In the framework of the Tenth Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, The Permanent Missions of Chile and Argentina and UNODC trough the section against trafficking in persons and migrant smuggling, presented its side event, The Palermo Protocols in Practice: The Experience of REDTRAM, the Ibero-American Network of Prosecutors against Trafficking in Persons and Migrant Smuggling.
Since 2017, UNODC has welcomed the invitation of REDTRAM and has facilitated the last three annual meetings of the Network in Cartagena, Colombia, Buenos Aires Argentina and Santa Cruz Bolivia, from which important results have been achieved, such as the incorporation of the migrant trafficking component to the Protocol of action of the Network, the construction of a close cooperation relationship with other networks of national authorities such as the INTERPOL ISON Network and the creation of working groups within the Network. Among these, the Group on Trafficking and Mixed Migration Flows stands out, in which UNODC plays a facilitating role through the TRACK4TIP initiative financed by the United States Department of State. The initiative seeks to strengthen the criminal justice response to human trafficking in the context of migration flows in 8 countries of the region.
Jorge Abbott Charme (National Prosecutor of Chile and President of the Ibero-American Association of Public Prosecutors AIAMP) opened the event and during his intervention he recalled the recent agreement signed between AIAMP and UNODC to promote the enhancement of specializaed networks of prosecutors. Miluska Romero Pacheco (Provincial Criminal Prosecutor in charge of the Prosecutor's Office of Human Trafficking in Lima, Peru) reminded us that, the Palermo Protocol is an international instrument that sets the minimum standards that must be respected by States Parties in the fight against human trafficking. Carolina Suazo Schwencke (Deputy Prosecutor, Public Prosecutor's Office of Chile) said that globalization, inequality and wealth gaps between countries in the world have impacted the migratory flows, leading to a clear increase in migration, and it has been a permanent challenge for REDTRAM to visualize the crime of smuggling of migrants.
At the end of the of the event, Marcelo Colombo (Chief Prosecutor of PROTEX in Argentina and Representative of the Technical Secretariat of the Network), concluded highlighting the two axes or dimensions of investigation of REDTRAM in the coming years: Strengthening effectiveness, through legal cooperation and within that the joint investigation teams and the effectiveness of crime management with respect to the human rights of victims.
In recent years, REDTRAM has made progress in the constitution and implementation of two joint investigation teams, one between Brazil and Paraguay in a case of human trafficking and the other between Chile and Peru in a case of smuggling of migrants.
As a result of this Parallel Event, the Public Ministries of the region will continue to work with UNODC and other international organizations to face as a network the constant adaptation of criminal organizations to changes in the illicit market such as those imposed by the COVID19 pandemic restrictions. Criminal organizations have indeed modified their business model to the "new normal" especially through the misuse of new technologies.
About Us
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) provides technical assistance to Member States to strengthen their capacity to combat transnational organized crime, including trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants, in its role as Technical Secretariat of the Conventions and Protocols on this subject.
TRACK4TIP is a three-year initiative (2019-2022), implemented by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), with the support of the United States Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons / JTIP.
The project benefits eight countries in South America and the Caribbean with national and regional actions in Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, Curaçao and Aruba.
The overall objective of the project is to improve the regional criminal justice response to human trafficking in the migratory flows of the beneficiary countries through a multidisciplinary and victim-centered approach, with actions at the regional and national levels to identify, prevent and prosecute cases.
