CHAIRMAN OF HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION APPOINTS SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS

1 November 2004

United Nations Commission on Human Rights Chairman Mike Smith has appointed Sigma Huda of Bangladesh as Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children.

Ms. Huda is the founder and current president of the Bangladesh Women Lawyers Association, and the founder secretary of the Institute for Law and Development. She is also the secretary-general of the Bangladesh Society for the Enforcement of Human Rights, as well as a founding member of a number of other organizations active in the fight against trafficking and sexual exploitation, particularly of women and girls, from Bangladesh to India.

In recognition of her work against trafficking, Ms. Huda was appointed to the National Council for Women in Development in Bangladesh, the highest national body for the development of women, by the country’s Prime Minister. She has also worked with UNICEF, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and other international bodies on issues relating to human rights.

Ms. Huda has served as a member and assistant secretary of the Supreme Court Bar Association of Bangladesh and has been twice elected a member of the Bangladesh Bar Council. She was a Member of the Bangladesh Labour Law Reform Commission from 1991-1995, and formerly headed the Centre for the Training and Rehabilitation of Destitute Women (CTRDW), an organization for the protection of pregnant and abandoned women. She is currently a board member of the Coalition against Trafficking in Women, Asia Pacific.

Mr. Smith made the appointment on 8 October 2004 in consultation with representatives of the different regional groups in the Commission. Special Rapporteurs and other "mandate-holders" of the Commission are independent from any government and serve in their individual capacity. The Special Rapporteur on trafficking is mandated by the Commission to make recommendations on ways to uphold the rights of trafficked persons based on gathered and received information from relevant sources. The Special Rapporteur is also mandated to respond effectively to reliable information on possible human rights violations with a view to protecting the human rights of actual or potential victims of trafficking.

The current mandate of the Special Rapporteur expires in 2007.