Detroit Couple Sentenced to Prison for Slavery Charges

A Cameroonian couple living in the US was sentenced to prison for bringing a young girl, 14 at the time, to the United States and holding her in slavery. Joseph Djoumessi was sentenced to 17 years in prison and his wife, Evelyn was sentenced to 5 years and the couple was ordered to pay $100,000 in restitution to the west African girl after more than three years of enslavement in their Michigan home.

The victim was forced to do chores and care for the couple’s children without pay and testified that she had been beaten with a belt, a spoon, and a shoe in order to force her to complete the tasks. Additionally, Joseph Djoumessi was found to have sexually abused the young girl.

“Today’s sentence gives fair warning to all human traffickers and any others who would ever seek to force an innocent teenager to become the equivalent of a personal slave: you will pay a steep price for your crime,” said U.S. Attorney Stephen J. Murphy for the Eastern District of Michigan.

To read the complete story, click here.

Major Human Trafficking Ring Busted in the UK

"Police in Lancashire are celebrating after smashing a major people trafficking ring near Preston.

Last week, seven people from the Czech Republic were sentenced for a total of more than 20 years in jail following the police operation which started when a woman from the Czech Republic told police she had been raped at a restaurant in Samlesbury in February last year.

All seven, who lived in the Manchester or Leeds area, were found guilty of a variety of people trafficking and controlling prostitution charges."

To read the article in its entirety, click here.

Committee on the Rights of the Child Examines Report of Sudan on Sale of Children, Child Prostitution, and Child Pornography

Joyce Aluoch, serving as Rapporteur for a report on Sudan by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, says that things are looking bright for Sudan and that the country is set to put in new laws to better protect Sudanese children. Still today, however, it is estimated that at least 12,000 people are still being held in slavery in northern Sudan, many of whom are children.

The Committee has begun to review a report compiled by Sudan in regards to that country’s implementation of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which addresses child prostitution, the sale of children, and child pornography.

According to Sami Abd Eldaim Yassin, the State Minister with the Ministry of Social Welfare and Women and Child Affairs of Sudan, a draft bill is now being presented to Parliament in order to synchronize existing domestic laws on children with those outlined in the Optional Protocols. This bill includes:

• The establishment of a special children's protection unit within the military
• An action plan on violence against children
  
  
• The creation of a group in conjunction with the UN, the African Union, and several NGOs specializing in the protecting children from sexual abuse in conflict areas

With these new measures, however, experts on the Committee were still inclined to ask why laws have not specifically prohibited the sale of children, what was being done to end the abduction of children from villages, whether there was a court capable of prosecuting crimes as outlined in the Protocol, and what was being done to end child slavery in Sudan.

Two Sudanese non-governmental organizations responded by saying that many child slaves had been bought back by groups such as Christian Solidarity International and Save the Children and that another unspecified program had been put in place to return abducted women and children. The government in Southern Sudan, however, has stopped Save the Children from buying back children.

Currently, Sudan is signed on to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Optional Protocols, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Four Geneva Conventions.

To read the entire article, click here.

Bush to Tighten Fiscal Penalties Against Sudan

President Bush is to announce new measures Tuesday against the Sudan. These actions come after Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir’s refusal to allow U.N. peacekeepers into the country, fulfilling a threat made by the President nearly six weeks prior. The Bush Administration is calling for:

• Stricter enforcement of present sanctions
• The addition of 31 other companies
• Imposing sanctions on a rebel leader and two senior officials
• Introducing a United Nations resolution to ban the sale of arms to Sudan and to bar military flights in Darfur.

These measures are the administration’s response to the estimated 200,000 killed and 2.5 million displaced in the western Sudanese area of Darfur and amid pressure from human rights advocates, some of whom are religious conservatives who align themselves with the Bush administration.

For more information on this story, click here.

Desperate Iraqi Refugees Turn to Sex Trade in Syria

Thousands of Iraqi refugee women and girls are being forced into the sex trade in Syria. Because of its policy of open borders for citizens of other Arab countries, Syria has had an influx of roughly 1.2 million Iraqis seeking shelter within the country. Many women find themselves in a situation as first time workers in a country where unemployment is very high and find prostitution to be their only option. Some others are tricked into prostitution, including girls barely in their teens. An official from the U.N. refugee agency in Syria has expressed concern that young girls are being smuggled into the country in order to participate in Syria’s sex trade. It is estimated that 70 to 80 percent of prostitutes are Iraqi women. Mouna Asaad, a women’s rights lawyer in Syria, says, however, that prostitution isn't the only major problem the country is facing right now.

“Our schools are overcrowded, and the prices of services, food and transportation have all risen. We don’t have the proper infrastructure to deal with this. We don’t have shelters or health centers that these women can go to,” Asaad says.

For more information on this story, click here.

Press Release from Governor Spitzer on New York's anti-trafficking legislation

State of New York
For Immediate Release:
Executive Chamber
May 16, 2007
Eliot Spitzer, Governor

Agreement Reached on Anti-Human Trafficking Legislation

Governor Eliot Spitzer, Lieutenant Governor David Paterson and legislative leaders today announced an agreement on legislation that will combat the trafficking of human beings. The legislation makes Sex Trafficking and Labor Trafficking felony-level crimes and provides access to state social services for trafficking victims.

The United States Department of State has estimated that between 18,000 and 20,000 people are trafficked into the United States each year for forcedlabor, involuntary domestic servitude, or sexual exploitation. New York is known to be a frequent port of entry for such activity. Trafficking also originates domestically, and both types of trafficking frequently involve children.

To fight these forms of modern-day slavery, New York now joins the federal government and 24 other states that have enacted anti-human trafficking legislation. Under the legislation, traffickers who advance or profit from prostitution activity by compelling, inducing, deceiving or forcing their victims into prostitution activity can be convicted of the class B felony of Sex Trafficking. Traffickers who exploit workers using similar types of coercive activity can be convicted of the class D felony of Labor Trafficking.

Under the new legislation, victims of trafficking who are not otherwise eligible for social services, either because they are not United States citizens or because they are foreign nationals who have not yet been certified as eligible for federal assistance programs, can now receive social service assistance from the state. These services include case management, emergency temporary housing, health and mental health care, drug addiction screening and treatment, language and translation services, and job training. They also include coordination with the federal government to obtain special visas that allow the victims in the United States to testify against the traffickers, eventually becoming eligible for refugee status.

The new legislation also provides for the following:

• Creation of an interagency task force to coordinate implementation of the new law, collect data on trafficking, and recommend best practices for training and community outreach to help law enforcement, social service providers, prosecutors, defense attorneys and the general public to recognize trafficking situations. The Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) has already begun training for prosecutors and law enforcement agencies.
• Clarifying in statute that knowingly selling travel-related services to facilitate prostitution - a business known as "prostitution tourism"- is the class D felony of Promoting Prostitution in the Third Degree.
• Suppressing the demand for prostitution by elevating the lowest-level patronizing a prostitute crime from a B to an A misdemeanor.

"Updating and enhancing our human-trafficking laws to adequately punish the perpetrators of these unspeakable crimes and sufficiently support victims is critically important," said Governor Spitzer. "New York is finally joining the ranks of other states in ensuring that those who exploit
innocent people and children and cause extreme suffering are subject to strict punishment under state law."

Lieutenant Governor David A. Paterson said: "This legislation does more than protect victims and punish perpetrators. This law sends a clear message to those who suffer this form of modern-day slavery: you are not at fault, you can start over, and you are not alone. Empowering victims by providing access to services for which they might otherwise be ineligible gives them a real chance to overcome their hardship."

Speaker Sheldon Silver said: "Human trafficking is an international scourge that defies human decency. As a society, we are all diminished when human suffering goes unchecked. This agreement sends a crystal, clear message to those who prey upon the innocent: this abhorrent, criminal behavior simply will not be tolerated in New York State. I commend the determined efforts of Assembly Codes Committee Chair Joseph Lentol, bill sponsor Jeffrey Dinowitz and Assembly member Amy Paulin in bringing this agreement to fruition. The Assembly expects to move swiftly to ensure this bill becomes law so that victims are protected and criminals receive harsh punishment."

Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno said: "Human trafficking is nothing more than modern-day slavery. The Senate has passed human trafficking legislation unanimously for three years in a row. This legislation will punish the despicable people who engage in human trafficking and provide assistance and support to the victims. I congratulate Senator Frank Padavan who has championed this issue for five years for his work in reaching this agreement."

Senate Democratic Leader Malcolm A. Smith said: "The agreement we've reached will not only increase penalties for those who commit the heinous crime of human trafficking, but will also help the victims, who often have no where to go and no one to turn to when they have been rescued. This measure will give them an opportunity to rebuild their lives and regain their dignity."

Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco said: "This is a good law. Unfortunately this sick practice does exist in the shadows and dark corners of some places in New York. It needs to be exposed. Those responsible need to be severely punished and victims need to be protected and rehabilitated."

Michael E. Bongiorno, Rockland County District Attorney said: "I am glad that the New York State District Attorneys Association was able to work with Governor Spitzer, the state legislature and victim advocate organizations to draft human trafficking legislation. It may be difficult for the average citizen to comprehend, but even in this day and age there are people who are forced into prostitution or labor servitude. This law will provide law enforcement and prosecutors the tools they need to successfully investigate and prosecute human trafficking cases."

Executive Director of Equality Now Taina Bien-Aimé said: "Equality Now and the New York State Anti-Trafficking Coalition are delighted to learn that New York State is soon to adopt a strong anti-trafficking law. This bill would not have been possible without the extraordinary leadership of Governor Eliot Spitzer and his deeply dedicated staff, as well as the vision and commitment of Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno. Among other provisions, the New York State bill comprehensively addresses the prosecution of traffickers and the protection of its victims, elements that will make it a model law and the strongest state anti-trafficking legislation in the Nation."

Chairperson of the Downstate Coalition for Crime Victims Susan Xenarios said: "The Downstate Coalition for Crime Victims supports comprehensive NYS human anti-trafficking legislation which not only criminalizes this heinous act but also addresses the services needed for victims and the training needed for law enforcement and service providers. This bill is the culmination of the collaborative efforts of criminal justice, law enforcement and victim rights organizations in NYS. We applaud the
> Governor
> and the state legislature for respecting the urgency and moving
> quickly on
> this bill."

Deng Returns from Sudan, Fight Against Slavery Continues

This is coverage of an exclusive interview with Simon Deng, a former slave in Sudan and a speaking associate with the American Anti-Slavery Group (AASG).

Deng, who has made it his goal to fight for the end of the practice of slavery, recently returned home from a trip to Sudan. Working with Christian Solidarity International, the partner organization to the AASG, Deng helped from 250 more children from Arab slave holders in the north.

The article offers an introduction to the background and history of slavery, as well as insight into what Deng struggles with in his fight to end it.

Read the full article here.

Anti-human Trafficking Legislation Still Pending

Gloria Steinem, renowned women's rights activist and author of the forward to Enslaved, is leading a fight to pass anti-human trafficking legislation in the New York State Assembly.

Steinem urges constituents to become active and vocal for the cause. "We must have this legislation. It is completely inadequate to arm our prosecutors only with current laws against sexual assault or kidnapping."

New York State is a major entry point and destination for human trafficking. Twenty-nine other states have laws against the practice.

Read more here!

"It happens here, too"

"The conduct the defendants committed is monstrous," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Demetri Jones. "It's truly a case of modern-day slavery,"

and it happened right here in the United States. Varsha Mahender Sabhnani and her husband, Mahender Murliddhar Sabhnani were accused of enslaving two women from Southeast Asia at their million-dollar estate in a quiet, exclusive suburb of Long Island.

The women were forced to work in the home, with little or no monetary compensation, and were not allowed to leave. Varsha allegedly beat and tortured them frequently, with demands to run up and down stairs for extended lengths of time, take thirty or more cold showers in a row, and eat up to 25 hot chili peppers at once. She was also accused of beating them with objects like broomsticks, and even pouring scalding hot water on one of the women.

Police found one of the escaped slaves wandering around in front of Dunkin Donuts at 6am on Sunday. She led police to the house, where they found the other enslaved woman hidden in a closet. The Sabhnani couple was arraigned yesterday, a trial will follow.

Read the whole article here.