FOR THE COMMISSION OF NARCOTIC DRUGS

VIENNA, MARCH 16-20, 1998

New York, March, 1998

The March 16-20, session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs will constitute the final preparatory body meeting for the Special Session of the General Assembly, to be held June 8-10, 1998, devoted to the fight against the illicit production, sale, demand, traffic and distribution of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.

This session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs will be the last formal meeting before the June event, and it will be charged of the final drafting of documents that will be submitted to the GA on the following issues:

1. Reaffirmation of the political commitment of governments to international drug control.

1. Demand reduction: adoption of the guiding principles on demand reduction and proposals for implementation.

1. Strategic measures:

a) measures to counter illicit manufacture of, traffic in and abuse of stimulants;

a) measures to enhance the control/monitoring of precursors frequently used in the manufacture of illicit drugs;

b) measures to promote judicial cooperation;

c) measures to counter money laundering;

d) eradication of illicit crops and alternative development.

The Transnational Radical Party welcomes the establishment of the Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Inter-Agency Affairs, because we consider crucial strengthening the cooperation of all economic and social matters dealt by the ECOSOC; nevertheless, we are very critical about the repressive perspective that seems to have inspired the preparatory body of the UNGA Special Session. Even if we recognize that it is too late for obtaining radical changes to the overall UN approach to the 'War on Drugs', we are convinced that some changes are needed in order to preserve fundamental rights such as human dignity, the rule of law, as well as common sense.

1. REAFFIRMATION OF POLITICAL COMMITMENT

The purpose of the political declaration is to contribute to mustering the political will to increase the number of States parties to international treaties, and to advance their full implementation of the conventions. In our opinion the proposed documens should need to be balanced with further considerations on:

- disproportionate penalties,

- freedom of expression,

- therapeutic freedom,

- HIV/AIDS.

1.1. DISPROPORTIONATE PENALTIES

"No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment". Art. 5, Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The UN International Conventions on Narcotic Drugs establish a "minimum threshold" of prohibitionist laws and penalties that should be respected by the signatories. What is not included is a sort of "maximum threshold" that should prevent disproportionate penalties to be commended.

Some States party to the Conventions commend the death penalty and life sentences for the simple consumption of illicit drugs. Such penalties should be considered inhuman or disproportionate if applied to persons whose only guilt is self-harming.

We therefore propose to include in the political declaration, or take into consideration, the following paragraph:

"The General Assembly, in the fight against illicit drugs, calls upon Member States to fully respect the principle of proportionality of penalties to the crimes committed, and therefore strongly discourages the sentencing of individuals to death or to life imprisonment for non-violent crimes, such as drug consumption. In these cases administrative sanctions and medical treatment should be generally preferred."

1.2. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

"Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression [...]". Art. 19, Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

State parties to the 1988 Conventions are required to make incitement or inducement to take drugs a criminal offence. In recently issued UN agencies' documents, namely the 1997 Report by the International Narcotics Control Board, public statements and political campaigns in favor of the decriminalization, legalization or medical prescription of some illicit substances are dangerously confused with the incitements and inducements to take drugs. These arguments risk to extend prohibition policies on narcotic drugs, to open and frank debates on the matter.

We therefore propose the following paragraph to be included, or take into consideration, in the preparation of the political declaration:

"The General Assembly, in its strong commitment to the total implementation of the International Conventions on Narcotics Drugs, reaffirms freedom of expression and the legitimacy of any opinion or political proposal aimed at countering drug abuse and/or at reducing drug-related harms through alternative approaches to remain essential in a transparent debate on the issue".

1.3. THERAPEUTIC FREEDOM

"Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care [...]" Art. 25, Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

In the majority of UN Member States, physicians face prohibitions in prescribing treatments considered necessary for their patients. These prohibitions include the prohibition of medical use of illicit substances for drug abusers, (e.g. controlled heroin for heroin addicts), and for non abusers, (e.g. marijuana-based treatments for people with cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS and other diseases). Consequently, the right for the patient to be treated with the most appropriate treatment, on a scientifically based opinion, is seriously violated.

Therefore, we propose to include in the political declaration the following paragraph:

"The General Assembly invites Member States to recognize therapeutic freedom as a fundamental Human Right, which implies the right for physicians to prescribe any substance that they consider to be the most appropriate for a given treatment."*

*This same request has been submitted to the European Parliament by more than 400 medics from all over Europe, last January in Strasbourg.

1.4 AVAILABILITY OF STERILE SYRINGES

The HIV/AIDS epidemic is still the first cause of death for heroin addicts the world over.

It is beyond any doubt, that the availability of sterile syringes is a determinant factor that could lead to the decrease of the syringe-sharing practice among heroin addicts. Any restrictions imposed on the selling of sterile syringes, or their mandatory medical prescription, have a direct negative impact on the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

We therefore propose to take into consideration or to include in the political declaration the following paragraph:

"The General Assembly calls upon Member States to implement measures such as the availability of sterile syringes without medical prescription, in order to prevent the HIV/AIDS epidemic (among drug users)."

2. MONEY LAUNDERING

Among the items on the UNGASS agenda, there is also the establishment of a legislative framework to criminalize money-laundering activities resulting from serious crimes. Such measures include the confiscation of the proceeds of crime, the establishment of an effective financial/regulatory regime to deny access to national and international financial systems for criminals, the implementation of enforcement measures to provide tools for detection, investigation, prosecution and conviction of criminals.

No evaluation is made on the results obtained up to now by the international community, and/or the huge costs of the fight against money-laundering. Moreover, if restrictions to the free circulation of capitals aimed at a gradual elimination of the free trading of capitals will be surreptitiously reintroduced through the 'ad hoc' drug laws, they can affect the worlwide economic growth.

Therefore, we propose to include in the money-laundering document the following paragraph:

"The General Assembly esteems that every measure to counter money laundering should be subject to a cost/effectiveness evaluation in order not to endanger the free circulation of capitals around the world."

3. JUDICIAL COOPERATION

"Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defense." Art. 11, Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

"No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honor and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks." Art. 12, Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

While measures are envisaged to further extradition of drug traffickers, to intercept communications, to monitor bank accounts and to simplify confiscation proceedings, it is of major importance to reaffirm that strengthening judicial and police systems should always respect individual liberties and the fundamental right to defense; otherwise new international 'emergency laws' risk to be built inside the anti-drug legislative framework, with consequent major threats to individual freedom and liberty.

Therefore, we propose to include in the judicial cooperation document the following part:

"The General Assembly, in order to preserve individual freedoms and the right to a fair, prompt and public trial, calls upon Member States to respect any judicial proceedings and to follow general principles of criminal law, such as:

- The presumption of innocence,

- The right to legal representation,

- The legality of penalties,

- The prohibition of self incrimination,

and to explicitly exclude, inter alia:

- The confiscation of personal property prior to a finding of guilt,

- The reversal of the burden of proof,

- The double jeopardy,

- The extradition to countries where punishments are inhumane or disproportionate.

4. CROP ERADICATION AND ALTERNATIVE DEVELOPMENT

4.1. DEVELOPMENT POLICIES

ECOSOC should provide policy guidance to all parts of the UN system including the specialized agencies and the Regional Commissions. In its recommendations on alternative development policies it should take into account that crops are closely linked to countries' environment, climate, tradition and habits; the imposition of alternative products violates peoples' identity, forcing them to follow patterns of development that are considered sustainable by other cultural and economical backgrounds.

Therefore, we propose the following paragraph for the crop eradication document:

"The General Assembly considers alternative development policies complementary parts of general development policies, which should be primarily guided by general considerations about the social, cultural, environmental and economical peculiar characteristics of the region".

4. 2. FUNDING NON-OFFICIALLY RECOGNIZED REGIMES

"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood" Art. 1, Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

"Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status." Art. 2, Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

As regards the recent UNDCP plan to finance the Taliban guerrillas for a crop eradication project in Afghanistan, we believe that funding a group that perpetrates the systematic drastic and violent discrimination against women, goes against the principles set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Moreover, it also goes against the right for women to self-determination, and clashes with the spirit of other UN projects in the region, like for instance those of UNICEF. Lastly, Talibans, who do not allow any other religious belief to be professed in the country, do not give any guarantee that the project will be carried out properly, both because of the unofficial role that the guerrillas have gained with the use of force since 1996, and the total lack of the rule of la w in the region.

Therefore, we propose the following paragraph for the crop eradication document:

"the General Assembly, in the framework of crop eradication projects, urges UN competent bodies and agencies to avoid the funding of regimes that are not officially recognized by the international community as a whole and that systematically perpetrate violations of fundamental human rights".

For further information, please contact:

Marco Cappato, UN Representative, 866 UN Plaza #408, New York 10017 NY

Tel ++.1.212.9801031 fax 9801072, m.cappato@agora.stm.it

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