On April 1, 2004, the leaders of the 25 current and future member states of the European Union unanimously committed themselves to reaching an agreement on the European Draft Constitution by their next summit, Jun 17-18, 2004.  The Constitution was submitted to the Presidency of the Council of the EU on July 18, 2003, and is currently being reviewed by the Intergovernmental Conference.  After the Constitution is approved by the member state leaders of the Intergovernmental Conference, it will need to be ratified by each member state, a process that is estimated to last two years.  Once ratified, the Constitution will make the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union binding law. 

European Union Law and Policy on Trafficking page of this website has additional information on how the Constitution and the Charter of Fundamental Rights address the issue of trafficking in women.

The biweekly bulletin of the Constitutional Convention tracks the latest developments on the agreement process. 

Lithuania's Second Periodic Report under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) was examined by the U.N. Human Rights Committee during its 80th session from 16 March 2004 to 3 April 2004. Lithuania acceded to the ICCPR on 20 February 1992.

For more information about Lithuania's Reporting Schedule, please see the Lithuania section of this website.

In connection with the 60th Session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, the permanent missions of Australia, Costa Rica, Congo, Germany, Libyan Arab Jamahiriy, Nigeria, Philippines, and Poland and the Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights met today to discuss a proposal that the Commission appoint a new Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children. See the schedule of meetings for the 60th Session here.

A recent article published through the Asian Centre for Human Rights suggests that the Special Rapporteur on Trafficking will be mandated to gather and exchange information from governments, non-governmental organizations and victims of trafficking in order to propose appropriate measures to prevent and remedy trafficking violations. In addition, the Special Rapporteur could report to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights on trafficking patterns which require immediate intervention, and would be able to advise UN and national governing bodies on how to streamline their anti-trafficking programs for greater effectiveness.

In an article through the United Nations news service, Juan Miguel Petit, Special Rapporteur on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Pornography, expressed his support for the creation of this new post. He remarked that the Special Rapporteurs will have to closely coordinate to avoid a duplication of efforts. To this effect, he suggested that the post not be limited to the issue of trafficking in women and girl children for purposes of sexual exploitation, and that the post have a determined geographic (rather than world-wide) scope.

The United Nations Commission on Human Rights approved today the appointment of a Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children.  The Special Rapporteur's mandate will focus on the human rights aspects of trafficking, and will be responsible for an annual report and recommendations on measures needed to protect victims of trafficking. 

For more on this decision, see the UNCHR press release and the news article available on this website.

The first fifteen country chapters of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights' annual report Human Rights in the OSCE Region: Europe, Central Asia and North America, Report 2004 (Events of 2003) are available. The countries chapters available include: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic and Georgia.

Turkmenistan opened a two-day conference Friday to address women and children's rights, including the prevention of human trafficking, Integrated Regional Information Networks reported.

The conference, sponsored by the International Organization for Migration and UNICEF, was designed as a forum in which to discuss experiences and best practices in order to shape initiatives promoting women's and children's rights at the national and international level.

Representatives from nearby countries such as Pakistan, India, China, Afghanistan, Turkey and Russia, as well as the United Arab Emirates, which shares migration movements with Turkmenistan, participated in the meeting, along with individuals from international organizations.

Human trafficking is less of a problem in Turkmenistan than in many countries in the region, but the fast pace of economic development and the recent elimination of exit visas for citizens seeking to travel abroad could result in a growing trade in humans, IRIN said.

"It is very important for every government to learn how other governments deal with certain issues," said Zoran Milovic, head of IOM's mission in the Turkmen capital of Ashgabat. "But in order to avoid problems in the future, we have to work today" (IRIN, April 23).

Published in UN Wire, April 27, 2004.  Copyright National Journal Group, Inc., 2003.

On April 21, 2004, the Union of Womens Organizations in Macedonia (SOZM) proposed a change in Macedonian local election law to guarantee the equal representation of female candidates. Currently, women comprise only 18.4% of parliamentary legislators, 8.4% of city and municipal council members, and 3% of mayors. In its press release, the SOZM argued that [t]he successful development of Macedonia, must not ignore the abilities, skills and creativity of women, but must include them on an equal basis in decision-making on all levels.

Adapted from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Newsline, Vol. 8, No. 76, Part II, 23 April 2004.

On May 4-5, 2004, the Dushanbe office of the International Organization for Migration will hold a National Conference on Trafficking in Persons for government and NGO representatives to address the trafficking process and its judicial and legislative implications. The problem of trafficking continues to be an issue in a country still recovering from a five-year civil war, where the average monthly income hovers around US$5. In 2003, however, the United States Department of State Trafficking in Persons Report upgraded Tajikistan from Tier III status (for countries that have failed to address the problem of trafficking) to Tier II status. According to the 2003 Report, [t]he government of Tajikistan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so.

See Legislative Trends and New Developments on the Tajikistan country page of this website for the most current legislation on trafficking.

In the European Union Press Release of April 29, 2004 (Document Number 8694/004 (Presse 123)) that summarizes the proceedings of the 2579th Meeting of the Council of Ministers of the European Union, the Council announced that it had adopted

a Directive on the residence permit issued to third-country nationals victims of trafficking in human beings or to third-country nationals who have been the subject of an action to facilitate illegal immigration who cooperate with the competent authorities (14994/03). The purpose of this Directive is to strengthen the European Union’s legislative framework for combating illegal immigration by granting a residence permit of limited duration for the victims of action to facilitate illegal immigration and of trafficking in human beings. The granting of the residence permit to which a certain number of benefits is attached is subject to conditions designed to encourage these people to cooperate with the competent authorities against those suspected of committing the crimes in question.

The Directive was written by the European Commission and received the approval of the Justice and Home Affairs Council on November 2, 2003. A copy of the directive as proposed is available here. It is the revision of a previous proposal that was tabled on February 11, 2002 and that was wider in scope.  For a summary and analysis of the first proposal of the Directive, please see the Trafficking Law and Policy: Regional Law and Standards and the Trafficking in Women Legal Protection sections of this website.

Please note that, on March 9, 2004, the European Parliament voted in support of the then proposed directive.  The Parliament also voted to include amendments to give victims greater access to support services, including the possibility of residency permits for family members and adequate language translation services. The result of Parliaments vote was a non-binding Opinion that was presented to the Council of Ministers prior to their adoption of the directive. 

For details on the amendments to the directive suggested by Parliament, see the resolution included at pages 40 to 47 of Texts Adopted at the Sitting of Tuesday, 9 March 2004. For more information on the role of the European Parliament within the European Union, please see the International Law: European Union section of this website.