The law is also meant to curb the removal and selling of human limbs as well as
the kidnapping and selling of babies.
The bill stipulates the minimum jail sentence for those convicted of human
trafficking - between four to five years - in a manner which relieves the court
of the burden of reducing sentences for prior convicts.
In a rare move, the proposed law uses unusually blunt language - characterizing
the victims of human trafficking as "slaves" - and determining that anyone who
"compels anyone to work as a slave by force, threatening the use of force, or
applying other types of pressure is to serve 16 years in prison."
The bill states that anyone convicted of human trafficking for purposes of
work, removal of organs, prostitution, giving birth to a child, or other
sex-related offenses will also be subject to 16 years in prison.
"The use of the term 'slave' is meant to highlight the core of the phenomenon,"
the justice ministry said. "Slavery is the denial of a person's freedom of
choice or the limiting of that freedom to a significant extent."
"Working conditions which are characteristic of employing modern slaves include
keeping them at work during most hours of the day, confiscation of [the
worker's] passport, use of violence, force, and other means of pressure, and
unlawful imprisonment," the ministry said.
Employers have also forced foreign workers to illegally "compensate" them for
costs related to importing the workers to Israel, a tactic commonly used
against foreign women brought to Israel as prostitutes.
The new law is aimed at, among other things, bringing Israeli legislation up to
par with the demands of international conventions and treatises to which
Jerusalem has been a signatory since 2001.
The new legislation would pave the way for Israel's ratifying of the treaty,
enabling the Jewish state "to take part in the international struggle against
the phenomena."
Upon enaction of the law, Israeli judges will be able to rule on cases of
trafficking which occurred in foreign countries, including those in which laws
against the violation do not exist.
Haaretz
