A/66/44
psychological and rehabilitative services, as well as with compensation, and create
adequate conditions for them to report incidents of harmful traditional practices and
domestic and sexual violence without fear of reprisal or stigmatization. The State
party should provide training to judges, prosecutors, police, and community leaders
on the strict application of the revised Criminal Code and on the criminal nature of
harmful traditional practices and of other forms of violence against women. The
Committee also requests the State party to provide in its next periodic report updated
statistical data on the number of complaints, investigations and prosecutions and on
the sentences imposed on perpetrators, as well as on victim assistance and
compensation.
Human trafficking
(33) The Committee expresses concern about the low prosecution and conviction rates in
relation to child abduction and human trafficking, in particular internal trafficking of
women and children for forced labour and sexual and other forms of exploitation. It is also
concerned at the general lack of information on the extent of trafficking in the State party,
including the number of complaints, investigations, prosecutions and convictions of
perpetrators of trafficking, and on the practical measures taken to prevent and combat
human trafficking (arts. 1, 2, 12 and 16).
The State party should increase its efforts to prevent and combat, in particular, child
abduction and internal trafficking of women and children and provide protection for
victims and ensure their access to legal, medical, psychological and rehabilitative
services. In this regard, the Committee recommends that the State party adopt a
comprehensive strategy to combat trafficking in human beings and its causes. The
State party should also investigate all allegations of trafficking, and ensure that
perpetrators are prosecuted and punished with penalties appropriate to the nature of
their crimes. The State party is requested to provide information on measures taken
to provide assistance to victims of trafficking and statistical data on the number of
complaints, investigations, prosecutions and sentences in relation to trafficking.
Restrictions on NGOs working in the field of human rights and the administration of
justice
(34) The Committee expresses serious concern about reliable information on the negative
impact of Proclamation No. 621/2009 for the Registration of Charities and Societies, which
bars foreign NGOs and those which receive more than 10 per cent of their funds from
foreign sources from working on human rights and the administration of justice
(Proclamation, art. 14), on the capacity of local human rights NGOs to facilitate prison
visits and to provide legal aid and other assistance or rehabilitation to victims of torture and
ill-treatment. The Committee notes with concern that local human rights NGOs previously
active in those areas, including the Ethiopian Human Rights Council, the Ethiopian Women
Lawyers Association, the Ethiopian Bar Association and the Rehabilitation Centre for
Victims of Torture in Ethiopia, are no longer fully operational (arts. 2, 11, 13 and 16).
The Committee calls on the State party to acknowledge the crucial role of NGOs in
preventing, documenting and assisting victims of torture and ill-treatment, consider
lifting the funding restrictions on local human rights NGOs, unblock any frozen assets
of those NGOs and ensure their freedom from harassment and intimidation, with a
view to enabling them to play a meaningful role in the implementation of the
Convention in the State party, thereby assisting the State party in fulfilling its
obligations under the Convention.
52
GE.11-45568
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