A/HRC/39/39 90. People who use drugs should be treated with dignity and humanity in treatment centres. Harm reduction and evidence-based treatment should be available and delivered only by trained health personnel. States should also undertake rigorous and independent monitoring of treatment centres to ensure treatment takes place on a voluntary basis with informed consent and individuals are not confined there against their will. Any allegation of torture or other ill-treatment in treatment centres should be investigated. Any treatment centres that do not meet human rights standards should be closed. 91. States should consider doing away with drug courts, and allowing regular courts to consider alternative, non-custodial measures for persons accused of minor, non-violent drug-related offences. Mandatory minimum sentences for drug-related offences should be repealed and replaced by sentencing guidelines that are proportionate and give sufficient flexibility to judges regarding sentencing decisions. The death penalty should be abolished for all crimes, including for drug offences. 92. Law enforcement in drug control efforts should be consistent with States’ human rights obligations. Law enforcement officials should always adhere to the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials. Measures consistent with international standards should be considered in addressing prison overcrowding and overincarceration, including alternatives to incarceration and applying the principle of proportionality. 93. States should make concerted efforts to combat impunity by conducting prompt, independent, impartial and effective investigations into serious human rights violations and bringing alleged perpetrators to justice. Cooperation with international judicial or other mechanisms, such as the International Criminal Court, responsible for investigating and prosecuting heinous crimes under international law, should be also ensured. 94. “Alternative development” should take place with the participation of local communities, including farmers, women, minorities and indigenous peoples. Alternative livelihoods should be secured before removing existing livelihoods earned from cultivation of illicit crops, thereby contributing to the full enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms. 95. States should adapt their drug policies to address the specific needs of women, children and youth, and members of groups in a situation of vulnerability such as minorities, indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons. 96. International and regional human rights mechanisms, including human rights treaty bodies and special procedures of the Human Rights Council, consistently address human rights issues related to drug control efforts. States and other actors involved in addressing the world drug problem, such as the Commission on Narcotic Drugs and the International Narcotics Control Board, should consider the findings, views and recommendations of these human rights mechanisms, and should encourage and assist States in the implementation of the recommendations. 97. At the national level, national human rights institutions and other independent State bodies, such as ombudspersons for children, also play important roles in monitoring the human rights aspects of drug control efforts. They can provide human rights guidance to national authorities for the development and the implementation of national drug policies and laws. The participation and capacity of national human rights institutions should be encouraged and strengthened in order to implement the joint commitments made in the outcome document of the thirtieth special session. 98. The outcome document of the thirtieth special session recognizes the importance of including civil society and affected communities in the design, implementation and/or evaluation of drug policies and programmes. Civil society organizations and representatives of affected groups play a significant role in analysing drugs issues, in delivering services and in evaluating the human rights impact of drug policies. The participation of civil society organizations should be 18