Human Rights Watch : Rapport mondial 2025

HRW dénonce des violations des droits humains autour du monde, y compris en relation aux politiques de drogues, allant des lois punitives aux exécutions extrajudiciaires. Pour en savoir plus, en anglais, veuillez lire les informations ci-dessous.

2024: A Year of Reckoning

By Tirana Hassan, Executive Director

This has been a year of elections, resistance, and conflict, testing the integrity of democratic institutions and the principles of international human rights and humanitarian law. Whether in response to heightened repression in Russia, India, and Venezuela, or catastrophic armed conflicts in Gaza, Sudan, and Ukraine, governments around the world are being called upon to demonstrate their commitment to human rights, democracy, and humanitarian action. Many have failed the test. But even outspoken and action-oriented governments have invoked human rights standards weakly or inconsistently, feeding global perceptions that human rights lack legitimacy.

That is an irresponsible and dangerous conclusion, and conveniently absolves governments of their legal obligations to uphold international human rights law both at home and in their actions abroad. Reflecting on the events of 2024, this is not a moment to retreat from the protections needed by everyone everywhere. Instead, governments should respect and defend universal human rights with more rigor and urgency than ever, and people and civil society need to remain steadfast in holding them accountable.

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Drug policy

HRW's report reflects on countries grappling with the intersection of drug policy, law enforcement, and human rights, with responses ranging from reform to extreme punitive measures.

Some governments have attempted decriminalisation, while others continue to enforce harsh penalties, including the death penalty, mass arrests, and extrajudicial killings.

Law enforcement agencies in multiple nations misuse drug laws to justify human rights abuses, such as arbitrary detentions, police brutality, and political repression.

Organised crime remains a major driver of violence in several regions, particularly in Latin America, where governments struggle to contain drug-related conflicts. Meanwhile, judicial systems in many countries fail to uphold due process, reinforcing corruption and impunity. Below are five significant cases:

• Mexico: The military plays a central role in enforcement but operates with little civilian oversight, leading to widespread abuses, including arbitrary detentions, torture, and enforced disappearances.
• Philippines: Extrajudicial killings in the so-called 'war on drugs' continue, with hundreds killed annually. Despite government claims of reform, impunity remains the norm, and the state refuses to cooperate with international investigations.
• Brazil: The Supreme Court decriminalised cannabis possession, but Congress seeks to reverse the ruling. Meanwhile, police continue to justify violent raids in low-income areas under the pretence of drug enforcement.
• Malaysia: Despite abolishing the mandatory death penalty, Malaysia still sentences people to death for drug trafficking, shifting the burden of proof onto defendants and using corporal punishment.
• Sri Lanka: The government’s anti-drug crackdown has led to over 100,000 arrests, many without evidence, with reports of torture and forced detention in military-run rehabilitation centers.