At the 31st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, The Prevention Association of Social Harms (P.A.S.H.) issued a statement in an interactive dialogue with the Iranian Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, read out by the representative of the Association at the scene of the Council:

 

Dear Mr. President

According to the Special Rapporteur, the highest number of executions in Iran is related to drug convicts, however the drug issue has another face as well. According to Iran's Drug control headquarters, drug addiction after traffic accidents is the second leading cause of abnormal deaths in Iran.

Over the first five months of 1393, deceases from addiction has increased by 6.3% in comparison to the same period last year, and during the first five months of this year 1,188 people perished due to drug addiction and drug use. According to the latest forensic statistics on the deceases from addiction, eight people die every day.

 

Mr. President

this is a shocking figure compared to drug-related executions. Along with this, 3700 Iranian soldiers were killed and 1,200 of them became invalid in the fight against drug trafficking. Therefore the drug discourse is a very vital and a complex subject for the Iranian community.

Despite the violation of rights of drug users and their families and communities affected, the smuggling and trafficking of narcotics, especially at the levels occurring in Iran, is clearly a well-organized crime. Nevertheless the special reporter doesn’t consider this as a serious crime. This is a form of human rights abuses of the victims.

We do not consider execution as an appropriate solution to prevent social harm, and we are opposed to take the lives of humans, whether they are executions or caused by traffickers of organized drug trading. Therefore, we suggest that by adopting a pragmatic approach, the reporter seeks to provide a strategic solutions by consulting Iranian academic elites, religious and legislative institutions in order to have a further clarification on the meaning of whether this crime is serious or not.

We also insist to dedicate a panel at the main human rights council meeting on the problem of drug trafficking, which is afflicting many countries, in order to devote a pathologic approach more than a politically motivated one.