Recommendation 1610 (2003)1
Migration connected with trafficking
in women and prostitution
1.The Parliamentary Assembly refers
to its Resolution 1337 (2003) on migration connected
with trafficking in women and prostitution.
2. The Assembly considers that this
type of migration, which has developed into a gigantic, highly organised
international criminal trade linked to the exploitation of women, cannot
be combated effectively by member states acting on their own.
3. Therefore, the Assembly recommends
that the Committee of Ministers:
i. begin as soon as possible the
drafting of the Council of Europe convention on trafficking in human
beings, which will bring added value to other international instruments
with its clear human rights and victim protection focus and the inclusion
of a gender perspective;
ii. ensure that the Council of
Europe convention on trafficking in human beings includes provisions
aiming at:
a. introducing the offence
of trafficking in the criminal law of Council of Europe member states;
b. harmonising the penalties
applicable to trafficking;
c. ensuring the effective
establishment of jurisdiction over traffickers or alleged traffickers,
particularly by facilitating extradition and the application of the
principle aut dedere aut iudicare in all cases concerning trafficking;
iii. closely involve the Parliamentary
Assembly in the drafting of the convention and provide the necessary
financial resources to bring this work to a rapid conclusion;
iv. ask the European Committee
for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) to investigate the conditions of
detention of the victims of trafficking in detention centres and prisons
of Council of Europe member states, as well as their conditions of deportation;
v. instruct the relevant intergovernmental
committees:
a.to draft programmes
aimed at assisting member states with legal reform initiatives, and
in particular in drafting comprehensive laws on trafficking in human
beings and amending penal codes and immigration laws in conformity
with international law on trafficking in human beings;
b. to organise a round
table on the different views on the problem of prostitution in Council
of Europe member states.
1. Assembly
debate on 25 June 2003 (21st Sitting) (see Doc.
9795, report of the Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and
Men, rapporteur: Mrs Zwerver; and Doc.
9848, opinion of the Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee,
rapporteur: Mr Piscitello; and Doc.
9809, opinion of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Demography,
rapporteur: Mrs de Zulueta).
Text adopted by the Assembly on
25 June 2003 (21st Sitting).
