Publications

This is the 8th Annual Report produced by the OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings (SR/CTHB) according to the requirements of OSCE Ministerial Council Decision No. 13/05 on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings. This 2005 Decision tasks the SR/CTHB to report annually on the progress achieved over the preceding year’s anti-trafficking work carried out throughout the OSCE region. This report covers the period from January to early December 2013, which corresponds roughly to the 4th and final year of the term of Maria Grazia Giammarinaro. This report will be updated and printed in February 2014 when the SR/CTHB will formally end her mandate as the third OSCE SR.

The OSCE Office in Baku developed this report based on the findings collected by the trial monitoring team over the period from July until December 2013. The team assessed and analysed the collected data based on the applicable national legislation and international standards. The monitoring activities were carried out in line with the trial monitoring methodology developed by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.

This report presents the key issues and challenges drawn from the interventions and discussions of key players at the seminar on Co-operation to Prevent Trafficking in Human Beings in the Mediterranean Region organized by the OSR/CTHB, which took place in Rome on 8 February 2013. Indeed, the Seminar helped in identifying priority areas for possible enhanced co-operation between participating States and the Mediterranean Partners for Co-operation “to address the multiple challenges of a strategy aimed at eradicating modern slavery” in the Mediterranean Region.

The Office's assessment includes the review and analysis of the assistance and services available to victims of trafficking and forced labour in Azerbaijan, with the objectives of identifying gaps and obstacles preventing provision of effective assistance to victims, and of seeking opportunities for improving these aspects of assistance. The review of legislation and practices included housing, social, medical, psychosocial, legal, physical safety and protection, and reintegration assistance services available in Baku, the capital city of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

In line with the OSCE Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings, the SR is mandated to address trafficking in human beings for the purpose of organ removal. The SR initiated the research project in 2011, supported by the Strategic Police Matters Unit (SPMU), to conduct a comprehensive overview of the current situation and a deeper qualitative analysis of this form of human trafficking within the OSCE region. The project aimed to identify vulnerable groups and the modus operandi of criminal organizations, to identify gaps in national legislation, as well as to disclose obstacles preventing efficient investigation and prosecution of this crime. This 6th Occasional Paper in the Occasional Paper Series of the OSCE OSR/CTHB has restricted its focus to the trafficking of human beings for the purpose of organ removal in the OSCE region. It has, therefore, largely excluded analysis of cases involving the illegal sale and purchase of organs, tissues and cells (OTC) that do not involve the trafficking of a human being. The research for this study, based primarily on desk research and analysis, identified cases of human trafficking for organ removal in the OSCE region, some of which have not previously been identified, collated and analysed.

This Fifth Occasional Paper in the Occasional Paper Series of the OSR/CTHB addresses and denounces the use of torture and other forms of ill-treatment by traffickers as a means to subjugate, control and punish trafficked people. It analyses under which circumstances trafficking can amount to torture or other forms of ill-treatment and it identifies the connection between both human rights violations from a clinical perspective. Importantly, the Paper provides the conceptual framework to understand what trafficking cases entail in terms of the physical and psychological effects on trafficked persons, and the legal and clinical implications that flow from this characterization, including in terms of legal entitlements. The Paper builds on the important work of the former UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Professor Dr. Manfred Nowak and the strong and long-standing clinical and policy experience of the British NGO, the Helen Bamber Foundation. Part 1 of the Paper authored by the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights outlines and compares the existing legal frameworks on human rights, human trafficking as well as on torture and other forms of ill-treatment. Part 2 of the Paper examines the clinical links between human trafficking and torture, both in terms of the nature (physical and psychological) of the injuries from torture and ill-treatment, the impact of trafficking on victims and what this implies for effective assistance and sustained recovery This Occasional Paper is meant to provide a policy tool for decision makers and practitioners especially from the legal and medical sector dealing with human trafficking. Based on desk research, field work and case study analysis, it is also an excellent tool to inform the daily work of law enforcement, the judiciary, civil society, academia, the medical profession and the international community in their fight against human trafficking which should be firmly based on the rule of law and human rights.

This paper, produced in consultation with the Alliance against Trafficking in Persons Expert Co-ordination Team, examines the principle of non-punishment in international law, explores the scope of its application and discusses the challenges in its practical implementation. It includes a number of practical examples and court cases which were made available by national agencies, NGOs and legal professionals who have been examining these issues extensively, in particular the Belgian Centre for Equal Opportunities and Opposition to Racism, the Bureau of the Dutch National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings, as well as UK courts and lawyers. The paper concludes with the provision of practical guidance, and the formulation of policy and legislative recommendations, towards the effective implementation of the non-punishment provision with regard to victims of trafficking.

The 2012 Annual Report of the Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings aims to offer a concise overview of the wide range of activities carried out by the Office of the Special Representative and by the OSCE’s executive structures, institutions and field operations. The last part of the Report builds upon the October Alliance Conference “An Agenda for Prevention: Non Discrimination and Empowerment”, with an action-oriented paper highlighting how full recognition of the existing linkage between trafficking and discrimination can lead to new paths for advocacy, and make it possible that anti-trafficking and non-discrimination policies enhance each other.

This volume presents chronologically the OSCE's human dimension commitments over its 30-year history. It is intended for use by government officials and civil society organizations, academics, students, and practitioners alike.

This research report presents an analysis of international legal instruments defining framework of assistance to victims of human trafficking. It outlines the basic conditions and principles to be considered when providing such assistance; describes national legislation that regulates work of social services providing assistance to victims of trafficking; explains consequences of human trafficking and basic needs of victims with due regard to age and gender aspects. The research highlights problems the victims of trafficking and social service providers face in reality and presents recommendations on how to solve those problems. This report is not available in English.