Human Trafficking in [Liberia Street Children in [Liberia] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Liberia] [other countries] |
Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery In the early
years of the 21st Century - 2000 to 2010 gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Liberia.htm
Liberia is a source, transit, and destination country for
children and women trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and commercial
sexual exploitation. Most victims are trafficked within the country, primarily
from rural to urban areas for domestic servitude, forced street vending,
forced begging by religious instructors and sexual exploitation in brothels
or private apartments. Children may also be trafficked for labor on rubber
plantations and in alluvial diamond mines. Some children in Liberia are
subjected to sexual exploitation by international peacekeeping troops and
personnel from international organizations.
- |
|
||
|
CAUTION: The following links have been
culled from the web to illuminate the situation in ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** The Promised Land Ira Berlin, The New York Times, May 02, 2004 -- Review of
the book, MISSISSIPPI IN AFRICA by Alan Huffman www.nytimes.com/2004/05/02/books/the-promised-land.html [accessed 8 September 2011] Of the many tragedies set in
motion by the enslavement of African people in the Rather than ending slavery, ***
ARCHIVES *** Human Rights Reports » 2005
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, March 8, 2006 www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61577.htm [accessed 18 February 2011] TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS – NGO
estimates of the number of persons trafficked to the country during the year
ranged between 20 and several hundred. Victims were trafficked within the country
and from neighboring countries for prostitution and labor. Young children
were at a particularly high risk for trafficking, especially orphans or
children from extremely poor families. Trafficking victims were often
subjected to harsh living and working conditions. There were reports of forced
labor; however, none had been confirmed. There also were reports of the
recruitment of child soldiers, but the reports had not been confirmed, and
the matter was under investigation at year's end. Traffickers enticed their victims
with promises of a better life. Parents of trafficking victims were persuaded
that their children would have better food and educational opportunities in
another country and that they would eventually return home. Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of
the Child (CRC) UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 4 June 2004 www1.umn.edu/humanrts/crc/liberia2004.html [accessed 18 February 2011] [58] The Committee notes that the
Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 18 August 2003 recognizes the special
demobilization and reintegration needs of child combatants. However, the
Committee expresses its extremely deep consternation at the very high number
of children who have been forcibly recruited into armed forces and armed
groups by all parties involved in the conflict, including children as young
as nine years old. The Committee is also concerned that these children have
been forced to carry goods and weapons, guard checkpoints and often fight in
the front line, while girls have been raped and forced to become servants of
the soldiers as well as combatants. Amnesty International Calls for UN Resolve, Sufficient
Peacekeeping Presence to Ensure Fulfillment of Amnesty International www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?lang=e&id=CA35D7502760C1B285256E00006D40B0 [Last accessed 18 February 2011] Only the deployment of sufficient
numbers of troops with logistical support by UN member states will provide
the protection that civilians so desperately
need. An Amnesty International
delegation that traveled to The Guns are in the Bushes - Continuing Abuses in Liberia [PDF] Human Rights Watch Briefing Paper, January 2004 www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/liberia0104_0.pdf [accessed 29 August 2011] IV. ABUSES BY ALL THREE FACTIONS -
FORCED LABOR - An
employee of a church group noted that There’s a lack of food in the area to
feed the fighters, that’s why this forced labor is happening. If people
refuse, they are humiliated, beaten, tied, and tortured. Freedom House Country Report - Political Rights: 3 Civil Liberties: 4 Status:
Partly Free 2009 Edition www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=22&year=2009&country=7646 [accessed 18 February 2011] Human Rights Overview Human Rights Watch [accessed 18 February 2011] Amnesty International Report 2008 - Amnesty International www.amnesty.org/en/region/liberia/report-2008 [accessed 18 February 2011] SECURITY SECTOR REFORM - Deficiencies in the judiciary
remained a huge challenge. Court officials administered rules and procedures
in an inconsistent manner, failed to observe basic human rights standards and
engaged in corrupt practices. Although state prosecutors are assigned to
every circuit court, the majority of the circuit courts did not have defence counsels. Trial by ordeal – a practice by which
the guilt or innocence of the accused is determined by subjecting them to a
painful task – remained in wide practice in rural areas. Few improvements
were made in the juvenile justice system during the year. Amnesty International Report 2004 - Amnesty International, Annual Report, Report 2004 --
Covering events from January - December 2003 At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 8 September 2011] CIVILIANS TARGETED IN ARMED
CONFLICT - Civilians
lived in constant fear of undisciplined armed groups who killed, raped, forcibly
recruited children and looted. After the peace agreement, violence increased
in some areas as command structures broke down and combatants made last-ditch
attempts to seize territory and property before deployment of UNMIL forces.
The gravity of abuses against civilians prompted an emergency report by the
Acting UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on 8 August which described the
grievous abuses against civilians and called for international support in
bringing the perpetrators to justice. Rape and other forms of sexual
violence against women and girls, including those who had been internally
displaced and Sierra Leonean refugees, by government, LURD and MODEL forces
were widespread. Young women and girls were abducted and forced into sexual
slavery. The Promised Land Ira Berlin, The New York Times, May 02, 2004 -- Review of
the book, MISSISSIPPI IN AFRICA by Alan Huffman www.nytimes.com/2004/05/02/books/the-promised-land.html [accessed 8 September 2011] Of the many tragedies set in
motion by the enslavement of African people in the Rather than ending slavery, UNMIL’s Crackdown on Trafficking Puts
Women at Risk Refugees International, 05/10/2004 At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 8 September 2011] In Child Soldiers of Liberian Educational Achievement Foundation LEAF At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 8 September 2011] The people of Stories Liberian Educational Achievement Foundation LEAF At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 8 September 2011] Robert (14 years old) - ``I became
a combatant in 1991 when I was 8 years old.
I became a fighter because I felt that my friends and my parents were
suffering Tom - ``I joined when I was 13 years
old. I was just forced to fight because I was separated from my parents and
the rest of my family. I had to fight for my own survival. Mr. George (13 years old) - ``I
joined by force. I was living with my parents in the village and one of the
factions captured the village and said all the young boys in the town should
join them. Some of us said we didn't
want to join them, but they started to hit us with a gun. Most of them were
very, very, very bad people. US names human trafficking offenders BBC News, 12 June, 2003 news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2983222.stm [accessed 18 February 2011] FORCED INTO PROSTITUTION - He added: "It is...
morally unacceptable that hundreds of thousands of men, women and children
are exploited, abused and enslaved by peddlers in human misery." Apart from All material used herein
reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial,
nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE
RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT ARTICLES.
Cite this webpage as: Patt, Prof. Martin, "Human Trafficking
& Modern-day Slavery - |
|||
Human Trafficking in [Liberia Street Children in [Liberia] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Liberia] [other countries]