On participation of Belarus’ Delegation at the 19th Alliance Against Trafficking in Persons Conference
10.04.2019
On 8-9 April 2019 the 19th Alliance Against Trafficking in Persons Conference on the topic of “Using Technology to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings: Turning a Liability into an Asset” took place in Hofburg, Vienna. The event was attended by the State Secretary of the Ministry of Interior of Slovakia Rudolf Urbanovič, OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger, Acting OSCE Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings Valiant Richey, Director of the OSCE/ODIHR Ingibjörg S. Gísladóttir delegations from 57 OSCE participating States, representatives of international organizations and NGOs involved in countering human trafficking.
Permanent Representative of Belarus to the OSCE, Ambassador Alena Kupchyna moderated the session of the Alliance Conference entitled “The power of technology to assist in the identification of victims, investigation of cases, and prosecution of perpetrators of human trafficking”.
Speaking at this session, the representative of the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Belarus Galina Suzdaleva drew particular attention to the need for increased international co-operation not only on specific facts of human trafficking on the Internet, but also in training law enforcement officers, exchanging experience in the use of information products and search engines. She also invited partners to take part in international events on this topic, which will be held in Belarus in 2019.
On the sidelines of the Conference the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Belarus to the OSCE together with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime organized a side event entitled “Countering Trafficking in Minors in the Digital Age”.
The event was opened by the Acting OSCE Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Valiant Richey, who noted the need to strengthen the role of the OSCE in combating trafficking in children and further developing international interaction in this area.
Ms. Larysa Belskaya, Head of the General Department for Multilateral Diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, spoke at the event as the keynote speaker. In her statement, she stressed the relevance of international co-operation and co-ordination of efforts by states and international organizations to combat sexual exploitation and trafficking in children through the use of information and communication technologies; noted the need for targeted measures to improve international and national legislations, capacity building and outreach efforts, as well as engaging partners from the private sector and civil society in countering cybercrime against children.
Speakers at the side event were also Mr. David Mancini, Prosecutor, District Anti-Mafia Directorates of L’Aquila, Italy; Ms. Janice Helwig, Representative of the U.S. Helsinki Commission to the U.S. Mission to the OSCE; Mr. Ilias Chatzis, Chief of Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Section, UNODC; and Mr. Sacha Chan Kam, Senior Migrant Protection Specialist, International Organization for Migration.
Ms. Larysa Belskaya, Head of the General Department for Multilateral Diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, also spoke as a panelist at the side event “Harnessing Collaboration in Eradicating Human Trafficking: the Role of Inter-Agency Coordination Group against Trafficking in Persons (ICAT) from Global to Local”, which was organized by the Office of OSCE Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings.
In her speech, she noted the special role of ICAT in supporting the efforts of states to combat human trafficking, as well as in the development and implementation at global and national levels of an integrated coordinated approach in the field of preventing trafficking, prosecuting criminals and protecting victims of this crime. The Belarusian delegation also invited UNODC, as the ICAT coordinator, to prepare an analytical report on the state of affairs in the field of combating trafficking in persons by the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Protocol to Prevent and Suppress Trafficking in Persons of the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.
Representatives of foreign states and international organizations, including the Acting OSCE Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Valiant Richey, and Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, US Department of State, Ambassador John Richmond, who spoke at the 19th Alliance Conference, noted Belarus’ leading role in promoting international co-operation on combating human trafficking.
