|
This year's opportunity for the Working Group to look back over
30 years of activity, in order to assess its progress and to review
its current status, is timely in view of the Secretary General's
proposed reforms of the UN human rights mechanisms, which have implications
for the Sub-Commission and by extension the Working Group.
Anti-Slavery International would like to draw upon three case studies,
on which we have presented evidence to the Working Group over a
number of years, in order to aid this review process. These cases
illustrate the impact of the Working Group on particular contemporary
forms of slavery, and also look at why in some cases the Working
Group has not been able to have as great an impact as would be hoped.
The three cases summarised below are slavery and abductions in
Sudan, slave labour in Brazil and the trafficking of children as
camel jockeys to the UAE. Anti-Slavery International is making full
written submissions on all of these cases to the Working Group this
year but here we will just draw out some of the key points in assessing
the role of the Working Group in each.
Sudan
Anti-Slavery International's long-standing concerns on the issue
of forced labour and abductions in Sudan have been presented to
the Working Group over a number of years. Thousands of people are
still awaiting release and abductions have continued as part of
the government forces' strategy in the civil war in both 2003 and
2004. In Darfur, grave concerns over the widespread human rights
abuses there include cases of abductions and sexual slavery.
The Government has continually failed to take responsibility for
this problem. It has refused to publicly acknowledge that forces
under its control continue to carry out abductions into forced labour
and has not prosecuted those responsible for these crimes. While
the creation of the Committee for the Eradication of Abduction of
Women and Children (CEAWC) was a positive move, its progress remains
slow. CEAWC has failed to identify those involved in carrying out
raids and while it has assisted 2,628 abductees to rejoin their
families between 1999 and May 2004, there are still some 10,000
abducted people waiting to be identified and reunited with their
families. CEAWC has also not pursued prosecutions.
The Government of Sudan has attended sessions of the Working Group
in the past and made statements on this issue. However these statements
have failed to demonstrate a commitment to tackling the issue, or
even to acknowledge it. There has been little dialogue between government
and civil society at the Working Group, however the lack of progress
made on this issue is also due to the Working Group's lack of a
specific mandate and resources to follow up on information presented
to it. For example, the Working Group does not have a specific mandate
to undertake country visits. In the late 1990s the Working Group
declined an invitation from the Government of Sudan to send a delegation
to investigate slavery in the Sudan on the grounds that they had
no mandate to do so.1
Brazil
Since 2003, the Brazilian Government has shown a renewed commitment
to tackling the issue of forced labour, generally referred to as
slave labour in Brazil. Anti-Slavery International commends the
Government on the actions they have taken to eradicate slave labour,
for example in setting up the National Commission for the Eradication
of Slave Labour and launching the National Plan for the Eradication
of Slavery in 2003. Despite the ongoing problem of slave labour
in Brazil, and the need for continued momentum in tackling the problem,
this as a successful case study of how to combat a contemporary
manifestation of slavery, from which other governments could learn.
Anti-Slavery International supports the continued commitment of
the Government to this issue, and the measures taken thus far. We
would underline the importance of implementing legislation that
provides for punishments that are commensurate to the crimes committed,
and implementing the proposed Constitutional Amendment to expropriate
properties from those who use slave labour and to use the land for
agrarian reform. We also call upon the international community to
assist the Government of Brazil in carrying out these measures,
particularly in terms of supporting the Government to provide adequate
resources for the Special Mobile Inspection Group, so to allow it
to carry out its work effectively.
The Brazilian Government has consistently attended the Working
Group, including at the ambassadorial level, and has made frank
and detailed statements on progress made and challenges that still
need to be met.
In this case the Working Group has played a role, along with other
international mechanisms most notably the International Labour Organization,
in facilitating dialogue between the Government and civil society,
providing a forum for information exchange, and highlighting the
ways in which slave labour is being confronted in Brazil. This allows
the positive case of Brazil to be highlighted as a good example
to other States, and also encourages the Government of Brazil to
continue in its efforts.
United Arab Emirates
The trafficking of children to be used as camel jockeys in the United
Arab Emirates has been brought before the Working Group for the
last eight years. Our full written submission provides new evidence
of child camel jockeys trafficked to the UAE, and alarmingly, to
other Gulf states. However, the scandal of this issue is that it
could easily be resolved, if there were the political will to do
so.
Unfortunately, this case illustrates the limits of the Working
Group in calling States to account on instances of contemporary
slavery. Despite presenting evidence to this Working Group every
year for the last eight years, the UAE has not provided any information
in response, or as far as we are aware attended the sessions of
the Working Group on any occasion. Moreover the Working Group has
not reflected the information submitted on this issue in its recommendations,
thereby losing the opportunity to raise this problem at the Sub-Commission.
It is noteworthy that other international mechanisms that have
resources to follow up on issues during the year and not only at
one meeting; that can name individual countries which have not successfully
dealt with slavery; and that can undertake field visits to evaluate
the situation and offer assistance, have been more effective in
tackling this problem. For example, the International Labour Organization
has repeatedly raised concerns with the Government of the UAE regarding
the use of child camel jockeys and in 2003 the Government accepted
a direct contacts mission from the ILO. There have subsequently
been new measures announced to tackle the use of child camel jockeys,
although it remains to be seen whether and how these measures, the
latest in a long series, will be implemented. The existence of follow-up
mechanisms at the ILO, and the resources to carry these out, has
enabled the ILO to have an impact on this issue.
Nevertheless, Anti-Slavery International has continued to highlight
this issue at the Working Group. Firstly because the Working Group
remains the only human rights mechanism devoted to monitoring the
existence of contemporary forms of slavery, and secondly because
the Working Group provides a forum for raising awareness of the
issue. Another positive aspect of the Group is that it has enabled
dialogue between the Government of Bangladesh and NGOs such as Anti-Slavery
International and the Bangladesh National Women Lawyers' Association.
Conclusion
Unfortunately the majority of States fail to engage with the work
of the Working Group. The low profile of the Working Group within
the UN human rights machinery means that even those countries that
are repeatedly criticised in this forum do not feel the need to
discuss or challenge the evidence that has been presented.
The Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery provides a forum
for presenting evidence of contemporary forms of slavery and the
discussion of this evidence by States and civil society. In the
cases we have outlined in this statement, the Working Group has
enabled a heightened awareness and some sharing of good examples
amongst those present at the sessions of the Group. However, these
cases also highlight issues that the Working Group could reflect
upon, in terms of its mandate to follow up on conclusions and recommendations
throughout the year, and securing the resources for this to be possible.
This should help to ensure that the Working Group is an effective
mechanism for combating contemporary forms of slavery.
1 Abolishing Slavery and its Contemporary
Forms, Weissbrodt, D. & Anti-Slavery International, OHCHR
2002.
|
