Slavery in The 21st Century

IV.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
188. The true effectiveness of a treaty can be assessed by the extent to which the States parties
apply its provisions at the national level. The implementation of treaties generally refers to both
the national measures adopted by States and international measures and procedures adopted to
review or monitor those national actions. There is no such international mechanism for the monitoring
and enforcement of States’ obligations to abolish slavery and related practices. The right of
all individuals to be free from slavery is a basic human right; yet this lack of an adequate implementation
procedure does little to encourage States to establish safeguards against all contemporary
forms of slavery. The mandate of the Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery could
be extended to incorporate such a function to provide for a systematic review procedure. Alternatively,
the Working Group could improve its own procedures to focus on thematic issues relevant
to the prevention of slavery. Another option would be for the Commission to revive its previous
proposal that the Working Group be transformed into a special rapporteur of the Commission on
Human Rights. Whatever mechanism the Commission and Sub-Commission might choose to
improve the implementation of the many treaties against slavery, this updated review of the international
law against slavery has been published in order to continue the work of the Sub-Commission’s
previous studies 286 and as a means to further understanding of the long-standing struggle to
abolish slavery and its contemporary manifestations.
189. Despite a widely held belief to the contrary, slavery in its various forms remains prevalent
as the world enters a new millennium. The concept of slavery has remained quite static during the
close on two centuries in which Governments and non-governmental organizations have
attempted to seek its abolition. Nonetheless, as this updated report has illustrated, a number of
slavery-like practices have evolved. In the past decade there have been proposals for yet further
expansion of contemporary forms of slavery which may dilute efforts to eradicate the historical
forms. Such proposals should be carefully scrutinized.
286 See Awad, supra note 2; Whitaker, supra note 3.
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