Capital punishment for drug trafficking

For the illegal black market drug trade in general, see Illegal drug trade.

Being involved in the illegal drug trade in certain countries, which may include illegally importing, exporting, selling or possession of significant amounts of drugs, constitutes a capital offence and may result in capital punishment for drug trafficking, or possession assumed to be for drug trafficking. There are also extrajudicial executions of suspected drug users and traffickers in at least 2 countries without drug death penalties by law: Mexico and Philippines.

As of December 2022 Harm Reduction International (HRI) reports 3700+ people are on death row for drug offences worldwide. For 2022 HRI reports at least 285 executions by law for drug offences globally in 6 countries. 252+ in Iran. 22 in Saudi Arabia. 11 in Singapore. Exact numbers are not possible due to "extreme opacity" in some countries: China, North Korea, and Vietnam.[1]

A Harm Reduction International global overview of 2022 reported: "HRI has identified 35 countries and territories that retain the death penalty for drug offences in law. Only a small number of these countries carry out executions for drug offences regularly. In fact, six of these states are classified by Amnesty International as abolitionist in practice. This means that they have not carried out executions for any crime in the past ten years (although in some cases death sentences are still pronounced), and 'are believed to have a policy or established practice of not carrying out executions.' Other countries have neither sentenced to death nor executed anyone for a drug offence, despite having dedicated laws in place."[1]

A March 2018 report by Harm Reduction International says: "Between January 2015 and December 2017, at least 1,320 people are known to have been executed for drug-related offences – 718 in 2015; 325 in 2016; and 280 in 2017. These estimates do not include China, as reliable figures continue to be unavailable for the country." 1,176 of the 1,320 total were in Iran.[2][3]

According to a 2011 article by the Lawyers Collective, an NGO in India, "32 countries impose capital punishment for offences involving narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances."[4] A 2015 article by The Economist says that the laws of 32 countries provide for capital punishment for drug smuggling.[5]

  1. ^ a b The Death Penalty for Drug Offences: Global Overview 2022. Harm Reduction International. See the full report. Use page numbers on PDF, not from browser or reader. Page 15 breaks down nations: High Application, Low Application, Symbolic Application, and Insufficient Data. Page 25 for Philippines extrajudicial killings. Page 56 for Yemen.
  2. ^ The Death Penalty for Drug Offences: Global Overview 2017. By Gen Sander. March 2018. Harm Reduction International. See full report.
  3. ^ Report Reveals World's Most Prolific Executioners for Drug Offences. By Avinash Tharoor. 8 March 2018. TalkingDrugs, site sponsored by Release.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference lawyerscollective was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Which countries have the death penalty for drug smuggling? April 29, 2015. The Economist.