On 29 January 2004, Lithuania ratified Protocol No. 13 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, concerning the abolition of the death penalty.

___________________________________________________________

Belarus' Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Periodic Reports (combined) under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) was examined by the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women during its 30th session from 12 January 2004 to 30 January 2004. The list of issues (PDF, 6 pages) to be addressed included national machinery and legislation, trafficking and prostitution, health, Roma and migrant women, older women, employment and rural women, stereotypes and education, violence against women, and political participation. Belarus ratified CEDAW on 3 September 1981.

For more information about Belarus' Reporting Schedule, please visit the Belarus section of this website.

___________________________________________________________

Kyrgyzstan's Second Periodic Report (PDF, 62 pages) (Addendum) (PDF, 13 pages) under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) was examined by the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women during its 30th session from 12 January 2004 to 30 January 2004. A list of issues is available in Russian (PDF, 6 pages).

Kyrgyzstan acceded to CEDAW on 12 March 1997. For more information about Kyrgyzstan's treaty obligations, please visit the Kyrgyzstan section of this website. ___________________________________________________________

Slovenia's Second Periodic Report under the Convention on the Rights of the Child was examined by the Committee on the Rights of the Child during its 35th session from 12 January 2004 to 30 January 2004. The list of issues requested information on data and statistics, new laws, institutions, policies and programs, and several other matters, including non-discrimination, child abuse, and trafficking.

Slovenia succeeded to the CRC on 25 June 1991.

___________________________________________________________

Armenia's Second Periodic Report under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) was examined by the Committee on the Rights of the Child during its 35th session from 12 January 2004 to 30 January 2004. The list of issues requested information on data and statistics, new laws, institutions and programs, and other matters, including non-discrimination, child labor, sexual exploitation and trafficking and violence against children.

Armenia acceded to the CRC on 22 July 1993. For more information about Armenia's treaty obligations, please visit the Armenia section of this website.

___________________________________________________________

Estonia Ratifies Protocol 13 to the European Human Rights Convention
25 February 2004

On 25 February 2004, Estonia ratified Protocol No. 13 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms concerning the abolition of the death penalty.

For more information about Estonia's treaty obligations, please visit the Estonia section of this website.

___________________________________________________________

Slovenia's National Assembly Votes for Female Quota in Upcoming European Parliament Election Lists
26 February 2004

On 26 February 2004, Slovenia's National Assembly voted to require a forty percent female quota on election lists in the upcoming June 2004 elections for European Parliament. The legislation also requires the list to have at least one female candidate in its top half. Although Slovene women are well-represented in what are traditionally male-dominated fields, they still remain underrepresented in the political sector. According to "Delo," women constitute thirteen percent of towncouncils, twelve percent of parliament, and less than six percent of mayorships.

For more information, please visit Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

___________________________________________________________

Serbia and Montenegro Ratifies Nine Council of Europe Treaties
3 March 2004

On 3 March 2004, Serbia and Montenegro ratified nine Council of Europe treaties, including the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, Protocols 1, 4, 6, 7, 12 and 13, the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and the Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in the European Region.

For more information on the status of Serbia and Montenegro's international treaty obligations, please visit the Serbia and Montenegro section of this website.

___________________________________________________________

U.S. Government Announces New Anti-Trafficking Initiatives
11 March 2004

For more information about these new initiatives, please see the Department of Health and Human Services press release located here.  For more information on domestic efforts to combat human trafficking please see the Trafficking in Women Law and Policy section of this website.

___________________________________________________________

Today, the parliament of the Ukraine struck down three bills concerning gender equality which were introduced in the alternative.  

The first legislative bill proposed to eliminate all forms of gender discrimination and to achieve equal protection of men and women under the law. 

The second legislative bill proposed to establish gender quotas in party lists of candidates.  The bill proposed that there be at least 30% of one gender and at most 70% of another gender in party candidate lists.  The bill also planned to establish a special commission on the equal protection of men and women under the law at the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.  

The third legislative bill proposed gender quotas similar to those proposed in the second bill. It also aimed to address the issue of sexual harassment at work. 

The defeat of the bills is irrevocable, which means than the bills cannot be afforded another first reading in the Parliament. 

For more information, please see the official website of the Parliament of Ukraine (In Ukrainian). This site provides the voting results in respect of the equal protection bills.  For information on efforts to combat violence against women in the Ukraine, please see the Ukraine Country Page on this website.

___________________________________________________________

Lithuania's Second Periodic Report under the ICCPR Examined
3 April 2004

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.

___________________________________________________________

Turkmenistan Opens Conference on Rights of Women and Children
27 April 2004

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.

___________________________________________________________

Macedonian Women's Organization Demands Equal Representation in Elections
29 April 2004

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.

___________________________________________________________

Tajikistan Holds National Conference on Trafficking
29 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.

___________________________________________________________

Azerbaijan Adopts Action Plan Against Human Trafficking
18 May 2004

BAKU, 18 May 2004 - The OSCE Office in Baku today welcomed the adoption by Azerbaijan of a national action plan to co-ordinate all efforts in the fight against human trafficking.

"The Government of Azerbaijan should be congratulated for its forward-looking and proactive stance in fighting trafficking in human beings," said Robin Seaword, Deputy Head of the OSCE Office in Baku. "We hope that by consistent implementation of the letter and spirit of the National Action Plan, Azerbaijan will play a model role in this field."

"The events in this sphere represent the most rapid progress anywhere, from a starting point in November 2002, when the existence of trafficking in human beings was not recognised, to the adoption of the National Action Plan," he added.

The document is a result of the close co-operation between the Azerbaijani Government and institutions and the international partners. It is in line with the spirit and provisions of the OSCE documents on the prevention of trafficking in human beings, which commit all participating States to take actions to eradicate human trafficking.

The Action Plan envisages further improvement of the legal framework, assignment of a National Co-ordinator, creation of a special police department against human trafficking, ensuring protection of victims and consolidation of resources and activities of the relevant governmental, non-governmental and international organizations.

"We share a common goal, a common determination, and a common strategy to succeed," said Mr. Robin Seaword, stressing the Office's readiness to continue its co-operation with the Azerbaijani authorities and institutions. "We stand ready to offer Azerbaijan further advice and assistance to abolish trafficking and related transnational criminal activities."

Cited from OSCE Online Press Release, 18 May 2004, available here.

For more information, please visit the Azerbaijan section of this website.

___________________________________________________________

Albanian Government Responds to Problems in Witness Protection for Trafficking Survivors
26 May 2004

Compiled from the 2004 Albanian summary by Amnesty International and  a report from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Presence in Albania

For more information on trafficking, please visit the Trafficking section on this website. For more information on violence against women in Albania, see the Albania section of this website.

___________________________________________________________

Delay in Adoption of Bosnia and Herzegovina Laws and Amendments Hinders Prevention of Trafficking and Protection of Victims
26 May 2004

According to an Amnesty International report published in May 2004, the delayed adoption of the new Law on Asylum and amendments to the Law on the Movement and Stay of Foreigners hinders the prevention of trafficking and protection of victims, many of which continue to be treated largely as illegal migrants. See Amnesty International summary for Bosnia and Herzegovina for more information.

Compiled from the 2004 Amnesty International report on Bosnia and Herzegovina.

For more information, please visit the Trafficking and Bosnia and Herzegovina sections of this website.

___________________________________________________________

First Conviction for Enslavement in Bosnia and Herzegovina
26 May 2004

According to a Amnesty International report published in May 2004, the Tuzla Cantonal Court found the owner of a local nightclub guilty of enslavement in March 2003 and sentenced him to three and a half years in prison. This case is notable because it marks the first conviction in the Federation for enslavement. Previous offenders were charged with the lesser offence of procurement. See Amnesty International summary for Bosnia and Herzegovina for more information.

Compiled from the 2004 Amnesty International summary for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

For more information, please visit the Trafficking and Bosnia and Herzegovina sections of this website.

___________________________________________________________

Corruption is Limiting Kazakhstan’s Efforts Against Human Trafficking
2 June 2004

Michael Chance, the head of the International Organization for Migration (IOM)  in Kazakhstan, told Radio Free Europe that corrupt officials are limiting the effectiveness of Kazakhstan’s efforts to combat human trafficking.

According to official figures, 110 cases against people alleged to be involved in trafficking were initiated in the first three months of 2004, only eight cases were opened in all of 2003. The IOM official said, however, that few traffickers have been punished because those involved in the trade have enough money to bribe investigators. He also attributed the low success rate to a lack of legislation criminalizing human trafficking.

The U.S. State Department has cited Kazakhstan in its annual human-rights report for weakness in fighting human trafficking. The report is available here, (please refer to section 6(f)).

Most citizens of Kazakhstan who fall victim to human trafficking are sent to the United Arab Emirates, though some have been sent to western Europe, Israel. And Saudi Arabia.

Cited from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty online newsletter, Volume 8, Number 97, 24 May 2004, available here.

For more information, please visit the Kazakhstan section of this website. For reference to other reports on Kazakhstan please refer to the Human Rights Reports section of this website.

___________________________________________________________

One in Three Armenian Women are Subjected to Violence
7 June 2004

According to ARMINFO,  USAID Intra/PRIME reports that one in three women in Armenia is a victim of physical or psychological abuse at least once in her lifetime. The survey indicated that 46% of 1,457 respondents reported psychological abuse and twenty one percent of respondents reported physical abuse. Two per cent of the women reported being raped before marriage. The report also indicates that Armenian victims of violence are hestitant to report the abuse to the authorities.

Compiled from: "Every Third Armenian Woman Subjected to Violence" ARMINFO Independent Armenian News Agency.

For more information, please see the Domestic Violence section, Sexual Assault section and Armenia country page of this website.

___________________________________________________________

Kosovo Faces Serious Gender Inequality
8 June 2004

The Office of Gender Affairs in the U.N. Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) has completed a gender survey in Kosovo, which reveals a serious gender gap in both the workforce and education. The survey found that women constitute only thirty percent of the labor force in urban areas, and female participation in the workforce drops to twenty-one percent in rural areas. In addition, the survey also found that girls were under-represented in schools. Ninety-one percent of girls go to primary school, and only fifty-four percent attended secondary school.

UNMIK carried out the survey to provide information to policymakers in their efforts to attain gender equality in the areas of employment, education, health and social welfare.

Compiled from UN News Centre, 8 June 2004, available here.

For more information on women in Kosovo, please visit the Kosovo section of this website.

___________________________________________________________

Mongolia Adopts Domestic Violence Bill
8 June 2004

On 13 May 2004, the Parliament of Mongolia unanimously adopted a Domestic Violence Bill. Since 1996, women's groups have advocated for the law with training and support from the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).

The Advocates for Human Rights has issued comments on the new law.

Cited from UNIFEM’s electronic newsletter, May/June 2004, available here.   

Mongolia_Domestic_Violence_law.doc  

For more information on Mongolia, please visit the Mongolia section of this website.

___________________________________________________________

Leaders of Bashkir Women's Groups Call For Greater Representation
15 June 2004

The leaders of several Bashkortostan's women's civic groups have written Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov complaining that women are underrepresented in Russia's new government, an RFE/RL Ufa correspondent reported on 14 June. The authors referred to a declaration adopted at the 1995 Worldwide Women's Conference in China that stresses that women should have equal representation in leading posts. Heads of Bashkortostan's Bashkir, Tatar, Ukrainian, and other organizations signed the appeal.

Copyright (c)2004. RFE/RL, Inc. reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20035. www.rferl.org

For more information, please visit the Russian Federation section of this website.

___________________________________________________________

Azerbaijan’s Georgian Minority Protests Discrimination
16 June 2004

Several dozen young Georgians from three predominantly Georgian-populated districts in northwestern Azerbaijan gathered on 14 June outside the state chancellery where Saakashvili and Aliyev were meeting, Georgian media reported. They protested the lack of Georgian-language education in Azerbaijan and official restrictions on giving children Georgian names. Caucasus Press quoted Aliyev as saying the Azerbaijani government "will do everything possible" to help the Georgian minority. Georgian Education Minister Kakha Lomaya is scheduled to travel to the region later this month bringing a consignment of Georgian textbooks for 12 local schools, Caucasus Press reported on 4 June.

Copyright (c) 2004. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org

For more information, please see the Georgia and Azerbaijan sections of this website.

___________________________________________________________

Annan Appoints Envoy To Probe Kosovo Violence
16 June 2004

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan has appointed Norwegian Ambassador Kai Eide to investigate ethnic violence that rocked Kosovo in March, leaving 19 people dead and hundreds injured and driving 3,000 people — mostly Serbs — from their homes.

Eide will examine the political and cultural implications of the violence between the Serbs and ethnic Albanians and recommend ways in which the two groups can live in peace.

Meanwhile, Harri Holkeri, who stepped down last month as head of the U.N. Mission in Kosovo, warned Sunday "there may still be difficult days ahead" for the province and urged the people to "reject extremism, reject division and listen to their responsible leaders."

Reflecting on his 10 months of service, Holkeri said that while the March violence was "a big setback" to peace and reconstruction in the region, much progress had been made before the clashes.

"Kosovo had no functioning institutions when the U.N. arrived here (in 1999), but since then, three elections have been organized and Kosovo now has a functioning government and an elected assembly," he said (seeurope.net, June 14).

Cited from U.N. Wire, June 15 2004, available here. Copyright, National Journal Group, 2004.

For more information, please refer to the Kosovo section of this website.

___________________________________________________________

Greece Grants Temporary Residence Permits to Two Trafficked Women
21 June 2004

This month Greece granted temporary residence permits to two women who were trafficked in the country and forced to work as prostitutes. They are the first victims of trafficking who benefit from Law 3064/2002 on "Combating trafficking in human beings, crimes against sexual freedom, child pornography and more generally on economic exploitation of sexual life and assistance to the victims thereof.”

The law was adopted in 2002 and criminalizes trafficking in persons for sexual exploitation and forced labor. Under the provisions of Law 3064, victims are allowed to remain in Greece until the case against their traffickers is tried in court. In the meantime, they can secure residence and work permits and stay at shelters.

In its 2004 report, the U.S. Department of State noted that no convictions were reported under Law 3064, although the Greek government had arrested 284 alleged traffickers.

Local human rights groups hope that the new center-right government will issue more temporary residence permits to trafficking victims. The Greek Helsinki Monitor and 13 other local human rights groups signed a petition appealing to the Minister of Justice for legal aid to trafficking victims.

The granting of temporary residence permits is also in line with a European Union directive adopted in April. The directive states that victims of trafficking should be granted a short-term residency permit in order to encourage them to cooperate with the authorities.

Between 20,000 and 40,000 women and girls are trafficked into Greece every year. The majority of trafficking victims are from the former Eastern bloc countries.

Compiled from Athens News, The Balkan Human Rights Web Pages and U.S. Department of State 2004 Trafficking in Persons Report.

For more information, please see the Trafficking in Women section of this website.

___________________________________________________________

La Strada: The Street Without Joy
22 June 2004

On 31 March, the Czech website idnes.cz reported that Czech police had arrested and expelled four Ukrainian night club workers from Stara Voda in western Bohemia. The workers had forged passport stamps from Prague's Ruzyne Airport and reportedly obtained them from an unknown man for the price of 120 euros ($145). A year earlier, in April 2003, the Czech police's Anti-Organized Crime Unit arrested two Ukrainian men, one Czech man, and a Czech woman, on charges of trafficking in women for prostitution in the Czech towns of Hazlov and As, idnes.cz reported. The two Ukrainians, Mikola Didych and Viktor Sidorchuk, are said to have trafficked some tens of women from Ukraine and Slovakia. According to the report, they made profits of 5.7 million Czech crowns ($216,363) from the trade.

While many of the criminals involved in trafficking are caught and prosecuted, the victim is often left to fend for herself, without travel documents, money, or working papers. La Strada, a nongovernmental organization that has been active in the Czech Republic since 1995, works to protect and help women trafficked for sexual exploitation. Hundreds, if not thousands, of women were returning to their home countries in Central and Eastern Europe after being smuggled or tricked into working as prostitutes in the West. Back home, the women needed a support mechanism to help them reintegrate into society.

La Strada, whose name comes from the Italian for "the street," has been funded for the past nine years by the Dutch Justice and Foreign ministries in cooperation with the Dutch Foundation Against Trafficking in Women. The organization has offices in the Czech Republic, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Moldova, Netherlands, Poland, and Ukraine. La Strada tries to raise awareness in society about the problem of trafficked women, the prevention of human trafficking, assisting individuals, as well as political lobbying.

HUMAN TRAFFICKING: THE SEEN AND THE UNSEEN

La Strada representatives say that there have been certain changes in women-trafficking trends. While formerly the Czech Republic was more a country of origin or transition, it is now also a country of destination having undergone significant social changes after the fall of communism in 1989. Victims of trafficking tend to come from an economically weaker region to an economically stronger one. That means that women are trafficked not only from Eastern European countries to Western Europe, but also from economically depressed regions in their own country.

According to a September 2003 Czech government report, most trafficked women in the Czech Republic come from Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Moldova, Lithuania, Romania, and Bulgaria. Romany women from Slovakia are also a group at high risk. More than 50 percent of women assisted by La Strada come from the countries of the former Soviet Union, although new trends show an increased number of women arriving from China, Vietnam, Slovakia, and occasionally Turkey. In the report, it is estimated that the purchase price of one woman is between 1250 and 1500 euros.

La Strada provides a maximum of six months of counseling and room and board for the victims of trafficking. The estimated monthly cost of care provided by La Strada is 12,150 Czech crowns ($473) for a Czech or foreign citizen. La Strada also works with the Czech Catholic Charity, which often takes on women after three months of La Strada care. The International Office for Migration (IOM) also assists in various cases by covering the costs of new travel documents, visas, or travel expenses, estimated to be around 10,000 crowns per person.

Following that, the Czech government provides the rest of the assistance. The crucial point at this stage concerns the willingness of the victim to cooperate with the police in the investigation and prosecution of the traffickers. If the victim cooperates, she is given asylum. If, on the other hand, she is too scared and refuses to cooperate, this can result in expulsion from the country. According to Klara Skrivankova, a prevention coordinator at La Strada, the "risks of retrafficking are rather high, and some experts suppose that almost the half of the persons end up retrafficked."

La Strada works closely with the Czech police's Anti-Organized Crime Unit. Police officers receive special training on how to deal with victims of trafficking and put many women in contact with La Strada.

However, most women trafficked to the Czech Republic for sexual exploitation refuse to cooperate with the police. According to La Strada representatives, many women have a general distrust of the police, a trait brought from their native countries. According to Skrivankova, cooperation with regional police in the border areas, where prostitution is prevalent, has not been extremely positive. On the other hand, she says that "to break the vicious circle [of human trafficking for sexual exploitation] it takes much more than the work of one NGO or interagency cooperation on a national level -- which I'm glad to say has improved greatly in the past years." "In the Czech Republic there are channels of cooperation between state agencies and NGOs," she adds.

In those cases where the victim does decide to trust the Czech police, there is still fear for the security of their family back home. Traffickers usually "draft" women from their own regions and are therefore well informed about the victim's family. Often families rely on money sent home by trafficked women. In addition, many victims fear that her family or relatives will find out what her "real" job was abroad, which can lead to being ostracized upon returning home.

This doesn't appear to be the case with Czech citizens trafficked abroad. The press office of the Czech Police Department of Security told RFE/RL that during 2003, around 800 Czech citizens, both men and women, contacted Czech embassies throughout the world, claiming to be victims of trafficking. And according to the IOM's Czech Republic Mission Director Lucie Sladkova, the country with the highest number of Czech women reported to have been trafficked to is Italy, with 10 cases reported in 2003.

During the course of 2003, as part of the UN's Global Program against Trafficking in Human Beings, the Czech Institute for Criminology and Social Prevention (IKSP) carried out research related to trends in the trafficking of Czech citizens. The research was based on information provided by Czech embassies; the highest number of Czech victims of trafficking during the last five years was reported at Czech embassies in Washington D.C. (400 cases), in Paris (65 cases), followed by Tokyo (around 25), Madrid and Vienna (each around 20), and Bonn (around 15).

By launching a 15-month twinning project between the Czech Republic, Netherlands, and the U.K. on 9 June, the Czech Republic is aiming to strengthen its legislation and training for specialists, as well as to implement new methods in order to fight more effectively against human trafficking. The project will receive up to 950,000 euros from the European Union's Phare program...

...LEGAL AMBIGUITY

In the Czech Republic, as in other post communist countries, human trafficking and smuggling are illegal according to paragraphs in the criminal code on cross-border trafficking and sexual exploitation. The 2000 UN Palermo Convention protocol (PDF, 51 pages) has not yet been ratified and the Czech legal system still lacks specific paragraphs that would enable the Czech system to combat more effectively another serious issue -- prostitution as a result of human trafficking, sexual exploitation, slavery, or forced labor.

Czech law on prostitution is ambiguous and largely depends on the specifics of each case. A proposal for a new law on prostitution, which aims to legalize the trade through licenses for workers, enforced monthly medical check-ups of workers, registered brothels, and taxation, has been a hotly debated issue. While the initiator of this law -- the Czech police department of the Interior Ministry -- believes that the law would help to curb enforced prostitution, La Strada Prevention Coordinator Skrivankova says that neither legalization or criminalization are "tools for solving the problem of trafficking."

La Strada argues that legalization will not prevent forced prostitution -- only alleviate it -- and, on the other hand, will create a much more serious problem: foreign females forced into prostitution without a license will not be helped, but fined or arrested. The fine for illegal prostitution suggested by the proposed law would be between 5,000-15,000 Czech crowns. "We would like to see that the law also thinks about the prostitutes themselves," says La Strada Director Petra Burcikova, "and not only about the interest of the state to get income by taxing this activity."

In a document provided to RFE/RL by the Police Press Department, the Czech Interior Ministry explains that there hasn't been any progress in a new law on prostitution primarily because the Czech Republic is bound by the International Agreement on Suppressing and Combating Human Trafficking and Forced Prostitution from 1949. This agreement binds the signatories not to accept any laws that would de facto legalize prostitution. Most of the countries belonging to this agreement are the former Soviet republics and members of the Warsaw Pact. The Czech Republic became party to this agreement in 1958. Countries sharing a similar attitude toward prostitution as the Czech Republic are Belgium, Finland, France, Portugal, Spain, and the U.K. Austria (with the exception of the state of Vorarlberg), Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, Nevada (U.S.), and also to some extent Turkey, have fully legalized prostitution. Countries where prostitution is not legal but tolerated with some exceptions are Canada, Denmark, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, and Sweden, according to research published by the University of Exeter in the U.K.

Note: This issue follows up on "Organized Crime and Terrorism Watch," 24 May 2004. La Strada representatives visited RFE/RL in April. The briefing report is available on RFE/RL's Regional Analysis website.

Excerpt cited from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, full article available here. Copyright (c) 2004. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC. 22036 www.rferl.org

For more information, please see the Trafficking and Czech Republic sections of this website.

___________________________________________________________

U.S. Supreme Court Ruling Related to Employer Liability for Sexual Harassment
23 June 2004

In a 8-1 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that employers can be held liable in sexual harassment cases when a hostile work environment forces workers to leave their job.

The case involved Nancy Drew Suders, a former dispatcher with the Pennsylvania State Police. Suders claimed that she had been continuously subjected to sexual harassment by three male supervisors and that forced her to quit her job.

According to the standard set by the Court, a former employee must show that her working conditions were so intolerable that a reasonable person would have felt compelled to resign.

The Supreme Court clarified a 1998 decision that establishes the broad guidelines for employer liability in sexual harassment on the workplace. According to the 1998 ruling, employers would be held strictly liable if the supervisor that engaged in harassing conduct takes a “tangible employment action” against the worker, such as firing the employee or reassigning her to an undesirable position.

In contrast, when the supervisor's harassment does not culminate in “tangible employment action,” the employer may present a defense by showing that it has a policy for reporting sexual harassment and that the employee did not make full use of that remedy.

The Court ruled that the employer defense may not be asserted if the employee resigned in response to a supervisor’s official act, as for example, a reduction in compensation.

Justice Clarence Thomas dissented, stating that an employer should be held liable only if he knew of the alleged harassment. In addition, the Justice noted that Suders had not presented sufficient evidence that the adverse employment action was taken because of her sex.

Compiled from James Vicini, "Court Sets Liability Rules in Harassment Cases," Reuters, 14 June 2004, available here.

___________________________________________________________

Hawaii Legislation Links Sex Tourism and Trafficking
29 June 2004

New legislation to combat sex tourism was signed into law in Hawaii on May 19, 2004.  HB 2020, an Act relating to prostitution, “makes it a felony offense, with a sentence of up to five years in prison, to sell or offer to sell travel services for the purpose of engaging in prostitution and authorizes suspension or revocation of a travel agency registration for engaging in these acts.”  (cited from Equality Now Women’s Action 24.2 Update, May 2004)  With this new law, Hawaii becomes the first state in the United States to specifically criminalize the activities of sex tour operators. 

The new law also references the connection between sex tourism and trafficking, and underlines Hawaii’s determined opposition to any form of sex tourism:

Prostitution and related activities, which are inherently harmful and dehumanizing, contribute to the trafficking in persons, as does sex tourism. The low status of women in many parts of the world has led to a burgeoning of the trafficking industry. Discouraging sex tourism, which is an estimated $1,000,000,000-per-year business worldwide, is key to reducing the demand for sex trafficking . . . The purpose of this Act is to promote and protect the human rights of women and girls exploited by sex tourists . . . In so doing, the legislature forcefully declares Hawaii's unequivocal opposition to any form of sex tourism, whether it is child sex tourism or sex tourism involving adults.

Equality Now, which has an ongoing campaign against the sex tourism industry, actively supported the Hawaiian legislation, and hopes other states will follow suit with similarly effective laws.

Compiled from Equality Now Women’s Action 24.2 Update, May 2004, full text available here.

For more information, see the Trafficking in Women section of this website.

___________________________________________________________

Tajikistan’s Lower House Passes an Anti-trafficking Law
7 July 2004

On 2 July 2004, Tajikistan’s Lower House of Parliament passed a new law to combat trafficking in persons. The International Office for Migration (IOM) reports that the new law is the first in the region that directly addresses trafficking and will provide support for anti-trafficking initiatives.

The law provides the essential terminology required to effectively prosecute traffickers and assist victims. It divides responsibilities, such as prevention, assistance and reintegration of the victims, among different government agencies. The new law defines the role of the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Security, the Ministry of Education, and the State Border Guard Committee.

The law must be approved by the Upper House of Parliament and signed by President Emomali Rakhmonov before it becomes effective. According to IOM, this next stage is expected to occur in September.

Compiled from: International Organisation for Migration, Press Briefing Notes, July 6 2004, available here, and UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN), “Tajikistan: IOM Welcomes New Law to Combat Human Trafficking,” July 6, 2004, available here.

For more information, please see the Trafficking in Women and Legislative Trends in Tajikistan sections of this website.

___________________________________________________________

Bosnia and Herzegovina Signs the European Social Charter
7 July 2004

On 11 May 2004, Bosnia and Herzegovina signed the revised European Social Charter. The charter is designated to enforce an international guarantee of fundamental social and economic rights.

The revised document embodies all rights guaranteed by the European Social Charter and the additional Protocol. It also adds, among other guarantees, the right to protection against sexual harassment in the workplace and other forms of harassment, as well as guarantees the rights of workers with family responsibilities to equal opportunities and equal treatment.

In addition, the revised Charter makes several amendments to existing provisions to include reinforcement of the principle of non-discrimination; improvement of gender equality in all fields covered by the treaty; better protection of maternity and social protection of mothers, and; better social, legal and economic protection of employed children.

Compiled from the Council of Europe website, available here.

For more information, please see the International Law and Bosnia and Herzegovina sections of this website.

___________________________________________________________

Romanian NGO Launches Anti-Discrimination Campaign
8 July 2004

On June 30, the Press Monitoring Agency, a Romanian non-governmental monitoring organization, launched a project to fight discrimination. With the help of the Center for Legal Resources, Partnership for Equality, ACCEP, ESTUAR and Romani CRISS, the Press Monitoring Agency published a report entitled “Combating Discrimination: Governmental and Non-governmental Initiatives.” The Press Monitoring Agency also launched a media campaign to raise public awareness and encourage victims to seek the help of competent authorities.

Compiled from DIVERS News Bulletin 24 (107), 5 July 2004 and the Romania Development Gateway.

___________________________________________________________

Human Rights Summer School in Azerbaijan Announced

The Azerbaijan Young Lawyer's Union (AYLU) and the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (RWI) have announced a summer school program from August 9-20, 2004, designed especially for advanced undergraduate or recent graduates to expand their knowledge of human rights law and policy within the context of the European Convention on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.  Specifically, particular attention will be given to the various international human rights issues and procedures to which Azerbaijan is subject. Participants from international organizations or NGOs are also welcome. 

The twelve-day course will combine case studies with seminars led by both national experts and those from the Raoul Wallenberg Institute.  Around twenty-five participants will be accepted and expected to attend the entire duration of the program.  The last day will be devoted to a moot court competition using European Human Rights case law.   

Deadline for application is July 15, 2004. For more information, please contact:

Ramil Isgandarov, Project Coordinator, at aylu@azeronline.com or visit
http://www.aylu.info

Compiled from the Global Human Rights Education listserv and the Azerbaijan Young Lawyers' Union, http://www.aylu.info

For more information, see the Azerbaijan Country Page on this website.

___________________________________________________________

U.S. Department of Justice Publishes Model State Trafficking Law
19 July 2004

On 19 July 2004, the U.S. Department of Justice published a Model State Trafficking Law developed by the Trafficking in Persons and Worker Exploitation Task Force. This Task Force coordinates U.S. federal agency action to prevent and prosecute trafficking in persons and worker exploitation in the United States. The Model State Trafficking Law is designed to be a model for U.S. state amendments to state criminal codes.

The Model State Trafficking Law was introduced at the U.S. Department of Justice Conference on Human Trafficking held July 15-17, 2004 in Tampa, Florida. In remarks delivered at the conference, Assistant Attorney General Daniel J. Bryant outlined ways the model law will help overall U.S. efforts to combat trafficking: “…[T]he model state law will help ensure that there are no legal gaps in the nation’s efforts to combat trafficking.” With state and local law enforcement largely on the front lines in trafficking cases, this law will “foster an effective, seamless partnership among federal, state, and local efforts.” (Cited from remarks by Assistant Attorney General Daniel J. Bryant)

Compiled from:

Webpage of the U.S. Department of Justice Trafficking in Persons and Worker Exploitation Task Force, accessed 30 July 2004.

Webpage of the U.S. Department of Justice National Conference on Human Trafficking, accessed 30 July 2004.

For more information, see the Trafficking in Women section of this website.

___________________________________________________________

Coalition Seeks to Pressure U.S. Government to Include Women's Concerns Among Its Foreign Policy Priorities
21 July 2004

Women's Edge Coalition, a coalition of over 40 women's groups, is launching a campaign to enlist more than one million women from the U.S. to pressure their government to include women's concerns and needs among foreign policy priorities. International aid and investment in poor people, the coalition argues, can help the U.S. meet other foreign policy objectives, such as stability and combating terrorism.

Compiled From: "Women’s Edge Coalition to Launch Nationwide Effort to Challenge One Million Women to Call for a Better, Safer World" Women's Edge Coalition.

___________________________________________________________

Women’s Rights in Turkey Found to Be Systematically Violated
26 July 2004

Turkey is making major reforms in the human rights field as part of its bid to join the European Union. However, according to Women’s E-News, “[T]he country’s traditions and conservatism are holding back women’s rights.”

In May, members of parliament blocked a constitutional amendment that would have allowed affirmative action in elections and government hiring. At the same time, a parliamentary committee preparing a draft law to reform the penal code has rejected demands that honor killings be defined as “aggravated homicide.” The draft bill also fails to explicitly outlaw virginity testing, a practice often used to determine whether a young woman has lost her virginity and her family’s “honor.”

In a recent report, Amnesty International points out that Turkey has systematically failed to protect the rights and lives of women. The report examines the cultural and religious characteristics that shape the perception of women’s rights in Turkey. It also analyses the efforts of local and international organizations to protect the rights of women.

Compiled from:

Women’s eNews Newsletter, “Turkey Doing Little to Protect Women’s Lives, 23 July 2004

Amnesty International Report, “Turkey: Women Confronting Family Violence,” 2 June 2004, AI INDEX: EUR 44/013/2004.

___________________________________________________________

Slovak Parliament Passes Anti-Discrimination Law
29 July 2004

Slovak Parliament passed on June 29, 2004, a single legal norm concerning the prohibition of discrimination. The law prescribes that in certain circumstances unequal treatment may be allowed, enabling in this way positive discrimination on ethnical and racial basis. The law furthermore [grants] the Slovak National Center for Human Rights (SNSLP) with a right to defend a person in administrative proceedings linked with a violation of the principle of equal treatment.

The text of the law is available here in Slovak.

Cited from:

Message on Balkan Human Rights list-serve, posted by MIRIS (Minority Rights Information System)/EURAC, 28 July 2004.

Compiled from: Slovak Spectator.

For more information, see the Slovakia section of this website.

___________________________________________________________

Company Convicted of Ethnic Discrimination Against Roma under New Law
30 July 2004

On 9 July 2004, the Sofia City Court convicted the Vally Ltd. Company of discriminatory ethnic treatment of a Romani woman employee. This was the first Bulgarian court decision on discrimination under the new Anti-Discrimination Act which entered into force on 1 January 2004. Vally Ltd. was ordered to pay the woman 300 Euro for non-material damages. The drafting of the new law was supported by Bulgarian human rights NGOs, and the European Roma Rights Center – Budapest and the Romani Baht Foundation both supported this case.

Compiled from:

Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, Human rights news, July 2004, posted 23 July 2004. Complete news release available here.

For more information, see the Bulgaria section of this website.

___________________________________________________________

Seminar on Domestic Violence Held in Tbilisi, Georgia
2 August 2004

A seminar exploring the Duluth Model of coordinated community response to domestic violence took place July 29-31, 2004 in Tbilisi, Georgia. Representatives from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, and Ukraine attended the program, which was presented by Michael Paymar and Rose Thelen from Duluth, Minnesota, USA. The seminar was sponsored by the Open Society Institute’s Network Women’s Program, and covered creating and implementing programs for both victims and perpetrators of domestic violence. A complete outline of the seminar topics is included in the event posting.

Compiled from: Open Society Institute’s Network Women’s Program, past event posting, “Seminar for and about Victims and Perpetrators of Domestic Violence”, 29 July 2004.

For more information, see Adapting the Duluth Model in the Domestic Violence section of this website.

___________________________________________________________

NGOs in Uzbekistan Under Pressure
3 August 2004

Women Living Under Muslim Laws has released a call for urgent action to ensure that women’s NGOs in Uzbekistan can continue their work.

Since the beginning of 2004, women’s NGOs working for women’s rights have come under increased pressure form the Uzbekistan government. The women’s movement in the country is now under threat largely because of its continued criticism of the government. The Uzbekistan government has proclaimed several decrees and issued secret directives to banks that have obstructed the activities of women’s NGOs and at time made their work impossible.

According to the decrees issued, all women’s NGOs have to re-register with the official Women’s Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan. In order to release publications NGOs would have to apply for a special license, issued by a government officials. In addition, all funds from international grants would have to be transferred to the Uzbekistan National Bank. The grants would then undergo investigation by government officials who in turn would determine whether the NGO can access the funds.

In response to current human rights violations, the United States government has announced that it will withhold security and economic monetary assistance to Uzbekistan. In its 2004 country report on Uzbek human rights practices, the State Department characterized the country as “an authoritarian state with limited civil rights.” Uzbekistan could take several steps to show it is committed to improving the country’s democratization climate, including “opening up the political sphere and ceasing the harassment of non-governmental organizations and media.”

For more information regarding the urgent action appeal, please visit Women Living Under Muslim Laws.

Compiled from:
Uzbekistan: Authoritarian Measures Against Women’s NGOs, Women Living Under Muslim Laws International Coordination Office, 26 July 2004. 
United States Cuts Off Aid to Uzbekistan, Eurasia Insight, EurasiaNet 14 July 2004.

___________________________________________________________

Azerbaijan State Committee on Women's Issues to Launch Anti-Trafficking Projects
11 August 2004

The State Committee on Women’s Issues in Azerbaijan plans to launch several projects designed to combat trafficking in persons. According to the Trend news agency (11.08.2004), the main project of the Committee will be the creation of a website which will enable victims of trafficking to contact the State Committee directly.      

The State Committee believes that victims of trafficking who are not able publicly to seek assistance from governmental agencies might find it easier to seek assistance and learn about their problems through the website.

Together with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the State Committee also plans to implement a project on trafficking prevention.  This project will begin following the visit of the OSCE Representative on Gender Issues to Azerbaijan.

___________________________________________________________

Gender Statistics Training Convened in Turkmenistan
12 August 2004

On 13 July 2004 to 15 July 2004, a training on gender statistics for central Asian countries was convened in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. It was organized by the U.N. Development Programme in cooperation with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. The objective of the training was to improve the production, presentation and application of data and achieve a better use of statistics for developing and monitoring gender equality policies.

___________________________________________________________

Romanian Law on Ethnic Minorities Likely to be Adopted Next Year
17 August 2004

Parliamentary representatives of ethnic minorities in Romania intend to initiate a bill for ethnic minorities. Although several laws already exist, no basic law on minorities has been voted for so far. Some still hope that the bill will be enacted this year, although 2005 seems more probable, as 2004 is election year.

There have been nine legislative initiatives on ethnic minorities in Romania since 1989, but they were either not accepted by all minorities, or were not discussed by Parliament.

One of the earlier ones initiated by the representatives of Romania's largest ethnic minority (the Hungarians), called the Law on National Minorities and Autonomous Communities, was introduced to the lower house of the Parliament in 1993 but was never discussed.

A new move came in 1998, after the Department for Protecting Minorities was set up by the Government in 1997, when experts began examining of minority laws in other countries in order to devise a Romanian version.  The Interethnic Relations Department (DRI) of the General Secretariat of the Government also organized an international seminar on this topic in Mangalia in early May.

Out of the twenty officially recognized minorities in Romania, the numerically strong ethnic Hungarians have their own parliamentary representation, while the other nineteen are organized into eighteen parliamentary organizations (the Czechs and Slovaks share the same one), each of them having a representative in the Parliament as members of the Other Minorities Group.

The Minorities Protection Office, as well as the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (RMDSZ), consulted Hungarian and Serbian minority laws, as well as the European institutions and all the ethnic minority organizations in Romania in order to prepare the legislative initiative.

The new bill will most probably be based on an amended version of the legislative RMDSZ initiative of 1993.

Compiled from: Áron Balló, "Law on Ethnic Minorities Likely to be Adopted Next Year," Eurolang, 12 August 2004.

___________________________________________________________

Montenegro to Call for Talks on Dissolving Joint State with Serbia
19 August 2004

Miodrag Vukovic, a leader of Montenegro's governing Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), said in Podgorica on 18 August that the Montenegrin authorities will formally propose to Serbia in September that the two sides start talks on dissolving the joint state of Serbia and Montenegro, which was launched in 2003 as a result of much pressure from the EU, RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service reported. Vukovic suggested that Belgrade and Podgorica might review three options, starting with total independence. A second possibility might be to link two internationally recognized, independent states in an association on the model of the Commonwealth of Independent States that exists among some successor states to the former Soviet Union. A third option might be to remain in the joint state until 2005, when a referendum on independence will automatically take place. Under the terms according to which the joint state was set up, it will remain until at least 2005, at which time either or both republics have the option of calling for a referendum on independence. Among the major parties in Serbia, only the G-17 Plus party favors dissolving the joint state (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 2 August 2004). PM

Cited from:

Montenegro to Call for Talks on Dissolving Joint State with Serbia, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 19 August 2004. Copyright (c) 2004. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org.

___________________________________________________________

Czechs Might Vote on EU Constitution in June 2006
30 August 2004

A Czech referendum on the European Constitution could be held in June 2006, at the same time as the country's general elections, the Prime Minister Stanislav Gross told Czech diplomats today (30 August) in Prague.

This must first be agreed, however, by any coalition partners that may form part of the next Czech government.

The new head of the Czech cabinet, who last week managed to survive a vote of confidence by a narrow majority, does not expect the ratification procedure to be easy.

However, he believe that if voters are given enough trustworthy information, they will approve the Constitution.

Compiled from: Martin Frydrych, Czechs might vote on EU Constitution in June 2006, EUobserver.com, 30 August 2004.

___________________________________________________________

Bulgarian Trafficking Victims Face Hard Homecoming
30 September 2004

Bulgaria is already seeing the outcomes of the first legislation passed to combat trafficking, a problem which affects tens of thousands of women in the Eastern European country. But despite these advances, public sympathy for the victims remains low.

SOFIA, Bulgaria (WOMENSENEWS)--Elena doesn't talk much about her time outside Bulgaria. Tricked into forced prostitution in Western Europe by a job advertisement calling for secretaries in 2002, Elena spent nine months in bondage before escaping and making her way home. "It was a hell I would like to forget," says the slim 23-year-old, who asked to use a pseudonym. "But the difficulties I am facing now just seem to make that impossible." Even though Elena's family was glad to have her back home, she's found the readjustment immensely difficult; the attitudes of both herself and her loved ones changed. "My family does not ask me for specific details and try to pretend like nothing has happened, but often I catch them quietly looking at me," she explains. "It is hurtful and unnerving, but, like them, I don't really want to talk about it at all. I just want my life back."

Elena is not alone. Aid organizations estimate as many as 15,000 Bulgarian women have fallen into the hands of traffickers since this small Balkan nation emerged from behind the Iron Curtain in 1992, with thousands more falling victim every year. Like women from other Eastern European and former Soviet countries, Bulgarian victims of sex trafficking rarely find their way home; less than 5 percent of the victims have returned. While new legislation with stricter punishments of traffickers hopes to address the problem, there is little public sympathy for returning victims. They are almost always viewed as willing participants to their forced prostitution. On a global scale, it is impossible to know precisely how many women and young girls are trafficked each year for sexual exploitation, but international aid groups and non-governmental organizations believe the number to be between 700,000 and 2 million. Hundreds of thousands of them come from Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Those being trafficked out of Bulgaria often end up in European Union countries, particularly the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Greece, Italy and Spain. Bulgaria has also emerged as a transit and destination country for women from other impoverished former Soviet Union countries, like Romania and Ukraine, and--to a lesser extent--women from the Middle East and Asia.

 The Cinderella Dream Destroyed

"Too many young girls dream of marrying a rich man and being happy--their very own Cinderella story--so when they see or hear of chance to get out of the country, they rarely ask too many questions in case the answers destroy their dream," says Maria Tchomarova, director of La Strada-Bulgaria, the local chapter of a European-wide organization offering recovery services to trafficking victims. In a country where women constitute 65 percent of the long-term unemployed, young females desperate for work and a higher standard of living are easy prey for traffickers. Some are lured by job advertisements promising them work in a foreign country; some through unscrupulous "mail order bride" services; and some through acquaintances and friends already broken by traffickers temporarily sent home to recruit others. "We're talking about exploitation and slavery without mercy," says Tchomarova. "A very small percentage of the women have any idea what they're getting themselves into." For most victims of trafficking rings the outcome is pure terror. Once reaching their destination country the women commonly have their passports taken from them and learn they must prostitute themselves to pay off their travel-related costs. They are often sold and resold to different owners. Those who resist are often raped or beaten for days, weeks, even months until they agree to cooperate. "While the physical abuse is horrific, it is the mental torture--the breaking of the spirit--that causes the most severe damage, is the hardest to recover from," says Tchomarova, who has personally worked with dozens of trafficking survivors. "The pimps employ all sorts of mental strategies to convince the women they are worthless--telling them no one would marry a former prostitute, that no one will believe the woman was unaware, or that she came willingly so she deserves the treatment," she explained. "In the end, less than 10 percent of these women are able to stand up to the mental anguish." First Legislation on Trafficking Passed Aware of the growing problem and under pressure to clean up Bulgaria's act before scheduled entry into the European Union in 2007, authorities pushed through the country's first legislation dealing specifically with trafficking in May 2003. "We started late," admits Ralitsa Againe, a member of the Bulgarian National Assembly who lobbied other parliamentarians to support the Combating Traffic in People Act. "Institutions created by this legislation are just now getting off the ground and there is a lot more that can be done, such as better and more efficient regional structures, border control and educating of public opinion." The 2003 law calls for crisis and support centers for trafficked individuals, federal prosecutions and the establishment of a national commission to combat trafficking, a body that officials hope will be operational in early 2005. Under the new law, penalties for convicted traffickers--which previously carried a maximum sentence of 12 years--can go as high as life in prison. Authorities have had some successes. Bulgaria and France launched 20 joint operations in 2003, resulting in the conviction of 18 Bulgarians involved in trafficking. Similarly, in the Netherlands, joint operations continuing since 2002 have led to the conviction of 11 Bulgarian citizens for pimping, five of whom are also currently facing trafficking charges. At home, authorities have identified 34 organized crime groupings dabbling in trafficking, launching 26 investigations and garnering six prosecutions.

Unsympathetic Public

But legal and enforcement issues are only part of the problem. Public perception of trafficking, despite aid organization and government media campaigns, remains unsympathetic. "Most Bulgarians still equate trafficking with prostitution and there is little support for the victims," says Tchomarova. Non-governmental organizations working on the rehabilitation of victims are scarce, with only about 10 nationwide. These groups typically focus on psychological counseling, free medical care, legal representation and job training. Trafficking erupted out of the closet and into public consciousness in May 2003 with the arrest of popular rap singer Ivan Glavchev Jr.--known by his stage name Vanko 1--on charges of forced exportation of Bulgarian women to other European countries including Italy, France and Belgium. The chart-topping rapper stood accused of inducing more than a dozen young women--one of them a minor--into prostitution, while his father, Ivan Glavchev, and cousin, Dimitar Rachelov, faced charges of transporting girls across international boundaries for the purpose of forced prostitution. At the conclusion of a highly publicized trial last November, Vanko 1 received a 12-year sentence and a 120,000 Bulgarian Lev (about $75,000) fine. The judge ordered Vanko 1's father to serve a 5 year jail term and pay 50,000 (about $31,000), and sentenced Vanko 1's cousin to 10 years and a fine of 100,000 (about $62,500). "Discussion was intense on the Vanko 1 case, but despite serious and indisputable evidence, public opinion--particularly among the young--remains supportive of him," explained National Assembly member Againe. "His work, and the fact that 'older' people don't understand the music, youngsters seem to feel, is more important than whether or not he forcefully exported women." "In fact this case was widely viewed more as 'news entertainment' than a serious issue facing our country," the lawmaker added. "And that is probably the most frightening aspect."

Compiled from: "Bulgarian Trafficking Victims Face Hard Homecoming," Juliette Terzieff, Women's ENews, 26 September 2004. www.womensenews.org

Juliette Terzieff is a freelance journalist currently based in Buffalo, N.Y., who has worked for the San Francisco Chronicle, Newsweek, CNN International and the London Sunday Times in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and South Asia.

For more information: Coalition Against Trafficking in Women-- The Ongoing Tragedy of International Slavery and Human Trafficking: An Overview Coalition Against Trafficking in Women: http://action.web.ca/home/catw/readingroom.shtml

 La Strada: prevention of traffic in women: http://www.strada.cz/ Vital Voices-- Trafficking Alert International Edition (July 2004): http://www.vitalvoices.org/programs/anti-trafficking/ta_int_july_2004

Copyright 2004 Women's eNews. The information contained in this Women's eNews report may--with the prior written authorization of Women's eNews--be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed. To obtain permission, send an e-mail to permissions@womensenews.org and provide the publication or broadcast date and the name of the newspaper, magazine, radio or television station, cable network, Web site, newsletter or list serve where it will be replicated. Please include the approximate size of the audience you intend to reach.

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

DNA Technology Act Passes Congress
2 November 2004

On 9 October 2004 the US Senate passed the “Justice for All Act of 2004”, an anti-crime bill that includes the “Advancing Justice Through DNA Technology Act” and crime victims’ rights legislation. The legislation will provide the much-needed money to test more than 300,000 rape kits and other crime scene evidence that comprise a nationwide backlog. This bill will enact the Debbie Smith Backlog Grant Program, which provides $755 million in order to test the backlog, and will hopefully assist victims obtain the justice they have been waiting for. This Grant program is named for a rape survivor who waited six years for the evidence in her rape kit to be tested. The legislation also provides funding for victims’ services and assistance to families of murder victims, among other things. The bill will be sent to the House of Representatives for final approval, and will then await approval from the President.

Compiled from: “Anti-Crime Legislation Passes Congress,” 9 October 2004, The Justice Project: Campaign for Criminal Justice Reform

To learn more about Law and Policy regarding Sexual Assault, please click here

___________________________________________________________

Venice Commission Recommends Human Rights Court for Kosovo
1 November 2004

A press release from the Council of Europe Venice Commission: Strasbourg, 15.10.2004

The Venice Commission of the Council of Europe has proposed setting up a Human Rights Court in Kosovo as part of a programme of measures designed to improve human rights protection for its citizens. Since 1999 Kosovo has been administered by several international organisations, including the United Nations, the OSCE and NATO, all of which are immune to legal claims of human rights abuses. In a new report the Venice Commission concludes that Kosovo now needs independent mechanisms for reviewing human rights, although it acknowledges that the interim administration is fully committed to respecting human rights standards. As well as a Human Rights Court, the Venice Commission suggests setting up independent advisory boards for UNMIK and KFOR, to complement the protection already offered, in particular by the Kosovo Ombudsperson. Where the Ombudsperson has found human rights breaches but has not persuaded UNMIK to assume accountability, cases would be brought before the Panel. The latter's opinion would be made public in three languages. Also, the Venice Commission proposes to establish a special Chamber of the Supreme Court with the power to review individual human rights cases with regard to the provisional institutions of self government (PISG).

Cited from: Venice Commission Recommends Human Rights Court for Kosovo, Council of Europe, 15 October 2004.

Press Contact
Council of Europe Spokesperson and Press Division
Tel. +33 3 88 41 25 60
Fax. +33 3 88 41 39 11
E-mail: PressUnit@coe.int

For more information, please visit the Kosovo section of this website.

New Law on NGO Activity in Turkmenistan Greeted with Caution
1 December 2004

The recent publication of a law in Turkmenistan that decriminalizes the activity of unregistered non-governmental organizations may offer hope for the country’s embattled civil society activists. Even so, those in the nascent NGO sector generally view the new law with skepticism.

NGO activists have been among those hardest hit by a government crackdown launched following the failed 2002 assassination attempt against Turkmenistan’s mercurial leader Saparmurat Niyazov. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. The new legislation, published November 2, is formally called the "Law of Turkmenistan on Introducing Amendments to the Criminal Code of Turkmenistan." Specifically, it removes Article 223/1 from the Criminal Code. The original article mandated fines, "corrective labor" and imprisonment with confiscation of "illegally obtained resources (sredstva)" for those found guilty of engaging in public activities without explicit state approval. If implemented, the new law could potentially reverse, or at least slow the steady erosion of space in which civil society activists can operate in Turkmenistan.

The new legislation is an apparent attempt to override a draconian law adopted in October 2003 that criminalized all un-registered activities. Since most NGOs lacked official registration, the actions of a large number of civil society activists could be defined as crimes under the 2003 Turkmen law "On Public Associations," along with related amendments to the country’s Criminal Code. One NGO activist inside Turkmenistan sardonically dubbed the legislation "the law on the death penalty for NGOs."

There are no known instances of the government prosecuting NGO activists under the October 2003 law. Nevertheless, the mere threat of prosecution succeeded in dramatically curtailing independent NGO activity over the past year. Unregistered groups -- the vast majority of NGOs in Turkmenistan – either ceased or cut back their activities. Many quickly shed the dangerous label of "public association" and began to operate as a commercial venture or under the individual license of one of its members. Several groups chose to be co-opted into a governmental or government-controlled entity, trading their independence for the opportunity to function at all. Others opted to continue activities in an underground manner. The label "NGO" largely disappeared from the local lexicon, replaced by "initiative group" or other, safer terms.

The 2003 legislation created a dilemma for international donors. Several long-standing financial supporters of civil society in Turkmenistan -- including USAID and the US Embassy – eventually decided to suspend their assistance programs to help protect their grantees from the risk of unintentionally violating the 2003 law.

In instances where the law could not be harnessed to suppress NGOs, Turkmen authorities did not hesitate to act arbitrarily. For instance, in early 2004 the government summarily stripped two of the country’s most serious and long-standing NGOs of their legal registration, rendering them vulnerable to criminal prosecution for continued work. The Dashoguz Ecological Club and the Ecological Club Catena have both appealed the court rulings, so far unsuccessfully. Since the courts in Turkmenistan are generally viewed as subservient to Niyazov’s personal will, political observers believe the chances of the decisions being overturned are virtually nil.

The government has also curtailed NGO activities by restricting activists’ freedom of movement. In October, an Ashgabat-based civil leader, Natalia Shabunts, was temporarily prevented from traveling to other cities in Turkmenistan, and a sales representative for the state airline was threatened against selling Shabunts a plane ticket for Moscow. The ban on her international travel appears to have been rescinded.

"The harassment of civic actors is not surprising," declared a diplomat based in Turkmenistan who asked not to be identified. "To increase the areas under its direct control, the government has had to decrease the space available to NGOs."

Some NGO activists suspect the November 2 law decriminalizing unregistered NGO activity is designed more to blunt international criticism of Turkmenistan’s human rights practices than it is to create more operational space for civil society activists. [For background information see the Eurasia Insight archive]. The inclination among some civil society activists in Turkmenistan is to wait for additional indicators from Niyazov’s government before testing the limits of the new law.

The international community’s response to the new law so far has been cautious. For example, Paul W. Jones, a top US envoy to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), "commended" Niyazov’s government for promulgating the law. At the same time, Jones, speaking at an OSCE Permanent Council session shortly after the law’s publication, noted that full compliance with OSCE obligations also required Ashgabat to "rescind all other legislation and halt all practices that hinder NGOs from contributing to a vibrant civil society."

Since November 25, 2002, Niyazov has tended to conflate NGO activity with efforts by the president’s political opponents to force his ouster. On that day, loyalists of former foreign minister Boris Shikhmuradov allegedly tried to assassinate Niyazov as he drove himself to work. The failed attempt prompted massive retaliation by Niyazov. The state security apparatus rounded up not only those suspected of taking an active part in the assassination conspiracy, but also the family members of those implicated. Many suspects, along with some of their relatives, received lengthy prison terms. A significant number of those deemed guilty by association escaped prison, but nonetheless saw their lives ruined: the government forced them out of their homes; fired them from their jobs; and prohibited them from traveling abroad. [For additional information see the Eurasia Insight archive].

The experience of Farid Tukhbatullin, a civic activist and environmentalist, served as a cautionary tale for all NGO activists. Tukhbatullin was arrested in the city of Dashoguz in December 2002 and charged, among other things, with failing to notify authorities that members of the political opposition were plotting a coup d’etat. The authorities – falsely – presumed that this plot had been discussed at a conference that Tukhbatullin had attended in Moscow prior to his return to Dashoguz. The subsequent show trial and sentencing sent an intimidating message to others in the civic community that, for the moment, continues to outweigh the promise of the new legislation.

Editor’s Note: Erika Dailey is the Director of the Open Society Institute’s Turkmenistan Project, which has operated since October 2002. She has an M.A. in Central Asian Studies, and has worked on human rights and development issues relating to the region since the late 1980s.

Posted November 30, 2004, © Eurasianet.
http://www.eurasianet.org

Cited in: Erica Dailey, New Law on NGO Activity in Turkmenistan Greeted with Caution, Eurasianet, 1 December 2004.

Copyright (c) 2003 Open Society Institute. Reprinted with the permission of the Open Society Institute, 400 West 59th Street, New York, NY 10019 USA, wwwEurasiaNet.org. or www.soros.org.

_____________________________________________________________

NGO Statement to the Committee against Torture on Domestic Violence in Greece
2 December 2004

• Centre for Research and Action on Peace (KEDE)
• Coordinated Organizations and Communities for Roma Human Rights in Greece (SOKADRE)
• Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM)
• Minority Rights Group - Greece (MRG-G)
• Support Center for Children and Family - Social & Education Action
• World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)

Minsk, Vienna, 7 December 2004

The International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) and the Belarusian Helsinki Committee (BHC) express their grave concern over the ongoing harassment of human rights defenders in Belarus.

For further information:

Tatsyana Pratsko, BHC Chairperson, +375-17-2224800
Aaron Rhodes, IHF Executive Director, +43-676-6356612

Islam Karimov delivered an address on 7 December, the eve of Constitution Day, praising the country's achievements, criticizing irresponsible officials, and declaring 2005 the Year of Good Health, Uzbek television reported. Karimov lauded economic growth amid moderate inflation. He condemned officials who are "brutally violating the law and abusing their power for their own interests." He also looked ahead to 26 December parliamentary elections, calling on future deputies to "prevent officials from abusing their power." Karimov noted that 30 percent of seats in parliament will, by law, be occupied by women. He also said that policy initiatives will be forthcoming to mark the Year of Good Health. DK

Cited from: Uzbek President Lauds Economy, Lambastes Officials, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Vol. 8, No. 230, 9 December 2004.

Copyright (c) 2004. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org