Several organizations signed a joint statement on Wednesday, calling for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) to take action put an end to the use of the death penalty for drug-related offenses.
The 70 organizations that signed the joint statement published by Amnesty International urged UNODC and the CND to adopt measures to end the use of the death penalty in drug-related cases. Some of these organizations include the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network, StoptheDrugWar.org, and the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights.
The statement cited that the death penalty for drug-related offenses is retained in 34 countries around the world, and actual documented executions with the cause being drug-related offenses were found in four countries: Iran, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, and China. The statement emphasizes that this punishment is a violation of human rights. Under Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the death penalty can violate the inherent right to life, and must only be used in the “most serious crimes.” The Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) said in a 2023 UN report that “drug-related offences can never serve as the basis for the imposition of the death penalty.”
Recently, Vietnam adopted legislative amendments to abolish the death penalty for several offences, including drug trafficking. On the contrary, in other countries like Saudi Arabia, executions for drug-related offenses have surged considerably since the start of 2025.
The joint statement was published the day before June 26, which was demarcated as the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in 1987 by the UN General Assembly. The purpose of the day is to strengthen global cooperation in combating drug-related problems and to promote public health and preventative measures instead of punitive measures.
The 70 organizations used this joint statement to emphasize that World Drug Day is not a way of encouraging highly punitive approaches to tackling the battle with drugs. The purpose of the day is to promote public health and the usage of preventative measures to reduce drug abuse, instead of punitive ones.
