Human rights

Human rights apply to everyone. Drug users, traffickers and growers do not forfeit their human rights, and must be able to enjoy the right to the highest attainable standard of health, as well as to social services, employment, education, freedom from arbitrary detention and so on. The trend has been to toughen drug laws and sentencing guidelines, setting mandatory minimums, disproportionate prison sentences and even death penalties in several countries. Consideration of human rights are becoming essential elements in a growing number of countries’ application of drug legislation.

The War on Colombia’s Poor

January 2012

Ross Eventon

The EU's proposed free trade agreement with Colombia will worsen the already serious human rights violations in the country, as its drive to access to cheap raw materials for European corporations means forcing local people off their land.

The Impact of Militia Actions on Public Security Policies in Rio de Janeiro

March 2010

Tom Blickman

Paulo Jorge Ribeiro and Rosane Oliveira

An examination of the rise of militias – well-organised private vigilante groups made up of rogue, dismissed or retired police officers, firemen and prison guards - in the recurrent episodes of extreme urban violence in Rio de Janeiro, which represents developments in urban security that spread...

Democracy, Human Rights, and Militarism in The War on Drugs in Latin America

April 1997

Drugs and Democracy

TNI, Cedib and Inforpress Centroamericana

The following essays present insights into the various levels of military involvement in the war on drugs and the implications of this involvement in terms of democracy and human rights in the Western hemisphere.