A personal responsibility to fight human trafficking
You were involved in the OSCE’s first steps to address the issue of human trafficking as a member of the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the OSCE. How did it all start?
In the year 2000 the OSCE took its first MC [Ministerial Council] anti-trafficking decision. This was just days after the United Nations adopted its Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the Palermo Protocols, which established the universally recognized definition of human trafficking. So the OSCE’s engagement was truly timely. And it has continued to be known for its ability to take an innovative approach and open new chapters in the fight against trafficking. For example, the OSCE was the first among international organizations to adopt a Code of Conduct for its staff with a strong anti-trafficking component.
Speaking of the OSCE’s first steps, it is important to mention the pioneering work of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights in promoting a victim-centred approach, which paved the way to many subsequent decisions. For example, the Porto Ministerial Declaration of 2002, still worth reading for its clear, strong, emotional language, which tasked the Permanent Council with developing a new draft OSCE Action Plan on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings.
I had the honour of co-chairing, together with the Belgian Ambassador, Danielle del Marmol, the Informal Working Group on Gender Equality and Anti-trafficking, which proved to be an extremely effective arrangement for drafting the Action Plan. We met as often as possible; each meeting was a kind of mini-conference with guest speakers, and each was result-oriented and rich in substance. It was great teamwork. I will never forget the strong support and enthusiasm from Sabine Noelke (Canada), Janice Helwig (the United States), Nilvana Darama (Turkey), Christophe Kamp (the Netherlands), Сornel Ferută (Romania) and many other human rights advisers and officers. Helga Konrad, at that time the Chair of the Stability Pact Task Force on Trafficking, who was to become the first OSCE Special Representative a year later, also contributed. And wonderful Danielle del Marmol, who tirelessly negotiated the draft with each and every ambassador. The OSCE Action Plan was adopted in July 2003, a document we can be proud of one decade later.
The OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings is a unique position that combines a high-profile political role with executive functions. Please tell us about your role in creating it.
The final provisions of the Action Plan tasked the Chairmanship with conducting discussions on augmenting current structures and examining the need for a new mechanism. The delegations had two contradicting views: some strongly preferred a purely technical unit in the Secretariat, while others advocated the creation of a high-profile political position. The two approaches, each justified in their own right, seemed irreconcilable. And the draft Maastricht MC Decision that was supposed to endorse the adoption of the Action Plan was pending. In fact, the delegations had already arrived; they were all in Maastricht, and the MC was to start the next morning!
At midnight, in my hotel room, I took a piece of paper and started to draw boxes and arrows: one box represented the Permanent Council, with its decision-making power, another the Chairperson-in-Office, who was free to appoint a future Special Representative and Co-ordinator, a third the Secretariat, as the executive structure. The arrows started moving in all directions, connecting these boxes – and the puzzle was done!
In the fight against modern-day slavery there is no in-between. Taking no action is equal to a silent blessing, and traffickers certainly get the message.
The next morning, I went to Ambassador Alexander Alekseyev [the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the OSCE from 2001 to 2004] and uttered the words, “I have a solution.” He did not even ask me about its substance. He just said, “sell it to Andrey Rudenko [at that time Senior Adviser of the Russian Permanent Mission, responsible for the preparation of MC decisions].” I did. Together we went to the Dutch Chairmanship, to Christophe Kamp, and with him to the United States delegation advisor, Janice Helwig. We were on the same page! The anti-trafficking mechanism started to take shape. Yes, it was a compromise, but a decent one and the only feasible one for the moment. It was to be composed of a Special Representative, appointed by the Chairperson-in-Office, and a unit in the Secretariat that was fully at the disposal of the Special Representative. The draft formula was presented to the Norwegian Ambassador, Mette Kongshem, who was then co-chairing the Informal Working Group, approved, submitted to the PrepCom and, finally, following the usual procedure, it led to the Maastricht MC Decision. Two years later, in 2006, the mechanism was transformed into the Office of the Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings and became an integral part of the Secretariat.
Eleven years ago, you told the OSCE Newsletter in an interview that trafficking is “more tragic, more complex, more risky and has a deeper impact on European security than I ever thought." How has it changed since you joined the Secretariat as Senior Adviser to the Special Representative in 2004?
At that time, trafficking in human beings was known mainly as trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Since then, it has evolved into a serious transnational threat, with new forms of exploitation, new methods of recruitment, infiltrating new sectors of the economy. Today, trafficking for labour exploitation is a prevailing trend. The 2012 International Labour Organization’s figures estimate 20.9 million persons in forced labour globally. Child trafficking is increasing. Other forms have emerged that were underestimated in 2003: trafficking for forced begging, for forced criminality, for organ removal – and trafficking for domestic servitude. We can be proud that the OSCE was the first to vigorously address this most hidden form of slavery, including, unfortunately, in diplomatic households.
What is most sobering is that this evolution is happening irrespective of the quantity and quality of international anti-trafficking instruments and national mechanisms. Why? Because trafficking in human beings is not an isolated phenomenon. It is closely linked with corruption and many other forms of organized crime, such as document fraud, smuggling of migrants, drug trafficking, kidnapping, money laundering, even terrorism.
The notion of so-called vulnerable groups is changing – no one is safe, there are no age limitations, no clear correlation to level of education, financial status or profession. Traffickers exploit any misfortune, be it a natural disaster, a conflict situation, dissatisfaction with quality of life or personal circumstances, physical or mental disability or social exclusion. A sort of gender “equality” has developed – men and boys constitute 45 per cent of trafficked victims. The familiar and schematic division into countries of origin, transit and destination is blurred and countries now “combine” these three features plus internal trafficking.
What have OSCE efforts achieved?
We can definitely say that awareness has increased. At the turn of the century, quite educated people still tended to blame sexually exploited persons for their own victimization. Nearly no one took the connection between labour migration and the vulnerability of labour migrants seriously. This has changed.
Within the past decade, most participating States have adopted special anti-trafficking laws guaranteeing state protection to victims and criminalizing all forms of trafficking. The majority have established national co-ordinating mechanisms; a few created national monitoring and reporting mechanisms. Some already have state funds to ensure that victims of trafficking are compensated for the harm suffered. The media is paying much more attention to the problem. The private sector is demonstrating signs of social responsibility in the prevention of labour exploitation and human trafficking at all stages. National action plans have become a widely accepted form of strategic response helping to unite the efforts of executive structures at the national level and engage with civil society. I would not say that all participating States have taken this constructive and responsible approach, but many, the vast majority have, and I sincerely hope that these ABCs of anti-trafficking will spread all over the OSCE region. They are indeed the basics.
An important achievement of 2013 was the adoption of the Addendum to the Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings: One Decade Later by the Ministerial Council in Kyiv. Once again, the format of a special working group, established by the Ukrainian Chairmanship for drafting the document, proved very useful. I would like to pay tribute to Nataliia Galibarenko and Maryana Betsa, who moderated the meetings of the group and led it to the success we all managed to achieve together.
What gaps does the Addendum address?
The gaps in the Action Plan were natural – they appeared in the course of time due to the new forms of exploitation and the absence of specially designed supportive measures for the victims. For example, there are nearly no shelters for men and for victims of labour exploitation. The Action Plan contains no recommendations on how to provide assistance to the victims of trafficking for organ removal, forced begging or forced criminality. Important groups are missing from the list of recipients of specialized training – airline attendants, for example.
And there is one more gap that I would mention – the lack of attention to partnerships. They are the subject of a special chapter in the Addendum, which highlights the role of the Alliance against Trafficking in Persons established by the OSCE in July 2004, a unique partnership among major international organizations and NGOs. The Alliance has become an OSCE brand, a platform that attracts new partners every year.
I would like to emphasize that the Addendum is not a revision of the Action Plan. This strategic document is still valid. Any revision would have been too risky, as it could have led to its weakening. The Addendum is an update that accumulates the most relevant political commitments taken by the participating States from 2004 to 2011 and translates them into concrete and detailed recommendations that will contribute to their implementation.
What will be your fondest memory of the time spent at the Secretariat?
Looking back, I feel each and every moment was precious. In our everyday life we often don’t notice what a gift life is, how beautiful the people around us are. Even walking from the Hofburg to the Secretariat – many people travel thousands of miles to see this beauty, to make photos, to breathe the air of Vienna and hear the melodies of the street musicians!
There are special moments to remember, of course. When an idea that obsessed me and seemed impossible became reality. I am thinking, for instance, of the roundtable meeting on anti-trafficking action that we, the OSCE, were able to organize in St. Petersburg with the Council of Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States’ Inter-Parliamentary Assembly. It marked a new level of co-operation between these organizations. Or when one of our interns, capable of accomplishing any professional task, got an excellent job after her time with us. Or our staff meetings and brainstorming under the leadership of Maria Grazia Giammarinaro. The list of such events is endless. Dear to my heart is each member of our terrific team; they all are professionals of the highest level, wonderful, kind, friendly people, ready to give a helping hand at any moment, to celebrate the success of others and to contribute to it far beyond their direct responsibilities.
I have been lucky to work with three OSCE Special Representatives: Helga Konrad, the “godmother” of the Alliance against Trafficking in Persons; Eva Biaudet, who, after leaving Vienna, became National Rapporteur in Finland; and Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, who has been promoting social justice, the principle of non-punishment for offences committed by victims of trafficking under coercion and unconditional assistance to trafficked persons. It has been an outstanding opportunity to learn from all three and admire their dedication.
What is the most urgent task ahead?
My ten years of service, contacts and dialogue with state officials, with civil society, with victims of trafficking and with ordinary people who are not at all engaged in anti-trafficking have led me to a simple conclusion: ignoring the problem will never eliminate it. In the fight against modern-day slavery there is no in-between. Taking no action is equal to a silent blessing, and traffickers certainly get the message.
It is absolutely insufficient to just conclude treaties, no matter how sophisticated and enlightened they may be. They are concluded to be implemented. There is a dramatic gap between the advanced level of OSCE anti-trafficking commitments and the awareness of them on the ground. There is a multitude of manuals, training material, opportunities to learn from each other – and they are significantly underused.
Implementation has to be funded. Governments and all of society need to be engaged in creating a zero-tolerance climate against the exploitation of human beings, for whatever reason.
Our consultations on the draft Addendum will, unfortunately, be remembered not only for the overall desire to reach consensus, but also for the manifestation of a decreased knowledge among delegates of existing commitments or internationally agreed human rights principles and terminology. No wonder: human dimension officers are often overloaded with ten or more topics, and trafficking in human beings is a rather complicated subject that requires time and lots of reading. The Office I was honored to work with is mandated to provide consultations on recent developments to any delegation. Use this opportunity, and you will save time for other matters.
Another problem is the lack of OSCE monitoring mechanisms. The word “monitoring” is a taboo for many delegations, but there is no other instrument to assess the effectiveness of implementation. The legally binding documents of the United Nations or the Council of Europe do have such mechanisms. The OSCE’s Human Dimension Implementation Meeting recommendations are not binding. I am not calling for creating a monitoring mechanism; this would be a utopia. The challenge of implementation has to be dealt with by the participating States themselves at the national level. The Addendum tasks the OSCE structures to provide participating States with assistance in the implementation of the new, updated recommendations (yes, “upon request”, of course, and “within existing resources”), and they will do so. But they cannot do the job designed for national authorities.
There can be no illusions about the complexity of the problem, or its links with other forms of organized crime, its global scope and its intrusion into the global economy. No illusions about the obstacles on the way to the elimination of slavery. I do believe in personal responsibility, and I know that each person has a mission to accomplish. That is why on my bookshelf I have been keeping a piece of paper with the following well-known words by the American poet Robert Frost: “The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.”
Dr. Vera Gracheva, a researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences (1971-1991) and a diplomat at the Russian Foreign Ministry (1991-2000), began working on the human trafficking phenomenon while posted as a Counsellor responsible for the human dimension portfolio to the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the OSCE (2000-2004). She was Senior Adviser to the OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings from 2004 to 2013.