Ministers’ Deputies
CM Documents
CM(2004)222 (restricted) 14 December 2004
——————————————
909 Meeting, 15 December 2004
4 Human Rights
4.4 Ad hoc Committee on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (CAHTEH)
a. Abridged report of the 7th meeting (Strasbourg, 7-10 December 2004)
——————————————
1. The Ad Hoc Committee on action against trafficking in human beings (CAHTEH) held its 7th meeting from 7 to 10 December 2004 at the Human Rights Building in Strasbourg, with Mr Jean-Sébastien JAMART (Belgium) in the Chair. The list of participants appears in Appendix I. The agenda, as adopted by the CAHTEH, is set out in Appendix II.
2. The CAHTEH took note that the Ministers’ Deputies, during their 905th meeting on 1-2 December 2004, decided to extend its terms of reference until 30 April 2005, to allow the CAHTEH to consider the opinion of the Parliamentary Assembly and, if necessary, to adapt the draft Convention accordingly.
3. The CAHTEH finalised the examination of the draft Council of Europe Convention on action against trafficking in human beings. It approved the text of the draft Council of Europe Convention on action against trafficking in human beings by 29 votes in favour, 6 abstentions (Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Russian Federation and United Kingdom) and 0 against. The CAHTEH agreed to submit the text of the draft Convention to the Committee of Ministers for transmission to the Parliamentary Assembly in accordance with the decision taken by the Ministers’ Deputies during their 905th meeting on 1-2 December 2004.
4. The CAHTEH examined most of the paragraphs of the draft Explanatory Report to the draft Convention, which will be transmitted to the Parliamentary Assembly as it resulted from the discussions of this CAHTEH meeting.
5. The CAHTEH decided, subject to available funding, to hold its next plenary meeting from 22 to
25 February 2005. During this meeting, as decided by the Ministers’ Deputies, the CAHTEH will consider the opinion of the Parliamentary Assembly and, if necessary, adapt the draft Convention accordingly. The CAHTEH also agreed to finalise at its next meeting the draft Explanatory Report.
6. The following declarations (as they have been pronounced) have been made:
European Commission
« Les représentants de la Commission ont indiqué lors de la sixième session (28 septembre au 1er octobre 2004) que le mécanisme de suivi et les dispositions finales (soit les chapitres VIII à XI selon la nouvelle numérotation telle que modifiée lors de la sixième session) leur posaient de sérieuses difficultés. A l’invitation du secrétariat du CAHTEH, les services juridiques de la Commission européenne et du Conseil de l’Europe ont pris contact en vue d’approuver un texte qui serait présenté ultérieurement au CAHTEH. Un accord n’étant pas encore intervenu lors de la septième session sur le Chapitre VII relatif au mécanisme de suivi, et sur les dispositions finales suivantes : 40§1, 41§2 à 4, 42§3, 43§1 et 2, la Communauté européenne, représentée par la Commission européenne, réserve sa position sur ces points. »
Belgium
« Déclaration de la délégation belge du CAHTEH le 10/12/2004 au moment de l’approbation du projet de Convention
L’adoption du projet de texte de la Convention par consensus n’a pas été possible. Dans ces conditions, la délégation belge à émis un vote d’abstention à l’égard du projet de texte et cela pour les raisons suivantes :
- le projet de texte représente certes une plus-value – même si à notre avis elle est actuellement trop limitée – par rapport aux instruments existants, en particulier Palerme mais ne répond pas selon nous, au mandat qui avait été confié au CAHTEH. C’est aussi dire que la déception de la délégation belge est grande par rapport à notre attente ;
- à notre avis, le projet de texte comporte en trop d’endroits de simples invitations aux Etats (sous la forme d’expressions « envisage » « s’efforce »…) sans effet contraignant. Notre délégation aurait voulu un texte plus ambitieux, en particulier en matière de protection et d’assistance aux victimes de la traite.
Notre délégation est pleinement consciente que le processus de négociations va se poursuivre. Nous attendons l’opinion de l’Assemblée parlementaire pour réexaminer dans un esprit constructif, avec tous les collègues du CAHTEH le projet de texte en février 2005.
Permettez-moi de souligner que face à différentes difficultés en cours de négociations, notre délégation a fait des propositions constructives : ce fut ainsi le cas pour la formulation de la clause de non-sanction (art. 26 du projet de texte).
Je vous remercie pour votre attention. »
Denmark, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom
“With reference to our abstention from the vote:
On behalf of the national delegations of Denmark, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom, I wish to express again our regret that we have been unable to reach agreement on a text which may not have received universal support but may have enabled us to reach consensus. As the debate has shown, a number of delegations still have difficulties with the current draft text, although we believed we were close to a solution.
Our delegations support the aims of the convention and would not want to hinder its progress to the next stage. This is why we have chosen to abstain.
We recognise the text as the product of the Committee’s work to date and can agree to submit this draft to the Committee of Ministers. However, we wish the abridged report to respect clearly our understanding that this is not a final text and that there will still be opportunities for compromise agreements before the text is finalised.”
Armenia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Moldova
Bearing in mind the importance of the legally binding document on action against trafficking in human beings and appreciating and supporting the principles behind the work of the CAHTEH, the members of the CAHTEH representing Armenia, Bulgaria, Croatia and Moldova, voted in favour of the proposed draft Convention.
The above mentioned experts voted in favour on the understanding that the draft text of the Convention is still a working text and that the document that will be presented to the Committee of Ministers with the purpose to transfer it to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe does not represent the final version of
the text.
The above-mentioned delegations express their willingness to proceed further on the examination of the draft Convention in the light of the comments by the Parliamentary Assembly.
In this respect, we understand that we still preserve the opportunity to come back to the substance of the draft at a later stage.”
7. Finally, the CAHTEH invited the Committee of Ministers to take note of this report as a whole.
Appendix 1
List of participants
MEMBER STATES/ETATS MEMBRES
ALBANIA/ALBANIE
Mr Artan BAJRAKTARI
Chief of National Central Office “Interpol-Tirana”
Ministry of Public Order
ANDORRA/ANDORRE
ARMENIA/ARMÉNIE
Ms Gulnara SHAHINIAN
Member of State Commission on Status of Women Counter Trafficking Commission
[Vice-Chair of the CAHTEH/Vice-Présidente du CAHTEH]
AUSTRIA/AUTRICHE
Mr Johann FROHLICH
Director
Justice and Home Affairs Division
Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Ms Carmen PRIOR
Judge
Department of Criminal Legislation
Ministry of Justice
AZERBAIJAN/AZERBAÏDJAN
Mr Fuad ALIYEV
Senior Operation Inspector
Ministry of Internal Affairs
BELGIUM/BELGIQUE
M. Jean-Sébastien JAMART
Conseiller adjoint à la Direction de la Législation pénale et des Droits de l’Homme du Service Public Fédéral Justice
[Chair of the CAHTEH/Président du CAHTEH]
M. Philippe DARTOIS
Ministre Plénipotentiaire
Service Asile, Immigration, Lutte contre la traite des êtres humains
SPF Affaires étrangères
Madame Julie DUTRY
Conseiller adjoint
Direction de la Législation pénale et des Droits de l’Homme du Service Public Fédéral Justice
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA/BOSNIE-HERZEGOVINE
Mr Samir RIZVO
Office of the State Coordinator on Anti-Trafficking and Illegal immigration
BULGARIA/BULGARIE
Ms Lyubomira DIMITROVA
State Expert
International legal Cooperation and Eurointegration Department
Ministry of Justice
CROATIA/CROATIE
Ms Stefica STAZNIK
Assistant Minister
Ministry of Justice
CYPRUS/CHYPRE
Ms Vicky CHRISTOFOROU
Law Officer on behalf of the Attorney General of Cyprus
Law Office of the Republic of Cyprus
CZECH REPUBLIC/REPUBLIQUE TCHEQUE
DENMARK/DANEMARK
Ms Mette UNDALL-BEHREND
Head of Section
The Criminal Law Division
Law Department
The Ministry of Justice
Ms Cristina POBLADOR
International Division
The Ministry of Refugees, Immigration and Integration Affairs
ESTONIA/ESTONIE
Mr Markko KÜNNAPU
Adviser
Legal Department
Ministry of Internal Affairs of Estonia
FINLAND/FINLANDE
Ms Mia SPOLANDER
Legal Officer
Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Legal Department
FRANCE
M. Manuel RUBIO-GULLON
Service des Affaires Européennes et Internationales
Bureau des Négociations Pénales
Ministère de la Justice
GEORGIA/GEORGIE
Ms Tamar SHENGELIA
Legal Advisor
Ministry of Justice of Georgia
GERMANY/ALLEMAGNE
Ms Nicole ZÜNDORF-HINTE
Advisor
Federal Ministry for Family Affairs
Senior Citizens, Women and Youth
[Vice-Chair of the CAHTEH/Vice-Présidente du CAHTEH]
GREECE/GRECE
Ms Athina-Maria CHRISTODOULOU-SAMARTZOPOULOU
Counsellor for Legal Affairs
General Secretariat for Equality
Ms Christina PRAPIDI
Lawyer
Counsellor to the Ministry of Justice
Ms Charikleia VOULGARAKI
Counsellor
Ministry of Public Order
Ms Sotiria KASNAKOUDI
Official
Directorate of Aliens and Immigration
Section for Residence Permits
Ministry of Interior Public Administration and Decentralisation
HUNGARY/HONGRIE
Ms Éva PÁDÁR
Counsellor
Ministry of Interior
Department for International Law
ICELAND/ISLANDE
IRELAND/IRLANDE
Ms Breda WALSHE
Assistant Principal Officer
Criminal Law Reform Division
Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform
ITALY/ITALIE
LATVIA/LETTONIE
Mr Arturs VAISLA
Head of Section 2 Drug Enforcement Bureau for Fight Against Trafficking in Human Beings of the Organised Crime Combating Board of Main Criminal Police Board of the State Police
Ministry of Interior
LIECHTENSTEIN
Mr Patrick RITTER
Deputy Permanent Representative of Liechtenstein to the Council of Europe
c/o Office of Foreign Affairs
[Apologised/Excusé]
LITHUANIA/LITUANIE
Mr Ramunas JURGAITIS
Senior Specialist
Public Safety Department
Ministry of Internal Affairs
LUXEMBOURG
Madame Sarah KHABIRPOUR
Attaché de gouvernement
Ministère de la Justice
M. Bernard PHILIPPART
Expert détaché
Ministère de la Justice
MALTA/MALTE
Mr Anthony BARBARA
Office of the Attorney General
MOLDOVA
Ms Rodica POSTU
Secretary III
Council of Europe Division
International Law and Treaties General Department
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
MONACO
NETHERLANDS/PAYS-BAS
Mr G.C. DE BOER
Counsellor Legal Affairs
Deputy to the Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the Council of Europe
France
M. B. T. WINKEL
1er Secrétaire d’Ambassade (Aff. Juridiques)
Représentation Permanente des Pays-Bas auprès de l’Union Européenne
Belgique
NORWAY/NORVEGE
Ms Gry STEEN HVIDSTEN
Adviser
Legislation Department
Ministry of Justice
Ms Tove SKARSTEIN
Senior Adviser
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
POLAND/POLOGNE
Ms Hanna WOLASIEWICZ
Judge
The Chancellory of the Prime Minister
Secretariat of the Government Plenipotentiary for Equal Status of Women and Men
Ms Katarzyna BRALCZYK
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Legal and Treaty Department
Human Rights Section
PORTUGAL
M. João ATAIDE DAS NEVES
Directeur National Adjoint de la Police Judiciaire
ROMANIA/ROUMANIE
Mr Ion Gabriel SOTIRESCU
Director
Organised Crime Directorate
DGCCOA
Ministry of Administration and Interior
Ms Simona SPINARU
3rd Secretary
OSCE, Council of Europe and Human Rights Directorate
Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
RUSSIAN FEDERATION/FEDERATION DE RUSSIE
M. Vladislav ERMAKOV
Conseiller du Département pour la coopération humanitaire et les Droits de l’Homme du Ministère des Affaires Etrangères
Mme Iulia IVANOVA
Spécialiste du Département pour la coopération humanitaire et les Droits de l’Homme du Ministère des Affaires Etrangères
SAN MARINO/SAINT MARIN
SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO/SERBIE - MONTENEGRO
Ms Ljiljana JANKOVIC
Legal Advisor
National Coordination Team on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro
SLOVAKIA/SLOVAQUIE
Mr Richard SVIEZENÝ
Official
Division of Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters
International and European Law Department
Ministry of Justice
SLOVENIA/SLOVENIE
Mr Sandi CURIN
Undersecretary
Ministry of the Interior
SPAIN/ESPAGNE
Madame Idoya ARTEAGABEITIA GONZÁLEZ
Avocat de l’Etat
Cabinet d’Etudes
Ministère de la Justice
SWEDEN/SUEDE
Ms Viveca LANG
Ministry of Justice
Division for Criminal Law
SWITZERLAND/SUISSE
Madame Dominique STEIGER LEUBA
Collaboratrice scientifique
Section des droits de l’homme et Conseil de l’Europe
Office fédéral de la justice
Département fédéral de justice et police
"THE FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA" / “L’EX-REPUBLIQUE YOUGOSLAVE DE MACEDOINE”
Ms Tanja KIKEREKOVA
Head of Human Rights Department
Ministry of Justice
TURKEY/TURQUIE
Ms Ilknur ALTUNTAS
Judge
General Directorate of International Law and International Relations
Ministry of Justice
Mr Akif AYHAN
Deputy General Director
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Ms Elvan HACIEFENDIOGLU
III Secretary,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
UKRAINE
M. Victor KRYZHANIVSKYI
Adjoint au Chef du Département de la politique étrangère de l’administration du Président de l’Ukraine
Foreign Policy Directorate
UNITED KINGDOM/ROYAUME-UNI
Ms Sam EVANS
Head of Victims of Sexual Offending and Human Trafficking
Home Office, Victims Unit
ORGANS AND COMMITTEES OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE/ORGANES ET COMITES DU CONSEIL DE L'EUROPE
PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE/ASSEMBLEE PARLEMENTAIRE DU CONSEIL DE L'EUROPE
Madame Ruth-Gaby VERMOT-MANGOLD
Conseillère Nationale
Suisse
CONGRESS OF LOCAL AND REGIONAL AUTHORITIES OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE / CONGRES DES POUVOIRS LOCAUX ET REGIONAUX DU CONSEIL DE L'EUROPE
Ms Sandra BARNES
Leader
South Northants Council
United Kingdom
STEERING COMMITTEE FOR EQUALITY BETWEEN WOMEN AND MEN/COMITE DIRECTEUR POUR L’EGALITE ENTRE LES FEMMES ET LES HOMMES (CDEG)
Ms Violeta NEUBAUER
Co-ordinator for International Co-operation
Office of the Government of Slovenia for Equal Opportunities
Slovenia
Ms Sissel SALOMON
Senior Advisor
Department for family, child care and gender equality
Ministry of Children and Family Affairs
Norway
EUROPEAN COMMITTEE ON CRIME PROBLEMS/COMITE EUROPEEN POUR LES PROBLEMES CRIMINELS (CDPC)
Madame Linda CONINGS
Conseiller Adjoint au Service de la Politique Criminelle du Service Public Fédéral Justice
Belgique
Ms Maria KELT
Senior Legal Adviser
Ministry of Justice
Division for Penal Law
Sweden
[Apologised/Excusée]
STEERING COMMITTEE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS/COMITE DIRECTEUR SUR LES DROITS DE L’HOMME (CDDH)
Ms Milena ŠMIT
Head of Human Rights and Council of Europe Division
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Slovenia
EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR SOCIAL COHESION/COMITE EUROPEEN POUR LA COHESION SOCIALE (CDCS)
Madame Marie-Cécile VADEAU-DUCHER
Ministère des affaires sociales, du travail et de la solidarité
Délégation aux affaires européennes et internationales
Chargée des relations avec le conseil de l’Europe
[Apologised/Excusée]
EUROPEAN COMMITTEE ON MIGRATION/COMITE EUROPEEN SUR LES MIGRATIONS (CDMG)
Mr Alexander ZINEVICH
Head of Refugees and Migrants Division
Department of Humanitarian Cooperation and Human Rights
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Russian Federation
GOVERNMENTAL COMMITTEE OF THE EUROPEAN SOCIAL CHARTER/COMITE GOVERNMENTAL DE LA CHARTE SOCIALE EUROPEENNE
Madame Marie-Paule URBAIN
Présidente du Comité gouvernemental de la Charte Social Europeenne
Conseillère, SPF Emploi
Travail, Concertation sociale
Service du Président
Division des Etudes
Belgique
ADVISORY COUNCIL ON YOUTH /CONSEIL CONSULTATIF POUR LA JEUNESSE (DJS/CCJ)
***
COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COMMISSION DES COMMUNAUTES EUROPEENNES
Madame Isabelle GAUDEUL-EHRHART
Administrateur
DG Justice, Liberté et Sécurité
Commission européenne
Belgique
Mr Jürgen MERZ
Directorate General Justice, Freedom and Security
Unit D1: Fight against Terrorism, Trafficking and Exploitation of Persons, and Law Enforcement Cooperation
European Commission
Belgium
GENERAL SECRETARIAT OF THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION/SECRETARIAT GENERAL DU CONSEIL DE L’UNION EUROPEENNE
Mr Bent MEJBORN
General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union
Justice, Home Affairs, Judicial Cooperation and Organised Crime (DG H)
Belgium
Mr Gavriil KAMPOUROGLOU
EU Council Secretariat
Justice & Home Affairs - DG H I
Belgium
***
OBSERVERS WITH THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE / OBSERVATEURS AUPRES DU CONSEIL DE L'EUROPE
CANADA
HOLY SEE/SAINT-SIEGE
Madame Adriana OPROMOLLA
COMECE Secretariat
Belgique
JAPAN/JAPON
Mr Naoyuki IWAI
Consul (Attorney)
Consulate-General of Japan
France
MEXICO/MEXIQUE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA/ETATS UNIS D’AMERIQUE
***
OBSERVERS WITH THE COMMITTEE
OBSERVATEURS AUPRES DU COMITE
ORGANISATION FOR SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE/ORGANISATION POUR LA SECURITE ET LA COOPERATION EN EUROPE (OSCE)
Ms Aneilise GOMES DE ARAUJO
Advisor,
Anti-Trafficking Assistance Unit,
Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe
Austria
Ms Marta ACHLER-SZELENBAUM
Legal Expert
Legislative Support Unit
OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
Poland
ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC COOPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT (OECD)/ ORGANISATION DE COOPERATION ET DE DEVELOPPEMENT ECONOMIQUE (OCDE)
[Apologised/Excusé]
INTERNATIONAL LABOUR OFFICE/BUREAU INTERNATIONAL DU TRAVAIL (ILO/BIT)
[Apologised/Excusé]
UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN’S FUND/FONDS DES NATIONS UNIES POUR L’ENFANCE (UNICEF)
Ms Deborah MCWHINNEY
Sub-Regional Co-ordinator for HIV/AIDS and Trafficking
Bosnia and Herzegovina
INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATION FOR MIGRATION (IOM)/ORGANISATION INTERNATIONALE POUR DES MIGRATIONS (OIM)
Ms Isabel PASTOR
Programme Development and Liaison Assistant
International Organisation for Migration
Regional Office
Belgium
OFFICE OF THE UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS (OHCHR-UNOG)/HAUT COMMISSARIAT DES NATIONS UNIES AUX DROITS DE L’HOMME (HCNUDH)
UNITED NATIONS OFFICE ON DRUGS AND CRIME (UNODC)/BUREAU DES NATIONS UNIES CONTRE LA DROGUE ET LE CRIME (ODC)
[Apologised/Excusé]
INTERPOL
[Apologised/Excusé]
EUROPOL
EUROPEAN WOMEN’S LOBBY (EWL)/LOBBY EUROPEEN DES FEMMES (LEF)
Madame Colette DE TROY
Co-ordinator
Policy Action centre on Violence against Women
Belgium
COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATES/COMMUNAUTE DES ETATS INDEPENDANTS (CIS/CEI)
UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES (UNHCR)/HAUT COMMISSARIAT DES NATIONS UNIES POUR LES REFUGIES (UNHCR)
Mr Samuel BOUTRUCHE
Legal Assistant
UNHCR Representation to the European Institutions in Strasbourg
c/o Council of Europe
France
Mr Günther SCHESKE
UNHCR Representation to the European Institutions in Strasbourg
c/o Council of Europe
France
SCIENTIFIC EXPERTS/EXPERTS SCIENTIFIQUES
Ms Maria Grazia GIAMMARINARO
Criminal Judge
Criminal Court of Rome
Italy
***
Appendix 2
Agenda
1. Opening of the meeting
2. Adoption of the agenda
3. Examination of the following provisions of the draft Council of Europe Convention on action against trafficking in human beings
Preamble
Chapter IV: Article 25 Non-punishment provision
Chapter VIII: Articles 35§1, 36 and 37 Monitoring mechanism
Chapter IX: Articles 38 and 39 Relationship with other instruments
Chapter X: Article 40 Amendments to the Convention
Chapter XI: Articles 41 to 46 Final clauses
4. Examination of the Preliminary draft of the explanatory report on the provisions of the Draft Council of Europe Convention which has been examined in a second reading
5. Calendar of future works
6. Any other business