Trafficking in organs, tissues and cells and trafficking in human beings for the purpose of the removal of organs Joint Council of Europe/ United Nations Study
In 2008, the Council of Europe and the United Nations agreed to prepare a Joint Study on trafficking in organs, tissues and cells and trafficking in human beings for the purpose of the removal of organs. This Joint Study was prepared in the framework of the co-operation between the two international intergovernmental organisations, in particular in keeping with the United Nations General Assembly Resolution on Co-operation between the United Nations and the Council of Europe (A/RES/63/14), which specifically states:
“[The General Assembly] Takes note with appreciation of the entry into force on 1 February 2008 of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, to which any non-member State of the Council of Europe may accede after having obtained unanimous consent of the parties to the Convention, commends the enhanced co-operation between the United Nations and the Council of Europe in this regard, and expresses its appreciation for the preparation of a joint study on trafficking in organs, tissues and cells and trafficking in persons for the purpose of the removal of organs”.
The Study notes,
- first of all, that trafficking in human beings for the purpose of organ removal is a small part of the bigger problem of trafficking in organs, tissues and cells ("OTC").
- Secondly, it highlights the existence of widespread confusion in the legal and scientific community between “trafficking in OTC” and “trafficking in human beings for the purpose of the removal of organs”.
- Thirdly, the Joint Study underlines that solutions for preventing the two types of trafficking had to be different because the “trafficked objects” are different: in one case the “organs, tissues and cells” and in the other case the “person him/herself” who is trafficked for the specific purpose of removing his/her organs.
One of the major aims of the Joint Study is therefore to distinguish between trafficking in OTC and trafficking in human beings for the purpose of organ removal.
