Draft Text of Council of Europe Trafficking Convention Now Available
Monday, August 23, 2004 2:20 PM
The Council of Europe Committee on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings (CAHTEH)'s first draft of the Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings is now completed and available to the public. CAHTEH aims at drawing up a European Convention on action against trafficking in human beings. This instrument is expected to be a practical tool of international co-operation geared towards the protection of victims' rights and the respect for human rights. It will aim at a proper balance between matters concerning human rights and prosecution and should build on the United Nations' achievements in this field in a European context. The Directorates General on Legal Affairs and Human Rights will jointly coordinate the work, expected to be finalized at the end of 2004. More specifically, this document contains the draft Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings as revised during the 5th meeting of the CAHTEH held from 29 June to 2 July 2004. A previous description and some background are also available here on our site.
In response, the European Women's Lobby (EWL) has started a lobbying action in relation to this draft proposal. The EWL is very concerned that the amendments proposed after the 5th meeting of the CAHTEH would weaken the aims of the Convention and limit its scope to another instrument to combat illegal immigration. The EWL has observer status to the CAHTEH and participates in its meetings. The next meeting will take place in Strasbourg on 28 September - 1 October 2004. For more information on the EWL's action, write to centre-violence@womenlobby.org