RIGHTS-MEXICO:Slow Progress Against Human Trafficking
Emilio Godoy
Emilio Godoy
MEXICO CITY, Aug 27 (IPS) - Despite progress in bringing Mexican law into compliance with the international treaty against human trafficking, little has been achieved so far in this country in terms of prosecutions and convictions of traffickers, protection of victims and prevention of this increasingly widespread crime, says a new report released in the Mexican capital Thursday.
The "Human Trafficking Assessment Tool Report for Mexico" was produced by the American Bar Association’s Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI).
"So far there have been no convictions, which is a very serious problem," attorney Gretchen Kuhner, one of the authors of the report, told IPS. "But the law against trafficking in Mexico is very new, and more time is needed to evaluate its implementation."
The Mexican Congress passed the Law to Prevent and Penalise Trafficking in Persons, creating federal mechanisms for the prevention, protection, and prosecution of human trafficking, in November 2007, although the regulations for the law were not issued until February 2009.
The law provides for both territorial and extraterritorial jurisdiction over trafficking in persons, which is classified as a felony, the ABA ROLI report says.
Based on 78 interviews with experts and government officials carried out between January and June 2008, the report found legal inconsistencies such as limiting the definition of "trafficking victim" to passive subjects of the crime of trafficking who participate in criminal proceedings in Mexico or abroad.
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