Trafficking in persons for the purpose of organ removal in focus at 14th United Nations Crime Congress side-event

Trafficking in persons for the purpose of organ removal is one of the listed forms of exploitation in the UN Trafficking in Persons Protocol. It is criminalized in most states’ anti-trafficking legislation, however it has not always been prioritized among efforts to counter trafficking in persons.

Data from the latest 2020 Global Report on Trafficking in Persons shows a marked increase in reported cases of trafficking in persons for organ removal. This form of trafficking was detected in North Africa, South and South-East Asia, Central America and Europe, between 2018-2019. Overall, since 2009, the UNODC global study has reported more than 700 cases of trafficking for organ removal. This is likely, however, to only be the tip of the iceberg.

Detecting and prosecuting this crime is in fact extremely complex. Investigators often lack knowledge or training to approach the medical settings where this form of trafficking usually occurs. The involvement of medical professionals and legitimate medical facilities can also make this crime easier to disguise. Further, it usually involves actors operating in different countries, thus posing concrete obstacles in obtaining evidence to uncover the full chain of perpetrators and identify victims.

On 11 March, in the margins of the 14th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, held in Kyoto, Japan, with the participation of experts from different ICAT members and partners, UNODC organized an ancillary event to discuss effective action to address this form of exploitation.

In the course of the event, UNODC presented its forthcoming Toolkit on the Investigation and Prosecution of Trafficking in Persons for Organ Removal, along with its 360° virtual reality crime scene investigation tool, being developed under the framework of the EU funded Global Action against Trafficking in Persons and the Smuggling of Migrants (GLO.ACT) project. This comprehensive toolkit aims to provide specific knowledge and technical skills to relevant practitioners in investigating and prosecuting this crime. [Click here to watch the full event].

 “We hope the toolkit will become a valuable training resource for criminal justice officials in investigating this crime and will help them bring to justice the criminals” said Ilias Chatzis, Chief of the UNODC Human Trafficking and Migrants Smuggling Section, “the Toolkit also stresses the importance of partnerships between medical professionals, law enforcement, criminal justice officials and civil society in investigating this crime as well as amongst international organizations.”

In this regard, the Inter-Agency Coordination Group on Trafficking in Persons (ICAT), the UN-lead mechanism to coordinate trafficking in persons responses across UN and other international and regional entities, is developing joint policy guidance - to be published later this year-, in cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO), to shed light on this less known form of trafficking.

The upcoming Issue Brief will inform stakeholders about main trends and characteristics of trafficking for organ removal. It will also provide recommendations on how to better prevent, investigate and prosecute it, while advocating for the provision of adequate assistance to victims, who may need long-term medical treatment and/or psychological support.

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