Strengthening anti-trafficking units

29 September 2008 - Like many other regions, Central America is hard hit by human trafficking. To support anti-trafficking efforts, earlier this year the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) started a project to provide technical assistance to specialized anti-trafficking units in Guatemala and the region.

The initiative focuses on enhancing investigative and prosecutorial capacities of law enforcement and penal prosecution authorities. It also promotes regional cooperation on issues such as joint investigations, witness protection programmes and special investigative techniques.

According to UNODC's Trafficking in Persons, Global Patterns report, Guatemala ranks high as a country of origin. The border with Mexico in particular is an area of concern. Guatemala has ratified international protocols to eradicate trafficking and is making significant efforts to introduce national anti-trafficking reforms. Still, investigative and penal prosecution abilities to dismantle trafficking groups and increase criminal convictions need to be strengthened to bring about some tangible change.

"Prosecutors, especially in rural areas, still conduct investigations from a local perspective paying no attention to elements that can lead to cases of a transnational nature," says Felipe De La Torre, UNODC Crime Prevention Expert based in Mexico City. "Prosecutors must be able to compile sound evidence for cases. We need to contribute to a reduction of impunity and restore public confidence in the law."

Together with the UN Latin American Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders , UNODC is conducting a regional assessment to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) of public prosecutors' offices and national police bodies in addressing trafficking offences. The findings will help design and tailor training courses to be delivered in 2009 and 2010 at national and regional level.

Alexander Colop, head of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Unit in Guatemala says the SWOT workshops have already helped him identify some of his own strengths and weaknesses as a prosecutor dealing with trafficking cases. Remote border control points are also involved in the exercise, which Colop notes "empowers rural prosecutors and strengthens their commitment to the difficult tasks in the field."

Effective prevention of human trafficking requires strong domestic and regional leadership. "The level of commitment by the Central American Public Prosecutors Offices and their Attorney Generals to this project proves that joint-ventures between public entities and international organizations can make a difference in the consolidation of stronger criminal justice systems," says De La Torre.

The project is already receiving praise. The Ibero-American Association of Public Prosecutors Offices commended the initiative as one to be replicated in other Ibero-American countries.

"To consolidate the region's penal prosecution system, we need to make this a long term, sustainable programme capable of supporting not only public prosecution and police services in the fight against trafficking, but also other justice operators, such as the judiciary and border control authorities," says De La Torre. "Cooperation is vital."