France upholds the death penalty for narcotics in India

While France has just ratified the 10-Year Registry of Cannabis UsersA cooperation agreement between France and India, approved on June 2, provides, among other things, for strengthening cooperation between the two countries in the fight against narcotics, whether in terms of trafficking or illicit use. Indian authorities will thus have access, for a period of 10 years, to records of drug-related offenses committed in France that resulted in a fixed-amount administrative fine.

Indian law is particularly strict when it comes to narcotics. As explained by According to Yann Bisiou, a specialist in drug law, the presumption of innocence is set aside in favor of a presumption of guilt, and the suspect must then prove that he or she did not commit the offense of which he or she is accused. But above all, the death penalty may be imposed as punishment for certain offenses.

A possibility dismissed out of hand by Representative Valérie Thomas, an LREM representative from Puy-de-Dôme and the rapporteur for the bill authorizing the ratification of the text, which holds that, provided that the death penalty is rarely imposed there and that no French national has been detained in the past 6 months, the two countries can cooperate on this issue:

«Since 2004, only three death sentences have been carried out, and in each case, the convictions were for terrorism. In 2012, an Indian national was sentenced to death for a repeat offense of drug trafficking, but his execution has not yet taken place.

»It is important to note that, as of early 2020, no French nationals were being detained in India for violations of Indian drug laws.".

According to Yann Bisiou, «the risks of major violations of human rights and individual freedoms are considerable.».

He therefore calls on «the President of the Republic and the government to withdraw this bill from parliamentary debate and, failing that, […] the senators considering it to refuse to endorse this unacceptable attack on the most fundamental values of our Republic.».