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Amnesty International and Anti-Slavery International call on the
46 member states of the Council of Europe to become parties, without
delay, to the Council of Europe Convention
on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings.
The Convention is being opened for signature at the Council of
Europe's Third Summit of Heads of State and Government on 16-17
May 2005 in Warsaw, Poland. It was adopted by the Council of Europe's
Committee of Ministers on 3 May 2005.
"This Convention is a critical step forward in protecting
trafficked people's rights. It is the first international treaty
specifically designed to provide minimum standards for such protection.
Through the adoption of the Convention, the Council of Europe demonstrates
official recognition of the need for governments to provide protection
and support to all trafficked people", Mary Cunneen, Director
of Anti-Slavery International, said.
"As recognised in this new Convention, trafficking is
a violation of human rights and an offence to human dignity and
integrity. The Convention requires those states which become parties
to take measures, individually and collectively, to prevent trafficking,
to prosecute those responsible for trafficking and to take specific
measures to protect and respect the rights of trafficked persons",
Jill Heine, Legal Adviser at Amnesty International, said.
The Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking
in Human Beings, expands the scope of UN definition of trafficking
(set out in the Palermo Protocol) to expressly include internal
trafficking within the borders of one state and trafficking not
necessarily involving organized criminal groups. It provides a framework
for the enhanced protection of the human rights of trafficked persons
by requiring the Parties to the Convention to take a number of measures
including:
- activities aimed at preventing trafficking and prosecuting those
responsible for trafficking;
- adoption of procedures to identify trafficked persons, and ensuring
that this key task is undertaken by trained and qualified people;
- ensuring that people who are reasonably believed to have been
trafficked are not involuntarily removed until the identification
process has been completed and they are offered assistance and
protection;
- provision of assistance and protection to all people reasonably
believed to be trafficked, including at a minimum: safe and secure
housing; psychological and emergency medical assistance, interpretation
and translation services, information about their rights -- including
to compensation; such assistance may not be conditioned on their
willingness to act as a witness in any proceedings against those
responsible for their trafficking;
- authorisation of the presence of trafficked people in the state
in which they are found for a period (of not less than 30 days),
which is sufficient for them to begin to recover, escape the influence
of their trafficker(s) and to make informed decisions about their
future, and in certain situations (when their stay is necessary
for their personal situation and/or for their co-operation in
investigations or criminal proceedings) to grant them renewable
residence permits;
- ensuring that any repatriation of a trafficked person is carried
out with due regard to his or her rights, safety and dignity;
and ensuring that the trafficked persons have access to redress
and receive compensation for the abuses of their human rights
to which they have been subjected.
The Convention also establishes an independent body of experts
to monitor the implementation of the Convention by parties.
Amnesty International and Anti-Slavery International consider that
the Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking
in Human Beings provides a solid basis for individual and collective
state action to combat trafficking and respect and protect the rights
of trafficked people. The organisations therefore urge all 46 states
of the Council of Europe to become parties to this treaty.
BACKGROUND:
The European Convention against Trafficking is open for signature
not only by Council of Europe member states but also the European
Community and states not members of the Council of Europe (Canada,
the Holy See, Japan, Mexico and the United States) which took part
in drawing it up.
Once the Convention enters into force (after 10 ratifications),
the Council of Europe may invite other non-member states to become
parties to the Convention.
Amnesty International and Anti-Slavery International together
with many other national and international non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) have campaigned for enhanced protection of the human rights
of victims of trafficking, including throughout the negotiations
of this Convention. Among other things, in November 2004 they submitted
to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe a NGO joint
statement, signed by more than 170 other non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) from 30 countries. (The text of the NGO Joint Statement is
contained in appendix 2 of Council
of Europe: Recommendations to strengthen the December 2004 Draft
European Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings
(AI Index: IOR 61/001/2005 ), this is available here as a PDF file,
to read PDF documents you will need Adobe Acrobat software, Adobe
Acrobat is available for free, click to download.
Link to
UK news release:
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