OSCE Parlamentary Assembly Declaration, Rotterdam, 5-9 July 2003

RESOLUTION ON COMBATING TRAFFICKING AND EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN

1. Underscoring the importance of combating corruption, for the facilitation of economic and political growth and stability, and for the improvement in and promotion of good governance,

2. Noting the deleterious effects of corruption on economic, political and social development of a country,

3. Recalling that the OSCE Ministerial Council Decision of December 2002 recognized the need to fight corruption which facilitates the operation of organized criminal networks,

4. Recognizing the links between corruption, organized crime, international criminal networks and trafficking in human beings,

5. Concerned that law enforcement efforts against human trafficking are undermined by official indifference and corruption,

6. Recalling that the 1991 Moscow Document, the 1999 Charter for European Security, and the OSCE Ministerial Council Decisions of November 2000, December 2001, and December 2002 commit OSCE participating States to seek to end all forms of trafficking in human beings,

7. Noting that the OSCE Ministerial Council Decision of December 2002 expresses particular concern “about the increase in trafficking in minors and, recognizing the special needs of children, supports more research and exchange of information on trafficking in children and, with due regard to the best interest of the child as the primary consideration in all actions concerning children, calls for the elaboration of special measures to protect trafficked minors from further exploitation, mindful of their psychological and physical well-being”,

8. Recognizing that the International Labour Organization estimates that 1.2 million children below the age of 18 are victims of trafficking,

9. Recalling that the Parliamentary Assembly’s Berlin Declaration demanded that special attention be focused on trafficked children and their specific rights and needs,

10. Recalling that the Parliamentary Assembly, in its Berlin Declaration, expressed concern about the existence and prevalence of sex tourism aimed, in particular, at the sexual exploitation of children, and called on OSCE participating States to ensure that their laws contain the requisite jurisdiction to prosecute their nationals who travel abroad for the purpose of engaging in sexual acts with children,

11. Noting with grave concern that the Internet has facilitated the promotion of sex tourism through easily accessible websites advertising such activities, thus, cloaking them in apparent legitimacy,

12. Expressing concern that the Internet and other modern technologies are being used to facilitate the production, collection and distribution of pornographic images of children,

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly:

13. Urges participating States to redouble their efforts to combat corruption in all areas of society and all levels of government, giving particular regard to instances of corruption that lead to violations of human rights, including trafficking in persons;

14. Urges participating States to take all necessary measures to alert the general public to the dangers of false and illusory promises, particularly offers of lucrative and alluring employment overseas, made by the trafficking networks;

15. Urges participating States to work with civil society in advancing and supporting ideas of accountability and transparency in government, and the promotion of good governance practices;

16. Encourages participating States to provide training to the tourist industry and to tourism educators on child sex tourism and on children’s rights and protection;

17. Calls upon OSCE participating States to investigate allegations that police, or other law enforcement authorities, have been complicit in the crime of trafficking in persons and to prosecute any and all law enforcement authorities found to be complicit in such crimes or in efforts to undermine the investigation of such crimes;

18. Urges all participating States to adopt and implement legislation to prohibit and establish severe criminal penalties for the production, distribution or use of material that visually depicts sexual conduct by children below the age of 18;

19. Encourages participating States to consider practical measures that can be undertaken to combat the use of the Internet for child pornography, such as the creation of “child pornography hotlines” to allow Internet users the possibility of anonymously providing information on offences relating to child pornography to appropriate law enforcement units;

20. Urges that participating States consider establishing within appropriate law enforcement entities specialized task forces on Internet crimes against children to investigate crimes against children committed through the use of the Internet;

21. Urges all OSCE participating States to sign and ratify International Labour Organization Convention 182, calling for immediate action to ban the worst forms of child labour, including child prostitution and child pornography;

22. Calls upon all participating States to sign and ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography;

23. Urges all OSCE participating States to sign and ratify the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.