La Strada Documentation Center

State Violence in Serbia and Montenegro. An alternative Report to the United Nations Human Rights Committee

Document number
1104
Date
2004
Title
State Violence in Serbia and Montenegro. An alternative Report to the United Nations Human Rights Committee
Author/publisher
ASTRA, Children Rights Center, Humanitarian Law Center, World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
Availability
View/save PDF version of this document
Document type(s)
Guidelines/Recommendations, Research/Study/Analysis,
Keywords
Sexual exploitation, Human trafficking, Women, Victims (of Trafficking), Trafficked persons,
Summary
EXTRACT: Serbia and Montenegro is a transit country and, to a lesser extent, a country of origin and destination for women and girls trafficked for sexual exploitation. It took a long time for the authorities to realize that Serbia is both a country of origin and destination, and not only a transit country, and that trafficking concerns more than just “some Moldavian and Ukrainian girls” but also domestic citizens, as well as to accept that trafficking in human beings is a very profitable activity widely present inside the borders of Serbia and Montenegro. Victims, mostly from Moldova, Romania, Ukraine, and Bulgaria, end up in Kosovo, Bosnia, Albania, and Western Europe. Children are trafficked across Serbia and Montenegro for begging and theft in Western Europe. War conflicts and the boom of organized crime in Serbian society during the last decade of the 20th century created conditions for the strengthening of organized crime, and among others, groups that organize trafficking in human beings. [...] Although the state has started dealing with the problem of trafficking in human beings, and particularly trafficking in women and children, this process is slow because many law enforcement officials, prosecutors, and judges still know little about the problem. This lack of awareness is seen as one of the greatest obstacles to tackling this problem, with widespread corruption exacerbating it even further. There is no institutionalized system of protection for trafficking victims, although the National Referral Mechanism has been established for that purpose within the Working group for victim’s assistance, which exists within the National Team for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, coordinated by the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Policy of the Republic of Serbia. The Mechanism defines which persons are considered victims of trafficking (according to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children), who can be the source of information in trafficking cases, and where the victims of trafficking should be referred, i.e. shelter for women victims of trafficking. Since there is no legal possibility for trafficked women to get temporary residence permits, the police tolerates them staying in shelters. Also, the Ministry of the Interior is considering the idea of issuing instructions for law enforcement officials regarding residence permits for trafficking victims. Based on the Instructions, the Ministry would tolerate residency for up to 30, or in exceptional circumstances 90 days, with the possibility to extend it when necessary due to safety or humanitarian reasons, or when a victim decides to testify against offenders.
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