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: Harvard International Law Journal Digest

UN Convenes First-Ever Global Forum on Human Trafficking

By sprevatt

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On February 13, some 1200 experts, legislators, law enforcement officials, business leaders, NGO representatives, celebrities, and trafficking victims convened in Vienna, Austria for the first-ever UN global forum against human trafficking. Giving remarks ahead of the February 13-15 forum, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Antonio Maria Costa explained that human trafficking is widespread throughout the global economic system. Yet because of the lack of information about human trafficking, Mr. Costa called it ?a monster whose shape, size and ferocity we can only guess.? It often accompanies other unlawful activities, including illegal migration, forced labor, pedophilia, child exploitation, and organized prostitution.

?It?s time for the world to open its eyes to this form of modern slavery,? declared Mr. Costa. ?Moral outrage [alone] is not going to stop the traffickers; we need high impact law enforcement measures to make human trafficking a riskier business.?

Forum participants are discussing practical measures of preventing human trafficking and bringing perpetrators to justice. Measures under consideration include tracking and blocking Internet payments for human trafficking transactions; developing technology to pinpoint frequently used trafficking routes; help-lines to report suspected child prostitution or sex slavery; codes of conduct to curb sex tourism; and efforts to stop the forced removal and trade of human organs.

In a related development, UNODC launched a manual, Good Practices in the Protection of Witnesses in Criminal Proceedings Involving Organized Crime, aimed at helping countries develop comprehensive programs for the protection of victims and witnesses of crime. Witness protection programs can be a key tool in the dismantling of human trafficking networks.

More on these stories is available here and here.

Full post as published by Harvard International Law Journal Digest on February 14, 2008 (boomark / email).