For information only - not an official document
UNIS/NAR/1199
5 March 2014
VIENNA, 5 March (UN Information Service) - "Member states are encouraged to consider abolishing the death penalty for drug-related offences", says Raymond Yans, President of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), which recently discussed the issue of the imposition of the death penalty for drug-related offences.
INCB reiterates its position highlighted in its Annual Report for 2003 which stated that "Capital punishment is neither encouraged nor prohibited by the international drug control conventions, which do not refer to it under provisions relating to penalties. Under the United Nations standards and norms in criminal justice, States are encouraged to avoid using the death penalty." INCB also notes that under the international drug control conventions, the determination of specific sanctions applicable to drug-related offences remains the prerogative of the State Parties.
INCB's position takes into account the relevant international conventions and protocols, and resolutions of the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and UN bodies pertaining to the death penalty. INCB encourages those State Parties that still provide for the death penalty for drug-related offences in their national legislation and continue to impose it to consider the abolition of the death penalty for drug-related offences.
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INCB is the independent, quasi-judicial body charged with promoting and monitoring Government compliance with the three international 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.
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For further information, please contact:
INCB Secretariat
Telephone for media inquiries: (+43-1) 26060 4163
Email: secretariat[at]incb.org
Website: www.incb.org
