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29
May 2009
Ms Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, the United Nations Special Rapporteur
on Trafficking in Persons, especially women and children, issued the
following preliminary findings and recommendations at the end of her
mission to Poland, which took place from 24th to 29th May 2009.
The Special Rapporteur wishes to express her gratitude to
the Government of Poland for the invitation to undertake this mission, for
its cooperation throughout and especially for the opportunity to meet and
engage with government officials, international and non- governmental
organizations amongst other stakeholders.
The scale of trafficking in persons is not only serious in
Poland but has been somewhat aggravated in the past five years by virtue of
Poland joining the European Union and also acceding to the Schengen zone.
These developments unarguably helped to transform Poland from being mainly a
source country to clearly becoming a transit and a destination country
combined. The endemic forms of trafficking include but are not limited to
trafficking for labour exploitation, for prostitution and other forms of
sexual exploitation. Data supplied by the Prosecutor's office, the Police and
the Border Guard shows that the number of cases of human trafficking are
growing by the day and this fact is further reinforced by the number of cases
of victims receiving assistance from NGOs especially La Strada Foundation.
Poland has ratified major international and regional human
rights treaties including the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish
Trafficking in Persons, especially women and children, supplementing the UN
Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (Palermo Protocol, 2000) and
the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human
Beings (2005).
There is also evidence that the Polish government is
making good progress in combating human trafficking working closely with
stakeholders and through international cooperation, especially with border
countries. The Criminal Code has been amended to punish perpetrators of human
trafficking. A comprehensive law on trafficking in human organs and tissue,
which is very forward looking has been enacted and is indeed a welcome
development as we must ensure that all forms of trafficking are criminalized.
A law on domestic violence is in existence as well as a Government
Plenipotentiary on Equal Treatment, and an independent Commissioner for Civil
Rights Protection has been established. The Government is also investing
together with regional and international organizations in the trainings of law
enforcement officers on human trafficking to enhance their capacity to
prevent trafficking, protect victims and prosecute and ensure that
perpetrators of the crime of trafficking are punished. A fourth national plan
of action (2009-2010) has been adopted and implementation is on course.
Furthermore, there is close cooperation with and assistance to NGOs providing
social services to victims of trafficking.
Notwithstanding some of these good practices found during
my mission, there are challenges that the Government must work on to overcome
in order to effectively combat trafficking in human beings occurring within
its borders and affecting both its citizens and foreign nationals who are
increasingly falling victims.
The following are some of the issues of immediate concern
to the mandate of the Special Rapporteur:
1. Lack of comprehensive and unambiguous definition of
trafficking in the Polish Criminal Law;
2. Domestic application of international law appears to
require some form of transformation despite the constitutional provision that
encourage direct application of international law. In the case of the Palermo
Protocol it is not self executing and would therefore require an additional
act of the legislature to be fully implemented in Poland;
3. Trafficking for labour exploitation is on the increase
and Labour Inspectors appear to lack the necessary capacity for an effective
oversight;
4. Judicial proceedings relating to trafficking cases are
unduly long and on the average last about two years. Thus, efforts should be
made by the Ministry of Justice and the Judiciary to shorten the period and
provide early case closure that will bring succor to victims and reduce
trauma suffered, while redirecting focus to victims' full reintegration and
rehabilitation;
5. Availability and access to social assistance by victims
of trafficking especially in rural areas are somewhat limited and
victims of trafficking do not receive compensation. Of course, justice would
not be done unless the wrongs suffered by victims are fully redressed. Thus,
an award of compensation by the court is an important aspect of redressing
loss of earnings, human rights violated and harm suffered in general; and
6. The problem of coordinating the sharing of data amongst
relevant actors - Police, Border Guards and the Prosecutor's Office and also
maintaining age and gender disaggregated information. Strengthening
capacities in this sphere will help to provide clarity on the magnitude of
the problem of trafficking.
Some Preliminary Recommendations to the Government of
Poland:
- Take
urgent national legislative action to comprehensively and clearly
elaborate on the definition of human trafficking in accordance with
Polish government obligations under international and regional treaties
signed and ratified by Poland;
- Improve
identification of victims of trafficking and ensure compliance with the
reflection period provided for under the Council of Europe Convention on
Action against Trafficking in Human Beings so that pressure is not
mounted on a victim to cooperate with authorities as the option or a
necessary condition for the exercise of the right to remain in country;
- Establish
an office of a National Rapporteur to coordinate and monitor all
activities in relation to combating human trafficking;
- Establish
adequate and coordinated protection mechanisms for child victims of
trafficking. It is also very important that law enforcement officers at
the point of initial contact with victims are in a position to identify
the victim and provide them the necessary information and assistance
including referrals to NGOs offering specialized services;
- Compensation
for victims should be provided by law and a special fund set up for that
purpose;
- Increase
action directed to prevention and raising awareness on all forms of
trafficking amongst various stakeholders;
- Strengthen
the law to sufficiently deal with the growing problem of trafficking for
labour exploitation;
- Although
victims of trafficking are being assisted by the Government there is
still a huge shortfall between those needing assistance and the actual
number benefiting from such government assisted programmes. It is
recommended that the Government should expand its funding assistance to
organizations working in cities and rural areas to provide social,
medical, legal and psychological assistance to victims;
- Increase
trainings to further enhance the capacity of law enforcement agencies in
particular, the Police, Border Guard, Prosecutor, the Judiciary, Labour
Inspectors and social workers amongst others.
- The
Government is urged to ratify the International Convention on the
Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their
Families
As I have stated in my annual report to the United Nations
Human Rights Council (February 2009- A/HRC/10/16), trafficking in persons is
a complex phenomenon made even more insidious by its clandestine nature and,
increasingly, the use of modern information technology as a tool for recruitment.
Consequently, I urge the Polish government to place sufficient emphasis on
prevention, especially awareness raising through channels of information that
especially appeal to young people. We must endeavour to address human
trafficking in a holistic manner and beyond the perspective of crime and
border control only. Anti-trafficking measures should not adversely affect
the human rights and dignity of persons and, in particular, the rights of
those who have been trafficked, migrants, internally displaced persons,
refugees and asylum-seekers. Therefore, an integrated approach that places
human rights at the core of all efforts is most desirable as far as the
mandate of the Special Rapporteur is concerned and in order to achieve
meaningful and sustainable change in addressing the problem.
Once more I thank the Polish government for the
opportunity to undertake this mission
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