A/HRC/42/44/Add.2 Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International cooperation - Interministerial Committee for Human Rights Comitato Interministeriale per i Diritti Umani Italy’s remarks on the country mission report of the un special rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences (A/HRC/42/44/Add. 1, dated May 24, 2019) Further to the UN Special Rapporteur’s mission to Italy undertaken from 3 through 12 October 2018, the Government of Italy is in a position to provide the following remarks (Italy also kindly requests the UN Special Rapporteur to make corrections in the mission’s report under reference, since a few factual errors have been detected in): Introductory remarks 1. The Italian (rigid) Constitution, coeval with UDHR, determines the political framework for action and organization of the State. 2. The Italian legal system aims at ensuring an effective framework of guarantees, to fully and extensively protect the fundamental rights of the individual. Indeed, we rely on a solid framework of rules, primarily of a constitutional nature, by which the principle of formal and substantial equality and the respect for human rights are among the main pillars (For additional information, please kindly refer to Common Core Document of Italy forming part of the reports of States parties - UN Doc. HRI/CORE/ITA/2016). Turning to specific issues 3. Taking into account the focus on labor exploitation of migrants in the agriculture sector, an updated representation is provided in line with Articles 18 and 22, para.12 quater, of Legislative Decree No. 286/98 (TUI –Unified Text on Immigration). Article 18 of the TUI 4. The protection of victims of trafficking is ensured in the Italian legal system by a plurality of normative interventions. Firstly, mention has to be made of the SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures)1 applicable to Italian Hotspots, which describe how, from the moment migrants arrive at the Italian coasts, the utmost attention is paid to victims of trafficking, including through information about legal status and the following procedural steps. Once a possible case of trafficking in human beings has been identified, the person concerned is separated from the remaining flow of people, during the identification phase, and transferred to a special facility with relevant reception-related features. In such situations, we proceed with the necessary communications to the Judicial Authority. The victim has the right not to file a complaint and still s/he is entitled to have access to the protection paths in accordance with legislation in force. The reference to the above SOPs document, in particular Item B.9.2., makes it possible to clarify that, among the stakeholders involved in the specific activities intended for potential victims of trafficking, in addition to the Italian State Police, 1 2 The SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures), issued on June 28, 2016, were drafted by the Department on Civil Liberties and Immigration and by the Department of Public Security (Central Directorate on Immigration and Border Police) in agreement with the Central Anti-Crime Department, on the issues of competence of the latter. This document was prepared also with collaboration from the European Agencies at the landing sites with their own respective staff (FRONTEX, EASO and EUROPOL). These procedures correspond to the wishes of the European Commission that requested Italy to draw up a specific Road Map in which to indicate the measures for improving the capacity, quality and efficiency of our system in the areas of asylum, the first reception, and repatriation. This document, signed by the Chief of Police and the Head of the Department on Civil Liberties and Immigration, was sent to the Prefects and Quaestors for implementation.