10 April 2008
Maputo — The Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, on Thursday passed a bill imposing heavy penalties on people found guilty of trafficking in human beings, particularly in women and children.
Previously there has been no specific offence of human trafficking on the Mozambican statute book. However, cases of trafficking could be dealt with under the articles concerning kidnapping and private imprisonment in the penal code. Nonetheless, the government decided to draft a bill that would make human trafficking a specific offence.
The issue has been hitting headlines recently because of the coverage on Mozambican Television of the case of three teenage girls enticed from Maputo with promises of jobs and study in South Africa, only to end up in a brothel in Pretoria. They were rescued thanks to the intervention of a Mozambican lawyer resident in South Africa, and the woman who trafficked them is currently awaiting trial in a South African jail.
Introducing the bill, Justice Minister Benvinda Levy said "Studies show that Mozambique is affected by the phenomenon of human trafficking, and that in recent years this has been linked to organised cross-border crime, although the true scale of the problem is not known".
"The existing legislation on the matter in Mozambique is incipient, and an effective fight against the traffickers has been difficult", she admitted. The new bill thus opted for "the most inclusive approach possible, which considers the various forms of trafficking, and leaves grey areas to the minimum, while including the typifying elements defined internationally".
The bill proposed to punish anyone guilty of any of the various forms of human trafficking with between eight and 12 years imprisonment. But there have been demands for stiffer penalties from civil society bodies, and the Assembly's specialized commissions opted for a range of penalties of up to 20 years, depending on the exact nature of the trafficking. Levy accepted this amendment.
Thus, under the commissions' redraft, anyone who "recruits, transports, shelters, provides or receives a person by any means, including on the pretext of employment in the country or abroad, for purposes of prostitution, forced labour, slavery, or involuntary or debt servitude" will face a prison sentence of between 16 and 20 years.
The same penalty is proposed for trafficking with the purpose of removing or selling the victims' organs, and for fraudulent adoption with the purpose of involved the adopted children in prostitution, slavery or forced labour.
Trafficking for forms of sexual exploitation other than prostitution, such as forced marriage and pornography, will bear a penalty of 12 to 16 years jail
People who rent out buildings to be used in human trafficking will be liable to a jail sentence of between eight and twelve years. Those who use any form of publicity, including the Internet, to promote trafficking will face a penalty of between two and eight years imprisonment, as will anyone who confiscates, hides or destroys the passports or travel documents of those being trafficked.
Since human trafficking is defined as a "public crime", prosecuting the traffickers does not depend on a complaint from the victims, and the consent of the victims is irrelevant.
If any property, premises or staff of collective persons (such as organisations and companies) are used in human trafficking, their senior officials will be held responsible, and the assets used may be seized and will revert to the state. The licences, permits and registrations of organisations found to be involved in human trafficking will be "definitively cancelled".
The bill also envisages measures to protect victims and witnesses. The victims' identity will not be revealed during or after criminal proceedings. In order to ensure their recovery, they will be entitled to appropriate accommodation, medical and psychological care, counseling, free legal aid, and education or professional training.
Witnesses and whistle-blowers will receive special protection if they are under threat. The exact nature of this protection will de determined by the court in charge of the case.
The bill was entirely uncontroversial and passed its first reading unanimously and by acclamation.
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