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UNITED NATIONS A Distr. General Assembly GENERAL A/HRC/4/23/Add.1 30 May 2007 ENGLISH/FRENCH/ SPANISH HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL Fourth session* Agenda item 2 IMPLEMENTATION OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION 60/251 OF 15 MARCH 2006 ENTITLED “HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL” Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights aspects of the victims of trafficking in persons, especially women and children, Sigma Huda Addendum ** Summary of cases transmitted to Governments and replies received * The present document, which carries the symbol number of the fourth session of the Human Rights Council, is scheduled for consideration by the fifth session of the Council. ** The report is being circulated in the languages of submission only, as it greatly exceeds the word limitations currently imposed by the relevant General Assembly resolutions. GE.07-12836 A/HRC/4/23/ Add.1 Page 2 Contents Paragraph Page Introduction…………………………………………………….......... 1 – 7 3 A Statistics…………………………………………………….. 5 B Communications sent and Government replies received... Argentina………………………………………………..................... 8 – 33 7 Bahrain……………………………………………………………… 34 – 37 11 Benin………………………………………………………………… 38 – 47 11 Brazil………………………………………………………………… 48 – 54 13 Bulgaria……………………………………………………………… 55 – 58 14 People’s Republic of China…………………………………………. 59 – 67 15 Cyprus……………………………………………………………….. 68 – 74 17 Democratic People’s Republic of Korea……………………………. 75 – 80 18 Ecuador……………………………………………………………… 81 – 91 19 Germany…………………………………………………………….. 92 – 95 21 Greece………………………………………………………………. 96 – 104 22 India…………………………………………………………………. 105 – 118 23 Israel………………………………………………………………… 119 – 126 26 Italy…………………………………………………………………. 127 – 140 27 Kyrgyzstan………………………………………………………….. 141 – 152 30 Mauritania…………………………………………………............... 153 – 164 32 Morocco…………………………………………………………….. 165 – 170 35 Nepal………………………………………………………………… 171 – 193 36 The Netherlands…………………………………………………….. 194 – 210 41 Nigeria………………………………………………………………. 211 – 217 44 Romania……………………………………………………. ………. 218 – 229 45 Singapore……………………………………………………………. 230 – 242 48 Thailand……………………………………………………. ………. 243 – 249 51 Turkey ………………………………………………………………. 250 – 252 53 United Arab Emirates……………………………………………….. 253 – 255 54 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland…… ………. 256 – 272 54 Yemen……………………………………………………………….. 273 – 286 58 A/HRC/4/23/Add.1 Page 3 Introduction 1. This addendum to the report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights aspects of the victims of trafficking in persons, especially women and children contains, on a country by country basis, summaries of urgent appeals and letters of allegation sent from 1 January 2006 to 31 December 2006 by the Special Rapporteur to Governments on individual cases and general situations of concern to her. It also includes summaries of Government replies received from 1 January 2006 to 31 January 2007. Government replies received after 31 December 2006 will be included in the next report of the Special Rapporteur to the Human Rights Council. 2. Statistics on the number of communications sent and Government replies received, the number of joint urgent appeals and letters of allegations sent, the number of communications sent by geographical region, and the number of joint communications sent with different mandate holders, are represented in tables in the next section of the report. 3. The Special Rapporteur identifies individual cases and general situations of concern to her mandate with reference to the definition of trafficking in persons contained in the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (Trafficking Protocol). Article 3 of the Protocol defines trafficking in persons as follows: For the purposes of this Protocol: (a) “Trafficking in persons” shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs; (b) The consent of a victim of trafficking in persons to the intended exploitation set forth in subparagraph (a) of this article shall be irrelevant where any of the means set forth in subparagraph (a) have been used; (c) The recruitment, transportation, trans, harbouring or receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation shall be considered “trafficking in persons” even if this does not involve any of the means set forth in subparagraph (a) of this article; (d) “Child” shall mean any person under eighteen years of age. 4. The Special Rapporteur acts on information she receives from victims directly, from individuals acting on behalf of the victims, from non-governmental organisations (NGOs), as A/HRC/4/23/ Add.1 Page 4 well as United Nations bodies. She recalls that in transmitting urgent appeals and letters of allegations, she does not make any judgement concerning the merits of the cases, nor does she necessarily support the opinions and activities of the persons on behalf of whom she intervenes. 5. All of the Special Rapporteur’s communications were sent jointly with the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, as well as with the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the situation of human rights defenders. As of 31 December 2006, the Special Rapporteur had sent 27 communications and as of 31 January 2007 she had received 14 replies from concerned Governments. She expresses her appreciation for the 14 timely replies, but regrets that 13 Governments failed entirely to respond and that some of those Governments that did respond did so only selectively. The Special Rapporteur will send reminders to those Governments who are still to respond to her communications, as well as follow-up letters to those Governments who the Special Rapporteur deems have provided insufficient information in their replies or from whom she wishes to obtain further clarifications on the relevant concerns raised. 6. The communications sent within this reporting period concerned mainly women and children, but also to a lesser extent men. Communications regarding men concerned trafficking for purposes of forced labour, particularly in factories, ranching, deforestation, agriculture, logging and charcoal production. Trafficking of women mainly concerned trafficking for forced labour, particularly in factories and domestic work, and also trafficking for forced marriage and for purposes of sexual exploitation including in conditions of slavery and debt bondage. Trafficking of children concerned situations of forced labour in quarries, agricultural plantations and domestic work, as well as forced begging; cases regarding children also concerned sexual exploitation. A number of communications also addressed factors that cause or exacerbate trafficking in persons such as corruption, unemployment, situations of conflict, human rights violations, discrimination, poverty, lack of access to education, discriminatory norms and policies as well as inadequate labour laws, particularly vis-à-vis migrant workers. 7. For reasons of confidentiality, privacy and protection, the names of individual victims appear in initials in this report; the full names were, however, provided in the actual letters sent to Governments. The Special Rapporteur has also used initials for certain other persons concerned in order to minimise the risk of possible further victimization in their regard. Moreover, with a view to preserve the presumption of innocence, the same procedure has been adopted by the Special Rapporteur with regards to alleged perpetrators. A/HRC/4/23/Add.1 Page 5 A. Statistics Communications sent and replies received 27 30 14 20 10 0 1 Communications sent Government replies received A/HRC/4/23/ Add.1 Page 6 Urgent appeals and letters of allegation 18 20 15 9 10 5 0 1 Letters of allegation Urgent appeals Joint communications 2 1 1 5 19 18 Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers Special Raporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment Special Representative of the Secretary General on the situation of human rights defenders A/HRC/4/23/Add.1 Page 7 B. Communications sent and Government replies received Argentina Comunicaciones enviadas 8. Con carta de fecha 25 julio 2006, la Relatora Especial, juntamente con el Relator Especial sobre los derechos humanos de los migrantes, transmitió al Gobierno una carta de alegaciones acerca de la situación de trabajadores migrantes bolivianos objeto de trata de personas en Argentina.