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7847th Security Council Meeting: Human Trafficking in Conflict Situations - Part 1
Unanimously adopting resolution 2331 (2016), the 15‑member Council, responsible for the maintenance of international peace and security, specifically condemned the sale of, or trade in, persons seized by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh), including Yazidis and persons belonging to religious and ethnic minorities, as well as trafficking in persons by Boko Haram, Al-Shabaab, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and other groups for purposes of sexual slavery, and exploitation and forced labour. It stressed that human trafficking contributed to other forms of transnational organized crime, which could exacerbate conflict and foster insecurity and instability.
Also by that text, the Council stressed that acts of human trafficking during armed conflict as well as sexual and gender-based violence could be part of the strategic objectives and ideologies of certain terrorist groups by, among other things, incentivizing recruitment, supporting financing through the sale of women, girls and boys, and use of religious justifications to codify and institutionalize sexual slavery. It called upon Member States, among other things, to investigate, disrupt and dismantle the networks involved, including through the use of anti-money laundering, anti-corruption and counter-terrorism laws, underscoring in that regard the importance of international cooperation in law enforcement.
By other terms, the Council encouraged Member States to build strong partnerships with the private sector and civil society, including local women’s organizations, and encouraged the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and regional bodies to include analyses of financial flows associated with human trafficking that financed terrorism. It affirmed that victims of trafficking and sexual violence should be classified as victims of terrorism. The council further expressed its intention to consider imposing targeted sanctions on individuals and entities involved in human trafficking in conflict-affected areas.
At the outset of the meeting, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon described trafficking as a global problem, saying the most vulnerable people were those caught in conflict — women, children, internally displaced persons and refugees. Terrorist groups such as ISIL, Boko Haram, Al-Shabaab and others used human trafficking and sexual violence as weapons of terror and important sources of revenue. Noting that both ISIL and Boko Haram engaged in the sexual enslavement of women and girls, he said Yazidi girls captured in Iraq were trafficked into Syria and sold in open slave markets.
Emphasizing the importance of fighting trafficking for the sake of the victims, and of reducing funding for terrorists, he said countries should investigate and prosecute cases in which their own nationals committed such crimes abroad. All perpetrators must be brought to justice, he said, stressing that only an international response could succeed in resolving an international problem like human trafficking. Because the majority of trafficking victims were women and girls, the response must include special attention to their rights, and States must adopt gender-sensitive and rights-based migration policies, he said.
Zainab Hawa Bangura, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, said a range of extremist groups were using sexual violence to advance military, political, economic and ideological aims. They used sexual violence as a tactic to strike fear into the hearts of civilians. To disrupt human trafficking was to help disrupt the business of terrorism, she said, adding that, in order to define sexual violence as a tactic of terrorism, her Office had identified six of its key dimensions: when systematically committed by violent extremists and terrorist groups; when deliberately used to spread terror; when used to finance the activities of terrorist groups; when used as a form of persecution targeting political, ethnic or religious groups; when advanced as a strategy to radicalize, recruit, retain or reward fighters; and when committed in pursuit of an ideology entailing control over women’s bodies, sexuality and reproduction. Victims of human trafficking were victims of terrorism, she affirmed.
Ameena Saeed Hasan, civilian activist for Yazidi women’s rights, said Da’esh had abducted more than 6,000 women and children and sold them in slave markets. The virginity of girls had become the gate of paradise, according to the group’s rules, she said. While Islam was known to contain certain moderate principles and ideas, its leaders had remained silent in the face of what Da’esh was doing, she said, adding that genocide had been committed and the Council had been unable to prevent it. Women and children were brought to slave markets as in medieval times, she added, but no military operation had been carried out to free them. “Where is justice?” she demanded.
Also addressing the Council, Nadia Murad Basee Taha, Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking, recalled the enslavement committed by ISIL against herself and others of the Yazidi community, saying the group’s genocidal campaign against Yazidis continued with more than 3,000 of them remaining in captivity today. She asked why there was no court to prosecute the perpetrators of crimes against the Yazidi, nor an independent body to investigate them. She appealed to Member States to ensure that human traffickers faced sanctions for their crimes, to establish international safe zones and to take in refugees fleeing brutal wars.
Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), said pervasive transnational human trafficking was everywhere, and building effective action to counter it would require a strong framework of international cooperation and shared responsibility. Existing frameworks must be strengthened to act against “modern-day slave traders”, he emphasized. Law enforcement must target organized criminals by sharing intelligence and coordinating actions across borders while deploying a full arsenal of tools to fight money-laundering and terrorist financing.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy of Spain, Council President for December, spoke in his national capacity, explaining that his country had convened today’s debate because the moral imperative of fighting human trafficking and all contemporary forms of slavery was clear, and Council action imperative. Today’s resolution, the Council’s first action on human trafficking, proposed the means to strengthen the normative framework as well as sanctions for fighting the phenomenon.
In the ensuing debate, speakers recognized that human trafficking in conflict areas was a threat to international peace and security, and was being used systematically by certain terrorist groups and non-State actors as a tool to intimidate and destroy communities because of their religion, ethnicity or culture. Since it was also used to finance the activities of terrorist groups, financial flows should be analysed and targeted sanctions imposed on individuals and groups that committed the crime of human trafficking, he said, describing them as war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Speakers also called for international cooperation in fighting human trafficking, for an end to impunity for perpetrators, and for treating trafficking victims as victims of terrorism. Noting that ISIL had established a market in Iraq, where women and girls were sold for use as sexual slaves, France’s representative said those responsible would need to answer for such atrocities.
Greece’s representative said that, as the first entry point for most migrants and refugees arriving in Europe, authorities in her country were well aware of the challenges involved. Greece had established a national initiative focused on coordinating different stakeholders with the aim of protecting vulnerable persons, including women, girls and unaccompanied children. Combating human trafficking was not merely about implementing laws and penal codes, she said, emphasizing that it was critical to uphold human dignity, first and foremost. “Traffickers and warlords are relying on our failure to protect vulnerable people,” she added. She also stressed the importance of cracking down on the enormous profits generated by traffickers, by following their financial trails and using all available investigative tools to prosecute perpetrators.
The United Kingdom’s representative said that at the heart of the international response to human trafficking in conflict zones must be an understanding “not just of what we can do but what we ought to do”. It was easy to talk in the abstract about coordination, but the question was fundamentally about resources and institutional culture, he said. The United Kingdom was focusing on the issue of accountability in Iraq, and had established, with that country’s Government, a task force on implementation and coordination.
At the outset of the meeting, the Council observed one minute of silence to commemorate the victims of yesterday’s terrorist attacks as well as Andrey Karlov, Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Turkey, those murdered in Ankara.
Others addressing the Council were Ministers and other officials representing Nigeria, Ukraine Japan, Venezuela, Uruguay, Malaysia, New Zealand, China, Russian Federation, United States, Angola, Egypt, Senegal, Mexico, Colombia, Germany, Iran, Brazil, Hungary, Italy, Liechtenstein (also on behalf of Australia and Switzerland), India, Belgium (also on behalf of Argentina, Netherlands and Slovenia), Austria, Poland, Nicaragua, Thailand, Indonesia, Canada, Romania, Israel, Argentina, Qatar, Australia, Bangladesh, Morocco, Jordan, Paraguay, Slovakia, Luxembourg, Azerbaijan, Bahrain (on behalf of the Group of Friends against Trafficking), Turkey, Philippines, Peru, Norway (on behalf of the Nordic States), Haiti, Panama, Montenegro, Kazakhstan, Portugal, Ireland, Saudi Arabia, Uganda, Rwanda, Eritrea, Chile, Afghanistan and, Côte d’Ivoire.
The Permanent Observer of the Holy See and a representative of the European Union delegation also delivered statements, as did representatives of the International Organization for Migration, Organization of American States and Interpol.
The meeting began at 10:12 a.m. and ended at 5:45 p.m.
