United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

The UNODC Regional Office in East Africa (ROEA)

Countering Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants in Ethiopia through International Cooperation in Criminal Matters 

Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), February 2021 – UNODC recently presented a 2-day virtual training on International Cooperation in Criminal Matters for criminal justice practitioners, including public prosecutors from the Federal Attorney General’s Office, police officials from the Federal Police Commission and a representative from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 9-10 February 2021. 

The training workshop was presented as part of the Better Migration Management (BMM) programme, co-funded by the European Union (EU) Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF) and German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and focused on the international legal framework regarding Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) and Extradition in cases of Trafficking in Persons (TIP) and Smuggling of Migrants (SOM).

International Cooperation in Criminal Matters, especially MLA and Extradition, is a critical tool in countering impunity and ensuring successful prosecution of transnational crimes across jurisdictions. The United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) and its supplementary Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, and Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, provide the legal framework for such cooperation.

The training workshop was opened by the Director of the International Cooperation and Legal Affair Directorate of the Federal Attorney General’s Office who commended and thanked UNODC for its continued support and assistance to Ethiopia in countering Transnational Organized Crime. The workshop included exercises on drafting outgoing MLA and Extradition requests and handling incoming MLA and Extradition requests based on a hypothetical case.

In addition, the training workshop focused on assisting criminal justice practitioners to identify and address challenges faced in the practical implementation of international cooperation requests with the aim of reinforcing the capacities of the Government of Ethiopia in countering transnational organized crimes including TIP and SOM. During the workshop, participants were also encouraged to share the challenges they face in their daily practice. The training focused on the identification of the main elements TIP and SOM in practical cases, and gave participants the opportunity to enhance their practical skills related to the drafting of outgoing and execution of incoming requests for mutual legal assistance and extradition.

As one of the implementing partners,  UNODC is implementing the BMM programme as part of its regional Countering Transnational Organized Crime and Illicit Trafficking Programme and within the framework of the UNODC Regional Programme for Eastern Africa (2016-2021). The overall objective of the BMM programme is to enable national authorities and institutions to facilitate safe, orderly, and regular migration and effectively address and reduce TIP and SOM within and from the Horn of Africa region by applying a human rights-based approach. It includes supporting Member States, including the Government of Ethiopia, to implement their legal obligations under the UNTOC and supplementary Protocols by enhancing their knowledge and skills to prevent and counter TIP and SOM with a victim-centered and human rights-based approach.

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