The Death Penalty for Drug Offences and International Support for Drug Enforcement

The purpose of this briefing is to highlight the dangers associated with funding drug control activities in countries with capital drug laws, as detailed in ‘IHRA’s report Complicity or Abolition?’

The death penalty for drug-related crimes is a violation of international human rights law according to UN human rights monitors and treaty bodies. Such laws are also at odds with the goals of abolitionist countries that oppose the death penalty for all crimes. Yet many of these abolitionist countries provide financial assistance to counter-narcotics projects in countries where drug offences are punishable with death, putting them at risk of contributing to the practice.

This briefing provides recommendations to donor-countries to avoid such unintended consequences.