25 February at 10am GVA

 Pursuant to Resolution 26/2 and 54/35, this High-Level panel will explore the judiciary’s role in advancing human rights and addressing the issue of the death penalty. The panel aims to highlight examples of the judiciary’s role towards the abolition of the death penalty and discuss how the Council and its mechanisms can support Member States to abide by their international human rights obligations regarding the use of capital punishment. The discussion is in line with the Human Rights Council’s call for all States to ensure that all legal proceedings uphold human rights and are consistent with the minimum procedural guarantees contained in article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

This panel serves as a key opportunity to continue denouncing the use of the death penalty for drug offences in a time where almost one in two people worldwide are executed for drug crimes. Member States and civil society can share good practices regarding judgments or legal reforms that have led to the limitation or abolition of capital punishment and the role the judiciary has had in promoting reforms and proportionate sentencing of drug crimes. It is also a key platform to call for an immediate moratorium as a step towards abolition and introduction of legal reforms to guarantee fair trial safeguards, including the elimination of the mandatory nature of capital punishment, which forces judges to disregard the circumstances of the offence and the defendants resulting in systemic fair trial violations.

4 March at 11:30am GVA

The Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Alice Jill Edwards, will present to the Council her annual and thematic reports followed by an interactive dialogue, where drug policy issues are expected to be discussed (soon to be published here).

In her report on her visit to Chile, the Special Rapporteur raised concerns about the alarming practice of forcing people carrying drugs inside their bodies to expel them in cells at a police station instead of at a hospital, which creates serious risks to their health and life. She calls on the government to ‘remain vigilant and to ensure that effective complaints, oversight and investigative mechanisms, as well as systematic medical examinations by independent medical personnel, are in place.’ She also highlighted the excessive length of criminal proceedings and pre-trial detention in drug-related crimes, which contributes to prison overcrowding. She continued by calling on the Government to ensure that persons deprived of liberty are provided with adequate living space and to reduce the prison population. Lastly, she raised concerns about the inability of foreign detainees, many of whom are held in connection with drug trafficking, to contact families for prolonged periods of time.

The interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur offers an opportunity for Member States and civil society to call for evidence and human rights-based policy reforms, including the introduction of alternatives to incarceration.

6 March at 3pm GVA

Pursuant to Resolution 56/20, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, in consultation with the secretariat of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and relevant experts, will convene a panel discussion to discuss the realisation of human rights in sustaining and increasing the gains made in the HIV response and leaving no one behind, and to provide recommendations to Member States.

The panel will share achievements, reforms, and good practices and highlight measures on funding, investments, and capacities for a sustainable HIV response. The panel will also pause on intersectional issues and challenges in the promotion, protection and monitoring of human rights in relation to the HIV response, including those experienced by key populations (such as people who use drugs and people in detention), and women and girls, and explore ways to overcome barriers.

Member States and civil society can use this opportunity to highlight the importance of integrated and tailored harm reduction services, both in the community and in detention settings, as a crucial strategy to prevent HIV transmission, as well as of enabling laws, policies and educational campaigns on HIV that are evidence-based and rights-based.

Additionally, civil society can also highlight the funding situation in low- and middle-income countries, where there is a 94% gap in funding for harm reduction and only 0.7% of HIV funding goes towards harm reduction (more information can be found here). Attention should also be brought to the severe implications that the recent US government funding pause has for harm reduction globally. The United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is the second largest source of funds for HIV programmes for people who use drugs. Access to HIV prevention services, including live-saving opioid agonist therapy, has been disrupted in many countries. Civil society can call for, among others, coordinated international responses to ensure services for people who use drugs continue to operate and to make substantial additional investments to address those needs, and to invest in community-led organisations as part of national health systems to create and protect resilient and sustainable harm reduction programmes. It is also a central moment to call for domestic investment in harm reduction, for country ownership of harm reduction programmes and to reduce reliance on international donor funding.

18 March at 10am GVA

In a joint interactive dialogue, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, Mai Sato, and the Fact-Finding Mission, chaired by Sara Hossain, will present their reports to the Council (soon to be published here). In line with previous editions, the reports are expected to draw attention to the increasing use of the death penalty in the country and its disproportionate impact on ethnic minorities.

Iran is responsible for the majority of known drug executions globally, and most of the people executed in the country have reportedly been convicted of drug offences. In 2024, NGOs and the UN documented a spike in executions, both for drug offences and overall.

This is an important platform for Member States and civil society to renew their commitment to achieving global abolition of the death penalty and condemn the use of capital punishment in Iran as a tool of drug control, call for a coordinated international response, and promote a comprehensive reform of drug control in the country

Item 6, 24 –26 March

 During the session, the outcomes of reviews carried out at the 47th UPR session on 4 –15 November 2024 will be adopted. For the countries under review, it will be an opportunity to reaffirm their commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights. Brunei Darussalam, DPRK (North Korea), and Qatar retain the death penalty for drug offences and should be encouraged to implement recommendations to abolish this practice. Norway and Cote d’Ivoire received recommendations on drug use and treatment that should be supported.

• THE FOURTH PHILIPPINES HUMAN RIGHTS PLAN: A CALL TO ACTION, BLUEPRINT FOR COUNTRY-LED PARTNERSHIP (25 February, 1 pm GVA Room XXIV). The side event is organised by the Permanent Mission of the Philippines. More information will be available here.

• THE ENDURING NATURE OF THE DEATH PENALTY UNDER ABOLITIONIST THE FACTO STATUS (25 February, 2 pm GVA, Room XXVI). This side event is organised by the Permanent Mission of Moldova on behalf of the Core Group on the question of the death penalty, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the Death Penalty Project and Death Penalty Research Unit of University of Oxford. More information will be available here

• UNIVERSAL PERIODIC REVIEW 49: GENDER ISSUE AND THE DEATH PENALTY IN THE STATES UNDER REVIEW. (27 February, 11 GVA, Room XXV). This event, organised by Advocates for Human Rights, will shed light on gender issues and the death penalty in Kenya and Guyana ahead of the 49^th session of the Universal Periodic Review. It will also present additional information on Grenada, Guinea, Kiribati, Kuwait, Laos, and Lesotho. Panellists will highlight SMART UPR recommendations on priority issues related to the themes as well as additional on-the-ground context.

• ENDING AIDS FOR ALL: THE CRITICAL ROLE OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN A SUSTAINABLE AND EQUITABLE RESPONSE (5 March, 2 pm GVA, Room XXII).  This side event is organised by UNAIDS. More information will be available here.