Smith Wins Parliamentary Assembly Approval of Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism,Human Trafficking

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Smith Wins Parliamentary Assembly Approval of Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism, Human Trafficking

7/8/03 6:32:00 PM

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To: National Desk

Contact: Ben Anderson of the Helsinki Commission, 202-225-1901 e-mail: Ben.Anderson@mail.house.gov; web: http://www.csce.gov

WASHINGTON, July 8 /U.S. Newswire/ -- United States Helsinki Commission Chairman Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-N.J.) returned to Washington today after winning passage of measures to combat anti-Semitism and human trafficking while attending the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's 12th annual Parliamentary Assembly.

Chairman Smith's two resolutions draw on his leadership during last year's parliamentary assembly in spearheading a forum to combat anti-Semitism and his legislative record in the United States Congress with landmark legislation to battle the 21st Century form of slavery commonly known as human trafficking.

"Today, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly sends a message to some of the world's most misguided souls, that we stand forthrightly against attitudes which disregard the dignity of the human spirit," Smith said. "I am grateful for my colleagues here from other nations and their willingness to stand up against the narrow-minded prejudice of anti-Semitism and the dehumanizing thuggery responsible for enslaving hundreds of thousands of women, men and children every year around the world."

"By working through the OSCE PA, networking with legislators from other countries, I am hopeful we can save one more victim from the bondage of human slavery and spare one more congregation from the toll of human hatred," said Chairman Smith.

Chairman Smith partnered during last year's Parliamentary Assembly in Berlin with Members of the Bundestag to focus the OSCE's attention on the rise of anti-Semitism throughout Europe. Last fall, Smith hosted a similar forum in Washington to highlight the issue. The OSCE recently concluded in Vienna, Austria a conference on combating anti-Semitism during which Smith served as Vice Chairman of the U.S. Delegation. The OSCE recently announced plans for a follow-up conference on combatting anti-Semitism.

Chairman Smith's resolution urges all of the OSCE's 55 participating States "to ensure effective law enforcement by local and national authorities against criminal acts stemming from anti-Semitism, xenophobia, or racial or ethnic hatred, whether directed at individuals, communities, or property, including thorough investigation and prosecution of such acts."

In October 2000, Smith won passage of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, groundbreaking U.S. legislation which, among other things, grants victim status to trafficked individuals rather than allowing them to be treated as criminals. The Act created the mandate for the State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report.

Chairman Smith's OSCE PA resolution on Combating Trafficking and Exploitation of Children recognizes the links between modern day slavery to corruption, organized crime and international criminal networks. Smith seeks to draw attention to some of society's most vulnerable - children in the hands of organized criminals seeking personal or monetary gain through servitude and sexual exploitation.

The resolution urges participating States to redouble their efforts to combat corruption in all areas of society and all levels of government, giving particular regard to instances of corruption that lead to violations of human rights, including trafficking in persons.

The measure calls upon OSCE participating States to investigate allegations that police, or other law enforcement authorities, have been complicit in the crime of trafficking in persons and to prosecute any and all law enforcement authorities found to be complicit in such crimes or in efforts to undermine the investigation of such crimes.

The resolution also urges participating States to take measures to combat the use of the Internet for child exploitation. Such measures include establishing severe criminal penalties for the production, distribution or use of material that visually depicts sexual conduct by children below the age of 18.

Chairman Smith has used the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly to advance similar initiatives with his counterparts in other countries like Russia where legislation in the state Duma was modeled after the Trafficking Victims Protection Act.

Cases of trafficking and child exploitation can be found here at home. Six people in New Jersey were charged in February 2002 with enslaving four girls from Mexico. The girls, aged 14 to 18, were lured to the United States with promises of marriage and good paying jobs. Once they arrived in the United States, they were confined and forced to work in a brothel. Their traffickers used threats of harm, force, and psychological coercion to keep them in their servitude.

All six pled guilty to trafficking or trafficking-related charges. Thanks to the severe penalties that now exist in U.S. criminal law as a result of Smith's Trafficking Victims Protection Act, five of the six traffickers face the possibility of life in prison and fines of $250,000.

The United States Helsinki Commission, an independent federal agency, by law monitors and encourages progress in implementing provisions of the Helsinki Accords. The Commission, created in 1976, is composed of nine Senators, nine Representatives and one official each from the Departments of State, Defense and Commerce.