Media/News > Press Releases > 01.04.08

'UN Secretary General and UNAIDS director call for decriminalisation of injecting drug users'

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Date: 1 April 2008

UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, and UNAIDS director Peter Piot, have supported calls for Asian governments to amend outdated laws criminalising injecting drug users and other stigmatized groups.   At the launch of a major new report on HIV in Asia (March 26), UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon called for increased health and human rights protections for people living with HIV, sex workers, men who have sex with men, and young people who inject drugs.

"Legislation can also stand in the way [of] scaling up towards universal access -- in cases where vulnerable groups are criminalized for their lifestyles" said Ban Ki-Moon, adding in his statement on the launch of the report; "As you have heard, I fully support the recommendations of the Commission."

The 258 page report by the Independent Commission on AIDS in Asia (established by UNAIDS) is entitled ‘Redefining AIDS in Asia: Crafting an Effective Response'. Commenting on the report at the UN launch press conference on March 26th UNAIDS director Peter Piot said:

"I look to Asian Governments to amend outdated laws criminalizing the most vulnerable sections of society, and take all the measures needed to ensure they live in dignity,"

The report urges governments to provide a comprehensive package of harm reduction, including needle exchange programs and opiate substitution treatment, and says governments should abandon their counterproductive "war on drugs" programmes.  One of its key recommendations is to:

‘Avoid programmes that accentuate AIDS-related stigma

It is important to recognize that not all interventions aimed at most-at-risk groups are effective, and to note which have been proven to be ineffective, or even counter-productive. In their enthusiasm to initiate large-scale prevention programmes, Governments are seen to adopt certain programmes which accentuate stigma and violate the human rights of most-at-risk groups. These include ‘crack-downs' on red-light areas and arrest of sex workers, large-scale arrests of young drug users under the ‘war on drugs' programmes, mandatory testing in healthcare settings without the consent of the person concerned and releasing confidential information on people who are HIV positive through the media.
These initiatives can be counterproductive and can keep large numbers of at-risk groups and people living with HIV from accessing even the limited services being provided by the countries.'

These comments come just days after Antonio Maria Costa, the director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), describing the international drug control system as not ‘fit for purpose' . 

The report, "Making drug control 'fit for purpose': Building on the UNGASS decade" was made available, but not widely disseminated, at the Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna earlier this month. 

It states:

“There is indeed a spirit of reform in the air, to make the conventions fit for purpose and adapt them to a reality on the ground that is considerably different from the time they were drafted.  With the multilateral machinery to adapt the conventions already available, all we need is: first, a renewed commitment to the principles of multilateralism and shared responsibility; secondly, a commitment to
base our reform on empirical evidence and not ideology; and thirdly, to put in place concrete actions that support the above, going beyond mere rhetoric and pronouncement." (p.13)

“It stands to reason… that drug control, and the implementation of the drug Conventions, must proceed with due regard to health and human rights.” (p.19)

ENDS

Contact:

Danny Kushlick, Director +44 (0) 7970 174747

Steve Rolles, Information Officer +44 (0) 7980 213943

Notes for Editors:

Ban Ki-Moon's full statement http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocus/sgspeeches/statments_full.asp?statID=206

Redefining AIDS in Asia: Crafting an Effective Response –

"Making drug control 'fit for purpose': Building on the UNGASS decade" can be seen in full here:

See also - UNAIDS and NGO statements shake CND out of its stupor