A European convention is a matter of urgency

Action in the field and political recommendations no longer suffice. The Council of Europe, which has been seeking to combat the sexual exploitation of women and children and trafficking in human beings for over ten years now, has decided to forge ahead and to draft a genuine European treaty equating trafficking with other human rights violations such as slavery or torture.

"This is a matter of urgency" said Deputy Secretary General, Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, addressing the members of the new committee responsible for drafting the convention. "You are here to prevent crimes which must be qualified as torture and slavery, prohibited under Article 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and to design a precious tool to protect human beings and their dignity."

"This text should make it possible to go further than the Palermo protocol adopted in 2000 by the United Nations", she added. All 45 member states of the Council of Europe are in fact affected by this scourge, whether they are the countries of destination, of transit or of origin of these people forced into slavery. This is also an issue which touches on questions of emigration, fighting organised crime, money laundering, corruption and gender equality, with which the organisation has been dealing for years.

The new convention, which should be finalised by the end of 2004, will cover all forms of trafficking, irrespective of whether it is national or transnational, whether it is perpetrated by organised crime or not, and whether its victims are minors or adults. The primary objective is to strike a proper balance between respect for human rights and the crime-fighting policy necessary to ensure that this phenomenon can effectively be eradicated.

Over the last ten years the Committee of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe have adopted some fifteen recommendations, giving guidelines for combating sexual exploitation and trafficking in human beings throughout Europe. The new convention will define joint means of action, binding on the contracting parties, and will include a monitoring mechanism capable of guaranteeing the implementation of the measures decided.

In parallel with its important work on legal harmonisation, the organisation is active in the field via a number of cooperation and legislative assistance programmes. At a regional level, two anti-trafficking schemes have been launched in the Balkans and the South Caucasus, and the LARA project is aimed at changing criminal law in the majority of states in the region so as to ensure trafficking constitutes an offence and improve protection of victims and witnesses.

Tratto dal Portale del Consiglio d’Europa: www.coe.int

Discorso del vice segretario generale del Consiglio d'Europa.

A Council of Europe Convention for victims of trafficking - the victim-centred approach"

Keynote speech by the Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Maud de Boer-Buquicchio

Vienna, 23 July 2004

Alliance against trafficking in persons

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I. No crime without victim

In Europe today, we accept the existence of dealers and supermarkets that sell people against their will. You can help yourself from a selection of "cleaners", "sex objects", "babies", "children and disabled persons ready for anything", "sundry organs", etc. You can even consult specialised catalogues or agencies which help you to find the person, or rather the "object", that you want.

It is happening on our doorsteps, in our industries and our fields, in our embassies and our homes, our fitness centres and our hotels. All kinds of customers use the services on offer: sick people, low-income households, diplomats, executives, lonely men, infertile women...

Against all logic, our society seems to tolerate this new form of slavery.

Trafficking in human beings is obviously a crime. This "business" is believed to be growing fastest in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Europol estimates that the industry is now worth several billion dollars a year. This is also alarming because illicit profits are frequently used for corruption and other criminal activities. It is therefore urgent that this crime is properly prosecuted and that preventive measures are taken to avoid it spreading any further.

Of course, the political speech denounces trafficking in human beings as a crime. But this is not enough. We have to put it plainly: trafficking in human beings is an affront to human dignity and therefore a violation of the most fundamental human rights.

Trafficked persons are victims of violations of their fundamental rights. They are therefore entitled to adequate protection. To guarantee effective protection we first need to ensure that trafficked persons are recognised and treated as VICTIMS. This is a first, obvious - but oh so essential - step. However, in place of that missing step, there is very often an abyss into which victims fall and where traffickers hide to continue their trade in all impunity. Some may even think that the victims are also partly responsible for their fate. Even worse, some seem to think that trafficked persons are not victims at all. The persons who are the object of these transactions do not even have the consolation of being considered as victims. They are vulnerable people trying to survive or to improve their situations, far from their countries and their families, deceived by intermediaries, trapped by their "users", abandoned by a legal and social system which fails to protect them and is incapable of opening the gates of their imprisonment.

Compensation for the suffering and effective protection of the victim from any future harm constitute additional and important steps which are, unfortunately, far from being granted by most of our systems.

II. Both the crime and its victims are our concern

By its very nature, trafficking nearly always implies several states. To address the question effectively, international co-operation is a must. The international community feels concerned and this is very good news. Many initiatives have been taken to fight trafficking. The ultimate aim is to protect the social order. All international organisations around this table have addressed this issue. We have elaborated recommendations and action plans (both at international and national levels), reviewed national legislations, implemented assistance programmes, launched awareness raising campaigns and monitored progress. In this meeting room, we are all convinced that fighting trafficking means prevention, prosecution, awareness raising and last, but not least, protection of the victims.

And yet, so far, international legal co-operation has concentrated mainly in the measures needed to identify and prosecute the criminals, seize their gains, break their networks and eradicate the problem. These measures are indeed important but are they enough? The answer is no. Our social order cannot be effectively protected if we fail to protect and assist the direct victims of trafficking.

The 45 member states of the Council of Europe have of course ratified the European Convention on Human Rights, as well as numerous other texts which prohibit slavery, torture and inhuman and degrading treatment. It is then only natural that they are determined today to address the question of the victims of trafficking, by means of a legally binding instrument: a European Convention on action against trafficking in human beings.

The text of the Convention is currently going through its second reading. I have been observing the negotiations and I want to share with you my mixed feelings about the way our concerns are addressed.

1. Satisfaction

I obviously see with satisfaction the many measures foreseen to protect and assist the victims.

You will be pleased to hear that the current draft Convention includes a Chapter (III) entirely devoted to the measures to protect and promote the rights of victims, including gender equality issues. Very briefly, these measures cover:

· Identification of the victims: the authorities dealing with trafficking should co-operate with each other and be assisted by trained and qualified experts that will help them to identify the victims and to issue residence permits when appropriate. In those cases where there are reasonable grounds to believe that a person has been a victim of trafficking, states are asked to refrain from expelling that person from their territory until the identification process is completed.

· Assistance for the victims: the objective is to ensure their physical, psychological and social recovery, and the provision of appropriate and secure housing, medical and material assistance, counselling and information (in particular legal advice) in a language they understand; financial support, employment and training opportunities (including the possibility of obtaining work permits).

· Compensation and legal redress: the Convention guarantees legal advice and compensation for victims of trafficking. Such a compensation could be financed, for instance, through the establishment of a fund for victim compensation, which could be funded, inter alia, by the assets confiscated from traffickers.

· Protection of private life (through appropriate management of data by the authorities and through the promotion of responsible behaviour of the media).

· Recovery and reflection period. Countries of destination and transit are requested to allow a victim to stay on their territory over a period of time which will have to be sufficient to allow the victim to recover, escape from the influence of traffickers and to be in a position to take an informed decision on co-operating with the competent authorities.

· Residence permits: an important provision tackles this controversial and difficult question. It would request states to provide, in conformity with their national laws, for the possibility of delivering a renewable residence permit to victims. I am particularly glad that the drafters of the Convention are not limiting the delivery of a residence permit to the victims' co-operation with law enforcement authorities. Indeed, the draft Convention will enable countries to deliver residence permits to victims of trafficking also when their stay is necessary owing to their personal situations.

· Repatriation of victims: a specific provision aims to cover those cases in which the victim returns to his/her country of origin. Some of the issues at stake are: the victim's safety, documentation, re-integration on the labour market and prevention of re-victimisation. Particular attention is paid to the cases in which the victims are children and to the need to co-operate with NGOs, law enforcement structures and social welfare agencies.

2. Relief

There is an important point that was missed by existing international instruments: the need to prosecute not only the traffickers but also the consumers of the "services" that victims of trafficking are forced to provide to. I am relieved to note that the draft Convention contains a provision asking the states to criminalise the use of services of a victim when the "consumer" knows that the person in question is a victim of trafficking. As obvious as this may seem, we still hear voices being raised against such a measure. I am relieved to see that our member states have decided not to hide behind wrong arguments such as respect of privacy or procedural difficulties.

3. Optimism

The establishment of a monitoring mechanism continues to be one of the main added values of the future Convention. The possibility for an independent body to examine the situation in the states party and to draw conclusions likely to help them to make the necessary progress is an enormous asset.

Another reason to be optimistic is that civil society is closely following the drafting process. We consider the participation of civil society both in the negotiation process of the Convention and in the implementation of its provisions as crucial in the success of any policy and legislation aimed at fighting trafficking.

I was extremely pleased to see that the last negotiation round started with the hearing of three major international NGOs: Amnesty International, Anti-Slavery International and Terre des Hommes. Their contributions, both oral and written, were instrumental, during the negotiations which followed, in developing provisions which addressed the core needs of victims. We look forward to continuing this dialogue with interested NGOs, which may have access to the latest version of the draft Convention at any time.

As regards the implementation of the provisions of the Convention, the text requires states to take measures to involve non-governmental organisations, other relevant organisations or other components of civil society. The vital role played by NGOs both in the prevention of trafficking and in the effective protection of victims is fully recognised and encouraged.

4. Worry

I am worried about the confusion that underlies the position of some of our member countries. Indeed, some authorities still mix the question of illegal migration with the issue of trafficking.

But illegal migrants are NOT victims of trafficking. Illegal migration and trafficking are different issues that need to be addressed separately. Of course, as any other vulnerable person, an illegal migrant may become a victim of trafficking. Some countries fear, however, that illegal migrants voluntarily become victims of trafficking to benefit from the protection granted to those victims. To this argument, I would oppose two remarks:

1. Firstly, one cannot voluntarily become a victim of trafficking. The definition of trafficking implies the absence of free consent of the victim. Traffickers use means such as threat, force or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power, etc... In the case of children (under the age of 18), the absence of those means of coercion and the existence of consent are irrelevant because the victims are minors.

2. Secondly, the event of an abuse of a right is not a reason to ignore that right. Just take the example of a man who kills his wife to cash in on the money from a life insurance. Would a case such as this justify that we decide not to protect all widows in the world? Do we really think that many people are ready to risk going through torture, ill-treatment, and deprivation of liberty, etc... just to move abroad? Aren't these persons supposed to migrate because they wish to improve their standard of living?

I am also worried because this confusion has a threefold effect:

1. victims of trafficking are denied their rights;

2. victims are treated as guilty people (illegal migrants): they are re-victimised;

3. one important (if not the most important) element of the policy against trafficking is neglected with the consequent risk of failing to address the issue in its complexity.

The conclusion is that such confusion will make us fail in our ultimate goal: to restore and protect social order.

5. Confidence

Despite the difficulty of the negotiations, I am confident in the outcome. For the first time, countries of origin, transit and destination have decided to use a binding instrument to develop a common policy against trafficking with due regard to the victims and which includes a monitoring mechanism.

Individual countries address the question from different angles, use different tools and achieve different results. International co-operation means re-thinking the whole national system and the necessary changes may sometimes be faced with major obstacles (ranging from social perception to legal traditions and economic reality).

Despite all of this, the Council of Europe's member states are drafting provisions which are both more far-reaching and precise than any other existing international binding instrument. I am confident in their ability to reach the highest possible level of commitment. This Convention should go beyond existing international texts, but should also reflect much more than the minimum common denominator of the different national policies.

III. A common concern deserves joint action

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I was very pleased to accept Mrs Konrad's invitation to this meeting. I was invited to speak about our draft Convention and the victim-centred approach. I deliberately omitted mentioning the many other efforts that we deploy in the fight against trafficking. Allow me just to draw your attention to the last reports of our Human Rights Commissioner as they are highly relevant to our discussions. I trust that my very personal and frank assessment of the draft Convention will contribute to feed a discussion to which I attach the utmost importance. Our discussion should indeed help us to find the answers to a very simple but crucial question:

How do we -international organisations, bodies and actors- make sure that our resources are used in the best possible way to protect the values and achieve the goals that justify our very existence?

I see enormous potential around this table. We bring together here a variety of expertise, political and legal tools, social support, financial backing, commitment and motivation. We have the unique opportunity to combine all these resources and attitudes to achieve a common goal: eradicate trafficking.
In my presentation I outlined a few difficulties that we have encountered in our negotiation process. I am convinced that if all the international organisations present here today agree on how to tackle each single issue and to combine their efforts to remove the obstacles, we will have all fulfilled our mandate.

Dear Helga,

I like the heading you gave to this meeting: "Alliance against trafficking". It makes me think of the story of the Lord of the Rings and the "Fellowship of the Ring" that was created to defeat Evil. Every single member of that Fellowship had a different background and specific abilities. In the past, some of them had ignored or even fought each other. One day, they realised that they had a common goal. Fighting together, side by side, they discovered the interest of combining their efforts and trusting each other. They then achieved the noblest of aims.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We should not care about who bears the ring. We should remember our common concern and remain loyal to our common goal. We just need to make sure that the ring is destroyed and that Evil is defeated. We have therefore to concentrate in what can be done, how, when and by whom.

I am at your disposal.

Thank you very much.