Table 6: Harm Reduction and Freedom of Expression and Information Examples of Human Rights Violations Drug users are denied information about HIV prevention, harm reduction, and safer drug use. Government bans publications about drug use or harm reduction, claiming they represent propaganda for illegal activity. The government shuts down websites providing information about harm reduction. See, www.hrw.org/news/2012/02/08/russia-government-shuts-hiv-prevention-group-s-website. Government officials harass or detain individuals who speak publicly in favor of needle…

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Table 7: Harm Reduction and Freedom of Assembly and Association Examples of Human Rights Violations Public authorities refuse to register a drug user association. Police break up a peaceful demonstration against drug laws. Police threaten a group of people at a community meeting providing information or support. See en.rylkov-fond.org. People who use or possess drugs are subject to arrest, imprisonment, and fines, such as the case of Cambodia’s 2011 Law…

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Table 8: Harm Reduction and Right to Bodily Integrity Examples of Human Rights Violations A suspected drug user is abused by police. Police fail to investigate a case of domestic violence against a drug-using woman. Doctors compel a drug-using pregnant woman to undergo an abortion. Police fail to investigate the assault or murder of a person suspected of using drugs, blaming it on “gang violence.” Note: The right to bodily…

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Table 9: Harm Reduction and the Right to Non-discrimination  Examples of Human Rights Violations A person is denied work, housing, health care, education, or access to goods and services due to actual or suspected drug use. Police disproportionately arrest migrants and racial minorities for drug offenses, such as in the United States. See Bryan Stevenson, “Testimony on Criminal Justice for the UN Special Rapporteur on Racism” (2008), www.eji.org/files/05.28.08%20UNtestimonyonRace.pdf.  People who…

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Table 10: Harm Reduction and the Right to the Enjoyment of the Highest Attainable Standard of Health Examples of Human Rights Violations Drug users or suspected drug users are turned away from hospitals or treated with stigma and judgmental attitudes in the health care system. Government officials ban needle exchange programs or confiscate syringes from drug users, claiming they promote illegal activity. Government bans substitution therapy with methadone. Human Rights…

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Table 11: Harm Reduction and the Rights of Women and Children Examples of Human Rights Violations Women are denied access to harm reduction services on an equal basis with men. Pregnant women who use drugs are forced to undergo abortions or sterilization, or are penalized for attempting to injure their child. Children and young people are denied access to objective and accurate information about drugs and are barred from existing…

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Example 1: Collecting affidavits to document illegal policing actions  Project Type: Advocacy The Organization Pivot Legal Society Vancouver, Canada E-mail:  getinvolved@pivotlegal.org Website:  www.pivotlegal.org Report:  To Serve and Protect: A Report on Policing in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Pivot Legal Society focuses its work on marginalized populations that live in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES). Believing that equality lifts everyone, Pivot employs legal, political and community outreach techniques to promote health and drug policy,…

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Example 2: Thai drug users form a network to advocate for harm reduction and human rights  Project Type: Advocacy The Organization The Thai Drug Users’ Network (TDN) formed in Bangkok, Thailand in December 2002. The organization focuses on raising awareness of health, human rights and harm reduction principles—especially as those concepts relate to experiences of arbitrary arrest, torture, discrimination in judicial and healthcare settings, and lack of access to health care…

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Example 3: Challenging police raids and criminalization of drug use in Hungary through “civil obedience” Project Type: Advocacy The Organization  Hungarian Civil Liberties Union Budapest, Hungary E-mail:  tasz@tasz.hu Website:  http://tasz.hu/en Drug Policy Website: www.drogriporter.hu                                                                                …

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Example 4: Harm Reduction International’s engagement with human rights mechanisms  Project Type: Advocacy The Organization Harm Reduction International London, United Kingdom Email: info@ihra.net Website:  http://www.ihra.net/ Harm Reduction International (HRI) advocates for the human rights of drug users and documents the harms associated with drug use. The Problem The total elimination of psychoactive drug use is not a practical goal. Those who are unable or unwilling to end their use of controlled…

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