Torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment are absolutely prohibited, in all circumstances. This includes during the arrest, questioning, and detention of persons alleged to have committed drug-related crimes or otherwise implicated during an investigation. The withholding of drugs from those who need them for medical purposes, including for drug dependence treatment and pain relief, is considered a form of torture.
In accordance with this right, States shall:
i. Take effective legislative, administrative, judicial, and other measures to prohibit, prevent, and redress all acts of torture and ill-treatment in their jurisdiction and in all settings under their custody or control, including in the context of drug dependence treatment, whether administered in public or private facilities.
ii. Promptly investigate allegations of torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by State agents, as well as acts that occur in their territory or under their jurisdiction (whether carried out by State or non-State actors), and prosecute and punish those responsible, including when victims are persons alleged to have committed drug-related offences or who are dependent on drugs.
iii. Avoid extraditing or otherwise forcibly returning or transferring individuals to another State where there are substantial grounds to believe that they are at risk of subjection to torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, including by non-State actors over which the receiving State has no or only partial control or whose acts the receiving State cannot prevent, or because they risk expulsion to a third State where they may be in danger of subjection to torture or other prohibited ill-treatment.
iv. Abolish corporal punishment for drug offences where it is in place.
In addition, States should:
v. Ensure access to essential medicines, including for drug dependence, pain treatment, and palliative care.
vi. Ensure that access to health care for people who use or are dependent on drugs and are in places of detention is equivalent to that available in the community.
vii. Establish a national system to effectively monitor drug dependence treatment practices and to inspect drug dependence treatment centres, as well as places of detention, including migrant detention centres, police stations, and prisons.
The prohibition against torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment is enshrined in numerous international and regional treaties and other instruments.[355] This prohibition is absolute and non-[356] The obligation to prohibit, prevent, and redress torture and ill-treatment extends to all acts by State and non-State actors[357] and to all contexts of custody and control, including prisons, hospitals, ‘and other institutions as well as contexts where the failure of the State to intervene encourages and enhances the danger of privately inflicted harm’.[358]
Policing practices
The Committee against Torture, the Human Rights Committee, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, and the Special Rapporteur on torture have found that the use of violence by law enforcement officials and the withholding of opioid substitution therapy or otherwise inducing withdrawal to coerce confessions or obtain information – for example, about other people who use drugs or to reveal dealers or suppliers – constitute ill-treatment and possibly torture.[359] The Committee against Torture has urged that States take ‘all measures necessary to effectively protect drug users deprived of liberty against the infliction of pain and suffering associated with withdrawal by police, including to extract confessions; ensure such confessions are not admitted by the courts; and provide drug users in detention with adequate access to necessary medical treatment’.[360]
The use of violence by law enforcement officials and of withdrawal to coerce confessions or obtain information also contravenes international standards for law enforcement, in particular the UN Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials, which states that torture by law enforcement officials cannot be justified in any circumstance and instructs such officials to ensure the ‘full protection of persons in their custody’ and ‘take immediate action to secure medical attention whenever required’.[361] Other policing practices may infringe the right to freedom from cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment. For example, the European Court of Human Rights has found that forcing regurgitation – which causes physical pain and mental suffering – to retrieve evidence of a drug offence that could have been obtained by less intrusive methods constitutes inhuman and degrading treatment.[362]
Pretrial detention
The Committee against Torture and the Special Rapporteur on torture have raised concerns about criminal laws on narcotics that provide that people arrested under such laws can be held for lengthy periods without being brought before a judge and without having access to legal counsel. They have found that such regimes leave the accused vulnerable to a high risk of torture and ill-treatment. They have thus recommended that such laws be amended and that States otherwise ensure judicial procedure guarantees as part of efforts to prevent torture.[363]
Prison and other closed settings
Abuse among prisoners, from subtle forms of harassment to intimidation and serious physical and sexual attacks, are common.[364] People who use drugs and other vulnerable populations might face heightened risk of violence by other detainees, especially where States have delegated detainees with the authority to maintain discipline.[365] The employment of detainees in such disciplinary capacity violates international standards.[366] Moreover, States have a positive obligation to exercise due diligence to prevent violence among those in their custody. Inter-prisoner violence may amount to torture or ill-treatment if States fail to act with due diligence to prevent it.[367]
Extradition and other forcible return or transfer
Prohibition of the extradition and other forcible return or transfer of an individual to a country where there are substantial grounds for believing that they may face torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by State or non-State actors is enshrined in international and regional human rights instruments. For example, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment expressly provides that ‘[n]o State Party shall expel, return (“refouler”) or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture’.[368]
Limits on extradition and other forms of forcible transfer under the Convention against Torture also apply where there are substantial grounds for believing that the person in question would be in danger of subjection to torture or ill-treatment at the hands of non-State actors over whom the receiving State has no or only partial de facto control, whose acts the State is unable to prevent, or who otherwise operate with impunity in the receiving State.[369] The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights[370] and regional human rights instruments likewise protect individuals from extradition and other forms of transfer in cases of torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.[371] The Committee against Torture has raised specific concerns that a government expelling foreigners convicted of drug trafficking and banning them from the country for a period seriously risks violating the principle of non-refoulement.[372]
Health services and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment
UN human rights mechanisms have concluded that the denial, removal, or discontinuation of effective drug dependence treatment, such as opioid substitution therapy, including in custodial settings, may violate the prohibition against cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.[373] Government failure to ensure access to controlled medicines for pain relief may also constitute cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, where, for example, a person’s suffering is severe and meets the minimum level of severity under the prohibition against torture and ill-treatment; where the State is, or should be, aware of the person’s suffering, including when no appropriate treatment was offered; and where the State failed to take all reasonable steps to protect the person’s physical and mental integrity.[374] Withholding antiretroviral treatment from people living with HIV who use drugs – based on the assumption that they will not be able to adhere to said treatment – has been deemed cruel and inhuman treatment in light of the physical and psychological suffering it causes.[375]
In addition, States have an obligation to ensure that incarcerated individuals have access to the same level of health care available in the general community, including services related to drug use and drug dependence.[376] Failure to do so may amount to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.[377]
Independent oversight of places of deprivation of liberty
The Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment defines ‘deprivation of liberty’ as ‘any form of detention or imprisonment or the placement of a person in a public or private custodial setting which that person is not permitted to leave at will by order of any judicial, administrative or other authority’.[378]
International norms on the treatment of people deprived of liberty require that regular inspections of places of deprivation of liberty be performed by the administration of the institution and a body independent of it. The Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment requires that States Parties ‘set up, designate or maintain at the domestic level one or several visiting bodies for the prevention of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment’, called ‘national preventive mechanisms’,[379] and guarantee the functional independence and independence of the personnel of these mechanisms.[380] The Special Rapporteur on torture has recommended that States ‘ensure that all places of detention are subjected to effective oversight and inspection and unannounced visits by independent bodies established in conformity with the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture as well as by civil society monitors; and ensure the inclusion of women and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons and other minority representation on monitoring bodies’.[381] The Special Rapporteur has also recommended that States monitor places of detention in a gender-sensitive manner[382] and ‘set up operational protocols, codes of conduct, regulations and training modules for the ongoing monitoring and analysis of discrimination against women, girls, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons with regard to access to all services and rehabilitation programmes in detention; and document, investigate, sanction and redress complaints of imbalance and direct or indirect discrimination in accessing services and complaint mechanisms’.[383]
The UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (also known as the Mandela Rules) and the UN Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (also known as the Bangkok Rules) also provide guidance on the conducting of such inspections,[384] specifying, among other things, that bodies tasked with monitoring, inspection, and supervision should include women members.[385]
Drug detention centres
In some countries, people who are suspected of drug use are held in compulsory drug detention centres, often without medical evaluation, judicial review, or right of appeal and undergo detention, physical disciplinary exercises (such as military-style drills), and forced labour as ‘treatment’, in plain disregard of medical evidence and in violation of international human rights protections, including against torture and ill-treatment. The Committee against Torture, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Human Rights Committee, the Special Rapporteurs on torture and on the right to health, and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention have raised concerns about torture and ill-treatment in compulsory drug detention centres, calling for their immediate closure; an end to financial and technical support for such centres; prompt, thorough, impartial investigations of abuses; the prosecution of alleged perpetrators and, if found guilty, punishment commensurate with the seriousness of their acts; and adequate redress for victims.[386] In addition, the Committee on the Rights of the Child has urged the release, without delay, of children in drug detention centres and the establishment of an independent, child-sensitive mechanism to receive complaints against law enforcement officers and to provide victims with redress.[387]
The Human Rights Committee has raised concern about arbitrary arrest and detention without due process,[388] as well as compulsory detoxification, forced labour, inadequate medical care, and onerous work conditions in drug detention centres.[389] It has called for a comprehensive review of relevant laws, policies, and practices vis-à-vis drug-dependent individuals to ensure alignment with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and for the introduction of effective mechanisms, with formal authority, to decide on complaints brought by people deprived of their liberty in compulsory drug detention centres.[390]
In 2012, 12 UN entities called for the immediate closure of such facilities, as well as the immediate release of those detained.[391] In 2020, 13 UN entities, recalling the 2012 joint statement on compulsory drug detention centres, likewise called on States operating compulsory drug detention centres to close them permanently without delay and to implement voluntary, evidence- and rights-based health and social services in the community as part of efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19.[392] Moreover, the UN General Assembly Special Session 2016 Outcome Document places an emphasis on people’s ‘voluntary participation’ in treatment programmes and the need to ‘prevent any possible acts of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment’ in drug treatment and rehabilitation facilities.[393]
Solitary confinement, judicial corporal punishment, and corporal punishment as ‘treatment’
The Committee against Torture has expressed concern about the use of solitary confinement in drug treatment centres ‘when persons undergoing treatment are not “reformed through education” or do not obey discipline’, among other grounds.[394] The Committee has also expressed concern about the extended use of administrative detention, such as measures of ‘compulsory isolation in drug treatment centres’. It has called for the abolition of all forms of administrative detention, ‘which confine individuals without due process and make them vulnerable to abuse’, and for the prioritisation of community-based or alternative social-care services for people with drug dependence.[395]
The Special Rapporteurs on health and on torture have raised concerns about State-sanctioned beatings, caning, or whipping,[396] as well as ‘flogging therapy’ [397]in the guise of ‘treatment’, at compulsory drug detention centres. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has received reports of the caning of prisoners found guilty of drug trafficking or drug possession.[398] The Human Rights Committee, the Committee against Torture, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the Committee on the Rights of the Child have called for the abolition of corporal punishment, whether imposed under criminal or administrative proceedings.[399] The Human Rights Committee has stated that corporal punishment constitutes ill-treatment or punishment contrary to article 7 of the Covenant, irrespective of the nature of the crime being punished or the permissibility of corporal punishment under domestic law.[400] The Committee has also recognised that the imposition of a sentence of corporal punishment violates prohibitions against torture and ill-treatment, regardless of whether the sentence is carried out.[401] The Special Rapporteur on torture has also concluded that ‘without exception’, corporal punishment amounts to cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishment or torture and is absolutely prohibited in international law.[402]
Private actors
The obligation to prohibit, prevent, and redress torture applies to acts by State and non-State actors alike[403] and to all contexts of custody and control, including prisons, hospitals, ‘and other institutions as well as contexts where the failure of the State to intervene encourages and enhances the danger of privately inflicted harm’.[404] The obligation therefore extends to private facilities.
The Committee against Torture has raised concern about poor conditions in private drug treatment centres and ill-treatment inflicted upon persons admitted to them. The Committee calls for the taking of all steps necessary to prevent and punish ill-treatment in such centres and for the prompt, thorough, and effective investigation of all complaints of ill-treatment in these centres, ensuring that the persons responsible are brought to trial and, if found guilty, receive penalties commensurate with the seriousness of their acts.[405]
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, G.A. Res. 2200A (XXI) (1966), art. 7; Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, G.A. Res. 39/46 (1984), arts. 2, 16; [European] Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, ETS No. 5 (1950), art. 3; American Convention on Human Rights, O.A.S. Treaty Series No. 36 (1969), art. 1; African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, OAU Doc. CAB/LEG/67/3 rev. 5 (1981), art. 5; Arab Charter on Human Rights (2004), art. 8; Universal Declaration of Human Rights, G.A. Res. 217A (III) (1948), art. 5.
Committee against Torture, General Comment No. 2: Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties, UN Doc. CAT/C/GC/2 (2008), paras. 1, 2; Committee against Torture, Concluding Observations: Australia, UN Doc. CAT/C/AUS/CO/3 (2008), para. 18; Siracusa Principles on the Limitation and Derogation Provisions in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, UN Doc. E/CN.4/1985/4 (1984), para. 27.
Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 20: Prohibition of Torture, UN Doc. HRI/GEN/1/Rev.1 (1994), para. 8; Committee against Torture, General Comment No. 2: Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties, UN Doc. CAT/C/GC/2 (2008), paras. 15, 17, 18; Committee against Torture, Communication No. 161/2000: Hajrizi Dzemajl et al. v. Yugoslavia, UN Doc. CAT/C/29/D/161/2000 (2002), paras. 8.12, 9.2; see also European Court of Human Rights, Z and Others v. United Kingdom, Application No. 29392/95, 10 May 2001, para. 73.
Committee against Torture, General Comment No. 2: Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties, UN Doc. CAT/C/GC/2 (2008), paras. 15, 17; European Court of Human Rights, Opuz v. Turkey, Application No. 3401/02, 9 June 2009, para. 159; see also Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Communication No. 17/2008: Maria de Lourdes da Silva Pimentel v. Brazil, UN Doc. CEDAW/C/49/D/17/2008 (2011), para. 7.5.
Committee against Torture, Concluding Observations: Russia, UN Doc. CAT/C/RUS/6 (2018), para. 20; Human Rights Committee, Concluding Observations: Russian Federation, UN Doc. CCPR/RUS/CO/7 (2015), para. 16; Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Manfred Nowak: Addendum, Mission to Indonesia, UN Doc. A/HRC/7/3/Add.7 (2008), paras. 22, 64, 70–71, 80, 108–109, 127, 139, 140, 142; Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Juan Méndez, UN Doc. A/HRC/22/53 (2013), para. 73; Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Manfred Nowak, Addendum: Mission to Uruguay, UN Doc. A/HRC/13/39/Add.2 (2009), para. 85; Interim report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, UN Doc. A/68/295 (2013), para. 68; Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Manfred Nowak, UN Doc. A/HRC/10/44 (2009), para. 57; Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Manfred Nowak: Addendum, Mission to Indonesia, UN Doc. A/HRC/7/3/Add.7 (2009), para. 22; Report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, UN Doc. A/HRC/47/40 (2021), paras. 21–23.
Committee against Torture, Concluding Observations: Russia, UN Doc. CAT/C/RUS/6 (2018), para. 21.
UN General Assembly, Resolution 34/169: Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials, UN Doc. A/RES/34/169 (1979), arts. 5, 6.
European Court of Human Rights, Jalloh v. Germany, Application No. 54810/00, 11 July 2006.
Committee against Torture, Concluding Observations: Mauritania, UN Doc. CAT/C/MRT/CO/2 (2018), paras. 8–9; Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Juan Méndez: Mission to Mauritania, UN Doc. A/HRC/34/54/Add.1 (2017), paras. 75, 117.
Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Juan Méndez, UN Doc. A/68/295 (2013), para. 47.
Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Juan Méndez, UN Doc. A/68/295 (2013), para. 47.
UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Mandela Rules), UN Doc. E/CN.15/2015/L.6/Rev.1 (2015), rule 40.
Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Juan Méndez, UN Doc. A/68/295 (2013), para. 48; Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Manfred Nowak, UN Doc. A/HRC/13/39/Add.3 (2009), para. 28.
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, G.A. Res. 39/46 (1984), art. 3; see also Committee against Torture, Committee against Torture, General Comment No. 4: The Implementation of Article 3 in the Context of Article 22 (2018), para. 9; Committee against Torture, General Comment No. 2: Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties, UN Doc. CAT/C/GC/2 (2008), paras. 3, 6, 19, 25.
Committee against Torture, General Comment No. 4: The Implementation of Article 3 in the Context of Article 22 (2018), para. 30.
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, G.A. Res. 2200A (XXI) (1966), art. 7; Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 20: Prohibition of Torture, UN Doc. HRI/GEN/1/Rev.1 (1994), para. 9; Human Rights Committee, Communication No. 470/1991: Kindler v. Canada, UN Doc. CCPR/C/48/D/470/1991 (1993); Human Rights Committee, Communication No. 469/1991: Chitat Ng v. Canada, UN Doc. CCPR/C/49/D/469/1991 (1994); Human Rights Committee, Communication No. 539/1993: Cox v. Canada, UN Doc. CCPR/C/52/D/539/1993 (1994).
[European] Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, ETS No. 5 (1950), art. 3; African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, OAU Doc. CAB/LEG/67/3 rev. 5 (1981), art. 5; Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture, O.A.S. Treaty Series No. 67 (1987), art. 2; see also 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, 189 UNTS 137 (1951), art. 33; Organization for African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa (1969), arts. 1(1, 2), 2(3). From the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights, see, e.g., European Court of Human Rights, Soering v. United Kingdom, Application No. 14038/88, 7 July 1989; European Court of Human Rights, Cruz Varas v. Sweden, Application No. 15576/89, 20 March 1991; European Court of Human Rights, Vilvarajah and Others v. United Kingdom, Application Nos. 13163/87, 13164/87, 13165/87, 13447/87, 13448/87, 30 October 1991.
Committee against Torture, Concluding Observations: Switzerland, UN Doc. CAT/C/CHE/CO/6 (2010), para. 11.
Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Manfred Nowak, UN Doc. A/HRC/10/44 (2009), paras. 57, 74(e); Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Juan Méndez, UN Doc. A/HRC/22/53 (2013); see also European Court of Human Rights, Bensaid v. the United Kingdom, Application No. 44599/98, 6 May 2001, para. 37.
Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Manfred Nowak, UN Doc. A/HRC/10/44 (2009), para. 72; Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Juan Méndez, UN Doc. A/HRC/22/53 (2013), paras. 54, 56.
Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Juan Méndez, UN Doc. A/HRC/22/53 (2013), para. 73; see also Committee against Torture, Communication No. 672/2015: D.C. and D.E v. Georgia, UN Doc. CAT/C/62/D/672/2015 (2017).
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Right of Everyone to the Enjoyment of the Highest Attainable Standard of Physical and Mental Health, Anand Grover, UN Doc. A/65/255 (2010), para. 60.
Interim Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, UN Doc. A/68/295 (2013), paras. 26, 54.
Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 2375 UNTS 237 (2002), art. 4(1).
Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 2375 UNTS 237 (2002), art. 4(2).
Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 2375 UNTS 237 (2002), art. 18(1).
Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Juan Méndez, UN Doc. A/HRC/31/57 (2016), para. 20(y).
Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Juan Méndez, UN Doc. A/HRC/31/57 (2016), para. 20(x).
Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Juan Méndez, UN Doc. A/HRC/31/57 (2016), para. 20(w).
UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Mandela Rules), UN Doc. E/CN.15/2015/L.6/Rev.1 (2015), rules 83–85.
UN General Assembly, Resolution 65/229: United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules), UN Doc. A/RES/65/22 (2011), rule 25(3).
See, e.g., Committee against Torture, Concluding Observations: Belarus, UN Doc. CAT/C/BLR/5 (2018), paras. 23–24; Committee against Torture, Concluding Observations: Guatemala, UN Doc. CAT/C/GTM/CO/5-6 (2013), paras. 20–21; Committee against Torture, Concluding Observations: Guatemala, UN Doc. CAT/C/GTM/CO/7 (2018), paras. 30–31; Committee against Torture, Concluding Observations: Turkmenistan, UN Doc. CAT//C/TKM/CO/2(2017), para. 8(d); Committee against Torture, Concluding Observations: China, UN Doc. CAT/C/CHN/CO/5 (2016), paras. 26, 42–43; Human Rights Committee, Concluding Observations: Cambodia, UN Doc. CCPR/C/KHM/CO/2 (2015), para. 16; Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding Observations: Cambodia, UN Doc. CRC/C/KHM/CO/2-3 (2011), paras. 38–39; Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Concluding Observations: Belarus, UN Doc. E/C.12/BLR/CO/4-6 (2013), para. 15; Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Juan Méndez, UN Doc. A/HRC/22/53 (2013), paras. 42, 87(a); Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Right of Everyone to the Enjoyment of the Highest Attainable Standard of Physical and Mental Health, Anand Grover, UN Doc. A/65/255 (2010), paras. 30–39; Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Right of Everyone to the Enjoyment of the Highest Attainable Standard of Physical and Mental Health: Mission to Viet Nam, UN Doc. A/HRC/20/15/Add.2 (2012), para. 64(a); Report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, UN Doc. A/HRCC/47/40 (2021), paras. 86, 126 (e, f); United Nations, ‘Statement by the Special Rapporteur on the Right of Everyone to the Enjoyment of the Highest Attainable Standard of Physical and Mental Health on the Protection of People Who Use Drugs during the COVID-19 Pandemic’, 16 April 2020, https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25797.
Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding Observations: Cambodia, UN Doc. CRC/C/KHM/CO/2-3 (2011), para. 39.
Human Rights Committee, Concluding Observations: Lao People’s Democratic Republic, UN Doc. CCPR/C/LAO/CO/1 (2019), para. 37.
Human Rights Committee, Concluding Observations: Viet Nam, UN Doc. CCPR/C/VNM/CO/3 (2019), para. 31.
Human Rights Committee, Concluding Observations: Viet Nam, UN Doc. CCPR/C/VNM/CO/3 (2019), para. 32.
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Health Organization, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, et al., Joint Statement on COVID-19 in Prisons and Other Closed Settings, https://www.unodc.org/documents/Advocacy-Section/20200513_PS_covid-prisons_en.pdf; International Labour Organization, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Development Programme, et al., Joint Statement on Compulsory Drug Detention and Rehabilitation Centres (2012); see also Global Commission on HIV and the Law, Risks, Rights and Health (2012), rec. 3.1.1.
United Nations Development Programme, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, World Health Organization, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, et al., Joint Statement: Compulsory Drug Detention and Rehabilitation Centres in Asia and the Pacific in the Context of COVID-19 (2020).
UN General Assembly, Resolution S-30/1: Our Joint Commitment to Effectively Addressing and Countering the World Drug Problem, UN Doc. A/RES/S-30/1 (2016), paras. 1(j), 4(c).
Committee against Torture, Concluding Observations: China, UN Doc. CAT /C/CHN/CO/5 (2016), para. 26.
Committee against Torture, Concluding Observations: China, UN Doc. CAT /C/CHN/CO/5 (2016), paras. 42, 43(b, c).
Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Juan Méndez, UN Doc. A/HRC/22/53 (2013), para. 41.
Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Juan Méndez, UN Doc. A/HRC/22/53 (2013), para. 41; Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Right of Everyone to the Enjoyment of the Highest Attainable Standard of Physical and Mental Health, Anand Grover, UN Doc. A/65/255 (2010), para. 35.
Report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention: Visit to Malyasia, UN Doc. A/HRC/16/47/Add.2 (2011), para. 55.
Committee against Torture, Concluding Observations: Qatar, UN Doc. CAT/C/QAT/CO/3 (2018), paras. 31–32; Human Rights Committee, Concluding Observations: Iran, UN Doc. CCPR/C/IRN/CO/3 (2011), para. 16; Human Rights Committee, Concluding Observations: Barbados, UN Doc. CCPR/C/BRB/CO/3 (2007), para. 12; Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Concluding Observations: Rwanda, UN Doc. E/C.12/RWA/CO/2-4 (2013), para. 21; Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding Observations: Qatar, UN Doc. CRC/C/QAT/CO/3-4 (2017), paras. 21–22.
Human Rights Committee, Communication No. 792/1998: Higginson v. Jamaica, UN Doc. CCPR/C/74/D/792/1998 (2002) para. 4.6; Human Rights Committee, Communication No. 928/2000: Sooklal v. Trinidad and Tobago, UN Doc. CCPR/C/73/D/928/2000 (2001) para. 4.6; Human Rights Committee, Communication No. 793/1998: Errol Pryce v. Jamaica, UN Doc. CCPR/C/80/D/793/1998 (2004) para. 6.2.
Human Rights Committee, Communication No. 792/1998: Higginson v. Jamaica, UN Doc. CCPR/C/74/D/792/1998 (2002), para. 4.6.
Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Manfred Nowak, UN Doc. A/HRC/13/39 (2010), para. 63.
Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 20: Prohibition of Torture, UN Doc. HRI/GEN/1/Rev.1 (1994), para. 8; Committee against Torture, General Comment No. 2: Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties, UN Doc. CAT/C/GC/2 (2008), paras. 15, 17, 18; Committee against Torture, Communication No. 161/2000: Hajrizi Dzemajl et al. v. Yugoslavia, UN Doc. CAT/C/29/D/161/2000 (2002), para. 8.12; Committee against Torture, Communication No. 161/2000: Hajrizi Dzemajl et al. v. Yugoslavia, UN Doc. CAT/C/29/D/161/2000 (2002), para. 9.2; see also European Court of Human Rights, Z and Others v. United Kingdom, Application No. 29392/95, 10 May 2001, para. 73.
Committee against Torture, General Comment No. 2: Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties, UN Doc. CAT/C/GC/2 (2008), paras. 15, 17; see also European Court of Human Rights, Opuz v. Turkey, Application No. 3401/02, 9 June 2009, para. 159; see also Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Communication No. 17/2008: Maria de Lourdes da Silva Pimentel v. Brazil, UN Doc. CEDAW/C/49/D/17/2008 (2011), para. 7.5 (observing that ‘the State is directly responsible for the action of private institutions when it outsources its medical services’ and ‘always maintains the duty to regulate and monitor private health-care institutions’).
Committee against Torture, Concluding Observations: Guatemala, UN Doc. CAT/C/GTM/CO/5-6 (2013), para. 20.
