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UN expert on trafficking in persons
ends visit to Japan
On 12 March
2009 the United Nations Human Rights Council heard the first annual report
report submitted by the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons,
especially women and children, Joy Ngozi Ezeilo (A/HRC/10/16), which
provides a global perspective of the trafficking phenomenon and its trends,
forms and manifestations.
The report
highlights the need for a victims-centered approach to address trafficking in
persons. It states:
"Trafficking
in persons results in cumulative breaches of human rights, and this correlation
needs to be recognized in any intervention effort. As far as the mandate of the
Special Rapporteur is concerned, the real challenge is not just in adopting
strategies that will effectively lead to catching the perpetrators and
punishing them. Rather, it is preferable to put in place strategies that will
focus equally on the victim by recognizing and redressing the violations
suffered, empowering the victim to speak out without being doubly victimized,
jeopardized or stigmatized, while at the same time targeting the root causes of
human trafficking. The strategies must be people-centred, bearing in mind that
human trafficking is about persons whose basic right to live free particularly
from fear and want is under constant threat. We must recognize the dignity of
the victims and their right to survival and development. Thus, restorative
justice is central to combating human trafficking."
Ms.
Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, a Nigerian national, assumed her functions as Special
Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children on 1
August 2008. Ms. Ezeilo is a human rights lawyer and professor at the
University of Nigeria. She has also served in various governmental
capacities, including as Honourable Commissioner for Ministry of Women
Affairs & Social Development in Enugu State and as a Delegate to the
National Political Reform Conference. She has consulted for various international
organizations and is also involved in several NGOs, particularly working on
women’s rights. She has published extensively on a variety of topics,
including human rights, women’s rights, and Sharia law. |
At its
sixtieth session, the Commission on Human Rights adopted decision 2004/110, by
which it decided to appoint, for a three-year period, a Special Rapporteur on
trafficking in persons, especially women and children to focus on the human
rights aspects of the victims of trafficking in persons. In the same decision,
the Commission invited the Special Rapporteur to submit annual reports to the
Commission together with recommendations on measures required to uphold and
protect the human rights of the victims. The Commission requested the Special Rapporteur
to respond effectively to reliable information on possible human rights
violations with a view to protecting the human rights of actual or potential
victims of trafficking and to cooperate fully with other relevant special
rapporteurs, in particular the Special Rapporteur on violence against women,
and to take full account of their contributions to the issue. The Commission
also requested the Special Rapporteur to cooperate with relevant United Nations
bodies, regional organizations and victims and their representatives. The
Economic and Social Council, in its decision 2004/228, endorsed Commission on
Human Rights’ decision 2004/110.
In the
discharge of his/her mandate, the Special Rapporteur:
a)
Takes action on violations committed against trafficked persons and on
situations in which there has been a failure to protect their human rights (See
Individual complaints)
b)
Undertakes country visits in order to study the situation
in situ and formulate recommendations to prevent and or combat trafficking and
protect the human rights of its victims in specific countries and/or regions
c)
Submits annual reports on the activities of the
mandate
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