Human Rights and Drug Control

Saul Takahashi teaches human rights law at Aoyama Gakuin University, in Tokyo. His previous positions include Refugee Officer at the International Secretariat of Amnesty International, Drug Control Officer at the Secretariat of the International Narcotics Control Board, and Deputy Head of Office in Occupied Palestine for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. He has authored numerous publications in English and Japanese.

• 1. Introduction I. Some Terminology Issues—Legalisation, Decriminalisation, and Depenalisation II. Use/Abuse/Consumption 2. Legal Standards and Regimes I. The International Drug Control Regime The 1988 Convention and Criminalisation The Treaty Monitoring Regime of International Drug Control The Enforcement Powers of INCB INCB, UNODC, and Human Rights II. Human Rights The International Human Rights Regime Human Rights Treaty Bodies and INCB Charter-Based Bodies—The Human Rights Council The Offi ce of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) III. Article 33 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child 3. UNGASS and Developments in Latin America I. UNGASS II. Latin America: Regional Developments III. Latin America: Developments at the National Level Bolivia Uruguay 4. Drug Control: Violating Human Rights? I. At First, There Was ‘Harm Reduction’ Substitution Treatment Injection Rooms Conclusion on Harm Reduction II. Human Rights as a Tool Death Penalty Law Enforcement and the Excessive Use of Force Arbitrary Detention, Ill-Treatment and Forced Labour Arbitrary Detention and the International Drug Control Conventions III. Persons who Abuse Drugs as a ‘Vulnerable Group’ IV. Militarisation of Drug Law Enforcement Organised Crime Pain Relief and Legalisation of Opium Poppy Cultivation in Afghanistan Pain Relief Globally 5. Mandated Treatment and Drug Courts I. Portugal 6. The ‘Right to Abuse Drugs’ Afterword: Views of the Author