In the Report to the General Assembly of UN the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions addressed the issue of the death penalty and thoroughly analyzed drug-related crimes in the content of the “most serious crimes”, stating that 32 States had laws providing for the death penalty for drug-related offences. Still a small group of States is responsible for the vast majority of death sentences and executions for drug-related offences worldwide: China, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam, followed by, to a lesser extent, Malaysia and Singapore.
The Special Rapporteur raised a great concern about the mandatory death sentences in certain states for drug-related offences. The Special Rapporteur addressed the issues of protection of life in the context of the mutual assistance of states. With respect the imposition of the death penalty for drug-related crimes issues of balancing mutual assistance with non-violation of human rights standards can raise.
Citation: Christof Heyns, 'Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions' (2012) A/67/275