During its 5th session, the Expert Mechanism will hold public in-person consultations on systemic racism against Africans and people of African descent in the enforcement of drug laws and policies. The key observations and recommendations emanating from the consultations will inform the Expert Mechanism's 5th annual report to be presented to the 63rd session of the Human Rights Council.
Discussion 5: Drug Policy Reform and Transformative Solutions: Accountability, Reparatory Justice, Oversight & Participation Centering Africans and People of African Descent Purpose: To identify good practices and develop a forward-looking framework for achieving racial justice through rights-based and Africans- and people of African descent- centered reforms of drug policy, law enforcement, and justice institutions. Key Questions:Promising practices and lessons learned: What international and national promising practices exist to address racial discrimination in drug enforcement, and what lessons can be drawn from them? Prevention and institutional reforms: What policing, prosecutorial, judicial, and correctional reforms are needed to eliminate and prevent racial discrimination against Africans and people of African descent - including early warning indicators, oversight, accountability, anti-racism training, and data disaggregated by race or ethnic origin? Reparations and racial justice: What forms of reparations, redress, or restorative processes are needed to address past and ongoing harms to Africans and people of African descent? Safe, meaningful and inclusive participation: How can Africans and people of African descent individuals and communities be structurally included in designing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating drug law and policy enforcement? Human rights alignment: How should States align drug enforcement practices with human rights obligations related to equality, freedom from racial discrimination and institutional violence, and the right to health for Africans and people of African descent? Speakers:Ann Fordham, Executive Director, International Drug Policy Consortium Dudu Ribeiro, Executive Director, Iniciativa Negra por uma Nova Política sobre Drogas Khalid Tinasti, Researcher, visiting lecturer, CCDP, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies Tracie Keesee, EMLER expert Víctor Rodríguez Rescia, EMLER expert Closing Session Tracie Keesee, EMLER expert Víctor Rodríguez Rescia, EMLER expert
