Universal-MigrationHRlaw-PG-no-6-Publications-PractitionersGuide-2014-eng

MIGRATION AND INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW | 69and whether individual responsibility for carrying out thoseacts can be attributed to the person concerned”. 110Finally, the Court held that, in this assessment, the authorities“must, inter alia, assess the true role played by the personconcerned in the perpetration of the acts in question; his positionwithin the organisation; the extent of the knowledge hehad, or was deemed to have, of its activities; any pressure towhich he was exposed; or other factors likely to have influencedhis conduct”. 111Box 4. Are victims or potential victims of humantrafficking refugees?Victims or potential victims of human trafficking are not entitledto refugee status solely on the grounds that they havebeen trafficked. In certain cases, however, the fear of traffickingor re-trafficking once returned to one’s country of originmight be grounds to claim protection as a refugee, whenthis fear is linked with one of the Geneva Refugee Conventiongrounds. The principles related to victims or potential victimsof trafficking and refugee status are described in the UNCHRGuidelines on victims of trafficking. 112Human trafficking often involves forms of forced labour, servitudeor slavery, and exploitation which would amount topersecution including the exploitation of the prostitution ofothers or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labouror services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitudeor the removal of organs. 113 In addition a trafficked personmight fear reprisals by traffickers or re-trafficking if returnedto his or her country of origin, which might amount to persecutionif it involves certain human rights violations or abuses.Trafficked persons might also fear ostracism, discrimination orpunishment by their family or the local community or Stateauthorities upon return. A victim’s family members might also110 Ibid., para. 1.111 Ibid., para. 97.112 UNHCR Guidelines on victims of trafficking, op. cit., fn. 71.113 See, Article 3(a), Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons EspeciallyWomen and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against TransnationalOrganized Crime, adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by GeneralAssembly resolution 55/25 of 15 November 2000 (UN Trafficking Protocol); and Article 4,Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, adopted on16 May 2005 (Council of Europe Trafficking Convention).