A/HRC/10/64
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58. On 2 June 2008, OHCHR co-sponsored and participated in the seminar “Countering
human trafficking: partnerships for protection and capacity-building”, held primarily for
representatives of Member States in New York, with the participation of United Nations staff,
civil society and private sector representatives. The Deputy High Commissioner for Human
Rights opened the seminar and advocated the need for effective implementation of the human
rights approach to combating trafficking by all stakeholders.
59. OHCHR co-organized with the Government of Mexico an international seminar on the
protection of children’s rights in the context of migration in October 2008, with special attention
to the protection of unaccompanied migrant children and the dangers they face of becoming
victims of trafficking.
60. OHCHR assisted the independent expert in the preparation of the United Nations Study on
Violence against Children that addressed, among other issues, trafficking in children. OHCHR
has developed a follow-up strategy to the study, which provides a platform for action and aims to
integrate its recommendations into all OHCHR activities. OHCHR conducted three expert
consultations with the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre on research methodologies on
trafficking.
61. OHCHR took part in World Congress III against Sexual Exploitation of Children and
Adolescents, in Brazil in November 2008. A workshop on human rights and combating
trafficking of children, organized by OHCHR, gathered as panellists the Special Rapporteur on
the human rights aspects of the victims of trafficking in persons, especially women and children,
the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, the Chairperson of the Committee on
the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, representatives of IOM, UNICEF, ILO,
UNODC, the Director of the Ricky Martin Foundation and the founder of Projeto Uere, a
Rio-based NGO working to educate and empower poor children in the community.
62. There has been considerable discussion as to how to prosecute the labour exploitation
outcome of trafficking, whether this would reduce demand, and whether it is appropriate or
effective to use the international criminal justice framework to do so. OHCHR has produced a
paper, which analyses international jurisprudence, in order to provide guidance as to how
prosecution of the clients of the services of victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation can be
addressed.
B. United Nations human rights mechanisms
1. Human rights treaty bodies
63. The human rights treaty bodies regularly raise trafficking and related issues in the
consideration of States parties’ reports. The treaty bodies have expressed concern regarding the
persistence of trafficking despite the adoption by States of legislation, national action plans and
other measures.
64. The Human Rights Committee has repeatedly identified trafficking as constituting a
potential violation of articles 3, 8, 24 and 26 of the Covenant. The Committee has recognized the
danger that anti-trafficking measures can have an adverse impact on the rights and freedoms of
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