(January 2017)
Damon Barrett, Human Rights Law Review, 17, 205-229
Abstract:
This article investigates whether the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Labour Organization Convention No 182 contribute to systemic human rights risks in the implementation of the UN drug control treaties. It focuses on the death penalty for drug offences applied to adults as part of national legislative frameworks relating to drug control. At no time has either the Committee on the Rights of the Child or the ILO Committee of Experts challenged this practice, despite being informed repeatedly that it is employed pursuant to treaty obligations under the CRC and ILO 182 respectively. On some occasions the Committees have even appeared to welcome the implementation of these laws. This article sets out why this is cause for concern, the influence of the drug control treaties on the understanding of child rights provisions and why this issue is not outside the mandates of the Committees for commentary. Read more …