THE DEATH PENALTY FOR DRUG OFFENCES: GLOBAL

THE DEATH PENALTY

FOR DRUG OFFENCES:

GLOBAL OVERVIEW 2023

Harm Reduion International (HRI) envisions a

world in which drug policies uphold dignity, health

and rights. We use data and advocacy to promote

harm reduion and drug policy reform. We show

how rights-based, evidence-informed reonses

to drugs contribute to healthier, safer societies,

and why inveing in harm reduion makes sense.

HRI is an NGO with Special Consultative Status

with the Economic and Social Council of the

United Nations.

The Death Penalty for Drug Oences:

Global Overview 2023

Giada Girelli, Marcela Jofré,

and Ajeng Larasati

ISBN: 978-1-915255-02-0

Published by Harm Reduion

International

61 Mansell Street, Aldgate

London E1 8AN

E-mail: oce@hri.global

Website: www.hri.global

Harm Reduion International (HRI) has monitored the use of the death penalty

for drug oences

worldwide since our ﬁr ground-breaking publication on

this issue in 2007. This report, our 13

on the subje, continues our work of

providing regular updates on legislative, policy and praical developments

related to the use of capital punishment for drug oences,

a praice which is

a clear violation of international human rights and drug control andards.

This year marks the beginning of a new approach to our ﬂagship

publication. Every edition of this report will provide key data and updated

categories, as well as high-level developments at the national and international

level. A deeper analysis of developments and trends will be published in the

2024 edition and on alternate years. The methodology used for both reports

remains the same.

HRI opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception.

1. Drug oences (also referred to as drug-related oences or drug- related crimes) are drug-related aivities categorised

as crimes under national laws. For the purposes of this report, this deﬁnition excludes aivities which are not related to

the tracking, possession or use of controlled subances and related inchoate oences (inciting, assiing or abeing

a crime). HRI’s research also excludes countries where drug oences are punishable by death only if they involve, or

result in, intentional killing.

2. Unless eciﬁed, the source for all ﬁgures and information provided in this report is an internal HRI dataset on death

sentences and executions for drug oences, available upon reque from the authors.

3. For a complete description of HRI’s methodology please see Harm Reduion International (2023), ‘The Death Penalty

for Drug Oences: Global Overview 2022’, pag. 6. Available at: hps://hri.global/ﬂagship-research/death-penalty/

the-death-penalty-for-drug-oences-global-overview-2022/.

INTRODUCTION

CATEGORIES

To demonrate the dierences between law and praice among ates where

the death penalty can be imposed for drug oences, HRI categorises countries

into ‘high application’, ‘low application’, or ‘symbolic application’ ates.

High Application States are those in which

executions for drug oences were carried

out and/or at lea ten drug-related death

sentences were imposed per year in the

pa ﬁve years.

Low Application States are those where

executions for drug oences have not

been carried out in the pa ﬁve years but

where death sentences for drug oences

were imposed in the same period. Yet,

the conﬁrmed number of drug-related

death sentences does not meet the

threshold required for classiﬁcation as

‘high application’. Bangladesh, Egypt, Iraq

and Yemen are low application countries

conﬁrmed to have carried out executions

in 2023, but not for drug oences. The

seion below, therefore, only provides

ﬁgures on death sentences and death row

populations.

Symbolic Application States are

those that have the death penalty for

drug oences within their legislation

but have not carried out executions

nor sentenced individuals to death for

drug oences in the pa ﬁve years.

Oman and the USA are symbolic

application countries conﬁrmed to

have carried out executions in 2023,

but not for drug oences.

A fourth category, insucient data,

denotes inances where there is

simply not enough information to

classify the country accurately.

4. HRI acknowledges that there is no consensus regarding the deﬁnition of ‘death row’ and that dierent

authorities and organisations may colle data dierently. The information provided by HRI may include

ﬁgures colleed by countries and organisations according to dierent criteria.

6 7

High Application

1. China

2. Indonesia

3. Iran

4. Kuwait

5. Malaysia

6. North Korea (DPRK)

7. Saudi Arabia

8. Singapore

9. Vietnam

Low Application

10. Bahrain

11. Bangladesh

12. Egypt

13. Iraq

14. Lao PDR

15. Pakian

16. Sri Lanka

17. State of Paleine

(Gaza)

18. Thailand

19. United Arab Emirates

20. Yemen

Symbolic Application

21. Brunei Darussalam

22. Cuba

23. India

24. Jordan

25. Mauritania

26. Myanmar

27. Oman

28. Qatar

29. South Korea

30. South Sudan

31. Sudan

32. Taiwan

33. United States

of America

Insucient Data

34. Libya

35. Syria

COUNTRY

BY COUNTRY

8 9

THE DEATH PENALTY FOR DRUG OFFENCES:

GLOBAL OVERVIEW 2023

• By the end of 2023, 34 countries

retained the death penalty for a

range of drug oences worldwide,

one less than in 2022.

• In July 2023, Pakian abolished the

death penalty for drug oences, the

ﬁr country to do so in over a decade.

• Drug-related executions were

conﬁrmed in ﬁve countries (China,

Kuwait, Iran, Saudi Arabia and

Singapore). Executions are assumed to

have been carried out in North Korea

and Vietnam but ate secrecy and

censorship in these countries prevent

conﬁrmation of a minimum ﬁgure.

• At lea 467 drug-related executions

were carried out (excluding ﬁgures

from China, Vietnam, and North Korea).

This represents a 44% increase

from 2022, and a aggering 1450%

increase from 2020 (the year with the

lowe number of executions since HRI

arted monitoring this praice).

• Drug oences were reonsible

for roughly 42% of all executions

conﬁrmed globally. This is the

highe recorded ﬁgure since 2016.

• A signiﬁcant ep backwards was

witnessed in Kuwait, where one

drug-related execution took place,

the ﬁr since 2007.

• 375 death sentences for drug

oences were conﬁrmed in 16

countries (see tables on High

Application States and Low Application

States below). This represents a 20%

increase in reported sentences from

2022.

• At lea 3000 people are currently

on death row for drug oences in 19

countries.

• Conﬁrmed ﬁgures may be a gross

undereimate of the scope of the

phenomenon due to a persient lack

of tranarency and censorship on

information pertaining to the use of the

death penalty. Dozens, if not hundreds,

more drug-related death sentences

are likely to have been imposed and

executed throughout the year.

MINIMUM CONFIRMED EXECUTIONS

FOR DRUG OFFENCES (2014—2023)

2022

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

527

762

369

289

116

131

324

467

2023

2021

1. Bahrain, Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Pakian, State of

Paleine, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Yemen.

At the end of 2023, 34 countries retained the death for drug oences. In

July 2023 Pakian took the landmark decision to remove the death penalty

from the li of punishments that can be imposed for certain violations of its

Control of Narcotics Subances A. This year also saw notable progress

in Malaysia, which abolished the mandatory

death penalty for all oences,

including drug-related ones. This reform may impa the lives of over 700

people on death row for drug oences and bring the country one ep closer to

total abolition of capital punishment.

In ark contra to these positive developments is the record-high

number of drug-related executions in 2023 - at lea 467. Of those executed,

at lea 59 people belonged to ethnic minority groups (in Iran and in Singapore),

13 individuals were foreign nationals, and six were women. These ﬁgures

conﬁrm that these groups are uniquely vulnerable to capital punishment as a

tool of drug control. Deite not accounting for the dozens, if not hundreds, of

executions believed to have taken place in China, Vietnam, and North Korea,

the 467 executions that took place in 2023 represent a 44% increase from

2022. Ninety-eight percent of known drug-related executions took place in

Iran.

DRUG OFFENCES WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR ROUGHLY 42%

(ALMOST ONE IN TWO) OF ALL EXECUTIONS CONFIRMED

GLOBALLY THROUGHOUT 2023 – THE HIGHEST RECORDED

FIGURE SINCE 2016.

Drug-related executions were conﬁrmed in ﬁve countries: China, Iran,

Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Singapore. Executions for drug oences are also

highly likely to have taken place in Vietnam and North Korea but this cannot be

conﬁrmed due to censorship.

GLOBAL OVERVIEW

6 In line with the deﬁnition by the UN Human Rights Commiee in General Comment 36 (CCPR/C/GC/36), the death

penalty is reported as ‘mandatory’ when it is the only punishment that can be imposed following a conviion for at lea

certain categories of drug oences (without regard to the circumances of the oence or the oender). Mandatory

sentences hamper judicial sentencing discretion, and thus, according to international human rights andards, they

are inherently arbitrary.

Conﬁrmed death sentences for drug oences increased by more

than 20% from 2022. A minimum of 375 people were sentenced to death for

drug oences, of which at lea 31 were foreign nationals, and 15 were women.

Roughly half of all death sentences for drug oences were passed by courts in

Vietnam (188+) and a quarter in Indonesia (114+). The remaining quarter were

imposed in 14 other countries.

Information gaps on death sentences persi, meaning many (if not mo)

death sentences imposed in 2023 remain unknown. Mo notably, no accurate

ﬁgure can be provided for China, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Thailand.

These countries are all believed to regularly impose a signiﬁcant number of

death sentences for drug oences.

At lea 3000 people are on death row for drug oences in at lea 19

countries.

Two countries were re-classiﬁed this year. Kuwait was placed in the ‘high

application’ (from ‘low application’) category as it carried out its ﬁr drug-related

execution in over a decade. Yemen was moved from the ‘insucient data’

to the ‘low application’ category, due to higher availability of information on

drug-related sentences imposed.

2023 also saw international aors expressing rong positions again

the death penalty for drug oences in reonse to changes at the domeic

level. This included the United Nations (UN) Oce of the High Commissioner

for Human Rights (OHCHR), UN Special Procedures, and the European Union.

The UN Oce on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) repeatedly failed to take a public

position on maers related to the death penalty for drug oences.

Executions for drug

oences (% of total)

Death sentences for drug

oences (% of total)

People on death row for drug

oences (% of total)

Country 2023 2022 2023 2022 2023 2022

China Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown

Indonesia 0 (-) 0 (-) 114+ (94%) 122 (92%) 249 (52%) 266 (59%)

Iran 459+ (55%) 256+ (44%) Unknown Unknown 1000+

(unknown)

2000+

(unknown)

Kuwait 1 (20%) 0 (-) 0 (-) 5+ (31%) 2+ (9%) 8+ (33%)

Malaysia 0 (-) 0 (-) 10+ (59%) 20+ (90%) 700+ (55%) 903 (67%)

North Korea (DPRK) Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown

Saudi Arabia 2+ (1%) 57+ (29%) Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown

Singapore 5 (100%) 11 (100%) 9+ (100%) 9+ (100%) 53 (95%) 52 (82%)

Vietnam Unknown Unknown 188+ (81%) 89+ (84%) Unknown Unknown

Death sentences

for drug oences

2023 (% of total)

Death sentences

for drug oences

2022 (% of total)

People on death row

for drug oences

2023 (% of total)

People on death

row for drug

oences 2022

(% of total)

Country 2023 2022 2023 2022

Bahrain 0 (-) 1+ (50%) 4+ (15%) 4 (15%)

Bangladesh 1+ (0.25%) 10+ (3%) 10+ (0.4%) 17+ (0.6%)

Egypt 9+ (2.3%) 7+ (1.3%) Unknown Unknown

Iraq 19+ (25%) 3 (7.3%) 20+ (0.2%) 10+ (0.1%)

Lao PDR 4+ (unknown) 39 (unknown) 300+ (unknown) 300+ (unknown)

Pakian Unknown 1+ (0.7%) 444 (7%) Unknown

Sri Lanka 6+ (13%) 1 (1.8%) 60+ (5%) 60+ (6%)

State of Paleine (Gaza) 4+ (29%) 1+ (3.6%) Unknown 2+ (1%)

Thailand Unknown Unknown 183 (62%) 121 (62%)

United Arab Emirates 4+ (100%) 3+ (37%) 4+ (27%) 7+ (3.5%)

Yemen 7+ (41%) 1+ (1.3%) 7+ (unknown) 1+ (unknown)

HIGH APPLICATION STATES

LOW APPLICATION STATES

7 When the symbol ‘+’ is found next to a number, it means that the reported ﬁgure refers to the minimum conﬁrmed

number, but according to credible reports the aual ﬁgure is likely to be higher. Global and yearly ﬁgures are calculated

by using the minimum conﬁrmed ﬁgures.

KEY NATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS

PERCENTAGE OF KNOWN GLOBAL EXECUTIONS

COMMITTED FOR DRUG OFFENCES (2014 - 2023)

Ninety-eight percent of all the conﬁrmed drug-related executions in 2023 took

place in Iran, whose execution rate was described by UN High Commissioner

for Human Rights as “frightening”.

The Abdorrahman Boroumand Center

for Human Rights in Iran

recorded 459 executions for drug oences, a 79%

increase from 2022 and the highe number since 2015. Drug executions

accounted for at lea 55% of total executions in the country; meaning drug

control drives imposition of capital punishment by one of the world’s top

executioners. The Abdorrahman Boroumand Center has conﬁrmed at lea

ﬁve women and ten Afghani nationals were among those executed on drug

charges. HRI’s monitoring indicates that at lea 55 people who were executed

identiﬁed as Baluchi.

Deite the wideread condemnation received by UN entities, civil

society, and fellow ates for the 11 drug-related executions carried out in 2022,

Singapore executed ﬁve more people in 2023, all for drug oences. Among

the viims were Tangaraju s/o Suppiah, convied for abeing the tracking of

cannabis and whose trial raised due process concerns

and Saridewi Djamani,

the ﬁr woman executed in Singapore in 20 years.

8. OHCHR (9 May 2023), ‘Iran: “Frightening” number of executions as Türk calls for end to death penalty’. Available at:

https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/05/iran-frightening-number-executions-turk-calls-end-death-

penalty.

9. For more information about the Center visit hps://www.iranrights.org/.

10. OHCHR (28 April 2023), ‘Singapore: UN experts condemn continued use of death penalty for drug-related crimes’.

Available at: hps://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/04/singapore-un-experts-condemn-continued-use-

death-penalty-drug-related-crimes.

2014 2016 20172015 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

41%

45%

35%

29%

14%

17%

23%

36%

42%

50%

10%

20%

30%

40%

EXECUTIONS FOR DRUG OFFENCES

A signiﬁcant decline in executions is noted in Saudi Arabia, where

executions for drug oences dropped 96% from 2022. The European Saudi

Organisation for Human Rights (ESOHR) recorded two drug-related executions,

both of which again foreign nationals: one Pakiani and one Jordanian.

Because of the country’s failure to announce all the executions that took place

in 2022, it is possible that more executions took place in 2023; thus, the real

ﬁgure could be higher.

A Sri Lankan national was executed for drug tracking in Kuwait, marking

the ﬁr drug-related execution in the Gulf country since 2007. Accordingly,

Kuwait has been moved to the ‘high application’ category.

As in previous years, unocial reports and sources as well as pa praice

rongly sugge that executions for drug oences were condued in China,

North Korea, and Vietnam. Among those conﬁrmed to have been executed

in China are a South Korean and two Filipino nationals, deite pleadings for

clemency by their reeive governments. Nevertheless, no accurate ﬁgures

can be conﬁrmed due to extreme opacity and censorship on the part of ate

authorities.

11. European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights (2024), ‘Execution in Saudi Arabia 2023: Ongoing Bloodshed with

Unusual Sentences’. Available at: hps://www.esohr.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Execution_in_Saudi_

Arabia_2023_Ongoing_Bloodshed_with_Unusual_Sentences.pdf.

MINIMUM CONFIRMED EXECUTIONS FOR DRUG OFFENCES IN

IRAN SINCE THE ADOPTION OF THE ANTI-NARCOTICS

LAW AMENDMENT

100%

2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

80%

60%

40%

20%

Executions for other crimes (min. conﬁrmed) Executions for drug crimes (min. conﬁrmed)

222

131

256

459

DRUG-RELATED DEATH SENTENCES AND DEATH ROW POPULATION

HRI’s monitoring indicates that courts in at lea 16 countries sentenced

individuals to death for violations of drug control legislation. As ocial and

reliable information on sentences is even more scarce than on executions,

these ﬁgures are to be underood as a partial representation of the

phenomenon. It also remains dicult to assess when signiﬁcant variations

between years reﬂe a movement in praice, or rather in the reporting of

information.

For example, HRI conﬁrmed 188 death sentences for drug oences in

Vietnam in 2023, more than double those of the previous year, possibly due

to increased media coverage of court proceedings. In Kuwait, the absence of

conﬁrmed death sentences in 2023 may not accurately reﬂe the situation:

as an illuration, a Miniry of Juice’s udy indicated 157 drug-related death

sentences were imposed by Kuwaiti courts between 2009 and 2018, almo

nine times higher than the ﬁgure that HRI could conﬁrm in the same period.

These information gaps are in themselves a violation of international

andards on use of the death penalty. ECOSOC Resolution 1989/64 which

clariﬁes safeguards “guaranteeing proteion of the rights of those facing the

death penalty” urges retentioni countries to regularly publish disaggregated

information on the use of the death penalty.

This obligation is further clariﬁed

by Human Rights Council resolutions

and UN treaty bodies.

12. Miniry of Juice, Information Technology and Statiics Se or Statiics and Research Department, ’Drug and

psychotropic subance crimes and its impa on Kuwaiti society during the period from 2009 to 2018 AD’, page 95.

13. Economic and Social Council, Resolution 1989/64: ‘Implementation of the safeguards guaranteeing proteion of the

rights of those facing the death penalty’, (24 May 1989).

14. Among others, Human Rights Council, ‘Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council on 8 Oober 2021: Queion

of the death penalty’. UN Doc. A/HRC/RES/48/9 (15 Oober 2021).

15. For a review see Human Rights Council, ‘Queion of the death penalty: Report of the Secretary General’. UN Doc. A /

HRC/48/29 (15 September 2021).

KNOWN DEATH SENTENCES FOR DRUG OFFENCES IN

2023: TOTAL AND BY COUNTRY

Total: 375

Bangladesh (1)

United Arab Emirates (4)

State of Paleine (4)

Four key trends can be discerned in relation to death sentences for drug

oences in 2023.

A decrease in death sentences was recorded in some countries, though

none of them provide ocial ﬁgures. Perhaps the mo riking is Malaysia,

where ten people were conﬁrmed to have been sentenced to death for drug

tracking - a 50% drop from 2022. A possible reason for this is the impa of

law reform on the mandatory death penalty (addressed below) on both judicial

discretion and aitudes.

Conversely, a major ike in drug-related death sentences was

observed in Iraq, with 19 conﬁrmed judgments, representing a 533% increase

from 2022. The real ﬁgure could be much higher, as the country’s Direor

General for Drug Aairs recently ated that he anticipated as many as 50

‘drug trackers’ to be sentenced to death by the end of 2023.

This may be a

consequence of what appears to be an intensiﬁcation in drug control operations

in the country, including through potential international cooperation with Syria.

Lao PDR (4)

Sri Lanka (6)

Yemen (7)

Singapore (9)

Egypt (9)

Malaysia (10)

(19)

(54)

(19)

(114)

(188)

Iraq

Indonesia

Vietnam

China

Iran

Saudi

Arabia

16. Bas News (14 January 2024), ‘Erbil, Baghdad Unite to Combat Illegal Drug Tracking’ Bas News, hps://www.

basnews.com/en/babat/836376.

17. See, for example, Reuters (4 June 2023), ’Iraq and Syria discuss tackling cross-border drug trade’ Reuters, hps://

www.reuters.com/world/middle-ea/iraq-syria-discuss-tackling-cross-border-drug-trade-2023-06-04/, BNN

(10 December 2023), ‘Iraq‘s drug war: A ruggle equivalent to terrorism‘ (BNN), hps://bnnbreaking.com/breaking-

news/crime/iraqs-drug-war-a-ruggle-equivalent-to-terrorism/

North

Korea

The conﬁrmed death sentences for drug oences, of which two were again

foreign nationals, account for a quarter of all known death sentences imposed

in Iraq throughout 2023.

In Sri Lanka, at lea six people were sentenced to death for drug

possession and tracking – including at lea one foreign national – versus

one in 2022, again the backdrop of increasingly repressive and abusive drug

control campaigns.

A higher number of death sentences was also recorded in Paleine and

Yemen. In Gaza, four people were sentenced to death for drug-related crimes

(including one in absentia) between January and July 2023, again one in 2022.

This marks the third year in a row that drug-related death sentences were

imposed in Gaza; though the fate of those convied remains unclear since

Israel’s war on Gaza and consequent deruion of essential infraruure.

In Yemen, seven death sentences were reportedly imposed for a range of

drug oences (again one in 2022). Accordingly, Yemen was moved from the

‘insucient data’ to the ‘low application’ category.

AVAILABLE FIGURES SUGGEST THAT DRUG CONTROL IS THE

KEY DRIVER OF THE USE OF THE DEATH PENALTY IN MANY

RETENTIONIST COUNTRIES.

For example, 94% of known death sentences imposed in Indonesia were for

drug oences. This rises to 100% in the United Arab Emirates (four, all again

foreign nationals) and in Singapore (nine). Among the defendants convied in

Singapore were at lea three foreign nationals, three persons over 65 years’

old, at lea three people who claimed possession for personal use, and at lea

one person with a hiory of mental health issues.

Punitive drug control also has a signiﬁcant impa on the death row

population in several countries. Drug oences accounted for 52% of people on

death row in Indonesia, about 55% in Malaysia, and 95% in Singapore. Similarly

in Thailand, 61% of all people on death row are incarcerated for drug oences;

and the number skyrockets to 92% when only looking at women awaiting

execution. Here, ocial ﬁgures also sugge a 51% increase from 2022, when

121 people were on death row for drug oences compared to 183 people in

2023.

18. OHCHR (22 January 2024), ‘UN experts call on Sri Lanka to immediately suend and review ‘Yukthiya’ anti-drug

operation’. Available at: hps://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/01/un-experts-call-sri-lanka-immediately-

suend-and-review-yukthiya-anti-drug.

19. BBC News (27 January 2015), ‘Indonesia’s Widodo vows no amney for death row drug trackers’ BBC News, hps://

www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-30996233.

PEOPLE ON DEATH ROW FOR DRUG OFFENCES IN 2023

IN FOUR COUNTRIES

DRUG-RELATED COMMUTATIONS AND PARDONS

2023 saw a number of commutations and pardons in favour of individuals

sentenced to death for drug oences, in addition to those in Malaysia pursuant

to the legal reform (explored more in detail below).

A welcome development unfolded in Indonesia, where President

Widodo granted clemency to Merri Utami, commuting her death sentence to

life imprisonment. Ms Utami ent over twenty years on death row for drug

tracking deite evidence that she had been tricked into carrying drugs across

borders, and she had narrowly escaped execution in 2016. This unprecedented

decision marked a U-turn for the President, who had earlier pledged he would

not grant clemency to people on death row for drug oences;

and comes

aer suained aivism by civil society organisations and lawyers, led by LBH

Masyarakat.

One commutation was also reported in Bahrain, and three in Kuwait (in

favour of Iranians who had been sentenced for drug tracking in 2022) – all to

life imprisonment.

Three foreign nationals were granted pardons in the United Arab

Emirates, aer diplomatic engagement by their reeive government. One

is an Israeli woman who was allowed to return to Israel aer being convied

of drug tracking in 2022; the other two are Filipino nationals on death row for

drug oences, who were granted a humanitarian pardon by Sheikh Mohamed

Bin Zayed Al Nahyan following President Marcos Jr’s engagement.

other oences drug oences

Indonesia Malaysia Singapore Thailand

52%

95%

52% 55%

61%

LEGAL REFORMS TO THE DEATH PENALTY FOR DRUG OFFENCES

Signiﬁcant legal reforms aeing the use of the death penalty as a tool of drug

control were achieved in 2023.

In April 2023, the Malaysian Parliament adopted two landmark laws

which – among broader reforms - removed the death penalty as the mandatory

punishment for the 12 oences which retained it in domeic legislation,

including drug tracking. The reform makes the application of the death

penalty a maer of judicial discretion. The adopted bills also allow all people

sentenced to death under the previous regime – mo of whom convied of

drug tracking - to apply for resentencing. The reform, which had been long

anticipated and advocated for by local groups, was praised by UN experts for

its potential to “are the lives of 1300 prisoners on death row” and to “boler

the global trend towards universal abolition.”

By November 2023, over 800 people on death row in Malaysia had

applied for resentencing, over 100 of whom were assied through the

Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN).

In the ﬁnal weeks of 2023, there

was conﬁrmation of the ﬁr commutations being granted. The resentencing

process is expeed to take up to a year, and local civil society warns of the

risk of confusion, of limited access to counsel, and of inconsient outcomes if

such process is not centralised.

The reform also had some impa on new cases. Since the law came into

ee, at lea nine people charged with drug tracking were sentenced to life

imprisonment, or to thirty years imprisonment. It is worth noting that deite its

signiﬁcance, the reform opped short of fully abolishing the death penalty. This

remains a possible punishment under the Misuse of Drugs A (and a widely

applied one), in violation of Malaysia’s international obligations.

Aer years of eorts to narrow the scope of the death penalty, in late July

2023 Pakian removed death as a possible punishment for oences under

the Control of Narcotic Subances A (CNSA), eeively becoming the ﬁr

country to abolish the death penalty for drug oences in over a decade. This

legal reform could beneﬁt over 400 people, who (according to Juice Proje

20. OHCHR (11 April 2023), ‘Malaysia: UN experts hail parliamentary decision to end mandatory death penalty’.

Available at: hps://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/04/malaysia-un-experts-hail-parliamentary-

decision-end-mandatory-death-penalty.

21. Noel Achariam (15 November 2023), ‘Group helps death row inmates to get sentences commuted’ The

Malaysian Insight, hps://www.themalaysianinsight.com/index.php/s/471774.

Pakian) remain on death row pursuant to a drug-related death sentence

imposed by lower courts.

Further, it brings Pakian closer to aligning with

its obligation under international human rights law to move towards complete

abolition. Regreully, lower courts reportedly continued to sentence people

to death for drug oences months aer the adoption of the Bill, underscoring

the need to ensure the outcome of the reform is disseminated to prosecutors,

judges, and lawyers across the country and embedded in guidance.

Another signiﬁcant ep towards potential legal reform was taken by the

Conitutional Court of Taiwan in late 2023. The Court ruled that Article 4 of

the Regulations on the Prevention and Control of Drug Harm, which prescribes

death or life imprisonment as the only possible punishments for tracking

certain drugs, is partially unconitutional. In the Court’s reasoning, limiting

judicial discretion to life imprisonment (as the minimum available punishment

for the crime) or death may prevent judges from imposing a proportionate

punishment, when the oence is deemed “less serious”. The Court thus gave

policymakers two-years to amend the provision in line with the principle of

proportionality.

22 Juice Proje Pakian (2023), ‘Death Penalty in Pakian: Data mapping capital punishment 2023’. Available at:

hps://jpp.org.pk/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/JPP_10_10_2023_Death-Penalty-in-Pakian-Data-Mapping-

Capital-Punishment.pdf.

KEY INTERNATIONAL

DEVELOPMENTS

As in previous years, in 2023 UNODC - the only UN agency with an explicit

mandate on drug-related maers - failed to take a public ance on the death

penalty for drugs. In a joint atement on 2023 World Drug Day, civil society

organisations called on UNODC to “take concrete, urgent aions again the

ongoing violations of human rights in the name of drug control that the use of

the death penalty for drug-related oences entails.”

UNODC‘s silence under

current leadership could be interpreted as supporting the use of the death

penalty for drug oences; backsliding from its clearer position in the pa.

Other international aors took a rong ance again the imposition

of capital punishment for drug oences in 2023, predominantly in reonse to

changes at domeic level. Among the mo vocal were OHCHR, UN Special

Procedures, and the European Union. These entities released atements

welcoming the reform in Malaysia,

condemning executions in Kuwait and

Singapore,

and denouncing the “appalling”

pace of executions in Iran.

In multilateral fora, an important moment was the Biennial High-Level

Panel Discussion on the Queion of Death Penalty at the Human Rights

Council, dedicated to the issue of its reriion to “mo serious crimes”.

Drug oences took centre age, with several panellis and Member States

denouncing the diroportionate impa of drug control on the use of capital

punishment, deite not meeting the threshold of “mo serious” oences; and

recommending abolition.

23 Amney International, Harm Reduion International, Iran Human Rights and Transformative Juice Colleive (26

June 2023), ‘World Drug Day: UNODC mu a to op the use of the death penalty for drug-related oences and

urge ates to end executions’. Available at: hps://hri.global/publications/joint-atement-to-the-unodc-on-death-

penalty-and-the-world-drugs-day/.

24 Among others, OHCHR (11 April 2023), ‘Malaysia: UN experts hail parliamentary decision to end mandatory death

penalty’. Available at: hps://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/04/malaysia-un-experts-hail-parliamentary-

decision-end-mandatory-death-penalty.

25 Among others, European External Aion Service (27 July 2023), ‘Kuwait: Statement by the Spokeerson on today’s

executions’. Available at: hps://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/kuwait-atement-okeerson-todays-executions_en;

OHCHR (28 April 2023), ‘Singapore: UN experts condemn continued use of death penalty for drug-related crimes’.

Available at: hps://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/04/singapore-un-experts-condemn-continued-use-

death-penalty-drug-related-crimes.

26 European External Aion Service (1 December 2023), ‘Iran: Statement by the Spokeerson on the late executions’.

Available at: hps://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/iran-atement-okeerson-late-executions-0_en.

Two important UN documents were adopted in late 2023. The ﬁr is a

new Resolution by the Human Rights Council on the “Queion of the death

penalty”.

Among other things, the Resolution urges Member States that retain

the death penalty to aively work on rily limiting its application to the “mo

serious crimes”; a threshold that drug oences do not meet, as reiterated by

the resolution itself. Retentioni ates that apply the mandatory death penalty

were also urged to end this praice. The text was adopted aer a challenging

negotiation process and with rong resiance by retentioni countries.

The second is a landmark report by OHCHR on “Human rights challenges

in addressing and countering all aes of the world drug problem”.

Among

the key challenges identiﬁed towards developing eeive drug policies that are

grounded in human rights is the use of the death penalty for drug oences. The

report re-emphasises that “drug-related oences can never serve as the basis

for the imposition of the death penalty”,

and further recommends universal

abolition of the death penalty, including for drug oences. Notably, OHCHR

received enormous input ahead of this report from more than 100 aors

including member ates, civil society, National Human Rights Initutions, and

UN bodies; among which UNODC, whose input was silent on the issue of the

death penalty for drug oences.

27 Human Rights Council, ‘Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council on 13 Oober 2023: Queion of the death

penalty’. UN Doc. A/HRC/RES/54/35 (17 Oober 2023).

28 Human Rights Council, ‘Human rights challenges in addressing and countering all aes of the world drug problem:

Report of the Oce of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights’. UN Doc. A/HRC/54/53 (15 Augu

2023), hps://www.ohchr.org/en/calls-for-input/2023/call-inputs-ohchrs-report-human-rights-challenges-

addressing-and-countering.

29 bid., para. 64.

This report would not be possible without data made available or shared

by leading human rights organisations and individual experts and advocates,

many of whom provided advice and assiance throughout the draing process.

We would eciﬁcally like to thank the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center

for Human Rights in Iran, Ambika Satkunanathan, the Anti-Death Penalty

Asian Network (ADPAN), the European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights

(ESOHR), Hayat (life), Juice Proje Pakian (JPP), Lembaga Bantuan Hukum

Masyarakat (LBHM), Proje 39A (National Law University, Delhi), Reprieve,

Salam for Democracy and Human Rights, Taiwan Alliance to End the Death

Penalty (TAEDP), and Transformative Juice Colleive.

Thanks are also owed to colleagues at Harm Reduion International

for their feedback and support in preparing this report: Cinzia Brentari, Naomi

Burke-Shyne, Catherine Cook, Paulina Cortez, Colleen Daniels, Ugochi Egwu,

Gaj Gurung, Lucy O’Hare, Maddie O’Hare, Suchitra Rajagopalan, and Anne

Taiwo. And to Jess Truong and Quinissa Putrirezhy, the dedicated interns at

Harm Reduion International.

Any errors are the sole reonsibility of Harm Reduion International.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

THE DEATH PENALTY FOR DRUG OFFENCES:

GLOBAL OVERVIEW 2023