Council of Europe anticipates strong support for int'l convention against organ trafficking

The Council of Europe (COE) is anticipating the signatures of 14 member countries during the first day of signing for a new convention to combat the trafficking of human organs on March 25.

The COE convention against trafficking human organs is the first international treaty of its kind and will be opened for signature during an international conference to be held during March 25 to 26 in north-western Spain, at the world heritage site Santiago de Compostela.

Which of the 47 COE member states are expected to sign will be revealed on Wednesday, but COE officials are optimistic about the strength of the positive response the convention will receive, despite prior difficulties in the process leading to its adoption by the COE Council of Ministers.

"It's not very often that we have 14 countries sign a convention on the first day," COE Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland said during a press briefing on Tuesday.

The treaty aims to harmonize national legislation and police procedures in order to combat the illegal trade, which the World Health Association (WHO) estimates leads to 10,000 black market organ transplants worldwide per year, and which generates between 600 million U.S. dollars and 1.2 billion U.S. dollars in illegal profits per year, as estimated by the NGO Global Financial Integrity.

The secretary general underlined the importance of international cooperation and protection for victims of organ trafficking, which are most often people in poor and desperate circumstances.

"What's important is that this convention obliges member countries to protect victims," Jagland said.

A march, co-organized by the COE, the WHO, the Spanish National Agency for Transplantation, and Swiss Transplant, was held Tuesday along a well-known pilgrimage route in Santiago de Compostela in order to raise awareness in the fight to end organ trafficking. Endit