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Strengthening voluntary standards for businesses on preventing and combating trafficking in persons and labour exploitation, especially in supply chains 2017, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- Regarding recruitment regulation, the ILO launched in September 2016 the non-binding ILO general principles and operational guidelines for fair recruitment, in which it is reiterated that recruitment should take place in a way that respects, protects and fulfils internationally recognized human rights, including those expressed in international labour standards, such as prevention and elimination of forced labour. The guidelines enshrine principles related to the prohibition of recruitment fees, transparency in the terms and conditions of employment, the prohibition against confiscating workers’ identity documents, and contracts, among others. Another initiative, the International Recruitment Integrity System (IRIS) was launched by IOM in 2014. IRIS is a multi-stakeholder initiative for labour recruiters that offers a certification system to recognize ethical recruiters on the basis of an evaluation of their compliance with the IRIS Code of Conduct. Based on the ILO labour standards, the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and good practices in the industry, the Code of Conduct also includes principles on the prohibition of charging recruitment fees to jobseekers, respect for freedom of movement, respect for transparency of terms and conditions of employment, respect for confidentiality and data protection and respect for access to remedy.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Trafficking in persons in conflict and post-conflict situations 2016, para. 65b
- Paragraph text
- [United Nations agencies and programmes, international organizations and humanitarian actors should:] Establish or revise existing standard operating procedures and conduct training for personnel, including personnel of contractors and implementing agencies who are likely to enter into contact with victims and potential victims of trafficking as well as with traffickers. These should include instructions concerning protective measures, including appropriate and tailored assistance, to be applied when indications of trafficking, exploitation or risk of trafficking are found, in collaboration with authorities and civil society organizations;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Agenda setting of the work of the Special Rapporteur 2015, para. 64
- Paragraph text
- Moreover, international law mandates States to exercise due diligence to prevent trafficking, to investigate and prosecute traffickers, to assist and protect victims of trafficking and to provide access to remedy. As trafficking in persons is most often perpetrated by non-State actors, compliance with the due diligence principle is critical to ensure State accountability for the protection of the rights of victims and potential victims. However, the standard of due diligence as it relates to trafficking in persons has not been comprehensively articulated, either by the mandate of the Special Rapporteur or elsewhere. Therefore, the Special Rapporteur is of the view that additional guidance would be necessary to better equip States for the actions required to comply with their due diligence obligations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Agenda setting of the work of the Special Rapporteur 2015, para. 81
- Paragraph text
- In the course of her work the Special Rapporteur intends to strengthen the mandate's engagement with relevant treaty bodies in order to create synergy to ensure States' accountability with regard to the issue of trafficking in persons. She will benefit from their expertise and their concluding observations, general comments/recommendations and case law on issues relating to trafficking, to which she also expects to contribute when relevant. She also believes that the universal periodic review contributes to strengthening efforts aimed at combating trafficking in persons as part of a holistic review of a country's human rights situation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Due diligence and trafficking in persons 2015, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- Victim identification under the rubric of prevention - as well as in the context of investigation, prosecution, protection and assistance - also requires greater training and understanding of the "continuum of exploitation" that exists between decent work and forced labour, such that workers experience different forms of exploitation that require different types of interventions when workers find themselves in any situation other than decent work. In addition, training should address the relationship between different forms of transborder movement. For example, trafficking and smuggling are often treated distinctly when in practice they are often very linked, such that what was once an act of smuggling can be turned into an act of trafficking if the circumstances become more exploitative and involuntary.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Violence
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Due diligence and trafficking in persons 2015, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- In addition to the obligation to conduct a domestic investigation into events occurring on their own territories, due diligence also means that States have a "duty in cross-border trafficking cases to cooperate effectively with the relevant authorities of other States concerned in the investigation of events which occurred outside their territories." In order to comply with the exterritorial implementation of due diligence obligations, States should also, for example, incorporate extraterritorial jurisdiction into national legislation criminalizing trafficking and strengthen protections against trafficking in contracting or procurement practices for activities abroad. For example, Belize's Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Act 2013 gives extraterritorial jurisdiction if trafficking is committed by a Belizean national or a person who is resident in Belize. The present mandate holder has also previously emphasized the need to "extend the national legislative prohibition on trafficking in persons for the removal of organs and related offences extraterritorially, irrespective of the legal status of the relevant acts in the country in which they occur."
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Violence
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Agenda setting of the work of the Special Rapporteur 2015, para. 79
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur is explicitly mandated to respond effectively to reliable allegations of human rights violations with a view to protecting the rights of actual or potential victims of trafficking. In accordance with established procedure, the Special Rapporteur will communicate cases to States, requesting clarification and action.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Agenda setting of the work of the Special Rapporteur 2015, para. 62
- Paragraph text
- Building on the existing work of the mandate, in particular the basic principles on the right to an effective remedy for trafficked persons (A/HRC/26/18, annex) and A/69/33797), the Special Rapporteur intends to analyse laws, policies and practices around the world and take stock of promising practices and lessons learned on the provision of unconditional assistance to victims and potential victims of trafficking. She expects to provide guidance to policy makers and practitioners on better implementing the right to assistance and support, and maximize outreach and impact, thereby contributing to more effective prevention and prosecution.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Stocktaking exercise on the work of the mandate on its tenth Anniversary 2014, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- Action on communications and urgent appeals is another method whereby the Special Rapporteur responds effectively to reliable allegations of human rights violations, with a view to protecting the rights of actual or potential victims of trafficking. In accordance with established procedures, the Special Rapporteur communicates the case to the Government concerned, requesting clarification and action, either through an allegation letter or through an urgent appeal where the alleged violation is time-sensitive and/or of a very grave nature.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Stocktaking exercise on the work of the mandate on its tenth Anniversary 2014, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur generally welcomes the unilateral compliance mechanism established by the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons of the Department of State of the United States of America, which undertakes an annual assessment of the trafficking situation in States worldwide and the quality of national responses. However, she cautions that the criteria used to assess national performance should be explicitly based on international standards. That is not just essential to the credibility of the mechanism, it is also an important way to strengthen the international legal framework and affirm its key standards.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Stocktaking exercise on the work of the mandate on its tenth Anniversary 2014, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- In order to achieve this, a swift and accurate identification of victims is fundamental to the realization of the rights to which they are legally entitled (see A/64/290, para. 91). Mandate holders have drawn attention to the failure of criminal justice systems to identify trafficking victims, who are often simply treated as criminals, arrested and deported with no opportunity to be identified and provided with the necessary assistance as trafficked victims" (ibid.). The Special Rapporteur has consistently advocated for more thorough and collaborative approaches to victim identification, including between victim support agencies and front-line officers (see A/HRC/20/18, paras. 45-53).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Stocktaking exercise on the work of the mandate on its tenth Anniversary 2014, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- The basic principles on the right to an effective remedy for trafficked persons are firmly based on established rules of international law. While States are not usually the direct source of trafficking-related harm, they may not absolve themselves of legal responsibility on this basis (see A/66/283, para. 12). Rather, the obligation to provide remedies, or at least access to remedies, to victims of trafficking is set out in a number of relevant instruments and has been widely recognized by United Nations bodies and regional courts.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
The first decade of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children 2014, para. 68
- Paragraph text
- As UNODC has noted, these questions are important because to characterize certain conduct as "trafficking" has significant and wide-ranging consequences for States, for the alleged perpetrators of that conduct and for the alleged victims. It is also highly significant for organizations and agencies that are engaged in fighting "trafficking". UNODC identifies "a tension between those who support a conservative or even restrictive interpretation of the concept of trafficking and those who advocate for its expansion. The complex and fluid definition in the Protocol provides justification for both perspectives and has contributed to ensuring that such tensions remain unresolved".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Stocktaking exercise on the work of the mandate on its tenth Anniversary 2014, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- Regional and subregional bodies addressing the issue of trafficking in persons also considered the mandate holder as a strategic partner and complemented the initiatives taken, with a view to promoting and harmonizing anti-trafficking approaches. For example, the co-chairs of the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crimes, have played an important role in supporting the right to an effective remedy for trafficked persons within the framework of the process. That has included the development of a policy guide on trafficking in persons, aimed at assisting countries to implement international obligations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Stocktaking exercise on the work of the mandate on its tenth Anniversary 2014, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- The Australia-Asia programme to combat trafficking in persons, launched in 2013 to strengthen criminal justice responses in the ASEAN region, is another example of States strengthening partnerships among themselves to address trafficking in persons. Capacity-building of front-line officers dealing with trafficking, the allocation of resources and the establishment or strengthening of data collection mechanisms are also areas which have received attention by States following a visit by the Special Rapporteur. Several international organizations have noted that country visits have provided valuable opportunities for stakeholders to convey their views and insights to the higher levels of Government and that the subsequent reports were an excellent source of useful, high-quality information and advocacy tools.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
The first decade of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children 2014, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- Communication with victims of trafficking. The mandate of the Special Rapporteur is focused on the rights and needs of victims of trafficking and it is appropriate that victims are consulted and involved in the work of the mandate. The Special Rapporteur has paid particular attention to developing this aspect of her working methods. She has participated in panel discussions involving survivors of trafficking in New York and Geneva and has included the voices of victims in her studies and reports. She is convinced that the involvement of victims is critical to ensuring that the measures taken to address trafficking benefit those in need; that unintended harmful consequences are anticipated and avoided; and that opportunities for change and improvement are identified in a timely way.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Stocktaking exercise on the work of the mandate on its tenth Anniversary 2014, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- With regard to national rapporteurs and equivalent mechanisms, the Special Rapporteur wishes to mention specifically the outcomes of the two consultative meetings she convened in 2013 and 2014 in order to foster partnerships and enhance collaboration, in fulfilment of General Assembly resolutions 59/166, 61/144, 63/156, 64/293, 68/186 and 68/192 and in follow-up to reports to the Human Rights Council by the Special Rapporteur and to the Economic and Social Council by the High Commissioner for Human Rights (see, for example, E/2002/68/Add.1, A/HRC/10/16 and Corr. 1 and A/HRC/26/37/Add.1) and directives of the European Union, including directive 12011/36EU. According to statements made by participants at the twenty-sixth session of the Human Rights Council and the responses to a questionnaire sent out by the Special Rapporteur, those outcomes were highly appreciated. The establishment of an informal network of such mechanisms from all over the world in order to address trafficking in persons consistently, exchange information and best practices and build on different national experiences was one of the main outcomes of those meetings. Other recommendations included the need for a global baseline study in order to better understand the roles of national rapporteurs and equivalent mechanisms and provide guidance for their work.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
The first decade of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children 2014, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- From the inception of the mandate, both the Special Rapporteurs have clearly affirmed the right of victims of trafficking to access remedies for the harms committed against them. In country reports, both mandate holders have consistently examined the extent to which this right is protected by law and realized in practice. This has revealed that trafficked persons are frequently left without remedies or the support necessary to access them, a situation that exacerbates the risk of further human rights violations including through retrafficking. It was on the basis of insights gained through her country visits and information received through other activities, including her assessment of regional response mechanisms, that the Special Rapporteur decided to make effective remedies for victims the subject of more systematic and detailed attention. To that end she organized an expert consultation in 2010 that was followed by an online discussion forum and an interactive dialogue held during the seventeenth session of the Human Rights Council in the context of her thematic reports on the subject (A/HRC/17/35 and A/66/28). Regional consultations were held during 2013 and early 2014 to disseminate, discuss and refine a set of draft basic principles on the right to an effective remedy for trafficked persons.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Stocktaking exercise on the work of the mandate on its tenth Anniversary 2014, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- At the national level, the thematic reports of the Special Rapporteur have been used by some States (including some that have not so far been visited by the Special Rapporteur) and civil society organizations to elaborate or strengthen institutions and policies; as reference documents for further research; and to raise awareness of the topic covered. Some stakeholders have noted that the thematic issues covered in the annual reports of the Special Rapporteur have been reinforced by a number of resolutions on combating trafficking adopted by the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly, which have contributed to wider sensitization and implementation. Moreover, the Special Rapporteur also welcomes with appreciation the decision of the General Assembly in resolution 68/192 to designate 30 July as the World Day against Trafficking in Persons, in the context of the need for raising awareness of the situation of victims of human trafficking and for the promotion and protection of their rights. She also recognizes the two new international legal instruments on forced labour that the International Labour Organization adopted in June 2014: the Protocol of 2014 to Convention No. 29 (1930) concerning Forced or Compulsory Labour and Recommendation No. 203 (2014) on supplementary measures for the effective suppression of forced labour. Many of their key provisions, including those addressing remedies, the protection of victims from punishment for crimes they were compelled to commit and protection from abusive recruitment practices, echo the themes and substantive areas of focus of the work of the Special Rapporteur.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Violence
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
The issue of trafficking in persons for the removal of organs 2013, para. 81
- Paragraph text
- Discharging the obligation of identification will also require States to review existing victim identification procedures, protocols and practices and revise them as necessary to reflect the particular situation of victims of trafficking in persons for the removal of organs, including challenges of identification that are unique to this form of exploitation. Further steps would include ensuring that those in a position to identify victims (such as medical professionals and front-line law enforcement officials) have the technical capacity to do so effectively and that structures and procedures are in place to support such identification.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Violence
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
The issue of trafficking in persons for the removal of organs 2013, para. 64
- Paragraph text
- There is also a risk that the development of a parallel legal regime for trafficking in organs will undermine the effectiveness of the extremely comprehensive legal regime that has been developed around trafficking in persons. Certainly, research conducted for the present report confirmed that the very robust and comprehensive set of rules and standards that apply to trafficking in persons for the removal of organs are not fully appreciated and are not being fully utilized. For example, as victims of trafficking in persons, those who have been subject to trafficking in persons for the removal of organs are entitled to a wide range of identification, assistance and protection rights that would not otherwise be available to them. The identification of transplantation-related exploitation as trafficking in persons for the removal of organs also imposes substantial and wide-ranging obligations on States with regard to criminalization and international legal and operational cooperation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Violence
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
The issue of trafficking in persons for the removal of organs 2013, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- Prohibition of commercialism (buying, selling and financial gain). The international and regional standards mentioned above, which unanimously advocate prohibition of the buying and selling of human organs, have been incorporated by most countries into national law. The Islamic Republic of Iran runs a system of regulated, paid living and deceased organ donation that provides the notable exception. In countries that prohibit the sale of organs, donors may nevertheless receive limited compensation, which is not considered payment. Some countries, such as the United States, reimburse some expenses and give grants for programmes to increase donations and effective transplant process. Other countries, including Israel and Singapore, have gone much further in incentivizing donation, for example by according priority for transplantation to persons on the national donor registry.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Movement
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
The issue of trafficking in persons for the removal of organs 2013, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- Worldwide, there is an acute shortage of organs for transplantation, which effectively means that many people who would have benefited from such treatment will die. The mismatch between the growing demand for organ transplants and the strict limits on available supply is the root cause of many of the legal, ethical and human rights issues that arise around organ transplantation. For example, there is great debate around consent for deceased organ "donation" and even around the definition of death. In relation to both deceased and live transplantation, a key issue is the question of commercialization. The dominant view is that organs for transplantation should be a gift, generated by an act of altruism that is not distorted by incentives or payments. A money-driven market in organs is seen to benefit the rich at the expense of the poor, opening the door to greater exploitation of both the seller and the buyer. Others argue, however, that this system will never begin to satisfy the demand for transplants, that it produces wasteful inefficiencies and that it contributes to the growth of exploitative and uncontrolled shadow markets.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
The issue of trafficking in persons for the removal of organs 2013, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- The United Nations has also been active in debates and setting standards regarding trafficking in persons for the removal of organs, most particularly through the World Health Organization (WHO), which has issued a series of resolutions and guidelines on the subject, the most recent being the WHO guiding principles on human cell, tissue and organ transplantation, endorsed in 2010 by the sixty-third World Health Assembly in its resolution 63.22. Among other things, they stipulate that the human body and its parts are not to be the subject of commercial transactions and, in guiding principle 5, that "purchasing, or offering to purchase, cells, tissues or organs for transplantation, or their sale by living persons or by the next of kin for deceased persons, should be banned".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Movement
- Violence
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
The issue of trafficking in persons for the removal of organs 2013, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- One key feature of the response to trafficking in persons for the removal of organs is its separation from the broader international movement against trafficking in persons. Initial leadership in debate and action around trafficking in persons for the removal of organs was largely provided by the medical and transplant communities, which have been central to identifying the existence of a problem and developing standards and protocols for practitioners. For example, since 1985, the General Assembly of the World Medical Association has issued a series of resolutions and guidelines in which it has condemned the human organ trade and urged Governments to take action to prevent commercial markets. It has also addressed the use of organs from executed prisoners. At the sixty-third General Assembly of the World Medical Association, held in Bangkok in October 2012, a statement on organ and tissue donation was adopted, in which the Assembly affirmed its rejection of the practice in all cases because of the impossibility of instituting adequate safeguards against coercion.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Violence
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
The issue of trafficking in persons for the removal of organs 2013, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- National legal frameworks governing organ transplantation can be extremely complex, addressing a wide range of matters, many of which affect, directly or indirectly, trafficking in persons for the removal of organs. The main issues are briefly described below.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Movement
- Violence
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
The issue of trafficking in persons for the removal of organs 2013, para. 78
- Paragraph text
- All States should take steps to ensure that trafficking in persons for the removal of organs is fully and appropriately incorporated into national policies on trafficking in persons, including national action plans and national coordination and response mechanisms.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Violence
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
The issue of trafficking in persons for the removal of organs 2013, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- The transplantation of organs from a living or deceased person into another person is a relatively new area of medical practice but one that is rapidly accelerating as a result of advances in surgery, immunology and pharmacology. Deceased persons remain the source of many organ transplants and indeed are the only possible source for certain transplants, such as those involving hearts and lungs. It is, however, increasingly possible, and in some cases preferable, to use the organs of living persons for some transplant procedures. Kidneys, for example, can be transferred from a living person, often with better results for the recipient and, in theory at least, with little harm to the donor.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
The issue of trafficking in persons for the removal of organs 2013, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- Available information on trafficking in persons for the removal of organs is incomplete and often unverified. Scholarly research in this area is not yet well developed and anecdotal reports from civil society organizations and the media remain the primary source of information. Part of the problem lies in the clandestine nature of the trafficking. Even more so than other forms of trafficking in persons, those involved in trafficking in persons for the removal of organs (including victims) have very little incentive to come forward to researchers and criminal justice authorities with information and evidence. Victims are also unlikely to be identified through the multitude of channels that are now used to identify other victims of trafficking such as those subject to forced labour or sexual exploitation. Health-care providers who end up treating persons who have obtained organs abroad may be inhibited from sharing information with the authorities owing to concerns over patient privacy, their own obligations of confidentiality, uncertainty as to whether any laws have been breached or, indeed, their own complicity in the arrangement. Furthermore, definitional problems and confusion contribute to poor reporting and analysis and render comparisons between countries and between transplantation practices extremely difficult.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Movement
- Violence
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
A human rights-based approach to the administration of criminal justice in cases of trafficking in persons 2012, para. 83
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur notes that there are other instances where, despite laws allowing for the seizure of assets, the proceeds of funds confiscated have reportedly failed to be distributed to victims. For example, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which has a comprehensive anti-trafficking law, in a landmark case in 2009, a trafficking ringleader was sentenced to 12 years in prison, fined $14,286, and over $204,600 in assets were seized. There is, however, no evidence that these funds went to the victims. Similarly, in the Czech Republic, following the successful prosecution of eight gang members for trafficking, the assets of the accused, estimated at more than $1.5 million, were seized. Again, no evidence was found that the funds had been distributed to the victims.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph