3071-The political economy of new slavery

100 Responses to Sexual Slavery
to Bosnia-Herzegovina (UNMiBH) and the Soros Foundation. While the
integrity of the Doboj STOP team is unquestionable, other instances
have shown that women are reluctant to speak to IPTF, let alone the local
police, as a result of their past involvement in trafficking (Vandenberg,
2002; Human Rights Watch, 2002b). When interviewed, the women
will then be encouraged to prosecute the nightclub owners. They rarely
choose to proceed as they fear to be either deported as owners of illegal
documents, retaliated against by the nightclub owners in BiH, or fear
repercussions on their families. In one instance, a girl interviewed, who
had been sold by the acquaintance of a friend, was concerned about the
well-being of her daughter in her country of origin. 14 On 1 January 2003,
the IPTF mission, under UN control, was replaced by the European
Union Police Mission (EUPM), reducing the number of the international
police assisting the development of the BiH police force from
over 2,000 to 512 policemen. This has directly resulted in a decrease in
international police activities with regards to trafficking, bringing the
STOP initiative to a halt (Zecchini, 2003). In an effort to reassure the
international public on the follow-up of past initiatives, the EUPM
assisted in the raid of 24 brothels on 2 January 2003. No arrests were
made. The next part of this chapter will assess the international law
response to human trafficking.
Trafficking and international law in BiH
International law concerning the combat of trafficking can be applied
to BiH. 15 According to Article 2, paragraph 1 of the BiH Constitution,
‘Bosnia and Herzegovina and both its entities will provide the highest
level of internationally recognized human rights and human freedoms.’
Moreover, Article 2, paragraph 2 states that the ‘rights and freedoms
established in the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental
Freedoms and its protocols shall apply directly in Bosnia and
Herzegovina. Those documents will have priority over all other law.’
The United Nations (UN) Convention for the Suppression of the Trafficking
in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others of 1949 does
not contain a definition of traffic in persons because it does not apply
as an anti-trafficking instrument as such. 16 It focuses on prostitution
and calls for the penalizing of any person making profit of another
person’s prostitution. It only addresses the needs of women by acknowledging,
under Article 16, their need for rehabilitation, while forcing
them to be assisted in their return to their countries of origins under
Article 18. In practice, it therefore treats them as criminals or undocu-