Japan should prosecute more human trafficking cases: U.N. official+

NEW YORK, Feb. 12 Kyodo -
Although Japan has made strides through new legislation in recent years to
protect foreign nationals from being trafficked into its territory, more needs
to be done to increase the number of those actually prosecuted for such crimes,
a U.N. official said in a recent interview.

Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime,
told Kyodo News that Japan had arrested dozens and convicted 24 people between
2005 and 2007 since introducing legislation that makes buying or selling human
beings an offense in 2005.
Of those convicted, five were sentenced less than two years in prison, 12 for
two to three years and the remaining seven for more than three years, Costa
said. He was referring to data in a ''Global Report on Trafficking in
Persons,'' the first assessment by the United Nations of the global human
trafficking situation, released Thursday.
''Japan is a country of more than 127 million and from 2005 to 2007, 24 people
were convicted in trafficking. This is nothing,'' he said, calling on all
countries to act more to punish criminals.
UNODC compiled the 292-page human trafficking report based on data provided by
155 countries and territories to highlight the extent of the problem that
exists around the globe. Countries like China, North Korea, Iran and Saudi
Arabia did not provide data.
According to the report, more than 21,400 victims were identified in 111
countries in 2006. Although the number of trafficked individuals is difficult
to track, Costa said at a press conference Thursday that some 2 million are
estimated to have been trafficked in 2005.
The report indicated that sexual exploitation is by far the most commonly
identified form of trafficking, followed by forced labor.
On human trafficking into Japan, the report said people from the Philippines
accounted for 70 of the total victims identified by the Japanese National
Police Agency during 2005-2006, followed by 58 from Indonesia and 24 from
Thailand. Much smaller numbers of people were from Taiwan, China and East
Europe.
Costa said this was a ''significant'' improvement from the days when
entertainment visas were effective in Japan -- until four years ago. Since the
visas were abolished, the number of women brought into Japan to service men has
dropped to ''a fraction,'' he said.
Within the Pacific sub-region, the report said that in Japan, Mongolia,
Indonesia and Myanmar, adult women, as opposed to minors, are more commonly
identified as victims.
But the trafficking of minors is a ''more significant issue'' in other
countries, including Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and the Philippines.
The report said about 20 percent of the victims have been children.
Trafficking in men and boys was also reported in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar,
Thailand, Indonesia and Mongolia.
''Victims were predominantly trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation
throughout the region,'' the report said.
''In the case of Asia, we have noted again that human trafficking is a drama of
extraordinary proportion. It is to some extent even an epidemic,'' Costa said.
Also of concern to Costa were the less visible cases of young people slaving
away in sweat shops, including incidents of forced labor that had been imposed
on drug addicts as a form of rehabilitation. They are not compensated for their
work.
This trend is an alarming one that will be addressed at a ministerial meeting
in Vienna next month, he said.
Drug addicts in Southeast Asian are often forced to perform labor-intensive
work such as stitching, processing leather or working with plastics or rubbers
used by industrial companies that sell their products worldwide.
''I would urge all importing countries to impose a code of conduct to whatever
business they are involved in,'' he said.
Costa presented the report on the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's
birthday in an effort to highlight the importance of preventing the
perpetuation of human slavery. Lincoln, the 16th president of the United
States, was known for his stance against the practice.
In another development, award-winning actress and human rights activist Mira
Sorvino became the latest goodwill ambassador at a high-level meeting held at
U.N. headquarters to fight human trafficking.
==Kyodo