OHCHR REGIONAL OFFICE FOR SOUTH-EAST ASIA

Transcription

1 U N I T E D N A T I O N S N A T I O N S U N I E S OHCHR REGIONAL OFFICE FOR SOUTH-EAST ASIA REPORT ON THE SECOND ASIA HUMAN RIGHTS FORUM ON REGIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COOPERATION FOR COMBATING COMMERCIAL SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN IN ASIA 5 FEBRUARY 2007 AND THE ANNUAL WORKSHOP FOR YOUNG HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS 6 FEBRUARY 2007 AT KOREA UNIVERSITY SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA 1. At the invitation of the Asia Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) and Anti-Slavery International UK, RR attended the Second Human Rights Forum on Regional Human Rights Cooperation for Combating Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in Asia (hereinafter: the Forum) and the Annual Workshop for Young Human Rights Activists (hereinafter: Annual Workshop) that took place on 5 and 6 February 2007 respectively at Korea University in Seoul, South Korea The Forum focused on strengthening the Asia human rights protection system by exploring ways to combat commercial exploitation of children in Asia. The Annual Workshop aimed at awareness raising of students in human rights, including international human rights law and the UN human rights protection system (see attached programmes). 3. About 250 participants, including students and lecturers 2, government officials 3, representatives of diplomatic corps 4, and representatives of national and international NGOs, attended the Forum. The Public Prosecutor of the Ministry of Justice of Taiwan and the Advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of Mongolia were also present at the Forum. About 120 students from various faculties participated in the annual workshop. 4. RR was requested by the organisers to deliver a keynote speech on 5 February on OHCHR s Role in Supporting the Establishment of an ASEAN Regional Human Rights Mechanism (see attached copy) and to lead a discussion session with students on human rights related issues, including human rights work at the field level on 6 February The Annual Workshop ran from 6 to 7 February Dr. Changrok Soh, Dean, Graduate School of International Studies, Korea University, Prof. Park Kyung-Seo, Ambassador at Large for Human Rights, North East Asia Peace Institute (NEAP), Prof. Jea Young Park, Division of Politics and Public Administration of Gyeongsang National University, and Prof. Frank K. Upham, New York University. 3 Jeon Hyock Hee, Director General, National Youth Commission, Office of the Prime Minister, and Young He Choi, Chairperson of the National Youth Commission, Office of the Prime Minister. 4 Ambassadors of Afghanistan, Cambodia and El Salvador; as well as the counsellor of the US embassy in Seoul were present.

2 5. The Forum was divided into 3 plenary sessions dealing with respective sub-items that were as follows: A) Child Sex Tourism: Child Sex Tourism by Korean nationals Cases in the Philippines and Thailand; Australian Government s Response Against Child Sex Tourism; ASEAN Regional Education Campaign for Protecting Children from Sexual Exploitation in Tourism. B) Child Pornography on the Internet: Sexual Exploitation of Children in Cyberspace; Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children: Role of UNESCAP. C) Regional Framework for Preventing Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children: Pursuing Regional Human Rights Cooperation for Combating Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in Asia. 6. At the Annual Workshop, six lectures were delivered as follows: 1) Democracy and Human Rights; 2) International Human Rights Law; 3) UN Human Rights Protection System; 4) Advocacy Training Essentials in Putting Together A Human Rights Campaign; 5) NKHR s Campaigns on North Korean Human Rights; 6) Human Rights Education Programmes by Anti-Slavery International. 7. Highlights of the presentations that were made at the Forum and the Annual Workshop were as follows: Demand for overseas travel of Koreans has increased since 1998, reaching more than 10 million Koreans travelling abroad in 2005 alone; About 440,000 and 260,000 Koreans travelled to Thailand and the Philippines 5 respectively from January to June 2006; Travelling to South-East Asian countries, including Thailand and the Philippines, may at times cost less than travelling within Korea; There was a decrease of domestic sex purchase in Korea after the Prostitution Prevention Act of 2004, but an increased number of Korean men involved in sexual exploitation of minors in South-East Asian countries; There has been an increase of Korean ownership of entertainment businesses as places for prostitution in Thailand and the Philippines for Korean tourists 6 ; Thailand and the Philippines are reluctant to eradicate sex tourism, as the tourism industry provides both countries with hard cash; 5 Thailand is the third and the Philippines is the fifth most popular destination for Korean nationals travelling abroad. 6 A Korean, who owned the largest night club that was shut down for employing 71 children ranging from 8 to 16 years old in Cebu, the Philippines, was deported to Korea in

3 Although Thailand and the Philippines are providing medical health examinations and controlling underage prostitution, the enforcement of regulations is weak; There is a growing demand for virgins and minor girls and boys due to the misperception that this gives protection from AIDS; Sex services through prostitution are used as a tool for achieving accomplishments in business; There is a need for legislation to prosecute nationals committing child sex tourism offences abroad; The Transnational Crime Coordination Centre (TCCC) and the Transnational Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking Team (TSETT) of the Australian Government plays an important role in combating commercial sexual exploitation of children overseas; Australia has signed memoranda of understanding (MoU) to combat sexual abuse and other serious crimes with countries in Asia, the Pacific and South America; There has been an increase of paedophile friendly travel agencies to organise child sex tours; Victims are both boys and girls, usually between the ages of 5-18 years; The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has an international network, including 31 posts in 25 countries worldwide, which provides an international intelligence gathering and exchange capacity to prosecute Australians for committing child sex offences overseas; ASEAN Regional Education Campaign: - The campaign mobilises responsible travellers and local citizens to report child sex tourism through dedicated hotline numbers; - It aims at creating a culture of intolerance regarding child sex abuse; - It initiated the Child Wise 7 campaign Don t Let Child Abuse Travel in 2003; and the Child Wise Tourism Programme ; - In 2006, it posted stickers against child sex abuse in hotels, tour and transport operators, airline and shipping companies, airport taxis and law enforcement agencies in the Philippines, Thailand and Cambodia; - The ASEAN National Tourism Administrations (NTAs) will, in partnership with Child Wise, conduct high-level meetings to secure the support of the corporate sector in all ASEAN countries; The impact of technology on child pornography includes the production, distribution and creation of demand; Advances in digital technology are making it increasingly easy to produce and distribute child pornography; The trend of social networking through internet is on the increase 8 ; There are risk-awareness and safety programmes for children, parents, teachers, café operators etc.; Only 2 out of 10 countries in East Asia and the Pacific have adopted definitions for child pornography based on the Optional Protocol of the CRC; Only 5 out of 10 EAP countries have legislation specific to child pornography; Only 2 out of 10 EAP countries criminalise mere possession of child pornography; 7 Child Wise is the Australian arm of ECPAT (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes). 8 Sites include myspace.com, facebook.com, xanga.com and bebo.com. 3

4 MICROSOFT has introduced, in collaboration with the Canadian Police, a tracking system (CETS); There exists the possibility of putting filters on mobile phones to prevent access to child abuse sites (Telnor Norway); Algorithm has recently been invented to link digital images with the camera that was used to take the images; An alliance of 18 major commercial companies (Financial Coalition against Child Pornography) with the information industry has been created to fight against child abuse images; There exists a toolkit for implementing and monitoring the East Asia and Pacific Regional Commitment and Action Plan against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) which was compiled by UNESCAP; The Action Plan for Child and Juvenile Prostitution Control and Prevention is the guiding principle for law enforcement in the Republic of China (ROC); the Meeting of Supervision on Child and Juvenile Prostitution Control and Prevention is held every six months under the supervision of the Ministry of Interior; In 2006, a total number of 2,071 cases of child and juvenile prostitution were registered by the Child Welfare Bureau of the Ministry of Interior in Taipei; A total of 4,388 cases were investigated and 887 defendants in 924 cases were convicted in criminal cases of child and juvenile prostitution in 2006 in the ROC; A Woman and Child Protection Division exists at each district prosecutors office in the ROC with a prosecutor assigned to attend to matters relating to interests of women and children; There exists regular training programmes for prosecutors on woman and child protection in the ROC; There exists a Supervision Task Force organised by the High Prosecution Office in the ROC to review the achievement of work, and to make overall work plans to be undertaken by the prosecutor offices and police forces; The Human Trafficking Control and Prevention Action Plan, enacted on 8 November 2006, in the ROC, includes, inter alia, the application of the Witness Protection Law and provision of protection for the victims in the course of investigation and trial; There is an increased risk of trafficking of women and girl children from Mongolia to serve as sex workers in other countries, especially in settlements situated close to the borders of the Russia and China; There are a lack of official monitoring and tracking mechanisms for Mongolian children; An ECPAT Coalition involving governmental institutions and NGOs in Mongolia has been established; Sexual exploitation of children involves three malpractices: child prostitution, child pornography and child trafficking for sexual purposes; The 1996 Stockholm Declaration and Agenda for Action underlines the need for coordination/cooperation, preventive measures, actions to protect the child victims and criminalise the exploiters, facilities to promote the recovery and reintegration of the victims, and participation of children and youth to overcome the sexual exploitation of children; The Yokohama Global Commitment in 2001 re-affirmed the Stockholm Declaration and the Agenda for Action, and called for more effective implementation measures with partnerships between a variety of stakeholders; The European Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings of 2005 should be seen as a huge step forward in the fight against human trafficking; 4

5 Cross-border victims need to be treated as victims rather than as illegal immigrants; The Regional Commitment and Action Plan of East-Asia and Pacific Region against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children has been adopted by the countries of the region; Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Mongolia, New Zealand, the Philippines and Thailand have specific plans of action for combating the sexual exploitation of children. 9) Observations and Remarks The Forum and Annual Workshop offered an opportunity for both the organisers and the participants to have a fruitful and constructive dialogue on human rights issues. The openness and eagerness of participants to do human rights work should be emphasised. The presentations that were made at the Forum gave a comprehensive picture about the commercial sexual exploitation of children in Asia. The presentation of the Liaison Officer of the Australian Federal Police was a good example of how a State could prosecute its citizens who commit child sex offences overseas. Anti-Slavery International UK gave an excellent presentation at the Annual Workshop on advocacy training, which focused on how to put together essentials for a human rights campaign. The presentations at the Annual Workshop on international human rights law and the UN human rights protection system were not concise and suffered from repetition. Although the Forum did not come up with any specific recommendations, it was agreed that a kind of a follow up mechanism had to be put in place by indicating a short-term plan of action. The representative of Anti-Slavery International UK was requested by the Forum to draw up such a follow up plan. It is hoped that South Korea, as part of ASEAN Plus Three 9, can play a major role in establishing structures for the promotion and protection of human rights not only in South-East Asia, but also in the whole continent. South Korea s current economic and political position in Asia can help human rights movements in the region to bring forward human rights issues, especially with regard to the establishment of an ASEAN regional human rights mechanism. Concretely, South Korea may start a regular dialogue and consultation with the ASEAN Plus Three Unit at the ASEAN Secretariat 10 on human rights issues, including the establishment of an ASEAN human rights mechanism. South Korea could also suggest that human rights related issues, such as the protection of migrant workers, could be put onto the agenda of various summits, ministerial and senior officials meetings. 9 The ASEAN Plus Three cooperation began in December 1997 with the convening of an informal Summit among the leaders of ASEAN and their counterparts from East Asia, namely China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) at the sidelines of the Second ASEAN Informal Summit in Malaysia. The ASEAN Plus Three process was institutionalised in 1999 when the leaders issued a Joint Statement on East Asia Cooperation at their 3 rd ASEAN Plus Three Summit in Manila. The ASEAN Plus Three leaders expressed greater resolve and confidence in further strengthening and deepening East Asia cooperation at various levels and in various areas, particularly in economic, social, and political fields. 10 The ASEAN Plus Three Unit was established at the ASEAN Secretariat in December 2003 to assist the ASEAN Plus Three Co-chairs to coordinate and monitor ASEAN Plus Three cooperation. 5

6 10) Recommendations To use this report as a tool to highlight the need for an ASEAN regional human rights mechanism to effectively tackle national, regional and international issues. To assist the Emerging Social Issues Division of UNESCAP in the implementation of the East Asia and Pacific Regional Commitment and Action Plan against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC). To organise a four-hour session in Bangkok with relevant stakeholders to come up with a concrete plan of action for 2007, particularly with regard to the role of UN agencies in assisting governmental and non-governmental institutions entrusted with reporting under international obligations regarding the subject of the commercial sexual exploitation of children. This one-day session could also explore ways, in line with the UNCT Work Plans in the region, to encourage ASEAN Members States to ratify the outstanding international human rights standards, including the optional protocols of the CRC. To incorporate the issue of commercial sexual exploitation of children in Asia into possible human rights training programmes. To share this report with the Treaty Body and Special Procedures Branch to obtain their feedback and comments. To share this report with relevant UN agencies and donor community to draw follow up action for the region. To prepare a proposal on human rights activities by ROB to be sent to the organisers of the Forum and Annual Workshop. (HA/Bangkok/12 February 2007) 6