclure la feuille de coca dans la Convention unique de 1961 était entachée de préjugés coloniaux et racistes. Pour en savoir plus, en anglais, veuillez lire les informations ci-dessous.

57th session of the Human Rights Council (September-October 2024)
Annual half-day panel discussion on the rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Statement delivered by the International Drug Policy Consortium.

Co-signed by the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC); Elementa Derechos Humanos; Harm Reduction International (HRI); the International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research and Service (ICEERS); and the Transnational Institute (TNI).

Mister President,

For millennia, the coca leaf has been used by Indigenous Peoples in the Andean-Amazonian region for traditional, religious, ancestral and medicinal purposes. And yet, the coca leaf is listed in Schedule I of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, which effectively banned the practice of coca leaf chewing.

When the 1961 Single Convention was adopted, the decision to include the coca leaf in the treaty was mired in colonialist and racist bias. Today, this decision is at odds with various international legal instruments that protect the use of the plant as an expression of cultural norms and a fundamental part of the traditional, nutritional and medical practices of Indigenous Peoples.

Positively, there are hopes that this historical error may finally be corrected. In 2023, the World Health Organization announced that it would conduct a critical review of the coca leaf. A review which could lead to the removal of the plant from the schedules of the 1961 Convention.

We welcome this critical step towards decolonising drug policy and protecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples to cultivate and use the coca leaf. We urge Member States and the UN human rights system – especially UN entities focusing on protecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples – to support the important work of the WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence in this regard.

Thank you very much for your attention.