UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Executions Christof Heyns along with Juan E. Méndez, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, warned governments that the use of capital punishment to fight drugs is in violation of international and human rights laws.
These human rights experts said the use of the death penalty for drug charges have significantly increased the number of executions.
They referred to the high number of executions in Iran, and the fact that in these types of countries there are no fair judiciary systems. During the last year the number of countries that have completely distanced from the death penalty have increased, they added.
Special Rapporteur Méndez said the imposition of the death penalty by some states breaches international standards and this also leads to a violation on the ban of torture or cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment.