A/66/44 The State party should strengthen its efforts to combat trafficking in persons, especially in women and children, in particular by: (a) Ensuring that trafficking is defined as a crime in all parts of the State party in accordance with international standards, and that these offences are punishable by appropriate penalties which take into account their grave nature; (b) Improving the identification of trafficking victims and providing them with appropriate rehabilitation programmes, genuine access to health care and counselling; (c) Providing training to law enforcement personnel and other relevant groups, and raising awareness of the problem among the public. Enforced disappearances (24) While acknowledging the State party’s statement that the Institute for Missing Persons is fully functional and noting ongoing cooperation with the International Commission on Missing Persons aimed at the identification of missing persons, the Committee is concerned by the inadequate protection for the rights of relatives of missing persons and the delay in establishing a State-level fund to assist them. The Committee also regrets that the lack of the harmonization in the State party laws makes it difficult to prosecute enforced disappearances as crimes against humanity (arts. 1, 4, 14 and 16). The Committee recommends that, in line with the preliminary recommendations made by the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances following its fact-finding mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina in June 2010, the State party: (a) Ensure the full independence of the Institute for Missing Persons and provide the Institute with adequate material, financial and human resources, including available technology necessary to detect and exhume graves; (b) Ensure that the fund for families of missing persons is established without any further delay and that its financing is entirely secured; (c) Complete the Central Record of Missing Persons (CEN) without further delay and make it available to the public; (d) Respect the right of families of missing persons, including those who live outside Bosnia and Herzegovina, to know the truth by keeping them informed of the progress made in the processes of exhumation and identification of mortal remains and provide them with psychosocial assistance during the process; (e) Fulfil its obligation to investigate all cases of enforced disappearances; (f) Consider ratifying the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. National preventive mechanism (25) While noting that the State party is preparing the establishment of a national preventive mechanism in collaboration with the Ombudsman and with the support of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Committee remains concerned about a reported lack of effective legislative and logistic measures taken by the competent authorities in order to establish an independent national preventive mechanism in line with articles 17 to 23 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (arts. 2, 11 and 16). The State party should, in line with the recommendations made by the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review and accepted by the State party (A/HRC/14/16, para. 90 (recommendation 17) and A/HRC/14/16/Add.1, para. 10), 18 GE.11-45568

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