Tricked and Trapped: Human Trafficking in the Middle East, ‎pdf 4.1 MB

4.1.5. Prosecution of human trafficking cases
The emergence in the Middle East of a body of law specific on human
trafficking, while commendable, has not led to many prosecutions and
convictions of perpetrators. This lack of accountability, and lack of access to
justice for victims, can be traced back to inadequacies in the capacity of law
enforcement officials and other key stakeholders to identify victims. As one
eminent scholar and practitioner recently stated: “Many Arab governments
have not developed a systematic approach to identifying victims or those who
may be vulnerable, including those arrested for prostitution or foreign
workers.” 52 As this study has sought to demonstrate, victims are to be found
in many and various occupational sectors, suggesting a need for a stronger
focus on trafficking for labour exploitation.
In addition to weak identification mechanisms, governments in the region
have yet to implement strong data collection systems which enable the referral
of cases between law enforcement entities and ensure a coordinated response.
The absence of such data systems makes it difficult to know the status of cases
across the judicial system and to identify perpetrators clearly. Moreover, as
the UN Secretary-General explained to the General Assembly, “data gathered
more consistently and uniformly by States allow for a more accurate global
assessment of the impact of trafficking and identify relevant linkages and
flows between States to assist in the development of more targeted solutions”. 53
In Lebanon, there are no official data on court cases human trafficking, as
the counter-trafficking law was adopted only recently. Recent cases filed at
the Court House of Baabda concern minors forced by their parents to beg on
the streets, minors forced to work in super nightclubs and a Syrian woman
forced into prostitution. 54 According to the General Prosecutor of Mount
Lebanon, these cases are currently before the indictment chamber and the
perpetrators, Lebanese and Syrian alike, will be prosecuted according to the
newly added article 586 of the penal code. 55 A judge at the Court of
Appeals in Beirut also confirmed that four cases related to trafficking had
been submitted to him as of April 2012. 56
52
M. Mattar: The Protection Project: Testimony by Dr. Mohamed Mattar at the Tom
Lantos Human Rights Commission Hearing, 28 Nov. 2012, p. 3.
53
UN General Assembly: Trafficking in women and girls, report of the Secretary
General (23 July 2012), A/67/170, p. 16.
54
Interview with an official from the Palace of Justice, Mount Lebanon, 18 Jan. 2012.
55
Interview with an official from the Palace of Justice, Mount Lebanon, 18 Jan. 2012.
56
Two cases involved two Syrian women forced into prostitution by an Iraqi man.
The perpetrator has been accused under art. 1 of Lebanon’s anti-trafficking law, but
the judgment has not yet been rendered (request for investigation No. 8321/2012).
The third case involves a Syrian man residing illegally in Lebanon who has been
accused of exploiting his 12-year-old son into forced begging (request for investigation
No. 8564/2012). The fourth case involves a Lebanese man who preyed on minors
through the Internet, inciting them to have sexual intercourse with him (request for
investigation No. 8562/2012).
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