FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

UN Human Rights Council Hears Testimony on Human Trafficking in Mexico

The Church of Scientology European Public Affairs and Human Rights Office organizes presentation on plight of victims of human trafficking in Mexico.

A presentation to the U.N. Human Rights Council June 15 put a face on modern-day slavery in Mexico through testimony on the consequences of human trafficking to the people of Mexico. The program, “Kidnapping in Mexico: A Modern Way of Slavery,” was organized by the Church of Scientology European Public Affairs and Human Rights Office on behalf of Fundacion Para la Mejora de la Vida, la Cultura y la Sociedad (Foundation for the Improvement of Life Culture and Society) of Spain and the nonprofit Alto Al Secuestro (Stop Kidnapping) of Mexico. It was held at UN Headquarters in Geneva as an auxiliary activity to the 35th Session of the Human Rights Council.

Al Secuestro sought a platform to gain justice for victims of kidnapping and to expose the underlying corruption of the legal system that accords greater rights and protections to kidnappers than to their victims who are trafficked into modern-day slavery.

Isabel Miranda Wallace, president of Alto Al Secuestro, spoke of the kidnapping and murder of her son, which ignited her commitment to eradicate this abuse. Several other victims who were kidnapped and trafficked into slavery presented their stories.

At the end of the program, a formal request was made to include the role of kidnapping in the trafficking of victims into modern-day slavery in the next UN Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review, scheduled for 2018.

The Scientology religion was founded by author and philosopher L. Ron Hubbard. The first Church of Scientology was formed in Los Angeles in 1954 and the religion has expanded to more than 11,000 Churches, Missions and affiliated groups, with millions of members in 167 countries.

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