Ensuring human rights of victims while combating human trafficking in focus at OSCE-supported workshop in Uzbekistan

TASHKENT, 30 October 2012 – An OSCE-supported workshop that will focus on exchange of information in the fight against human trafficking and ensuring the rights of trafficked persons began in Tashkent today.

The two-day workshop is organized by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan, the Office of the OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings and Uzbekistan’s inter-agency anti-trafficking commission. Criminal justice experts and representatives of anti-trafficking non-governmental organizations from Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Thailand, the United Kingdom and Ukraine are taking part in the workshop.

“Promoting direct co-operation between the countries of origin, transit and destination, as well as sharing information and expertise among law enforcement professionals are key components in the global fight against human trafficking,” Senior Project Officer of the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan Christoph Opfermann said in his opening speech.

“Establishing effective mechanisms of co-operation between state authorities and civil society actors is vitally important for ensuring the rights of trafficked persons to adequate identification, protection and safe return.”

Workshop participants will discuss the challenges they face in countering human trafficking, operational practice in the area of seizure and confiscation of criminal assets from traffickers, mechanisms for victim identification and referral for assistance, and for providing legal assistance to the trafficked persons.