Aditia Taslim, our Advocacy Lead, delivered pre-recorded oral interventions in two Agenda Items at the 60th session of the Human Rights Council, on the impact of climate change on human rights, and on the panel discussion on economic, social, and cultural rights. During the climate change discussion, Aditia emphasised the importance of having resilient communities to challenge and counter the impact of climate change, as well as the impact of climate change towards the health and lives of people who use drugs. In his second intervention, Aditia strongly expressed his views on the right to bodily autonomy, freedom from coerced treatment, and other human rights violations that should have been protected under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
INPUD will continue engaging in the Human Rights Council. To follow the HRC60, you can visit their official website: https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/regular-sessions/session60/regular-session
Agenda Item 3: the Secretary-General’s synthesis report on the impact of climate change on human rights – Interactive Dialogue
One of the greatest threats to human health, well-being and prosperity is climate change. In the past two years alone, climate-related crises have risen exponentially with immense and detrimental consequences for the health of societies and the capacities of their health and community systems. In an era where health crises and social injustices intersect with systemic challenges like pandemics and climate catastrophes, the necessity of fostering resilient communities is and will be instrumental. The changes brought by climate change have an immediate and direct effect on the health, well-being, safety and security of people who use drugs. This includes experiencing: intensified barriers to accessing quality health and social services; surges in human mobility and migration; upticks in human rights abuses, violence, harassment, policing and punitive legal environments; increased loss of housing, income and livelihoods matched with rising food insecurity. Climate change has also been associated with increasing rates of HIV transmission and a decline in health outcomes among people who use drugs. The climate-health nexus poses a substantial risk to the success of the SDG Agenda.
Agenda Item 3: the High Commissioner’s report on the panel discussion on economic, social and cultural rights held at HRC57 – Interactive Dialogue
Punitive drug laws, policies, and practices have a detrimental and enduring impact on the human rights of people who use drugs, particularly in the socio-economic sphere protected under the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). In addition to the frequently referred to in reports such as the ‘right to health’, these rights also encompass the fundamental social and economic conditions necessary for a dignified and free existence, such as access to food, water, housing, education, cultural identity, employment, social security, and an adequate standard of living. Importantly, in the context of drug use, these rights also extend to bodily autonomy, freedom from coerced treatment, and other protections outlined in the International Covenant. In late 2022, the CESCR decided to initiate work on a General Comment on the impact of drug policies on economic, social, and cultural rights. The purpose of the General Comment is to “clarify States’ obligations relating to the impact of drug policy on the enjoyment of rights enshrined in the Covenant to provide a framework for implementation of the Covenant as a whole with regard to drug laws, policies, and practices.” However, progress has been very slow, if any. Therefore, we call the Committee to walk the talk, on leaving no one behind.