Introduction
People who use drugs retain their fundamental rights, including the right to health and including in detention settings, and States have a heightened, positive obligation to protect those most vulnerable, and/or under their direct control.
Regrettably, the criminalisation of drug use and drug possession for personal use, in the context of repressive drug policies, leads to the arbitrary detention of people who use drugs, and to forced detention and treatment. There are credible and systematic reports of violence and human rights violations committed in criminal and administrative detention against people who use drugs.
This report will focus on forms of violence in situations of deprivation of liberty for drug-related offences. Accordingly, it will provide information on (1) Withdrawal symptoms in detention, and (2) Violence in the context of administrative drug detention.
This report was prepared by Human Rights International and the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network.