60 int'l organizations call for an end to use of death penalty for drug-related offenses in several countries, including the Maldives
International organizations have expressed concern over efforts by several countries, including the Maldives, to expand the application of the death penalty for drug-related offenses. Consequently, the joint statement urges a shift in drug policies away from capital punishment toward a framework that prioritizes public health and human rights.
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More than 60 drug policy organizations have called on the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) to take immediate and decisive action to end the use of the death penalty for drug-related offenses.
Human rights organizations and drug policy advocacy groups made this call in a joint statement issued to mark the 2026 International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
The statement highlights that despite international laws mandating that the death penalty be reserved exclusively for the "most serious crimes," numerous countries continue to execute individuals for drug-related offenses.
The statement noted that over the past year, authorities in Algeria, Kuwait, and the Maldives have pursued legal efforts to expand the scope of the death penalty for drug-related offenses. This development remains a matter of grave concern for the international community. The statement further highlighted that a 2023 report submitted by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to the UN Human Rights Council emphasized that drug-related crimes should under no circumstances serve as a basis for the imposition of the death penalty.
The statement noted that the United Nations drug control conventions—the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the 1988 Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances—do not contain any provisions regarding the death penalty.
These organizations are calling for a shift in drug policies toward a framework that prioritizes public health and human rights. They further asserted that the death penalty constitutes a violation of the right to life and does not serve as a viable solution for preventing drug trafficking or substance abuse.
