Strasbourg, 28/01/2005 (Agence Europe) - In its adoption of the report by Swiss Socialist Ruth-Gaby Vermot-Mangold in Strasbourg on 26 January, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is recommending four “essential” changes in the text of the draft convention on the fight against trafficking in human beings. In particular, it comes down in favour of a minimum period of thirty days for victims of trafficking to recover, remaining in the country in which they arrived and decide whether or not to cooperate with the legal authorities. The Assembly hopes to see a guarantee that victims of trafficking who were forced to commit crimes such as prostitution or entering a country illegally will not be charged with criminal acts. It also believes that all provisions of the future convention should be binding.
The committee of legal experts which negotiates the convention is to meet again from 21 to 25 February 2005 to examine the Assembly's recommendations. Adopting a convention remains the job of the organisation's committee of ministers, which then decides to open it up for signature. It is in no way bound by the Assembly's opinion, which is particularly unfortunate in this case as the Council of Europe, with its 46 Member States, is the idea body for this kind of measure, as it brings together both countries of origin and destination countries.