AG/RES. 2118 (XXXV-O/05) Fighting The Crime Of Trafficking In Persons

(Adopted at the fourth plenary session, held on June 7, 2005)

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

HAVING SEEN the Annual Report on Fighting the Crime of Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women, Adolescents and Children in the Americas (CP/doc.4023/05);

RECALLING resolutions AG/RES. 2019 (XXXIV-O/04), "Fighting the Crime of Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women, Adolescents, and Children"; AG/RES. 2026 (XXXIV-O/04), "Fighting Transnational Organized Crime in the Hemisphere"; and AG/RES. 2040 (XXXIV-O/04), "Meeting of Ministers of Justice or of Ministers of Attorneys General of the Americas";

RECOGNIZING that, on May 10, 2005, the Working Group to Prepare for the Meeting of National Authorities on Trafficking in Persons decided that said meeting would approach its study of the subject in an integrated fashion and address the three mandates on the topic, taking into account all OAS efforts against transnational organized crime and, in particular, against trafficking in persons, especially women and children, in keeping with the aforementioned resolutions;

RECOGNIZING ALSO the valuable work and studies of the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM) on trafficking in persons, especially on its prevention and on the protection of victims, and the need for all OAS bodies and entities to address the topic of trafficking in persons, particularly women and children, in a coordinated manner, so as to achieve a comprehensive perspective; and

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the conclusions and recommendations of the Meeting of Government Experts to Consider the Advisability of Developing a Hemispheric Plan of Action against Transnational Organized Crime, in accordance with resolution AG/RES. 2026 (XXXIV-O/04), which took place at OAS headquarters on April 18 and 19, 2005,

RESOLVES:

1. To reiterate the request to member states to consider signing and ratifying, ratifying, or acceding to, as the case may be, the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (Palermo Convention) and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children supplementing said Convention, and to take the necessary national measures to implement those instruments.

2. To urge member states to consider, as appropriate, signing or ratifying the Inter-American Convention on International Traffic in Minors.

3. To renew the mandate to the Permanent Council to convene a meeting of national authorities on trafficking in persons, before the thirty-sixth regular session of the General Assembly, with the purpose of studying mechanisms for integral cooperation among states to ensure the protection of and assistance to victims, prevention of the crime, and punishment of its perpetrators, bearing in mind respect for the human rights of victims. Likewise, the meeting will facilitate the sharing of information and experience, policy dialogue, and cooperation among countries of origin, transit, and destination in cases of trafficking in persons, as well as the establishment or improvement of statistical records in this regard.

4. To request that the Permanent Council, through the Working Group to Prepare for the Meeting of National Authorities on Trafficking in Persons, call upon the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM), the Inter-American Children's Institute (IIN), the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), the Summits of the Americas Secretariat, the Office of Inter-American Law and Programs, the Tourism and Small Enterprise Division, the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD), the Department of Multidimensional Security and its Office of International Threats, and the Office of Education, Science, and Technology to work with the United Nations, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and related international organizations on the preparatory work, so that the topic will be approached from an integrated, comprehensive perspective, in the context of the Palermo Convention.

5. To direct that, with respect to law enforcement aspects and compliance, the topic be considered by the Special Joint Committee on Transnational Organized Crime in collaboration, as appropriate, with the CIM, the IIN, and other relevant organs and entities of the Organization, considering that trafficking in persons is a manifestation of transnational organized crime which involves social aspects that should be addressed through strategies on prevention and attention to the victims.

6. To request the Permanent Council to report to the General Assembly at its thirty-sixth regular session on the implementation of this resolution, and to the next Meeting of Ministers of Justice or of Ministers or Attorneys General of the Americas (REMJA-VI).

7. To instruct the Secretary General of the Organization to provide the necessary services for the implementation of the measures envisaged in this resolution, in accordance with the resources allocated in the program-budget of the Organization and other resources.