The legislation is a follow through with FSM’s accession to the U.N. Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Person, achieved through the adoption of Congressional Resolution 17-15 at the end of the first special session last month.
In transmitting the bill to Congress, the president wrote, “the legislation criminalizes, among others, the acts of human smuggling, human trafficking and exploitation of victims of these offenses most especially those involving children victims.”
While encouraging Congress to “take the time to carefully review” the bill, Mori also commented on the overall need to enact such legislation. He wrote, “This nation needs strong measures to secure its people from being victimized by smugglers and traffickers. At the same time, national laws must provide strong deterrence against serious offenses of human trafficking by providing stiff criminal penalties.”
The bill defines at least seven punishable offenses with set varying penalties for each offense. Penalties span from fines in the range of $5,000 to $50,000 to imprisonment for 8 years, not more than 10 years, or not more than 15 years, or a combination of both fines and imprisonment.
Congress began its second regular session last week, taking up a full platter of outstanding matters, resuming deliberations on proposed fiscal year 2012 budget for all branches and agencies of the national government and considerations of president’s nominations for members of his cabinet, including required Congress action on a number of measures.
