Official involvement in Moldova's human trafficking and sex slave trade

A victim of human traffickers forced into prostitution in Torino, Italy (Photo: Kay Chernush for the U.S. State Department)

CHISINAU (Tiraspol Times) - Moldova is a major source for women and girls trafficked for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation and the government is not doing much to combat the problem. That is the conclusion of a just-released report on the human slave trade which the American government issued worldwide.

Moldovan women are trafficked all over the world, with the list of destinations including Turkey, Israel, the U.A.E., Ukraine, Russia, Cyprus, Greece, Albania, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Italy, France, Portugal, and Austria.

The Government of Moldova is not complying with minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.
It is on a U.S. watch list because it did not provide evidence that the government is addressing complicity in severe forms of trafficking by government officials. Moldova is listed as on the so-called "Tier-2 Watch List" of nations that the U.S. State Department has singled out for special attention and which have poor antitrafficking records for numerous consecutive years.

In one of its worst criticisms, the American government states that trafficking corruption at all levels throughout the Molodvan government continued unchecked during most of the reporting period.

Government involvement and complicity in Moldova

Throughout the year, the report says, "specific reports surfaced of officials' complicity in trafficking, involving senior government officials, as well as border guards and police officers, though the government made no significant efforts to investigate, prosecute, convict, or sentence these complicit officials."

In August 2006, several government investigators, prosecutors and senior officials - including the deputy director of the Center to Combat Trafficking in Persons (CCTIP) - were dismissed from their jobs for assisting a prominent trafficker and his syndicate, but have not been prosecuted.

The Government of Moldova has failed to vigorously investigate, prosecute, convict, and sentence all public officials complicit in trafficking and has not funded the implementation of a new National Action Plan through its national committee on trafficking. There are no resources devoted to victim assistance and protection and a complete lack of proactive efforts to identify trafficking victims and investigate trafficking crimes.

None of this is happening in Moldova today, and the problem is going from bad to worse. Human trafficking involves the sale of people across international borders for forced prostitution or labor. Some 80 percent of trafficking victims are female, and up to half are children.

" - In some cases, there are countries with major human trafficking problems, but only a couple of traffickers have been brought to justice. This cannot and must not be tolerated," said Condoleezza Rice during the presentation of the report.

" - Freedom and security are non-negotiable demands of human dignity," the U.S. Secretary of State added, while noting that President George W. Bush has also said that "no one is fit to be a master and no one deserves to be a slave."

No prosecution or sentencing data available

The Government of Moldova refused to provide prosecution data for 2006, and sentencing data for 2006 was inconclusive.

There is also a lack of progress when it comes to protection. The government made no real efforts to improve victim assistance and protection in 2006, says the new report.

Most government officials were not proactive in identifying victims or potential victims, even when allegations were made. All victim assistance and protection is being provided by NGOs and international organizations and funded by foreign donors, and the government didn't give any financial support to a single NGO in this field.

Victims generally do not assist law enforcement with investigations or prosecutions because the government is largely unable to protect victims from retaliation by traffickers, many of whom are believed to be government officials themselves. Despite a 2005 law to the contrary, victims continued to be penalized for prostitution or illegal border crossing.

No evidence of trafficking from Pridnestrovie

The just-released official U.S. State Department report states that Moldova's efforts to prevent trafficking remained weak in 2006. Attempting to wash its hands of the responsibility for trafficking, the Moldovan government instead continued to rely on NGOs and international organizations to provide the majority of public awareness and education campaigns, says the U.S. State Department.

" - Every day, all over the world, people are coerced into bonded labor, bought and sold in prostitution, exploited in domestic servitude, enslaved in agricultural work and in factories, and captured to serve unlawfully as child soldiers," said Ambassador Mark Lagon, the director of the U.S. Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons in presenting the report on June 12.

" - Estimates of the number vary widely," he added. "According to U.S. government estimates, approximately 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders each year."

Although briefly mentioned with one single sentence in the report, there is no evidence of any trafficking in human beings from Transdniester (officially: Pridnestrovie), or Transdniester as it is called in Romanian. Now, more and more countries are coming to see human trafficking for what it is: a modern-day form of slavery that devastates families and communities around the world. Commenting on the latest report, a official in Tiraspol, the capital of the unrecognized country, said that Pridnestrovie wants to be part of a global movement, not just to confront this crime, but to abolish it.

See also:
» NGOs urge Moldova and Pridnestrovie to work together in fight against sex slave trade
» Moldova: Lower prices behind sex slavery boom and child prostitution
» UN's fight against Moldova sex slavery, human trafficking
» Government officials behind record rise in Moldova organ trade