The All-Party Parliamentary Human Rights Group (PHRG) and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on the Abolition of the Death Penalty, in conjunction with Harm Reduction International, Reprieve and the International Drug Policy Consortium, organised this event to mark the International “Support Don’t Punish” Day of Action on 26 June. The PHRG would like to thank the Chair of the event, Baroness Stern CBE, as well as the event’s panel of speakers:

• Jeremy Corbyn MP – Vice-Chair, PHRG. (“JC”)
• Dr Rick Lines – Executive Director, Harm Reduction International. (“RL”)
• Dan Dolan – Death Penalty Team, Reprieve. (“DD”)
• Ann Fordham – Executive Director, International Drug Policy Consortium. (“AF”)

The key points raised during the event:
• There is a need to combat drug use, but the implications of anti-narcotics policy need to be examined for their human rights implications. (JC)
• Punitive approaches to drug control often end up targeting and punishing those who are already marginalised. (JC)
• European Government funding is channelled through the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to anti-narcotics agencies for elite training, and border offices, and for operational equipment. (DD)
• The UK Government can therefore be said to be complicit in drug offence executions, even of children, despite its anti-death penalty stance and its “5 year strategy” to end capital punishment worldwide. (DD)
• The UN General Assembly Special Session on Drugs will be held in April 2016. It provides an important opportunity to challenge the repressive paradigm of the international response to drug production and use. (AF)
• The UK Government should make its funding for international anti-narcotics programmes conditional upon recipient States upholding basic human rights, and abolition of the death penalty for drug offences in particular. (DD)

For more information on the “Support Don’t Punish” campaign and day of action, please visit supportdontpunish.org. Please also see our follow up Early Day Motion, number 188.