A/HRC/30/65 organizations.49 Impunity for extrajudicial killings is also a source of concern in operations aimed at the drug trade. The Special Rapporteur on torture has criticized ineffective investigations and relative impunity for actors alleged to have committed such human rights violations, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has stressed the need for accountability for gross violations of human rights (see A/HRC/11/2/Add.2, paras. 33 and 53, and A/HRC/26/36/Add.1, paras. 81, 111 and 117).50 D. Right to a fair trial 42. In some States, law enforcement responsibility for drug-related offences has been reportedly shared with or transferred to the military, often resulting in an excessive use of violence.51 It has been reported that people accused of drug-related offenses have been tried before military courts or special courts that may fall short of fair trial standards. 52 Concerning the trial of persons in military or special courts, the Human Rights Committee has said that civilians should be tried in the ordinary courts, subject to narrowly defined exceptional circumstances, and that the protections of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights cannot be limited or modified because of the military or special character of the court.53 43. In some States, it has been reported that accused persons may be given a choice between serving a sentence after conviction or submitting to drug treatment. Bearing in mind the right of a person to refuse treatment, this practice may be a cause for concern, in particular given the level of coercion involved.54 Some States subject individuals to additional penal measures unless the treatment is successful, ignoring the particular circumstances of each individual’s condition and that treatment for drug dependence has been characterized by medical professionals as often involving relapse on one or more occasions or requiring several types of treatment. 55 The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has determined that when treatment is undertaken as an alternative to incarceration, under no circumstances may it extend beyond the period of the criminal sentence (see A/HRC/4/40/Add.2, para. 74). 44. Some States do not allow persons convicted for drug-related offences to be considered for suspended sentence, parole, pardon or amnesty that are available to those convicted of different crimes.56 The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has recommended that States amend their laws if they include provisions to that effect (see A/HRC//4/40/Add.3, para. 102 (c)). 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 Submissions of Switzerland; the Mexican Commission for the Defence and Promotion of Human Rights, pp. 3-4; the Count the Costs Initiative, p. 7; and Human Rights Watch, pp. 2-3. See also the High Commissioner’s opening statement at the twenty-seventh session of the Human Rights Council. Submissions of Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales, Conectas Human Rights and Corporacion Humanas, pp. 3 and 6-9; International Service for Human Rights and Peace Brigades International, p. 6; and the Mexican Commission for the Defence and Promotion of Human Rights, pp. 1-6. Count the Costs, “The war on drugs: undermining human rights”, p. 4. General comment No. 32 (2007) on the right to equality before the law and to a fair trial, para. 22. Global Commission on Drug Policy, Taking Control: Pathways to Drug Policies that Work (2014), p. 22. UNDP, Addressing the Development Dimensions of Drug Policy, p. 25, and the submission of Release, p. 2. Submission of Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales, Conectas Human Rights and Corporacion Humanas, p. 27. 11