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Human Rights and HIV/AIDSllDecriminalisation of drug use andreform of related laws used toexploit IDUsThe right to equality and nondiscrimination–toservices includinghealthcaresigned in 1998. The countries have implemented laws that criminalisedrug use, the cultivation of opium poppy and cannabis; production,processing, buying, selling, trading, keeping and trafficking of drugs.The penalty for violation of laws related to drugs can vary fromvarious lengths of imprisonment to death sentence in severalcounties, including Sri Lanka and India. Laws for the treatment andrehabilitation of drug users have mainly been adopted as part ofpunitive measures in Afghanistan 41 for policing the use andpossession of drugs. There are reports that due to lack of treatmentfacilities in Nepal, a large number of drug users have been roundedup and put in prison where the ‘cold turkey’ 42 method of treatmentis followed. Injecting drug users are being arrested throughout theregion for carrying needles and syringes 43 and most legislation doesnot provide space for the implementation of harm reductionprogrammes. Needle exchange programmes have been introducedand are funded by some governments, such as that of the state ofManipur in India, Iran and Nepal. However, legally, such initiativesmay amount to abetment of offences under the drug laws of thecountry. In most of the countries in the region, offenders of druglaws make up a very substantial part of prison populations.Sex workerslllllThe right to life–civil rights againstarbitrary arrest and harassment bylaw enforcement agencies andothers, right to form groups andassociations, right to assemblereedom of speech and expression–to publish educational andinformation materialsThe right to health–information,treatment, non-discrimination inhealthcare, access to harmreduction strategies (condomdistribution, safer sex, educativematerials)Decriminalisation of homosexualintercourse and reform in relatedlaws used to exploit men who havesex with menThe right to equality and nondiscriminationto services includinghealthcare, protection fromobscenity lawsOverview of laws and their implementation in South AsiaEven though the awareness of HIV/AIDS among sex workers isrelatively high in countries of the region, condom use remains low.Legal evictions of sex workers within many countries in South Asiahave intensified feelings of mistrust and harassment between sexworkers and law enforcement officials. While sex work is not acrime in itself in many of the countries, brothel and street-basedsex work is illegal. Iran is an exception, where execution (by firingsquad or stoning) is the maximum penalty for sex workers and suchexecutions are common. 4490Regional Human Development ReportHIV/AIDS and Development in South Asia 2003