Criminal justice

Publications1 January 1970

'Disrupt and vilify': The war on immigrants inside the US war on drugs

The Drug Policy Alliance and Human Rights Watch presents recommendations on immigration and drug laws that disproportionately affect migrants

News23 October 2025

Weaponising the drug war: Police raid opposition candidate in Budapest

A recent search of the home of Hungarian political candidate Alexander Horváth highlights how drug-related accusations can be used as a tool for political intimidation.

News15 October 2025

Human rights abuses, corruption rampant at Zimbabwe’s shady drug rehabilitation centres

Unlicensed drug rehabilitation centres are sites of arbitrary detention, cruel punishment, corruption and human rights violations.

News14 October 2025

Women are paying the price for the war on drugs - Women Beyond Walls podcast with Marie Nougier

Marie Nougier exposes how punitive drug laws devastate women’s lives, fueling mass incarceration and inequality — and calls for feminist, humane, evidence-based drug policies rooted in care, not punishment.

Publications14 October 2025

Safer drug laws for Aotearoa New Zealand - Pragmatic, evidence-based recommendations for safer drug laws

The New Zealand Drug Foundation urges reform of outdated drug laws, calling for decriminalisation, Māori-led health approaches and investment in harm reduction to build safer, fairer, evidence-based policies for Aotearoa New Zealand.

Blog8 October 2025

The Human Rights Council asserts its role in drug policy at a time of global change

The Human Rights Council’s latest resolution on drug policy marks a turning point, reaffirming that drug control is a human-rights issue, and calling for person-centred, inclusive, and accountable approaches.

News9 September 2025

US: Five reasons why Trump’s anti-cartel military plan will fail

Tackling corruption and reforming drug policies are the real pathways to solve a challenge that cannot be bombed away.

News9 September 2025

Maldives: Reject introduction of death penalty for drug trafficking and abolish this punishment once and for all

Nine human rights groups condemn the Maldives’ push to impose the death penalty for drug trafficking, warning it violates international law and defies global abolition trends.

Publications4 September 2025

Civil society perspectives on the ASEAN Work Plan on Drugs 2016–2025 – Submission to ASEAN review process

Civil society exposes punitive harms and rights violations, while urging a shift towards health, harm reduction, decriminalisation, justice reform, and sustainable livelihoods.

News3 September 2025

A flawed policy: The US war on drugs in Latin America criminalises people

The US-backed 'war on drugs' has costed trillions — criminalising migrants, militarising societies, and fuelling recent threats of intervention in Latin America.

Publications14 August 2025

Criminalizing public space through a decriminalization framework: The paradox of British Columbia, Canada

Singh Kelsall et al. argue that British Columbia’s rollback of decriminalisation is a form of bio-political violence, a state-sanctioned massacre cloaked in public health policy.

News12 August 2025

Resisting patriarchy and the 'drug war': The rise of Bolivia’s Community of Women Who Use Drugs and the Libertas Programme

Against criminalisation, invisibility and systemic violence, these initiatives seek to expand gender-responsive harm reduction and policy reform, based on lived experience.

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