OSCE Special Representative, 1500 students make symbolic journey to Palermo against organized crime

The OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, along with some 1500 students, participated in a symbolic journey from Civitavecchia to Palermo on 22-23 May to promote the culture of legality while commemorating the assassination of the Italian anti-mafia judge Giovanni Falcone, his wife and his personal security guards near Palermo in 1992.

The event was organized by the foundation Giovanni e Francesca Falcone together with the Italian Ministry of Education. During the journey Giammarinaro took part in a roundtable discussion with Pietro Grasso, the Italian Chief National Anti-Mafia Prosecutor, with the participation of many students from Italy and other European countries, and representatives of institutions and civil society.

Giammarinaro emphasized that organized crime is widespread throughout the OSCE region and that trafficking for labour exploitation is now a thriving organized criminal business. People are enslaved and obliged to provide unpaid work in degrading conditions. The lack of awareness and indifference make organized crime even more powerful. “We, ordinary people, can do a great deal to counteract trafficking by promoting a zero tolerance approach to the exploitation of migrant workers, who are the most vulnerable to labour trafficking,” she said.

The students came together to share their ideas and commitment to engage in the anti-mafia struggle by promoting a culture of legality in every possible aspect of daily life. Participants discussed how the mafia and other criminal organizations aim to increase and stabilize their economic power and tend to infiltrate politics and economy, with a view to securing impunity for the perpetrators and better opportunities for their criminal business.

In Palermo, Giammarinaro joined Maria Falcone, Falcone's sister, and other high-level officials in the commemorative march to the house of Giovanni Falcone, where thousands of people, mostly students, placed messages of solidarity and remembrance on a magnolia tree symbolically named the Falcone Tree.

A sentence by Giovanni Falcone was read aloud by Maria Falcone, Giammarinaro and some students in 18 different languages: “People pass by but their ideas keep on going, as well as their moral inclinations. They'll keep on walking on other people's legs.”