The Hindu : `India could lead the fight against human trafficking'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 01, 2004

National

National

`India could lead the fight against human trafficking'

By Vinay Kumar

NEW DELHI, JAN. 31. Transcending national boundaries and involving organised crime syndicates, trafficking in human beings is posing a challenge to law enforcement agencies across the world. According to estimates by the United States Government, trafficking, involving one million people, is going on across international borders every year.

In a bid to combat the menace, the U.S. would like to expand its dialogue with India, including its law enforcement agencies. Talking to The Hindu here, the visiting U.S. Assistant Attorney-General, R. Alexander Acosta, said that India faced a handicap in the fight against such crimes due to the lack of a federal law enforcement agency.

During the past three years, the Vajpayee Government has tried to push the idea. But several States have expressed doubts that it would usurp the rights of their police organisations.

Lauding the shift in India's approach to nab the traffickers, rather than the victims, Mr. Acosta hoped that the trend would continue. The three Ps — prosecution, prevention and protection — played a crucial role in checking trafficking.

Praising India's anti-trafficking efforts, he felt that it could play a leadership role in the region by forging closer cooperation and training law enforcement agencies of Nepal and Bangladesh. The National Human Rights Commission was establishing anti-trafficking centres for better coordination. The efforts of NGOs were crucial in eradicating the menace.

Mr. Acosta said that prosecution of human traffickers in the U.S. had increased dramatically. Since January 2001, the Department of Justice had begun over 240 trafficking investigations. "We have charged, convicted or secured sentences for 111 human traffickers over the last three years. Currently, we have 143 open investigations." He said the conviction rate in such cases was hundred per cent.

He said a large human smuggling ring was recently busted in Texas. In a series of "safe houses" near the U.S.-Mexico border, traffickers held a number of women without documents in bondage and repeatedly raped them.

The prosecutors secured multiple convictions on sex trafficking charges. "But convictions do not heal injuries, pains and emotional scars. Our prosecutorial effort must be victim-centred. Victims should be helped to rebuild their lives by acquiring some skills and finding means of livelihood," he said.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National