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Articles 1 (paragraph 1), 2 (paragraph 1), and 25, of the Convention. Trafficking in persons. In its previous direct request, the Committee noted the concluding observations (July 2005) of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in which the latter Committee expressed concern at the lack of measures to prevent and combat the trafficking of women in Benin. The United Nations Committee asked the Government to take measures in this field “through the adoption and implementation of a comprehensive strategy, including national laws and subregional cross-border initiatives, to prevent trafficking, punish offenders and protect and rehabilitate victims” (document A/60/38). The Committee also noted a report published in September 2006 by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime entitled “Measures to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings in Benin, Nigeria and Togo”. The report formed part of the project of the same name launched by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in these countries to improve the collection and analysis of data and information on the trafficking in persons with a view to improving the planning of the measures to be taken and strengthening the institutional capacity of these countries to combat trafficking. The report showed that in Benin trafficking affects women from Niger, Nigeria and Togo, who are forced to engage in prostitution; and women from Benin are also victims of trafficking in Belgium, France and Germany, mainly for the purpose of sexual exploitation. According to the report, cases of trafficking had already been tried by the courts, but the sentences imposed were extremely light.

The Committee notes the statistical data provided by the Government in its latest report which indicates that the number of persons convicted each year in the first-level courts for trafficking in persons more than doubled between 2003 and 2006. With regard to the sentences imposed on those convicted of trafficking, the Committee notes from the statistical data that, during the period 2003–06, in the very large majority of the sentences handed down, less than one year’s imprisonment was imposed (79.56 per cent), while in a small proportion of cases (20.44 per cent) the sentences imposed were between two and five years’ imprisonment. Finally, the Committee notes the indication that there are programmes to follow up and assist victims of trafficking in persons. While noting this information, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide fuller information on the extent of the phenomenon of trafficking in persons in Benin. Noting the Government’s indication in its report that on 30 August 2004 Benin ratified the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, the Committee requests it once again to provide information on the measures adopted or envisaged to combat this phenomenon in terms of both prevention (activities to raise the awareness of the population as a whole and of the persons most at risk), suppression (strengthening legislative provisions, providing information and training to those involved in combating trafficking, especially the police and magistrates), the protection of victims and international cooperation. The Committee also requests the Government to provide copies of court decisions handed down in this field and to continue supplying information on the penal sanctions imposed. On this latter point, it recalls that, under Article 25 of the Convention, the penalties imposed by law on persons found guilty of the illegal exaction of forced or compulsory labour must be really adequate and strictly enforced. The Committee considers in this respect that the fact that the great majority of those found guilty of trafficking during the period 2003–06 were convicted to sentences of less than one year’s imprisonment is not such as to ensure that the repression of the crime of trafficking in persons is particularly effective. The Committee also requests the Government to provide precise information on the legal basis for these convictions. Finally, it requests the Government to indicate the progress made in relation to the Bill to combat trafficking in persons to which reference is made in Chapter 5.2.1 of the report referred to above of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime of September 2006 (www.unodc.org/documents/human-trafficking/ht_research_report_nigeria.pdf).