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In this issue:

EDITORIAL: Children and drug use

The International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking was observed on 26 June. To mark the day, CRIN published a briefing on 'Children and drug use' to shed light on a subject that is shied away from all too often and to examine the impact of global and national drug policies on children's rights.

Introduction

The 'war on drugs' has become an acceptable part of global political rhetoric, and often given special attention on election manifestos for parties from across the political spectrum. Drug users are often portrayed as deviants responsible for any number of social problems, ranging from the spread of HIV, spiralling rates of crime, and the corruption of innocent children. Set against this background, it is hardly surprising that drug users are often subject to extreme human rights violations.

The human cost of punitive drug control measures was particularly evident in early 2010 when reports surfaced of widespread child abuse in a Cambodian drug detention centre funded by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). According to Human Rights Watch, "detention centres, set up to treat and 'rehabilitate' drug users, instead subject them to electric shocks, beatings with electrical wire, forced labour, and harsh military drills."

The horrific nature of the testimonies seemed magnified by reports of UNICEF's financial endorsement, and subsequent disavowal, of conditions in the centres. The organisation has so far refused to withdraw funding, supporting statements issued by the Ministry of Social Affairs – the government department running the centres – insisting there was no evidence of "major violations".

While this is an extreme example, the vast majority of countries have huge gaps in service provision for drug users. For those under the age of 18, the main concern for policy makers is, perhaps understandably, prevention and abstinence. However, this can mean that policies on treatment, and services targeted at under-18s, can be inadequate or even non-existent. As the International Harm Reduction Association (IHRA) notes: "all too often we bury our heads in the sand about children and youth using drugs...The reality is that children and youth under the age of 18 are using drugs and we need to deal with it honestly, openly and without judgment." (F1)

In many countries, there are age thresholds for participating in harm reduction interventions (what is harm reduction?), while "in most countries honest drug education for young people is severely lacking." (F2) Children and young people are generally excluded from policy design and the creation of education initiatives and awareness campaigns on drug use. When children and young people are discovered with drugs they are, in most countries, funnelled through the criminal justice system instead of being provided with the help and support they might need through health interventions.

A lack of pragmatic health care solutions, such as needle exchange programmes, can increase children's susceptibility to HIV, Hepatitis and other infections transmitted through the sharing of needles. It is estimated that there are three million injecting drug users with HIV, corresponding to 5-10 per cent of all infections globally, many of which are attributable to sharing injecting equipment. (F3).

Alongside transmission through shared needles and syringes, sexual transmission probably plays a significant role for people who inject. (F4). Elsewhere, Dolan and Niven note that young people aged 15–24 years "account for fifty per cent of all new AIDS cases worldwide. (F5). Professor Paul Hunt, former UN Special Rapporteur on the right to the highest attainable standard of health, has noted that "discrimination against drug users can hinder HIV prevention efforts: people will not seek HIV counselling, testing, treatment, and support if this means facing discrimination, lack of privacy or confidentiality, alienation or in some cases, the threat of incarceration." (F6)

Among young people, overdose is one of the leading causes of premature death in many countries. Within the European Union, death rates more than doubled between 1985 and 2000 and, currently, 7-8000 acute drug-related deaths occur annually. (F7) Other threats include dependence, bacterial infections, and other physical and mental health problems. Criminalisation, however, has been shown to make matters worse, and profoundly affects poverty, education and health outcomes. (F8) Aryeh Neier, president of the Open Society Institute, has concluded that "there is no way to use the criminal law to deal with drugs, except in a very abusive way" and noted the intersection of repressive drug laws with racial discrimination and social marginalisation. (F9)

Violations of children's rights

Children are failed by drug policies in a number of areas in respect of the Convention on the Rights of the Child:

Right to life, survival and development (Article 6)

If children die as a result of overdose, infection, or as a direct result of State violence, and that death can be attributed to either State action or inaction, then a child's right to life may have been violated. Article 6 emphasises that State Parties must "ensure to the maximum extent possible the survival and development of the child."

Non-discrimination (Article 2)

If adults have access to harm reduction services, such as needle exchanges and substitution therapy, to which there is an over-18 age threshold, and other appropriate services for under-18s are non-existent, then this is an example of children being discriminated against in respect of access to health services (more on children and non-discrimination). Children are also often unable to access services without parental consent. Certain groups of children may also face discrimination. For example, in the US and in the UK, disproportionate numbers of children from ethnic minority backgrounds face drug charges. The sentences they receive are also likely to be harsher.

The right to health (Article 24)

Article 24 states: States Parties recognise the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health and to facilities for the treatment of illness and rehabilitation of health. States Parties shall strive to ensure that no child is deprived of his or her right of access to such health care services." The International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) also guarantees the right to the highest attainable standard of health. Article 12(c) obliges states to take all steps necessary for "the prevention, treatment and control of epidemic... diseases," which the Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights, the monitoring body for the ICESCR, has interpreted in General Comment no. 14 to include "the establishment of prevention and education programmes for behaviour-related health concerns such as sexually-transmitted diseases, in particular HIV/AIDS."

The Committee on the Rights of the Child, in its General Comment on HIV/AIDS, at paragraph 39, states: "The use of substances, including alcohol and drugs, may reduce the ability of children to exert control over their sexual conduct and, as a result, may increase their vulnerability to HIV infection. Injecting practices using unsterilised instruments further increase the risk of HIV transmission. The Committee notes that greater understanding of substance use behaviours among children is needed, including the impact that neglect and violation of the rights of the child has on these behaviours. In most countries, children have not benefited from pragmatic HIV prevention programmes related to substance use, which even when they do exist have largely targeted adults. The Committee wishes to emphasise that policies and programmes aimed at reducing substance use and HIV transmission must recognise the particular sensitivities and lifestyles of children, including adolescents, in the context of HIV/AIDS prevention."

Access to appropriate information (Article 17)

In respect of Article 17 on the right to access information for the promotion of the child's health, the Committee on the Rights of the Child has commented in its General Comment no. 4 that: "The right of adolescents to access appropriate information is crucial if States parties are to promote cost-effective measures, including through laws, policies and programmes, with regard to numerous health-related situations, including those covered in articles 24 and 33 such as family planning...and the abuse of alcohol, tobacco and other harmful substances." Furthermore, "[i]t is the obligation of States parties to ensure that all adolescent girls and boys, both in and out of school, are provided with, and not denied, accurate and appropriate information on how to protect their health and development and practise healthy behaviours. This should include information on the use and abuse, of tobacco, alcohol and other substances, safe and respectful social and sexual behaviours, diet and physical activity."

Children in conflict with the law (Articles 37, 40)

The rights of a child deprived of his/her liberty, as recognised in the CRC, apply with respect to children in conflict with the law, as well as to children placed in institutions for the purposes of care, protection or treatment. The Committee on the Rights of the Child, in its General Comment on Juvenile Justice has emphasised that: "In all decisions taken within the context of the administration of juvenile justice, the best interests of the child are to be a primary consideration."

Among other provisions, Article 37 requires that "No child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment", "no child shall be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily", and "every child deprived of liberty shall be treated with humanity and respect for the inherent dignity of the human person, and in a manner which takes into account the needs of persons of his or her age." Article 40 requires States Parties to "recognise the right of every child alleged as, accused of, or recognised as having infringed the penal law to be treated in a manner consistent with the promotion of the child's sense of dignity and worth."

Children and youth are routinely criminalised for drug use. If caught using drugs, and apprehended by police, they may be sent to mandatory treatment or rehabilitation facilities, where, in the worst cases, they may be subject to torture, inhuman or degrading treatment (as in the Cambodian case above), or to youth detention centres or jails. They may be kicked out of schools and educational institutions. In many countries, children are detained in the same prison wards as adults, for example in Jamaica and Bangladesh.

The United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice ("The Beijing Rules") note that drug addicted juveniles under detention pending trial may have particular needs (part 13), and that medical and psychological assistance is extremely important for institutionalised juveniles including drug addicts (part 26).

The United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty recommend that "Juvenile detention facilities should adopt specialised drug abuse prevention and rehabilitation programmes administered by qualified personnel. These programmes should be adapted to the age, sex and other requirements of the juveniles concerned, and detoxification facilities and services staffed by trained personnel should be available to drug- or alcohol-dependent juveniles."

The right to participate (Article 12)

The International Harm Reduction Association explains: "Children and youth are left out of policy design, and are not involved in creating prevention and awareness campaigns or training and material dissemination. Young people are seen only as recipients of services and not viewed integral components to the programme design. The exclusion of young people from programme and policy design is a result of the added barriers or stigma and discrimination faced by young people. Most if not all of the programming and policy making is facilitated without the involvement of target populations, including people who use drugs and young people."

The right to education (Article 28)

Article 28 requires that States Parties "recognise the right of the child to education, and with a view to achieving this right progressively and on the basis of equal opportunity." While it may be understandable that children using drugs are excluded from school, perhaps for the wellbeing of other pupils, their right to education, particularly on the basis of equal opportunity, has nonetheless been exposed to interference. Education is broadly conceived to be one of the most powerful means of empowering children to combat barriers which may be impeding the fulfilment of other rights, including social exclusion, poverty and drug use. In some, but by no means all countries, children with highly challenging behaviour, sometimes as a result of genetic defects or learning difficulties are provided with educational placements, so it could be argued that children who use drugs should also be provided with appropriate educational placements which take into account their particular needs.

The right to education could also include the right to harm reduction information; i.e drug information which does not just say "don't", but also "if you do, then remember that..." In keeping with the right to information, it should also include the opportunity to learn about the reality of drug use, the dangers and ways in which people can be protected from both the use of drugs and their harmful effects.

Find out more about drug use, health education and prevention here.

Protection from drug use and involvement in the drug trade (Article 33)

Article 33 requires that States take all appropriate measures to protect children from the use of drugs, and to “prevent the use of children in the illicit production and trafficking of such substances.” It is the only article in any UN human rights treaty that deals explicitly with drug use.

The crucial question is: What do we mean by appropriate? The IHRA suggests that zero tolerance, “just say no” campaigns, random school drug testing and school exclusions, and the denial of harm reduction services for those under 18, are all examples of inappropriate measures.

“What is ‘appropriate’,” argues the IHRA, “must take into account the right to life, health, education, social security and an adequate standard of living, to access to information, to freedom of expression and to privacy, and to freedom from discrimination, violence and neglect, from cruel inhuman and degrading treatment, economic exploitation and from arbitrary detention.”

Please note that complete references are available on the full issues page on "Children and drug use" which can be accessed here.

Your turn! Share your views on this editorial here.
 

References

1. International Harm Reduction Association and Youth RISE, (IHRA) (2009) Drugs, Harm Reduction and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: Common themes and universal rights, London: IHRA

2. Moskalewicz J., et al. (2007) ‘Harm reduction coming of age: A summary of the ‘18th International Conference on the Reduction of Drug Related Harm’ International Journal of Drug Policy, 724: 503–508

3.

Kroll C (2003) Assistance to country responses on HIV/AIDS associated with injecting drug use by the UN and other agencies: Report for the Interagency Task Team on injecting drug use.

4. Kral AH, Bluthenthal RN, Lorvick J, Gee L, Bacchetti P, Edlin BR (2001) Sexual transmission of HIV-1 among injection drug users in San Francisco, USA: risk-factor analysis. Lancet, 357 (9266), 1397-401.

5. Dolan K., and Niven H., (2005) ‘A review of HIV prevention among young injecting drug users: A guide for researchers’, Harm Reduction Journal, 2:5

6. OSI (2005) Protecting the Human Rights of Injection Drug Users: The impact of HIV and AIDS, OSI: New York

7. EMCDDA (2002b) Annual report on the state of the drugs problem in the European Union and Norway. Lisbon: European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction.

8. Hunt N., (2003) ‘A review of the evidence-base for harm reduction approaches to drug use’, Forward Thinking on Drugs: A Release Initiative

9. OSI (2005) Protecting the Human Rights of Injection Drug Users: The impact of HIV and AIDS, OSI: New York

• On June 26th, more than 40 international groups and experts worldwide issued a call to action that presses governments to adopt a humane, rights-based approach to drug policy.
  The call to action, signed by the International Drug Policy Consortium, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, former president of Brazil Fernando Cardoso, and others, urges governments to enact policies that are based on scientific and medical research rather than politics.

• Briefings on human rights and drug policy

• Drugs, Harm Reduction and the CRC (IHRA)

• The illegal arrest, arbitrary detention and torture of people who use drugs in Cambodia

• Protecting the Human Rights of Injection Drug Users: The impact of HIV and AIDS

• The Death Penalty for Drug Offences: Global Overview 2010 Report

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LATEST NEWS AND REPORTS

Urging reform

Child-friendly justice: The Council of Europe has published the Final Draft Guidelines on Child-Friendly Justice, which seek to improve the ways that children interact with the legal system from start to finish. The Final Draft Guidelines will next be examined by the European Committee on legal co-operation in October and formally adopted by the Committee of Ministers in November.

Nigeria: Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Nigerian Bar Association Human Rights Institute and other Nigerian human rights non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are deeply concerned by reports of a decision by the Nigerian government to resume the execution of prison inmates. The reason given by the authorities for the resumption is to ease prison congestion.

Instead of executing prisoners, the Nigerian authorities should address underlying problems in the criminal justice system. The overcrowding is in part due to delays in trials and failure to provide enough lawyers.

There are approximately 870 death row inmates currently in Nigeria's prisons, including women and juveniles. However, weaknesses in the Nigerian criminal justice system means that hundreds of those awaiting execution on Nigeria's death rows did not have a fair trial and may therefore be innocent. Read statement.

Human Rights Council: In a new report, Human Rights Watch (HRW) examines the successes and failures of the UN Human Rights Council. In "Curing the Selectivity Syndrome", HRW calls on the Council to address all human rights situations that need its attention and to overcome selectivity in its work. The 2011 review of the Council is an opportunity to develop a range of approaches to address human rights violations wherever they occur. However, the report adds that the Council should "improve by doing" and take immediate steps to deal with its shortcomings rather than wait for the 2011 review. Download report.

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End impunity for rights violations

International Day in Support of Victims of Torture: “Despite a well-built international legal framework, torture prevails in many regions of the world and is often accompanied by an alarming degree of impunity,” warned four UN bodies involved in preventing torture and helping its victims, on the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.

The experts commented that treatment which could be classified as torture, as well as cruel, inhuman or degrading, has been racheted up since 11 September 2001.

They stressed that: “the prohibition against torture and other forms of inhumane treatment is absolute and cannot be derogated even under emergency situations.” Read statement.

Argentina: A leading newspaper publisher must pay the consequences if genetic tests show the children she adopted three decades ago were stolen from prisoners of the dictatorship, human rights activists told Associated Press this week.

DNA tests are being carried out to resolve a nine-year legal battle over the identities of the adopted children of Ernestina Herrera de Noble, the owner of Grupo Clarin, who is an opponent of President Cristina Fernandez.

Hundreds of babies were born in torture centres during the 1976-83 dictatorship, which human rights groups believe killed as many as 30,000 of the regime's political opponents. Read article. 

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New guidelines on children's rights and business

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and partners have called on business leaders to create a set of universal principles to ensure that their companies’ actions have a positive impact on youth.

“Protecting children’s rights is a global responsibility that requires global commitment from us all, in every sector,” Anthony Lake, UNICEF Executive Director, said at the opening of the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit, a major meeting of business leaders held in New York.

The Children’s Principles of Business – which would be launched in 2011 – are to be based on the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Read article.

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African Committee - elections

The African Union (AU) has sent out a list of nominees for the six vacant positions with the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC), reports the Civil Society Forum on the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. The elections will take place during the AU summit to be held in Kampala, Uganda from 19-27 July 2010.

Read the list of nominees

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Follow-up: Banning the veil / Children and sexuality

Council of Europe opposes general ban on burqa

In May, CRIN reported that Belgium had passed a total ban on veils which fully or partially cover the face.

This week, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) passed a resolution declaring that there should be no general prohibition on wearing the burqa and the niqab or other religious clothing. It added, however, that legal restrictions may be justified “for security purposes, or where the public or professional functions of individuals require their religious neutrality, or that their face can be seen”. Read article.

 United States: 10-year-old leads gay pride event

Will Phillips, the 10-year-old boy who last year refused to recite the Pledge of Allegiance at school until Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) people have full equality, served as 'grand marshall' of the Northwest Arkansas Gay Pride Parade on Saturday, reports Advocate.com. Read article.

Read CRIN's editorial on children and sexuality.

JARGON OF THE WEEK

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