Appendix to the reply
Comments of the Group of Experts on Action
against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA)
1. The Group of Experts on Action
against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) welcomed the adoption by
the Parliamentary Assembly of
Recommendation
1895 (2010)
on “Action against trafficking in human beings: promoting
the Council of Europe Convention”.
2. The GRETA fully agreed with the Parliamentary Assembly as
regards the primacy and relevance of the Council of Europe Convention
on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (the Convention) and
welcomed the primary role which the Parliamentary Assembly attaches
to the monitoring mechanism of the Convention.
3. The GRETA pointed out that its president was regularly invited
to meetings of the Parliamentary Assembly Sub-Committee on trafficking
in human beings. In addition, the GRETA recalled that in accordance with
Rule 2 of the Rules of Procedure of the Committee of the Parties,
the Parliamentary Assembly had participatory status with the Committee
of the Parties.
4. The GRETA welcomed the call of the Parliamentary Assembly
to step up co-operation with the European Union, the Organisation
for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the United Nations
in the field of trafficking in human beings, while taking care to
uphold the primacy of the Convention. In this respect the GRETA
recalled that the European Commission had participatory status with
the Committee of the Parties. In addition, it pointed out that the
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the International
Labour Organisation (ILO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF),
the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organisation
for Migration (IOM), the Organisation for Security and Co-operation
in Europe (OSCE), Interpol and Europol all had observer status with
the Committee of the Parties. The GRETA further recalled that at
its last meeting on 21 September 2009, the Committee of the Parties
decided to hold, at its next meeting, a thematic debate on the following
theme: Partnerships among international organisations active in
the field of trafficking in human beings: need for co-ordinated
action.
5. As regards co-operation with the European Union, the GRETA
noted that the Action-oriented paper on “Strengthening the EU external
dimension on action against trafficking in human beings: Towards
Global EU Action against Trafficking in Human Beings”
Note considered
that the Council of Europe Convention provided a solid basis for
developing partnerships between the European Union, third countries,
regions and organisations at international level. Furthermore, the
GRETA pointed out that the Action-oriented paper recognised the potential
of the GRETA “to cater for concrete recommendations for further
action in this context”.
6. The GRETA also referred to the existing co-operation in the
field of trafficking in human beings with the OSCE. In particular,
the GRETA highlighted that the fight against trafficking in human
beings was one of the four priority areas of the Co-ordination Group
between the Council of Europe and the OSCE. Furthermore, the GRETA
recalled that a consultation meeting between the secretariat of
the Council of Europe Convention and the secretariat of the OSCE
Office of the Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating
Trafficking in Human Beings (OSR) had taken place in Strasbourg
on 14 December 2009. The aim of the meeting had been to discuss
the respective programmes of activities of the two organisations
in the field of trafficking in human beings with a view to avoiding
unnecessary duplication and ensuring complementarity and mutual
assistance.
7. The GRETA welcomed the call of the Parliamentary Assembly
to promote the widest possible ratification of the Convention and
noted that to date the Convention had been ratified by 26 Council
of Europe member states and signed, but not yet ratified, by 17
other member states. The GRETA pointed out that the Convention was
not restricted to Council of Europe member states, as non-members
states and the European Union also had the possibility of becoming
party.
8. Finally, the GRETA recalled that, in February 2010, it had
initiated the first round of the evaluation of the implementation
of the Convention by the parties by addressing the “Questionnaire
for the evaluation of the implementation of the Council of Europe
Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings by the parties”
to the first ten countries which became parties to the Convention
(Moldova, Romania, Austria, Albania, Georgia, Slovakia, Bulgaria,
Croatia, Denmark and Cyprus). Bearing in mind that the duration
of the first evaluation round had been fixed to four years (2010-2013),
the GRETA aimed to adopt on average ten evaluation reports per year.
In this respect, the GRETA welcomed the call of the Parliamentary
Assembly to provide the monitoring mechanism of the Convention with
the requisite staffing and financial resources to ensure its effective
functioning.
