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Doc. 8966
5 February 2001
Trafficking in organs in eastern Europe
Motion for a recommendation
presented by Ms Pozza Tasca and others
This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only the members who have signed it |
The Assembly,
Considering that above and beyond the abhorrent trafficking in women and children, another trade in “human flesh” is developing in Eastern Europe: the trafficking in organs;
Having verified, following numerous allegations and repeated suspicions, that the trafficking in organs is not a “myth” but that it genuinely exists and has its own routes and logistic bases;
Having noted that, as claimed by the journalist Andrea Nicastro in an article entitled “La rotta del traffico d’organi porta in Turchia” published in a prominent Italian newspaper, the Corriere della Sera, on 20 January 2001, “today the main market for the organ mafia is Turkey, where human organs are bought and sold as if they were spare parts for cars”;
Considering that the country of origin of the organs is Moldova, the poorest country in Europe with an unemployment rate of 50%, and that, as police inspector Nicolae Dobs stated, “Moldova does not have the money to carry out an investigation, but we are certain that each year hundreds of organ sellers set out from this country”;
Noting that the Moldovan Minister for the Interior, Vladimir Tircanu, had declared at an international seminar in Rome on 24 and 25 October last organised by the Italian Minister for the Interior on trafficking in human beings: the search for new strategies of action, that “Moldova is under severe attack from the international mafia of organ transplants”;
Having established that the route taken by the organ sellers leaves Moldova, continues through Romania and Bulgaria, using coaches made available for the mafia-type organisation, and arrives in the Asian part of Istanbul, where the organs are surgically removed, and that the cost of the journey is 50 dollars for the coach ticket and 180 dollars for the entry visas for Romania and Bulgaria;
Noting that the surgeon who carries out the operations, Yusuf Somnes, is still at liberty, despite two trials and several accusations made against him – including one from the Romanian government – and that the Turkish courts have not yet denounced those who collaborate with him;
Considering that the Romanian intelligence services have reported that these desperate people are kept in hotel rooms until their organs are removed whereafter they return by coach to their country of origin, and that the cost of a kidney has fallen to around 3000 dollars from the 8000 dollars previously paid, because of the abundant “supply”;
Considering that Europe cannot allow its citizens to be forced by poverty to risk their lives by selling parts of their body,
Recommends that the Committee of Ministers set up a task-force against the trafficking in human organs which can:
a. investigate the causes behind this phenomenon in the countries of origin, and particularly poverty, socio-economic conditions, and the profile and motives of the people involved, especially the victims;
b. develop a global alert system to monitor the routes taken by this traffic, so as to adopt prevention and punishment methods;
c. train police forces, the judicial authorities and the staff of embassies, consulates and immigration offices with a view to identifying the potential victims;
d. bring about more effective co-ordination between the intelligence services of the countries of origin, destination and transit of the victims of the trafficking in organs during investigations and the judicial procedures so as to identify and dismantle the networks of this traffic, with particular attention paid to the laundering of the profits of illegal activities,
Also recommends the Committee of Ministers and member states to take action on the causes behind this phenomenon through programmes to combat poverty, financed by the banks of the European Social Fund, and through the sustainable development co-operation instruments with nations, such as Moldova, where the income per capita is 6 dollars and where poverty pushes people towards death.
Signed :
Pozza Tasca, Italy, LDR
About, France, LDR
Alis Font, Andorra, SOC
Blaauw, Netherlands, LDR
Brunetti, Italy, UEL
Clerfayt, Belgium, LDR
Diana, Italy, EPP/CD
Fehr, Switzerland, LDR
Frey, Switzerland, LDR
Kittis, Cyprus, LDR
Olivo, Italy, SOC
Pinggera, Italy, EPP/CD
Provera, Italy, LDR
Risari, Italy, EPP/CD
Robol, Italy, EPP/CD
Schmied, Switzerland, LDR
Squarcialupi, Italy, SOC
Varela i Serra, Spain, LDR
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SOC: Socialist Group
EPP/CD: Group of the European People’s Party
EDG: European Democratic Group
LDR : Liberal, Democratic and Reformers’ Group
UEL: Group of the Unified European Left
NR: not registered in a group