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Wednesday, 20th September 2006 - The Council also has before it the report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights aspects of the victims of trafficking in persons, especially women and children, Sigma Huda (E/CN.4/2006/62) for its consideration. The report is submitted in accordance with Commission on Human Rights decision 2004/110 and covers the period January-December 2005. The addenda to the report are a summary of cases transmitted to Governments and replies, as well as the Special Rapporteur’s missions to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Lebanon. The main report is divided into three sections and outlines the Rapporteur’s activities during the reporting period, while section two and three are devoted to thematic study on the relationship between trafficking and the demand for commercial sexual exploitation and conclusions and recommendations. Among the recommendations were human rights approach to trafficking; and criminalizing the use of prostituted persons. Information, education and advocacy campaigns against trafficking have also been recommended by the Rapporteur. Ms Huda said she continued to receive complaints of cases of trafficking in persons, especially women and children, on the basis of which she transmitted to governments numerous communications. The communications concerned a wide array of issues including trafficking for purposes of commercial sexual exploitation, forced marriage, forced labour, child labour, and exploitation of children in armed conflict. Communications also addressed disappearances of children, contemporary forms of slavery and systematic sexual violence perpetrated by States or armed non-state actors. A number of communications also addressed factors that caused or exacerbated trafficking in persons such as inadequate legislation, law enforcement gaps, corruption, refoulement despite a well-founded fear of torture or persecution, discrimination on the basis of gender, race or social status, poverty and lack of access to education. Speaking on the relationship between trafficking and the demand for commercial sexual exploitation, the Special Rapporteur said all forms of trafficking of persons violated fundamental human rights and presented issues of pressing global concern. While the human rights of women and children were violated in many forms of trafficking, sex trafficking was a particular form of trafficking in which the human rights of women and children were violated because the victims were in fact women and children. That made it important for her to focus on sex trafficking and in particular the role of the prostitute-user in creating demand. It should also be noted that the prostitute used was simultaneously both demand creator and virtue of the receipt of the trafficked person, a part of the trafficking chain. Moreover, the demand for commercial sex was often further grounded in social power disparities of race, nationality, caste and colour. The laws and policies that penalized victims of prostitutions and trafficking should be condemned. Measures to address demand should ensure that victims of trafficking were neither criminalized not subjected to punitive measures. Ms. Huda said she had conducted country missions to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Lebanon in 2005. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, despite major positive changes having been made to the laws and the institutional settings dealing with trafficking, weaknesses persisted. Increased attention had to be paid to the emerging phenomenon of internal trafficking and the mechanisms in place to combat trafficking and protect the persons involved had to be reviewed and adapted so as to ensure that they properly covered nationals. In Lebanon, her visit had allowed her to confirm that despite some progress and a clear willingness from the authorities to address the problems of trafficking and the human rights issues tightly linked to this, the Government was still not fully meeting international obligations with regard to trafficking in persons. She had four broad recommendations for the Lebanese authorities, including that they should adopt legal reforms to criminalize all forms of trafficking and strengthen the labour law framework, and that they should assure an effective prosecution of acts of trafficking and related crimes. Further information
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