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Nov182022NOCOMMENTS

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Regional Case Digest for Southern Africa Assists Judicial Officers to Prosecute Suspected Traffickers

Justice Fiona Mwale

It was a victory for law enforcement against a crime that had originated in cyberspace. The accused, ML, had been using Facebook over a period of four years to lure and groom young girls by promising modelling jobs and money.

He requested them to send him nude pictures and, once received, blackmailed the victims by threatening to expose their identities if they refused to engage in sexual acts with him and the co-accused. In some instances, these acts were filmed.

The accused was eventually sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment for his guilty plea on 26 counts of, inter alia: sexual assault; extortion; possession of indecent photographs; possession of prohibited visual recordings; and recruiting, harbouring, transferring, and receiving a child while knowingly or recklessly disregarding that the person is a child for the purpose of exploitation.

This case (R v ML & Ors Cr S 63/19) occurred in Seychelles and is featured in a Regional Case Digest launched in 2022 by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)’s Southern Africa office. The digest is meant to assist judicial officers to improve the identification of and conviction for the crime of trafficking in persons.

Explaining the significance of the Seychelles case was Justice Fiona Mwale, an experienced judge from Malawi who was commissioned by UNODC to lead a seminar meant to increase the knowledge of judicial officers in identifying and prosecuting the crimes of trafficking in persons and migrant smuggling.

Justice Mwale said the case in Seychelles illustrated that nothing has complicated the fight against human trafficking like the onset of cyberspace. “All you need to commit cybercrime is an IP address,” Justice Mwale noted.

She explained that cybercrime can be cyber-dependent or cyber-enabled. The former can only be enacted using computers, computer networks or other forms of information and communications technology (ICT), such as the creation and spread of malware and hacking to steal sensitive personal or industrial data.

On the other hand, cyber-enabled crimes are traditional crimes that can be increased in their scale or reach using computers, computer networks or other forms of ICT. Unlike cyber-dependent crimes, they can be committed without the use of ICT. Thus, in many instances, a simple cellphone can be used. Even inmates with access to cellphones in prisons have been found to run phishing scams.

However, identifying, investigating, and convicting criminals operating in cyberspace and on digital networks is complex.

According to Justice Mwale, this is because law enforcement authorities cannot easily access and secure evidence – or secure cooperation across borders – in instances where the perpetrator and the victim are in different places.

More significantly, to effectively deal with human trafficking perpetuated through cybercrime – such as the case listed above in Seychelles – there is a need for a certain level of digital expertise, which law enforcement officials do not always have.

The seminar represents just one instance in which UNODC’s Regional Case Digest can help illustrate criminal methodology, helping prosecutors and judicial officers to identify and convict criminals. The digest provides references to challenges specific to Southern Africa, including child trafficking, sexual exploitation, and the significance of customary practices.

The Regional Case Digest was developed in both digital and hard copy versions in the official languages of the Southern Africa region: English, French and Portuguese. Funding for the digest was provided by the European Union through the Southern Africa Migration Management (SAMM) project.

  • Story by Wilson Johwa, UNODC Southern Africa

Readers Digest. Available in three languages

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Sep122022NOCOMMENTS

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Human Trafficking: Prevalent in Public Discussions but Not in the Courts

Pretoria – South Africa is a preferred country of destination for many types of migrants, including unaccompanied children and smuggled migrants. The crime of trafficking in persons is also an issue of concern, with women and children being major victims.

However, like everywhere in the world, human trafficking is characterized by a very low rate of prosecution. While it has always been hard to detect such cases, the onset of the internet and advances in technology have made it even harder to catch those involved. Traffickers use the cover of the web to recruit their victims, to advertise their services and to move the proceeds of their crimes.

On the bright side, the average conviction rate globally has tripled since 2003 when the United Nations Trafficking in Persons Protocol entered into force. But this is off a very low base. Thus, human trafficking is hardly in decline.

In 2018 about 50,000 victims of human trafficking were detected and reported by 148 countries, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Even then, the actual number of victims could be higher.

Suspected cases in South Africa are more likely to be in private conversations and on social media than in the courts. This points to the need for improvements in both law enforcement and prosecution, according to the country’s Deputy Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, John Jeffery, expressing what holds true across the world.

This view is also shared by Vincent Ratshibvuma, a judge based in Mpumalanga, one of South Africa’s nine provinces, which borders Mozambique and Eswatini. “That is why I made a case for the NPA (the National Prosecuting Authority) to be trained in such cases since they are the ones who bring cases to court,” he said.

Mr Jeffery and Judge Ratshibvuma were speaking at a colloquium of judicial officers jointly organized by UNODC and the South African Judicial Education Institute (SAJEI). The gathering was meant to familiarize magistrates with the intricacies of trafficking in persons and migrant smuggling.

Mr Jeffery described trafficking in persons as a crime that does not stop at national borders and “that’s why cooperation is important.”

Justice Ratshibvuma noted that all of South Africa’s neighbours had signed the Trafficking in Persons Protocol. The treaty provides for countries to receive practical assistance to draft national anti-trafficking in persons legislation, in addition to creating related strategies and assisting victims. “Unless you have the cooperation of your neighbours fighting trafficking in persons is not going to work,” said Justice Ratshibvuma.

UNODC Southern Africa Regional Representative Jane Marie Ongolo said the organization is involved in the compilation of a Southern African Regional Case Digest to assist with the prosecution of cases. “We realized that, sadly, the highest percentage of crimes in the region relate to trafficking for sexual exploitation, and mostly involve minors,” she said.

UNODC is also cooperating with the South African Police Service to roll out  trainings that will reach officers throughout the country. The aim is to close the identified gap in evidence gathering and follow-up.

Teresa Horne, a judicial trainer with SAJEI, elaborated on what she sees as the growing use of ordinary residences and hotels as brothels.

According to Dr Ongolo, Africans continue to move across the continent in search of economic opportunities, hence policymakers need to work at making migration safe, regular and a force that can be harnessed for development, both in the countries of origin and destination.

She said contrary to perceptions that many Africans are making their way to Europe, the vast majority of those thinking about migrating have no interest in leaving the continent and have no intention of moving permanently.

“An argument can be made that migration is etched in Africans’ DNA, that Africans have and will always move within and across the continent, and that they are not about to stop,” Dr Ongolo said.

About the Southern Africa Migration Management (SAMM) project

The judicial colloquium was organized under the SAMM project which is funded by the European Union and is a collaboration of four UN agencies: UNODC, ILO, IOM and UNHCR, under the one-UN model. The overall objective is to improve migration management in the Southern Africa and Indian Ocean region. https://www.sammproject.org/

Story by Wilson Johwa

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Human Trafficking: Prevalent in Public Discussions But Not in the Courts

 

South Africa’s Deputy Minister of Justice and Correctional Services John Jeffery has acknowledged the general low level of prosecution for the crime of trafficking in persons globally, saying in South Africa such cases were usually anecdotal and existed mainly in public discussions, including on social media.

This pointed to the need for improvement in law enforcement and prosecution, he said.

Echoing the same sentiment was Vincent Ratshibvuma, a judge based in Mpumalanga province who said while there was talk of human trafficking being widely prevalence in the province, very few cases were brought to the courts. This was despite Mpumalanga’s proximity to the border with Mozambique and Eswatini.

“That is why I made a case for the NPA (the National Prosecuting Authority) to be trained in such cases since they are the ones who bring cases to court,” he said.

Mr Jeffery and Judge Ratshibvuma were speaking at a colloquium of judicial officers jointly organized by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the South African Judicial Education Institute (SAJEI). The three-day gathering was held in Johannesburg and meant to familiarize magistrates with the intricacies of trafficking in persons and migrants smuggling.

South Africa is a preferred country of destination for many types of migrants, including smuggled migrants, with the trafficking of persons believed to be rife.

Mr Jeffery described trafficking in persons as a crime that does not stop at national borders and “that’s why cooperation is important.”

Judge Ratshibvuma noted that all of South Africa’s neighbours had signed the Trafficking Protocol. “Unless you have the cooperation of your neighbours fighting trafficking in persons is not going to work,” he said.

UNODC Southern Africa Regional Jane Marie Ongolo said the organization was involved in the compilation of a Southern African Regional Case Digest to assist with the prosecution of cases. “We realized that, sadly, the highest percentage of crimes in the region relate to trafficking for sexual exploitation. And mostly involves minors,” she said.

UNODC was also cooperating with the South African Police Service to roll out of training for law enforcement officials. The aim was to close the identified gap in evidence gathering and follow-up.

Teresa Horne, a judicial trainer with SAJEI, elaborated on the trend towards the growing use of ordinary residents and hotels as brothels.

According to Ms Ongolo, Africans continue to move across the continent in search of economic opportunities, policymakers need to work at making migration safe, regular and a force that can be harnessed for development, both in countries of origin and destination.

Contrary to perceptions that many Africans are making their way to Europe, the vast majority of those thinking about migrating have no interest in leaving the continent and have no intention of moving permanently.

“An argument can be made that migration in etched in Africans’ DNA, that Africans have and will always move within and across the continent, and that they are not about to stop,” Ms Ongolo said.

About the Southern Africa Migration Management (SAMM) project

The judicial colloquium was organized under the SAMM project which is funded by the European Union and is a collaboration of four UN agencies: UNODC, ILO, IOM and UNHCR, under the one-UN model. The overall objective is to improve migration management in the Southern Africa and Indian Ocean region. https://www.sammproject.org/

By Wilson Johwa

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