STRASBOURG: Starting on Wednesday nations will be able to sign what backers say is the first ever international treaty to take on human organ trafficking.

The agreement would make it illegal to take organs from people living or dead without their free and full consent, according to the text drafted by members of Europe’s top rights body, the Council of Europe. The treaty also bans making money off transplants. It will “fill in the gaps (in legislation) and puts in place protection for the victims,” council Secretary General Thorbjoern Jagland said on Tuesday.

The World Health Organisation estimates that some 10,000 black market transplants are carried out every year, a problem that frequently involves international crime and desperate victims.

Fourteen nations — including Britain, Spain, Italy and Turkey — are expected to sign the treaty on Wednesday at an international conference devoted to the topic in Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

At least five countries have to ratify the agreement, which is open to all countries, before it takes effect.

Published in Dawn, March 25th, 2015

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