OSCE well placed to counter human trafficking as integral part of organised crime, transnational threat, says Special Representative

MOSCOW, 29 September 2010 - The OSCE, as a unique organization working across all dimensions of security, is well placed to counter the challenge of human trafficking as an integral part of organised crime, said Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, at a workshop in Moscow today. 

Addressing participants in the workshop "Enhancement of Interaction among CIS Bodies of Sectoral Co-operation in Combating Organized Crime and Human Trafficking" co-organized by the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the Moscow office of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Giammarinaro focused on new trends and challenges posed by human trafficking and organized crime, and on how the OSCE and other international players could contribute to fighting the scourge.

"The OSCE is ideally placed to combat this transnational threat, given its ability to work comprehensively across all three dimensions of security: the politico-military, economic-environmental and the human dimension," Giammarinaro said.

As examples of OSCE work, she highlighted training programmes and joint workshops for police in co-operation with OSCE field missions, developing educational curricula for border officials in Tajikistan, and offering training courses in other CIS countries and at the CIS International Training Centre in Minsk.

Speaking about the ways to improve the criminal justice response to human trafficking, Giammarinaro emphasized the need to strengthen law enforcement operations units, use advanced investigative tools, involve specialised financial police units to trace financial operations linked with human trafficking cases.

"The OSCE is ready to contribute to the capacity-building of national structures by initiating a network of law enforcement and prosecutors of the OSCE participating States to share best practices, exchange experience and seek better solutions to meet the challenge of trafficking in human beings as a transnational threat and a gross human rights violation," Giammarinaro said.

She stressed the importance of co-operation among major international organizations, including through the Alliance against Trafficking in Persons, an informal platform for co-operation initiated by the OSCE in 2004.