Council of Europe

OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, highlighted key aspects of the Addendum to the OSCE Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings in her address today to the Permanent Council.

Updates to the 2003 document, which were endorsed by the Kyiv Ministerial Council on 6 December 2013, include recommendations on the need to trace, freeze and confiscate proceeds of trafficking crimes and on early and unconditional assistance to victims. They also identify the need to respond to recent developments, such as detecting Internet-facilitated trafficking and preventing trafficking for organ removal.

"The Addendum places the OSCE at the forefront of international efforts to prevent and combat trafficking in human beings", Giammarinaro said. "Now, the challenge is to promote its full implementation, which needs to be carried out in the same spirit of innovation, justice and human rights protection, according to the OSCE’s comprehensive concept of security". […]

Practical recommendations on improving the efficiency of the state in helping victims of human trafficking are discussed at a conference that started today in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, with the support of the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine (PCU).

Some 200 social service providers, law enforcers and civil society activists from across Ukraine gathered to share best practices in identifying and assisting people who suffered from various forms of modern-day slavery. Among the proposals tabled for discussion were the need to streamline legislation, to establish mechanisms for monitoring the quality of state assistance, and to expand awareness-raising campaigns. Special attention was paid to the impact of the training programme on the quality of assistance and the outcomes of rehabilitation programmes. […]

In a report issued today, the OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, praised the Government of Portugal for the measures taken following her visit to Portugal in November, 2012.

"I welcome the recent legislative amendments that broaden the scope of the definition of trafficking in human beings and that authorize the use of seized or confiscated funds to improve victims’ rights to compensation", the Special Representative said.

Authorities have also taken significant steps to increase the role of NGOs, in particular through their participation in the inter-ministerial committee and the Co-ordinating Body for the National Action Plan on Trafficking in Human Beings, Giammarinaro noted. […]

The OSCE Cross-Border Research Conference on evolving transnational threats and border security began at the OSCE Border Management Staff College (BMSC) today.

Twenty-seven researchers and senior-level officers from border, customs, and drug control agencies representing 15 OSCE participating States and two Partners for Co-operation, will present their research at the conference. Scholars from the George C. Marshall Center for Security Studies, Moscow State Institute of International Relations, National Border Guard Academy of Ukraine, George Washington University, will also participate in the event.

Promoting and developing demand-driven and practice-oriented research on border security and management is one of the OSCE BMSC’s core objectives. The purpose of the conference is to facilitate a constructive exchange of expertise, research findings, and experience between border security and management practitioners and researchers specializing in security studies. […]

An international seminar organized by the OSCE Office on protection mechanisms for victims of human trafficking started in Baku today.

The two-day event aims at building the capacity of judges, prosecutors, and lawyers to prosecute for human trafficking and forced labour, as well as the protection of victims of trafficking.

"It is important to ensure that all parties involved in counter-trafficking acknowledge the vulnerability of victims", said Ambassador Koray Targay, Head of the OSCE Office in Baku, in his opening speech. "A victim protection system should be put in place that would not criminalize victims for the offences they were forced to commit while being trafficked". […]