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DEFENDERS
42
Au t umn&wi n t e r
2 0 1 4 & 2 0 1 5
necessary,
Conclusion 3: According to the convention,
trafficking of illicit drugs and psychotropic
substances is, in itself, a serious crime,
regardless of the fact that it is organized or
transnational, or not; because it is a serious
threat to the health andwelfare ofmankind (not
necessarily the people of a specific country
or region), and preventing the trafficking is
the collective responsibility of all States. It
is obvious that if the crime is committed in
an organized and transnational way, it will
certainly be a “serious crime”.
International consensus on the fact that
trafficking of illicit drugs and psychotropic
substances is a serious threat to the health
and welfare of mankind; undermines States’
economic systems and jeopardizes the
stability, security and sovereignty of States,
indicates that drug trafficking is a crime against
humanity, and a serious crime, the negative
consequences and dangerous impacts of
which threatens not only one State or even one
region, but the whole international community
, so, prevention of the crime, according to the
convention, is the collective responsibility of
all States. There is no doubt that one of the
primary measures against this crime is using
preventive punishment.
When the “Draft articles on Responsibility
of States for Internationally Wrongful
Acts” was adopted by the United Nations
International Law Commission, the primary
article 19 of the Draft defined international
responsibility as a commitment necessary
for supporting the fundamental interests of
the international community, the violation of
which would be considered as a crime by the
international community.
Considering the mentioned points, it can
be said that, the allegation of Iran Special
Rapporteur that drug related offences cannot
be considered as the most serious crimes,
is not compatible with international laws.
Therefore, prevention of drug related crimes
is not only the responsibility and commitment
of the Islamic Republic of Iran, but also it is
Iran’s responsibility toward the international
community.
According toArticle48of “Responsibilityof
States for Internationally Wrongful Acts”, not
only the injured State can ask for reparation,
but also, any State other than an injured State
can claim cessation of the internationally
wrongful act, and assurances and guarantees
of non-repetition.
Now, form Iran’s viewpoint, the question
is if a crime - the prevention of which made
3700 members of the police force dead and
12000 other members handicapped; a crime
that costs an annual expense of 700 million
dollars for blocking the eastern borders of the
country; a crime which has caused millions
of Iranian families to breakdown or has made
them seriously vulnerable - be considered as a
serious crime?
It should be kept in mind that, prevention
of illicit drug trafficking was so important
that the first suggestion of establishing the
international criminal court by Trinidad and
Tobago was accepted based on the fact that
the court can have jurisdiction to deal with
illicit drug trade; but in Rome session in 1998,
because of the necessity of preventing crimes
against international peace and security,
such as genocide, war crimes, crimes against
humanity and invasionwere considered as “the
most serious crimes causing concern in the
whole international community” , threatening
the peace and security of the whole world. So,
it was agreed that the court has jurisdiction on
the four mentioned crimes.
The following records, released by
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
(UNODC), clearly show that the crime of
illicit drug trafficking is considered as a
serious crime by both the Middle East and the
whole international community. The figures
also show the scope of the threat the Islamic
Republic of Iran is facing, because of having
a long border with Afghanistan and because
of the illicit drugs are trafficked into and
distributed throughout the country:
• Afghanistan is the main source of opiates
in the world. In 2011, Afghanistan produced
5800 tons of opium (close to 90% of the