This file is provided for reference purposes only. It was current when produced, but is no longer maintained and may now be outdated. Please select www.ovc.gov to access current information.

Chapter 22 Supplement Special Topics

• Recent studies indicate that of the estimated 9 million prostitutes working in India, 30% are children, a large number of whom have been trafficked from Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan (ECPAT n.d.).

• It is estimated that 30% of the commercial sex workers in Cambodia are less than eighteen years of age, at least one-half of whom have been forced into the trade (Ibid).

• A recent study in Greece identified 2,900 minors in prostitution--more than 200 were younger than twelve years old. Forty percent of the minors had been brought from regional countries suffering from conflicts and lack of social cohesion including Uzbekistan, Armenia, Albania, and Iraq (Ibid).

The bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 on December 21, 1988, over Lockerbie, Scotland, took the lives of 270 individuals from twenty-one countries, including 189 Americans. It was the worst terrorist atrocity in aviation history. Reserve funds from the Crime Victims Fund, available through the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) set aside for victims of terrorism and mass violence have been drawn upon to assist families of Pan Am 103 victims. The U.S. Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), in partnership with the Scottish government, is working to ensure that Pan Am 103 victims' families receive information and assistance throughout the trial process. A comprehensive database at OVC contains updated information on more than 600 family members, and OVC has a full-time coordinator for the Pan Am 103 project. In coordination with the Scottish prosecutors, police, and the Scottish Court Service, OVC is providing the following services to families:

• An international toll-free telephone line into OVC for victim families, operational since

June 14, 1999, and accessible from the sixteen countries where the families are located. Scottish prosecutors, police, and court service personnel provide regular updates for the information line.

• A secure, informational Web site for victim families (contracted through the Syracuse University Law School) that provides updated information about the case, an "electronic scrapbook" of archival information on the bombing and the victims, information about victim services, and a discussion forum for families to communicate with each other. Acting as agent for OVC, the Syracuse participants will summarize daily transcripts of the trial.

• Trial updates using traditional mail for members without Internet access.

• Funding for staff to coordinate victim services throughout the trial:

- A victim-witness coordinator in the Netherlands to provide assistance in locating lodging, arranging local transportation, and assisting with other needs.

- An on-site officer for the Scottish Court Service at Kamp van Zeist, who serves as a family liaison officer with the Court.

- A Scottish prosecutor who serves as legal liaison with the families to explain Scottish law and procedure.

• Funding assistance to the Scottish court to create a separate, secure waiting area for the families at the trial.

• Funding assistance and coordination of case briefing meetings for victim families by the Lord Advocate (equivalent to the U.S. Attorney General) and his team, held in August and September 1999, in Washington DC; Dumfries, Scotland; and London, England.

• The coordination of four remote sites for closed circuit viewing by victim families (immediate relatives only) of trial proceedings in the United States and the United Kingdom that will be secured by U.S. Marshals and managed by Scottish Court personnel.

• Funding and coordination of travel and lodging for two family members from each victim family for one week to attend the trial in the Netherlands or in one of the remote court sites.

• Funding for uncompensated mental health counseling for immediate family members throughout the trial process.

• Development and printing of a Lockerbie Trial Handbook, co-funded by OVC and the University of Glasgow Law School, that provides information on Scottish law and legal procedure. In addition, OVC developed a briefing book for the families that provides information about the trial site, the remote sites, and travel information.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted a Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power in November 1985. Since then this landmark document has served as the basis for victim services reform at national and local levels throughout the world. One of the projects that has resulted from this declaration is the International Victimology Web Site (IVW).

In June 1999, IVW was launched as a resource for all those interested in improving justice for victims of crime and abuse of power. A two-year pilot program, sponsored by the U.N. Center for International Crime Prevention, the Research and Documentation Center of the Netherlands Ministry of Justice, and the World Society of Victimology, IVW is a database of victimology research in progress, a database for victim services and victimization prevention, a resource for promising practices in victim services, a document and publications hosting page, a link to other victimology resources on the Internet, and a victimology news page and bulletin board. The IVW mission is to facilitate the implementation of the U.N. Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power <http://www.victimology.nl/>.

In April 2000, the United Nations held the Tenth Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders in Vienna, Austria. Member states in attendance issued a declaration that contains two paragraphs related to victims issues. In the first, member States state that they will "introduce, where appropriate, national, regional, and international action plans in support of victims of crime, such as mechanisms for mediation, and restorative justice" and "establish 2002 as a target date for member States to review their relevant practices, to develop further victim support services and awareness campaigns on the rights of victims and to consider the establishment of funds for victims, in addition to developing and implementing witness protection policies." In the second, member States "encourage the development of restorative justice policies, procedures and programmes that are respectful of the rights, needs and interests of victims, offenders, communities and all other parties" (Tenth United Nations Congress 10-17 April 2000).

Specific victim initiatives considered by member States at the Tenth Congress include the following:

CREATION OF AN INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR THE SUPPORT OF VICTIMS OF TRANSNATIONAL CRIME

An expert working group met in January 1999 to consider the feasibility of creating an international fund for victims of crime and abuse of power. The working group recommended that such a fund be established to support the following:

• Technical assistance to develop and/or strengthen victim support services and organizations.

• Awareness campaigns on victim rights and crime prevention.

• Eligible victim claims resulting from international and transnational crime, where national avenues of recourse and/or redress are unavailable or insufficient (Proposal for the Foundation 27-28 January 2000).

At the Congress, member States took note of the recommendations and tasked the Secretary General of the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice with reviewing the recommendations and examining existing mechanisms at the international level to provide assistance to victims of crime and abuse of power. The Secretary General is to report his findings to the Commission at its next meeting in 2001.

CREATION OF BASIC PRINCIPLES ON THE USE OF RESTORATIVE JUSTICE

Member States approved a resolution to consider the feasibility and desirability of establishing guiding principles on the use of restorative justice practices. The United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice will again consider this topic in 2002.

REVISED DRAFT PROTOCOL TO PREVENT, SUPPRESS, AND PUNISH

TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS, ESPECIALLY WOMEN AND CHILDREN

An Ad Hoc Committee of the United Nations General Assembly established to create a protocol that promotes and facilitates cooperation among member States to prevent, investigate, and punish international trafficking in persons, particularly women and children, came up with several recommendations. According to the Ad Hoc Committee, member States should:

• Adopt measures to prevent trafficking and severely punish those who engage in trafficking.

• Ensure that victims of trafficking receive appropriate protection in accordance with their best interests, and ensure their safe and voluntary return to their countries of origin, of habitual residence, or to a third country.

• Educate the public about the causes and consequences of trafficking in persons.

• Provide victims with the appropriate legal, medical, psychological, and financial assistance whenever it is deemed necessary.

• Prevent any type of penalty from being imposed on victims of trafficking.

• Abolish those practices that allow a husband, family, or clan to order the transfer of a woman to another person for payment or other benefit to an international crime organization (Ad Hoc Committee 6-17 December 1999).

Back to Table of Contents

The information on this page is archived and provided for reference purposes only.