Key Benefits:
985 OF 2005
(August 26)
Official Journal No. 46.015 of 29 August 2005
COLOMBIA CONGRESS
By means of which measures are taken against human trafficking and standards for the care and protection of victims of the same.
COLOMBIA CONGRESS
DECRETA:
DEFINITIONS.
ARTICLE 1o. OBJECT. This law aims to adopt measures of prevention, protection and assistance necessary to ensure respect for the human rights of victims and potential victims of human trafficking, both residents and They were transferred to the national territory, such as Colombians abroad, and to strengthen the State's action in the face of this crime.
ARTICLE 2o. PRINCIPLES. The interpretation and application of this law shall be guided by the following principles:
1. The State has an obligation to act with due diligence to prevent human trafficking, to investigate and prosecute those who commit it, and to assist and protect the victims of it.
2. State action in this field is intended to prevent the violation of human rights by reason of human trafficking.
3. Measures against human trafficking will not be in the way of fundamental rights or the dignity of victims.
4. This law will be interpreted in a manner consistent with the Law 800 of 2003.
5. State action against human trafficking will, within the existing legal framework, promote joint and harmonious work with civil society organisations and the private sector in general.
ARTICLE 3o. HUMAN TRAFFICKING. Article 188A of Law 599 of 2000, added by Law 747 of 2002 and amended by Law 890 of 2004, will be so:
"Article 188A. Human Trafficking. The one that captures, moves, engages, or receives a person, within the national territory or to the outside, for purposes of exploitation, will incur imprisonment of thirteen (13) to Twenty-three (23) years and a fine of eight hundred (800) to one thousand five hundred (1,500) monthly minimum legal wages in force ".
" For the purposes of this Article, exploitation shall mean obtaining economic benefit or any other benefit to himself or to another person, through the exploitation of the prostitution or other forms of sexual exploitation, the works or forced services, slavery or practices analogous to slavery, serfdom, exploitation of alien begging, servile marriage, organ extraction, sexual tourism or other forms of exploitation. "
"The consent given by the victim to any form of exploitation defined in this article shall not constitute grounds for exoneration of criminal liability."
OF THE NATIONAL STRATEGY AGAINST HUMAN TRAFFICKING.
ARTICLE 4. The National Government will adopt by decree the National Strategy against Trafficking in Persons that will be the axis of state policy in this field. In the formulation of this strategy, the Inter-Institutional Committee for the Fight against Trafficking in Persons referred to in Chapter VI will intervene in this law. The actions of the strategy that compete with authorities of other branches of public power or autonomous bodies, and which by their nature cannot be dictated by decree, will be adopted by the management of the respective entity through the act corresponding administrative.
For the elaboration of the national strategy, the following objectives will be taken into account:
1. Develop frameworks for information on the causes, modalities, regional particularities and consequences of human trafficking.
2. Prevent human trafficking through social, economic, political and legal measures.
3. Strengthen the actions of persecution of criminal organizations and, in general, the investigation, judicialization and punishment of the crime of human trafficking.
4. Protect and assist victims of human trafficking, in the physical and psychological, social, economic and legal fields.
5. To promote inter-institutional work and international cooperation in the fight against human trafficking.
6. Other than the Interinstitutional Committee considers necessary.
PARAGRAFO. The National Strategy will include goals and management indicators that allow the efficiency and effectiveness to be measured periodically in meeting the objectives defined here.
OF PREVENTION OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING.
ARTICLE 5o. Colombian State, through the National Government, its judicial and police institutions, and national and territorial authorities, will take action and advance campaigns and programs to prevent trafficking in people, based on the protection of human rights, who will take into account that demand is one of their fundamental causes; they will consider the factors that increase the vulnerability of trafficking, among them inequality, poverty and discrimination in all its forms, and will address the cultural and ethnic diversity of potential victims.
ARTICLE 6o. OF THE ACTIONS IN THE FIELD OF PREVENTION OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING. In the framework of the National Strategy for the fight against human trafficking, it will be up to the institutions of the State defined in this law to carry out at least the following actions in the field of prevention of human trafficking:
1. Under the coordination of the Ministry of the Interior and Justice, and in collaboration with the institutions related to the subject defined by the Inter-Institutional Committee, establish prevention programs aimed at communities vulnerable to the human trafficking.
2. The National Government, through the Ministry of Education and in collaboration with the institutions related to the issue, will design and implement programs for the obligatory activities of prevention of human trafficking in the levels of basic, middle and higher education.
3. Organize and develop, on a permanent basis, training activities, in order to inform and update the public servants of the entities that the Inter-Institutional Committee considers relevant, on all aspects related to this subject, in particular the identification of potential victims, the existing legislation, the existing instruments for the protection of victims ' human rights, the way national and transnational organized crime operates The Commission has also been involved in the field of research and development.
4. Implement public awareness programs to raise awareness of the issue of human trafficking, both within the national territory and abroad, and to promote information related to the dangers of migration. (a) international, under conditions of vulnerability, risk, irregularity or illegality. The Ministry of Communications *, the National Television Commission, the police and judicial authorities, within the framework of their powers, and the other entities to be determined by the Interinstitutional Committee shall be responsible for these actions.
5. It is up to the Ministry of the Interior and Justice to advise the departmental and municipal authorities to include, in their development plans, programs for the prevention of human trafficking and for the victims of trafficking.
OF PROTECTING AND ASSISTING VICTIMS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING.
ARTICLE 7o. PROTECTION AND VICTIM ASSISTANCE MEASURES. In order to protect and assist victims of the crime of human trafficking, the National Strategy will include the design and implementation of assistance programs aimed at their physical recovery, psychological and social, and based on the protection of their human rights. Such actions shall ensure the protection of the privacy and identity of victims and shall include at least:
l. Immediate assistance programs that must meet, at least, the following needs: Return of victims to their place of origin if they request; security; adequate accommodation; medical assistance; psychological and material, and information and legal advice regarding the legal rights and procedures to be followed. These benefits shall be subject to appropriate regulation.
2. Media assistance programs that include, among other aspects. Training and help in the search for employment opportunities; and legal accompaniment throughout the legal process, especially in the exercise of judicial actions to demand reparation for the damages suffered by the victims.
3. In each consulate of Colombia abroad, due information must be provided and temporary measures taken to guarantee the safety of the victim, to safeguard his dignity and personal integrity and to support it in the steps he has to bring before the authorities of the foreign country. This provision shall not involve the increase of officials at the staff plant. The consulates will also propose to encourage the analysis of the issue and raise awareness of the media and foreign authorities in the face of the situation of their victims.
PARAGRAFO 1o.
PARAGRAFO 2o. The Government will coordinate with relevant entities the organisation of a repatriation programme for victims of trafficking in persons outside.
ARTICLE 8o. BIND TO THE PROTECTION PROGRAMS OF THE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR. In cases that warrant it, after evaluation of the risk by the Program of Protection and Assistance to Victims and Witnesses of the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Nation, in accordance with its own provisions, and through the same programme, comprehensive protection shall be provided to witnesses and victims of trafficking in persons and their families to the first degree of consanguinity, first of affinity, first to civil and to the spouse, partner or permanent partner, throughout the criminal proceedings or while the risk factors remain to justify it.
ARTICLE 9o. ASSISTANCE TO MINORS. In the event that the victims are minors, the Colombian Family Welfare Institute will be the entity in charge of providing the required care and assistance, for which it will have to account for their vulnerability, their rights and their special needs.
In such cases, it must ensure, without prejudice to other provisions laid down in the legislation on the subject, at least medical and psychological assistance provided by specialised persons, temporary accommodation in places appropriate, re-incorporation into the education system, legal advice throughout the legal process to the child and their families, and reintegration of the child into their family environment, subject to verification that the treatment does not belong to their core family and that the conditions of safety and attention are guaranteed.
STRENGTHENING ACTIONS AGAINST HUMAN TRAFFICKING.
ARTICLE 10. STRENGTHENING JUDICIAL INVESTIGATION AND POLICE ACTION. The Office of the Prosecutor General of the Nation, the National Police and the DAS will train members of their institutions in the investigation and prosecution of the crimes. (i) the Commission is proposing that the European Council should take into account the fact that the Commission has not yet taken a decision on the issue of human trafficking. This measure will not mean an increase in your staffing plants. Each year these entities shall draw up reports of their actions in this field which shall be taken into account by the Inter-Agency Committee for the fight against trafficking in persons in the performance of their duties.
ARTICLE 11. STRENGTHENING INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION. The National Government will identify the countries involved in activities related to the trafficking of Colombians, those for which Colombia represents a place of transit or destination of transnational trafficking activities and those actively working in the fight against this crime, to give them priority in the issue of international cooperation in this field.
INTERINSTITUTIONAL committee.
ARTICLE 12. INTERINSTITUTIONAL COMMITTEE FOR THE FIGHT AGAINST HUMAN TRAFFICKING. The Interinstitutional Committee for the Fight against Trafficking in Women, Girls and Children, established by Decree 1974 of 1996, will be referred to as the Inter-institutional Committee for The Fight against Trafficking in Persons and their integration and functions shall be governed by the provisions of this Law.
ARTICLE 13. OBJECT. The Inter-Institutional Committee for the Fight against Trafficking in Persons will be the advisory body of the National Government and the coordinating body of actions that the Colombian State will develop through the National Strategy for Human Trafficking. Fight against Trafficking in Persons.
ARTICLE 14. INTEGRATION OF THE COMMITTEE. The Committee shall be composed of the following members:
1. The Minister of the Interior and Justice or his delegate, who will preside over it.
2. The Minister of Foreign Affairs or the Director of Consular Affairs and the Colombian Foreign Communities, or his delegate.
3. The Minister of Social Protection or his delegate.
4. The Minister of Education or his delegate.
5. The Director General of the Administrative Department of Security or its delegate.
6. The Director General of the National Police or his delegate.
7. The Attorney General of the Nation or its delegate.
8. The Attorney General of the Nation or its delegate.
9. The Ombudsman or his delegate.
10. The Deputy Director General of the Interpol Office in Colombia or its delegate.
11. The Director General of the Colombian Family Welfare Institute or its delegate.
12. The Presidential Counsellor (a) for the Equity of Women or their Ego (a).
13. The Director (a) of Fondelibertad or his delegate.
14. The Director (a) General of the Special Administrative Unit for Financial Information and Analysis or its delegate.
PARAGRAFO 1o. In case the members appoint a delegate to the Committee, this will take on characteristics of permanence and decision-making capacity.
PARAGRAFO 2o. The Committee will promote the creation of regional departmental and/or municipal committees against the trafficking of persons, which will be chaired by the corresponding governors or mayors, and which will have to also have an entity that will act as Technical Secretariat. The National Strategy adopted by the Committee will be the basis for its action against trafficking at the local level, making the necessary adjustments to the specificities of the territory and the population concerned.
PARAGRAFO 3o. The Committee may invite to its sessions any other State entity, legal persons governed by private law, and international organizations that have as their object the fight against human trafficking, or the protection of the human rights of victims of the same, organisations which aim at the promotion and defence of human rights, and individuals whose presence is appropriate for the fulfilment of the Committee's own functions.
ARTICLE 15. FUNTIONS. The Inter-Agency Committee for the Fight against Trafficking in Persons will perform the following functions:
1. Develop and recommend to the National Government the National Strategy against Trafficking in Persons, which will be the axis of state policy in this field, and follow up its implementation.
2. Coordinate processes to review the international agreements and conventions that Colombia has signed on Human Rights and those related to human trafficking to follow up its proper compliance and recommend the subscription of agreements, conventions or treaties and other steps required to strengthen international cooperation against human trafficking.
3. Serve as an advisory body and recommend actions to the various agencies or agencies of the State in the fight against human trafficking.
4. To be an instance of coordination of the entities of the State and of the private bodies involved in the implementation of the National Strategy, in relation to the inter-institutional actions to be undertaken.
5. Make recommendations on criminal prosecution of the crime of human trafficking and the strengthening of the capacity of the State in this field.
6. Recommend the issuing of rules or regulations to the different entities of the State in the field of fighting against the rat of persons.
7. Track and study the effects of human rights standards, programs and activities on human rights, and recommend measures and actions for their adequacy and improvement.
8. Coordinate the design and implementation of the National Human Trafficking Information System defined in this law.
9. Propose the investigations referred to in article 20 of this law.
10. Design your own action plan and dictate your rules of procedure.
PARAGRAFO 1o. For the effective performance of its functions, the Committee may integrate specialized groups into the different areas.
PARAGRAFO 2o. The Committee will ensure that in the formulation of its recommendations there is coordination and agreement in relation to the actions and recommendations of the State entities in charge of the promotion and protection of Human Rights, and in the face of the functions developed by the Foreign Ministry's Committee for Assistance to Connationals.
PARAGRAFO 3o. The Ministries and other members of the Committee legally or legally obliged to report to the Congress of the Republic shall include in these a balance sheet of the actions carried out in the field The fight against trafficking in human beings. In the case of the Attorney General's Office, its balance sheet will be part of the annual report presented by the Superior Council of the Judiciary.
ARTICLE 16. order to facilitate the fulfilment of its tasks, the Committee shall have a permanent technical secretariat which shall ensure that the functions referred to in the previous Article are carried out by the Minister of the Interior and Justice, who may delegate it to the agency for the purpose of this designation, without this implying the increase of officials in its personnel plant.
The Committee shall meet in an ordinary manner at least once every two months, at the request of the Technical Secretariat. It may also be exceptionally met when the chairman of the Committee considers it relevant.
The Technical Secretariat will report bi-monthly reports to the members of the Committee on its functioning and the actions brought forward to comply with this law. It will also report annually to the President of the Republic in the same direction.
NATIONAL SYSTEM OF INFORMATION ABOUT HUMAN TRAFFICKING.
ARTICLE 17. DEFINITION AND OPERATION. The National System of Information on Human Trafficking will be an instrument for collecting, processing and analyzing statistical and academic information regarding the causes, characteristics and dimensions of internal and external trafficking in Colombia, which will serve as a basis for the formulation of policies, strategic plans and programs, and for the measurement of the fulfillment of the objectives outlined in the National Strategy.
The Technical Secretariat of the Committee shall develop, coordinate and maintain the operation of the information system. To this end, it will collect and systematize the statistical information provided by the various entities that make up the Committee, the results of the academic, social and criminological investigations referred to in the article 19 of this law, data that will be permanently updated.
ARTICLE 18. INFORMATION AND INFORMATION. The Technical Secretariat shall design a form addressed to the institutions that make up the Committee, in order to facilitate data collection.
The entities and agencies of the State that handle information related to the trafficking of persons shall collaborate with the Technical Secretariat, supplying the data it requires for the development of the information system to which it is refers to this provision, which under no circumstances may refer to matters of legal reservation.
The data provided to the Technical Secretariat may be disclosed to the public in numerical and statistical summaries, which do not include personal data of the victims and that do not make it possible to deduce from them any information of a character which could be used for discriminatory purposes or which could threaten the rights to life and the privacy of the victims.
ARTICLE 19. RESEARCH ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING. The National Government, and the entities that make up the Inter-Institutional Committee, will carry out by themselves or in association with institutions of higher education and research centers, research on aspects relating to human trafficking, such as, the causes which lead to it, the consequences for minors and adults, the effectiveness of existing legislation, the characteristics of its victims and national crime and (i) the development of the international market, and the regional features of the The country's interior. The outcome of these investigations will serve to guide the State's public policies on human trafficking.
FINAL PROVISIONS.
ARTICLE 20. RESOURCES. The Ministry of the Interior and Justice is authorized to administer by the Technical Secretariat of the Inter-Agency Committee for the Fight against Trafficking in Persons a special account, without legal status, as a separate system of account that will channel resources for the fight against human trafficking, which will be implemented according to the guidelines and programs that are defined in the National Strategy.
The specific sources of the special account in this article will be able to include the following resources:
1. The items assigned to you in the National Budget.
2. The proceeds of the crime of laundering of assets by human trafficking, as long as it is determinable.
3. The donations you receive.
4. Resources from national and international cooperation.
5. The others you get to any title.
PARAGRAFO 1o. The way to receive and manage the resources from donations and international cooperation referred to in this article will be subject to regulation to ensure their destination. exclusive to the own purposes of the special account, in accordance with the current legal provisions governing international economic cooperation.
PARAGRAFO 2o. The National Government will regulate what is necessary for the creation, proper administration and management of this special account.
PARAGRAFO 3o. The creation of this special account does not prevent the institutions that are part of the Inter-Institutional Committee for the Fight against Trafficking in Persons to include in their budgets the items intended for action against trafficking and persons defined in the National Strategy.
ARTICLE 21. CONTROL MEASURES. The Comptroller General of the Republic shall exercise, within the framework of its functions, expedited control over the use of the resources that integrate this special account.
Entities that execute resources from this special account will give a detailed report of the activities developed by them, which will be rendered to the Inter-Institutional Committee of the present law and to the Comptroller General of the Republic.
The control of this article will be exercised without prejudice to other controls that generally establish the law to such accounts.
ARTICLE 22. Add article 35 of Law 906 of 2004 with a numeral 32 of the following tenor:
" 32. Trafficking in Persons, where the conduct involves the transfer or transport of persons from or to the outside of the country, or the reception, reception or collection of such persons. "
ARTICLE 23. VALIDITY. This law governs from its publication and repeals all rules that are contrary to it.
The President of the honorable Senate of the Republic,
BARBERI ' S CLAUDIA BLUM.
The Secretary General of the honorable Senate of the Republic,
EMILIO RAMON OTERO DAJUD.
The President of the honorable House of Representatives,
JULY E. GALLARDO ARCHBOLD.
The Secretary General of the honorable House of Representatives,
ANGELINO LIZANO RIVERA.
REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
Publish and comply.
Dada in Bogotá, D. C., on August 26, 2005.
ALVARO URIBE VELEZ
The Minister of the Interior and Justice,
SABAS PRETELT DE LA VEGA.
The Minister of Social Protection,
DIEGO PALACIO BETANCOURT.
