Finland: 16-year-old girl trafficked and forced into prostitution

Human trafficking and modern-day slavery are daily realities in many countries. Around the world, people are trafficked and forced to endure indignities and untold human rights violations far away from their home countries. Some cases such as what has been dubbed the "Nigerian connection" and West African girls enslaved in New Jersey attract wide media coverage, while others like the case of a 16-year-old girl trafficked from Romania and forced into prostitution in Finland do not get enough coverage.

Last week, Helsinki's District Court found a man guilty in a case in which a 16-year-old Romanian girl was tricked to Finland and forced into prostitution. The perpetrator, identified as Tudor Stamatie, was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison for human trafficking. 

The 16-year-old was pressured to work as a prostitute in Aleksis Kivin Katu, a street in Helsinki, Finland. She could not stop work and return to her home country. She worked as a prostitute on the street everyday (except for one day when her stomach was aching) for a period of two months. She met 5-6 clients a day in a car.

The minor could not talk to the police because her "master" threatened her with violence. He sometimes hit her. The 16-year-old girl and her friend received only 10 euros a day for food. The perpetrator sent a large part of the money made from the illicit business to his family in Romania while the victim's family was sent only a small fraction.

The court ordered the perpetrator to pay the victim 29,000 euros in compensation. The court judgement allows the girl to return home and be reunited with her family.

I welcome the decision of the District Court. Human trafficking is inhumane and degrading. It has disturbing similarities to slavery and must be condemned in the strongest terms. Traffickers and patronizers of the abhorrent business should bear the full weight of the law. 

Before the far-right in Finland and elsewhere high jack this case and try to use it against immigration and immigrants from Romania and elsewhere, it is worth highlighting that the society as a whole and all men who buy sex contribute to a lesser or greater extent to forced prostitution. The fact that a 16-year-old girl could be forced into prostitution in Finland means there is a market for forced prostitution in the Nordic country. There is no supply without demand. 

All those who benefit from forced prostitution - both clients and traffickers, Finns and foreigners - share responsibility for human trafficking and should be punished accordingly. The 16-year-old girl reportedly met with two hundred men during the period when she was forced to work as a prostitute. All the men she met with exploited a minor and should be ashamed of themselves. 

Tudor Stamatie, the trafficker in this case, has been imprisoned. This is good news. But other predators who benefited from his crime are still on the streets and perhaps continue to exploit minor girls and vulnerable women.

In November 2011, police uncovered a case of human trafficking and organized prostitution in Lahti, a small town about 100km north-east of Helsinki. It is plausible to conclude that there are more victims of forced prostitution and human trafficking out there waiting to be rescued. People of good conscience and the authorities should be vigilant. Human trafficking, forced prostitution and  modern-day slavery could be happening in plain sight.

Finland is a transit and destination country for trafficking victims. The majority of victims come from Russia, the Baltic countries and Eastern Europe. Estonians are among the most common nationalities in the Finnish sex trade. Adult men in Helsinki have been caught paying for sex with teenagers with gifts and alcohol. [Source].

*Photo: HerSocialNetwork.

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Finland's convicted Members of Parliament

Rarely do convicts occupy seats in parliament. On 19 June 2012, Pakistan's Supreme Court disqualified Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani from office and from parliament after convicting him of contempt of court on 26 April 2012. As a lawmaking organ, parliament is expected to be occupied by law abiding citizens, but this is not the case in Finland. The Nordic country's parliament is currently occupied by two controversial Members of Parliament (MPs) - James Hirvisaari and Jussi Halla-aho - who have been convicted by Finnish courts on charges of inciting hate against an ethnic minority group. One of them even ridiculed a ruling of the country's Supreme Court.

James Hirvisaari

In many countries, MPs are lawmakers. They represent the "will of the people" and enact laws. The unicameral Parliament of Finland is the "supreme organ of the state." Finland's new Constitution in the year 2000 strengthened the position of parliament as the main organ of the state. The fact that the Prime Minister of Finland is elected by Parliament illustrates its central role in Finland's political system. MPs therefore play a central role in the country, hence they should be held to higher standards.

Finland's 200 MPs are elected every four years and they enact legislation, approve state budget, ratify international treaties and oversee the Government of the Republic. The last parliamentary election in Finland was in April 2011. It was during the 2011 election that James Hirvisaari and Jussi Hala-aho were elected to parliament.

 The duo share a lot in common.

 Both are MPs for the populist Perussuomalaiset party and are linked to Suomen Sisu, a nationalist Finnish organization that kicks against Islam, immigration and multiculturalism. Both are bloggers, both attack immigration, Islam and multiculturalism in their writings. More importantly, both MPs were convicted in relation to hate speech and inciting hatred against an ethnic group in relation to writing published online.

Hirvisaari was convicted in December 2010 and in June 2012, the Supreme Court denied him leave to appeal.

Jussi Halla-aho

Jussi Halla-aho on his part was first convicted in September 2009. He appealed the decision of the District Court, but the Supreme Court upheld the verdict in June 2012. Hala-aho dismissed the ruling of the Supreme Court as "the personal interpretation of a few people." Besides breaking Finland's law on liabilities in public communications, the lawmaker ridiculed the country's highest court. This is a slap in the face of the judiciary.

The fact that both politicians were voted into parliament after they were found guilty by courts is an indication that some voters and the Perussuomalaiset political party are not worried about being represented in parliament by convicted politicians who make no secret of their hateful and derogatory views about ethnic and religious minorities. This sends a wrong message that lawmakers could be lawbreakers.

Persons convicted of incitement of hatred against ethnic minorities should not be credited with seats in parliament and tasked with enacting laws.

All is not bleak. Electing convicts to represent the public and enact legislation is unreasonable and somewhat laughable, but it is also an indication that democracy is alive.

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Fatou Bensouda: Sworn in as Chief Prosecutor of the ICC

Article 42 (3) of the Rome Statute that created the International Criminal Court (ICC), states that the Prosecutor (and Deputy Prosecutors) of the ICC shall, among other things, be "persons of high moral character, be highly competent in and have extensive experience in the prosecution or trial of criminal cases." A woman from Gambia, Fatou Bensouda, meets this criteria and has been sworn in as the new chief prosecutor of the ICC in The Hague. She has gone down in history as the second person, first woman and first African to hold the post.

Fatou Bensouda, a former Justice Minister of The Gambia, now heads the Office of the Prosecutor at the ICC.

As head of the Office of the Prosecutor, she is responsible for the daunting task laid down in Article 42 of the Rome Statute. Her office is responsible for receiving referrals and information on crimes within the jurisdiction of the court, examining them and conducting investigations and prosecutions before the court.

Fatou Bensouda officially became the Chief Prosecutor of the ICC on 15 June 2012 after she was sworn in at a ceremony in The Hague. She was reportedly elected by consensus on 12 December 2011.

Her predecessor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, served as Chief Prosecutor from from 16 June 2003 to 15 June 2012. During his term in office, he opened investigations into seven situations - all in Africa: Sudan (Darfur), the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Central African Republic, Kenya, Libya and Ivory Coast.

Fatou Bensouda was Moreno-Ocampo's Deputy Prosecutor.

The ICC has been criticized for disproportionately targeting Africans. Hopefully Fatou Bensouda, a daughter of Africa, would take the court in a new direction and silence critics of international justice. She should have the courage to conduct investigations in Africa and beyond. Only in this way would she help restore the credibility of the ICC in the eyes of many Africans who are suspicious of the court and condemn it for "selective justice" and double standards.

The African Union (AU) reportedly endorsed Fatou Bensouda's candidature and "lobbied intensely" for her to be selected. She should thank the AU for the support, but what she should not do is turn a blind eye to crimes committed in Africa. She should keep the pressure on African perpetrators and look elsewhere at the same time for crimes under the jurisdiction of the court. Well-documented international crimes committed by George W. Bush and his cohorts is a good place to start. Calls by human rights groups, including Amnesty International, for George W. Bush to be brought to justice, have not been heeded - even after he attempted to justify torture. The failure to investigate George W. Bush and other western public figures like Donald Rumfeld, Dick Cheney, just to name a few for their roles in international crimes puts the credibility of international justice into question.

With a new Chief Prosecutor in office, the ICC has an opportunity to clear all doubts about its motives by ensuring that not only Africans are brought before the court. Not only Africans commit crimes that fall within the jurisdiction of the court.

Fatou Bensouda must not wait for referrals by governments or the UN Security Council. She has the independent power, in accordance with Article 15 of the Rome Statute, to open investigations proprio motu. Luis Moreno-Ocampo opened investigations proprio motu in Kenya and Ivory Coast. The prosecutor of the ICC could use this power to initiate investigations in cases where there is lack of political will to bring perpetrators of heinous crimes to justice. Talking about lack of political will - crimes [allegedly] authorized by George W. Bush of the US and Bashar al-Assad of Syria immediately come to mind.

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