“condemned regardless of the motivation or the purpose for which it is done, as it reduces the child to an article of trade and grants the parents or any ‘seller’ the power to dispose of him as if they were a chattel.”106 141. As the domestic courts have indicated, at the time of the facts of this case, the State did not criminalize the surrender of a child in exchange for money. The “sale” of a child was not prevented or prohibited by criminal law, even though other factual presumptions were punished such as the concealment or elimination of identity (supra para. 134). This prohibition does not satisfy the provision of Article 35 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child that measures must be adopted to prevent the “sale” of children for any purpose and in any form. The obligation to adopt all measures to prevent any “sale,” including prohibition under criminal law, was in force from the moment Argentina ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990. 142. In addition, the obligation to prohibit any sale of children under criminal law was affirmed by the State when ratifying the Optional Protocol of the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prosecution and Child Pornography on September 25, 2003. On that occasion, Argentina made, inter alia, an interpretative declaration indicating its preference for a more comprehensive definition of sale than that established in Article 2 of the Protocol,107 also indicating that “the sale of children should be penalized in all cases and not only in those listed in Article 3, paragraph 1(a) [of the said Protocol].”108 143. The Court observes that several States in the region have criminalized the sale of children and adolescents.109 Moreover, considering the sale of a person as a crime is even in 106 Cf. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography of 17 January 1996, E/CN.4/1996/100, para. 12. Also, cf., inter alia, United Nations, General Assembly, Resolution on the rights of the child, A/RES/66/141, 4 April 2012, para. 20, and A/RES/65/197, 30 March 2011, para. 18 (“The General Assembly […] calls upon all States to prevent, criminalize, prosecute and punish all forms of the sale of children”) and Human Rights Council, Resolution on the rights of the child, A/HRC/RES/19/37, 19 April 2012, para. 42(a) (“The Council of Human Rights […] Calls upon all States: (a) To take all measures necessary to eliminate, criminalize and penalize effectively […] the sale of children”) and A/HRC/RES/7/29, 28 March 2008, para. 36(a) (“The Council of Human Rights […] Calls upon all States: (a) To take all measures necessary to eliminate, criminalize and penalize effectively […] the sale of children”). 107 Article 2 of the said Protocol defines the sale of children as follows: For the purposes of the present Protocol: (a) Sale of children means any act or transaction whereby a child is transferred by any person or group of persons to another for remuneration or any other consideration[.] 108 In this declaration, Argentina indicated: “[w]ith reference to Article 2, the Argentine Republic would prefer a broader definition of sale of children[.] [T]he Argentine Republic believes that the sale of children should be criminalized in all cases and not only in those enumerated in Article 3, paragraph 1(a).” United Nations Treaty Collection; Status of treaties, Optional Protocol of the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prosecution and Child Pornography, available at: http://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src= TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-11-c&chapter=4&lang=en. The pertinent part of Article 3 of the said Protocol, establishes that: 1. Each State Party shall ensure that, as a minimum, the following acts and activities are fully covered under its criminal or penal law, whether such offences are committed domestically or transnationally or on an individual or organized basis: (a) In the context of sale of children as defined in article 2: (i) Offering, delivering or accepting, by whatever means, a child for the purpose of: a. Sexual exploitation of the child; b. Transfer of organs of the child for profit; c. Engagement of the child in forced labour[.] 109 Cf. Brazil, Law No. 8,069, regulating the Law on Children and Adolescents and other measures; published on July 16, 1990, and amended on September 27, 1990, Article 238 (Promise or surrender a child or ward to a third party, by means of payment or compensation. Punishment: one to four years’ imprisonment. Single paragraph. The person offering or making the payment or compensation shall incur the same punishment); Costa 40