AG/RES. 2019 (XXXIV-O/04)

FIGHTING THE CRIME OF TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS, ESPECIALLY WOMEN, ADOLESCENTS, AND CHILDREN 

(Adopted at the fourth plenary session, held on June 8, 2004) 

            THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, 

            HAVING SEEN the observations and recommendations of the Permanent Council on the annual reports of the organs, agencies, and entities of the Organization (AG/doc.4332/04), in particular as they pertain to the annual report of the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM) (CP/doc.3847/04); 

            RECALLING resolution CIM/RES. 225 (XXXI-O/02), "Fighting the Crime of Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women, Adolescents, and Children"; resolution AG/RES. 1776 (XXXI-O/01), “Support for the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime”; the Plan of Action of the Third Summit of the Americas, held in Quebec City in 2001, in which the Heads of State and Government pledged to “[i]mplement collective strategies, including those that emerge from the Meetings of Ministers of Justice of the Americas … in order to combat jointly emerging forms of transnational criminal activity, including trafficking in persons and the laundering of the proceeds and assets of crime and cyber-crime”; and resolution AG/RES. 1948 (XXXIII-O/03), “Fighting the Crime of Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women, Adolescents, and Children”; 

            CONSIDERING that, in operative paragraph 4 of resolution AG/RES. 1948 (XXXIII-O/03), the General Assembly resolved: 

“To instruct the Secretary General to appoint an ‘OAS Coordinator on the Issue of Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women, Adolescents, and Children,’ to be housed in the Permanent Secretariat of the CIM and to be funded by a specific fund created for this purpose with contributions from member states and other external resources, to serve as a focal point to facilitate information exchange and the efforts of member states that so request to prevent and combat trafficking in persons, especially women, adolescents, and children”; 

            BEARING IN MIND that the issue of trafficking in persons has been considered by different organs of the inter-American system and that an adequate level of coordination must be established with a view to making treatment of this topic more effective; 

            UNDERSCORING the study prepared by the Inter-American Commission of Women and the Inter-American Children’s Institute (CIM/doc.9/02) as a valuable contribution to addressing the problem of trafficking in persons and that the CIM is conducting research on and building the capacity to carry out counter-trafficking activities, in cooperation with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), in other member states; 

            BEARING IN MIND the conclusions and recommendations of the Fifth Meeting of Ministers of Justice or of Ministers or Attorneys General of the Americas (REMJA-V/doc.9/04), regarding trafficking in persons, especially women and children; and 

            RECOGNIZING that progress has been made in the region, in particular, in the development of appropriate mechanisms and legal reforms to combat and prevent trafficking in persons, and in victim assistance and protection and the punishment of traffickers, 

RESOLVES: 

1.                   To reiterate the request to member states to consider signing and ratifying, ratifying, or acceding to, as appropriate, the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing that Convention, and to adopt the national measures necessary to implement these instruments. 

2.                   To urge member states to complete their internal processes for determining whether to sign and ratify the Inter-American Convention on International Traffic in Minors. 

3.                   To urge members states to adopt, in accordance with their national legal systems and international instruments in force in each state, the measures necessary to implement the recommendations emanating from resolution CIM/RES. 225 (XXXI-O/02) of the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM), "Fighting the Crime of Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women, Adolescents, and Children," so as to enhance their legal, judicial, and administrative systems, and to consider the establishment, where appropriate, of a national mechanism to prevent and combat the crime of trafficking in persons and to protect victims. 

4.                   To welcome the recommendation of the Fifth Meeting of Ministers of Justice or of Ministers or Attorneys General of the Americas to hold a meeting of national authorities on this matter, with the participation of the CIM, the Inter-American Children's Institute (IIN), the United Nations, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and other related international organizations, for the purpose of studying integral cooperation mechanisms  among the states to ensure protection of and assistance to the victims, prevention of the crime, and prosecution of its perpetrators, bearing in mind respect for the victims’ human rights.  The said meeting will also facilitate the exchange of information and experiences, policy dialogue, and cooperation among the countries of origin, transit, and destination of trafficking in persons, as well as the establishment or improvement of statistical records in this area. 

5.                   To request the Permanent Council to convene, in 2005, in coordination with the CIM and other appropriate organs of the Organization, the meeting mentioned in operative paragraph 4, and to include participation by experts on this issue, civil society organizations registered with the OAS, and other organizations invited to take part. 

6.                   To instruct the Secretary General to appoint an OAS coordinator on the issue of trafficking in persons, as provided for in resolution AG/RES. 1948 (XXXIII-O/03). 

7.                   To instruct the Secretary General to ensure that the OAS Coordinator on this issue will follow up on the conclusions and recommendations of the meeting of national authorities provided for in operative paragraph 4. 

8.                   To instruct the Secretary General to present to the Permanent Council, on the basis of the contributions of the OAS Coordinator on the Issue of Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women, Adolescents and Children, a proposal for a broad strategy that addresses the human rights, social policy, and transnational crime aspects of all forms of trafficking in persons; and to support the cooperation efforts and projects of the member states in this area, as well as those of the organs and specialized units of the OAS, international organizations, and civil society organizations. 

9.                   To instruct the Secretary General to present a report each year to the Permanent Council, in coordination with the OAS Coordinator, on the activities being carried out by the various OAS organs to address the issue of trafficking in persons, and on developments in the Hemisphere, taking into account the information provided by member states, including progress in law enforcement, prevention, and the protection of and assistance to victims of trafficking. 

10.               To entrust the Permanent Council with giving appropriate follow-up to and ensuring the implementation of this resolution, with providing the necessary funds for the activities undertaken by the OAS organs to deal adequately with the problem of trafficking in persons, and with convening the meeting of national authorities provided for in operative paragraph 4 of this resolution, in accordance with the resources allocated in the program-budget of the Organization and other resources. 

11.               To invite member states, permanent observers, and the organs, agencies, and entities of the inter-American system, as well as public and private entities and other sources to contribute to the specific fund provided for in resolution AG/RES. 1948 (XXXIII-O/03).

12.                To request the Secretary General to report to the General Assembly at its thirty-fifth regular session on the implementation of this resolution.