A/HRC/13/39/Add.5
abroad. She was taken to Geneva and locked into a room in a house for several weeks; she
was not given enough food or any insulin. The man who initially approached her came and
went regularly. He wanted her to work in a brothel, but she refused. Each time he came he
beat her. She screamed for help, but to no avail. The door of the room was locked and the
windows were barred. One day she managed to escape. However, as a result of the lack of
insulin she had become completely blind. She was still afraid that the man who had locked
her into the house in Geneva might be looking for her.142
199. Although the Government of Moldova has taken a number of steps to address
trafficking in human beings, including through criminal investigations, the scale of the
problem remains relatively unknown because most victims are not identified due to the
absence of systematic identification processes in Moldova and some destination
countries.143
200. In line with the Committee against Torture, which has recognized that human
trafficking and torture are closely intertwined and has repeatedly commented on the need
for legislation and other measures,144 I wish to reiterate that in certain cases trafficking can
amount to torture and/or ill-treatment, if the State fails to fulfil its due diligence and
rehabilitation obligations in terms of the prevention of trafficking and the protection of
individual victims. The social exclusion resulting in some cases from past trafficking can
also lead to a re-victimization of the victims and may amount to inhuman and degrading
treatment.
3.
The protection of women and girls from female genital mutilation (FGM)
201. Shock induced by the extreme pain, psychological trauma, exhaustion from
screaming, and all too often death through severe bleeding are only a few of the horrible
consequences young girls and women who have to undergo FGM are faced with. The
Human Rights Committee has stated that FGM constitutes a breach of article 7 ICCPR,145
an opinion I fully share.
202. Both Nigeria and Togo, which I visited in March and April 2007, had enacted
specific regulations outlawing FGM. In Togo, however, I found that since the enactment of
the respective law in 1998, only one sentence had been imposed against a woman who had
performed FGM and the father of the victim. In addition, no data on the scale of the
practice had been collected since a 1998 study, which found that in some parts of the
country, up to 33 per cent of the women might have undergone female genital mutilation.146
I was very concerned in both countries about the persistence of FGM and the social
acceptance of these practices, as well as the lack of effective mechanisms to enforce the
existing prohibitions.147 During my visit to Denmark in 2008, I was informed that female
genital mutilation was made a separate crime under section 245a of the Danish Criminal
Code, and is subject to a maximum penalty of a six-year prison term.148 In the first case
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
54
A/HRC/10/44/Add.3, Appendix II, para. 15.
A/HRC/10/44/Add.3, paras. 50–51.
CAT/C/RUS/CO/4; CAT/C/TGO/CO/1; CAT/C/QAT/CO/1; CAT/C/KOR/CO/2; CAT/C/TJK/CO/1;
CAT/C/ZAF/CO/1; and CAT/C/AUT/CO/3.
HRC General Comment No. 28 (2000) on article 3, para. 11; CCPR/CO/80/UGA, para. 10;
CCPR/CO/77/MLI, para. 11; CCPR/CO/74/SWE, para. 8; and CCPR/CO/84/YEM, para. 11.
A/HRC/7/3/Add.5, para. 54.
A/HRC/7/3/Add.4, para. 62.
A/HRC/10/44/Add.2, para. 51.
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