End compulsory drug treatment in the Asia-Pacific region

Abstract

In March, 2012, 12 UN entities called on governments worldwide to close compulsory drug detention and rehabilitation centres for people “suspected of using drugs or dependent on drugs, people who have engaged in sex work, and children who have been victims of sexual exploitation” because of health and human rights concerns.1 In 2020, 13 UN agencies reiterated that statement, focused on centres in Asia and the Asia-Pacific region, citing continued human rights violations, including lack of due process, forced labour, inadequate nutrition, physical and sexual violence toward detainees, and denial of evidence-based drug dependence treatment and basic health-care services in these facilities.