Trafficking in human beings: human rights and ... - unesdoc - Unesco

sexual assault; Causing bodily injury; Murder; Kidnapping; Unlawful confi nement;
Labour exploitation; Withholding of identity papers; Corruption. 156
A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY?
At the international level, the principle of individual responsibility under international
criminal law is applicable to traffi cking in human beings as a way to enforce human rights
norms and principles directly, similar to criminal proceedings at a national level. 157
Crimes against humanity have been identifi ed in international law and developed since
the adoption of the Statute of the International Military Tribunal of Nuremberg, as serious
violations of fundamental human rights, perpetrated either in war 158 or in peacetime as
part of a systematic or widespread attack against a civilian population. The defi nition of
crimes against humanity in the Statute of the International Criminal Court (the Rome
Statute) in Article 7 which includes a list of act which, when committed as part of a
widespread and systematic attack against a civilian population will constitute a crime
against humanity. 159
156 UNODC: Toolkit to Combat Traffi cking in Persons, 2006, p. 35.
157 Obokata, T.: Traffi cking of Human Beings from a Human Rights Perspective – towards a holistic approach.
p. 133.
158 This paper does not analysis the effects of armed confl ict on traffi cking, but not surprisingly political
turmoil and confl ict act as a catalyst for people to leave home and both regular and irregular armed
forces may engage in traffi cking of especially uprooted people to gain a profi t. Further it has by now
been proved that the presence of troops very often results in a rise in traffi cking cases and cases of
forced prostitution. See Cameron, S and Newman, E.: Traffi cking in humans: Structural factors, in
Cameron, S. and Newman, E. (Eds.): Traffi cking in Human – social, cultural and political dimensions,
and See also Touzenis, K.: Unaccompanied Minors – rights and protection (2006) for an analysis of
children in traffi cking and war and as IDPs.
159 For the purpose of this Statute, ‘crime against humanity’ means any of the following acts when
committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with
knowledge of the attack: (a) Murder; (b) Extermination; (c) Enslavement; (d) Deportation or forcible
transfer of population; (e) Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation
of fundamental rules of international law; (f) Torture; (g) Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution,
forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity;
(h) Persecution against any identifi able group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic,
cultural, religious, gender as defi ned in paragraph 3, or other grounds that are universally recognized
as impermissible under international law, in connection with any act referred to in this paragraph or
any crime within the jurisdiction of the Court; (i) Enforced disappearance of persons; (j) The crime
of apartheid; (k) Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or
serious injury to body or to mental or physical health. 2. For the purpose of paragraph 1: (a) ‘Attack
directed against any civilian population’ means a course of conduct involving the multiple commission
of acts referred to in paragraph 1 against any civilian population, pursuant to or in furtherance of a
State or organizational policy to commit such attack; (c) ‘Enslavement’ means the exercise of any or
all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership over a person and includes the exercise of such
power in the course of traffi cking in persons, in particular women and children; (e) ‘Torture’ means
the intentional infl iction of severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, upon a person in the
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