From: IR30093

To: Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India

Re: Scenario D: Human Rights
Date: 30 October, 2013
From War on Drugs to War on People
Introduction to the Present Scenario
India, a country which has always been a traditional producer of opiates and other such
substances, finds itself vulnerably located between the worlds two largest areas of illicit
opium production- the Golden Triangle (on the East) and the Golden Crescent (on the West).
By virtue of its location, India has become both a producer as well as a consumer of drugs.
Thus, India is no alien to either the evil of drugs or to the war on drugs.
India is a signatory to all major UN Conventions related to drugs and has enacted the
following legislations mirroring the Conventions, Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic
Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS Act ) and the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and
Psychotropic Substances Act, 1988
The similarity between the Indian laws and the UN Conventions is much more than just
penal sanctions. Like the UN documents, the Indian laws show a complete lack of any
obligations towards human rights. Thus, the war on drugs has provided a smokescreen for
various forms of illegal government action, including torture and the use of the death penalty
and judicial corporal punishment for drug offenders. (Rolles, Murkin, Powell, Kushlick &
Slater, 2012).
India, being a signatory to all the major UN Human Rights instruments should adopt such an
approach so as to stop the gross Human Rights (HR) violations happening in the country
under the banner of the war on drugs. By focusing on human rights violations that are
unique to India, it is extremely essential to take an approach which has human rights at its
epicenter. Its crucial to enact an act focusing specifically on the areas of Drugs Related HR
Violation in India. Its essential to recognize the existence of HR violations in India to be
effectively able to combat them. The national strategy should be amended to ensure the
protection of the human rights of the users, producers and even traffickers of drugs.

India Specific Issues of Human Rights Violations with Policy Recommendations

With a substance dependent population of around 3 million people (UNODC & the Ministry
of Social Justice and Empowerment [MSJP], 2001), India has its own set of issues, such as:
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National Laws Violate Basic HR Principles

Effect

HR Violation

Example

Policy
Recommendations

Mandatory death
penalty under
Section 31 & 31A.

Disproportionate
punishment

Drug-related offenses fall

outside the scope of most
serious crimes as per
Article 6 (2) of the ICCPR
(Special Rapporteurs
2006 Annual Report)

2 people awarded a
mandatory death penalty
in 2012

Under Section 41&

42, officers can
detain, search &
arrest , any person
with a belief to
have committed an
offense punishable
under the Act

Arbitrary power
in the hands of
law enforcers
with immense
scope of misuse
with respect to
human rights

Article 9 of the Universal

Declaration of Human
Rights provides that No
one shall be subject to
arbitrary arrest, detention
or exile

Such misuses of power

are rarely recorded

Section 35 talks
about presumption
of culpable mental
state

The victim of
drug abuse is
branded as a
criminal

Article 11 of the Universal

Declaration of Human
Rights, provides that
everyone charged with a
penal offense has a right to
be presumed innocent until
proven guilty

The drug offender is

presumed guilty, which
goes against jus cogens
principles

NHRC should
recommend that the
mandatory death
penalty under the
NDPS Act must be
done away with as it is
in clear contravention
of jus cogens principles
and thus clearly
violates human rights
Any drug offenses
related arrests to come
directly under the
supervision of NHRC
via the officials already
posted at state police
stations and should
include continuous
assessment.
Another
recommendation of
abolishing presumption
of guilt in
contravention of Art.
11 of UDHR

The so called
voluntary option
is exercised to
avoid prosecution

The de-addiction or
rehabilitation centers are
known for their nonscientific and harsh
methods

Law
(Under NDPS
Act)

In Nagaland, drug users

Rules to be formulated
have been crammed into
by NHRC (for both
cages in a sitting posture. government & privately
In Punjab, drug treatment operated) centers for
patients are tortured, and proper standards of HR
in some cases have been
& methods of treatment
beaten to death (Nagaland
Post, 2004)
Table 1: Indian National Laws Violating Human Rights (Specifically prepared for GDPPC)

Section 64A
provides the option
of voluntary
treatment to avoid
prosecution

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Terrorist and Insurgent Movements Funded by Drug Money

Estimated
to be in
millions of
dollars

No tax
obligations

Illicit Drug
Market

Free flow
of black
money

Results in
funding of
terror attacks
& insurgency
movements

Figure 1: Illicit Drug Market in India (Specifically prepared for GDPPC)

For example, Mumbai Terror attacks in 1993 that left over 250 people dead. Such HR
violations are a direct consequence of drug money fuelled illicit drug markets.
Traditionally, opium has been cultivated in the northeastern states of India for medical use.
Though, most areas have now curtailed this practice, but it remains prevalent in remote areas,
such as in the east of Arunachal Pradesh. There is very little economic activity in these
districts, and agricultural practices are essentially still subsistence-based. Opium is often the
only marketable commodity produced (UNODC, 2005). Such producers often join insurgent
movements after losing their livelihood to drug crop eradication drives by the state.
Policy Recommendation: NHRC should recommend possible state regulated drug market to
curb the free flow of black money. This will also result in the resultant taxable money to be
used for state sponsored welfare schemes for drug abusers and their families.
Secondly, alternate livelihoods should be provided to the farmers who have lost their
livelihood to state eradication processes. The now universally adopted Declaration on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples recognizes this right too.

High Prison Population and its Subsequent Effects

A range of problems including overcrowding, violence, drug use, lack of prevention services
(particularly of HIV prevention and drug dependence treatment programs), limited medical
care and mismanagement, make custodial settings places of increased risk of HIV, TB,
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hepatitis and other infectious diseases (Sarangi & Pant, 2007). According to a survey
conducted by UNODC ROSA in South Asian countries, prisons in India house the highest
number of repeat offenders and 63% of pre-trial remandees. 63% of such offenders have a
history of drug use.
Policy Recommendation: NHRC monitored medication and harm reduction facilities in
prisons targeted at drug abusers.

The Way Forward

Keeping all these India specific issues in mind, it is high time to take steps to ensure that the
war on drugs does not turn into a war on people. It is thus proposed that under the ambit
of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), a specific Act dedicated exclusively to
the human rights violations related to the war on drugs must be established. Annual reports
keeping a check on drug offenses related arrests and actions by the government should be
prepared by the NHRC. Also, government agencies should be sensitized to the basic human
rights of people caught in the middle of this so called war on drugs. This Act should be in
conformity with the autonomous nature of the NHRC and should strive to bring all areas of
possible HR violations related to the war on drugs under the supervision of the NHRC.

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