2014-07-26
SECTION 2. ORGANIZATIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR COUNTERACTING TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS AND PROVIDING SUPPORT TO VICTIMS OF TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS
Article 5. The system of counteracting trafficking in persons and providing support to victims of trafficking in persons
1. The system of counteracting trafficking in persons and providing support to victims of trafficking in persons includes efforts to prevent, identify, and interdict crimes committed in the sphere of trafficking in persons, as well as those aimed at neutralizing their societal consequences and providing support to victims of trafficking in persons, which are undertaken by state agencies, local village administrations, state, nongovernmental, and international organizations, social institutions and other elements of civil society, mass media outlets, and citizens.
2. The state guarantees the effectiveness of efforts taken to counteract trafficking in persons by implementing a series of comprehensive measures aimed at improving the work of the law enforcement agencies that are authorized to operate in the field of counteracting trafficking in persons, as well as the professional development of these agencies’ employees, providing for the prevention, identification, and interdiction of all types of trafficking in persons, establishing and removing the causes and underlying conditions that lead to trafficking, identifying those individuals guilty of criminal acts in this field, dictating the prosecution of such individuals as per the legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan, and providing victims of trafficking in persons with support.
Article 12. Referral mechanism for victims of trafficking in persons
1. Cooperation between state agencies involved in the system of counteracting trafficking in persons with social, nongovernmental, and international organizations related to the referral mechanism for victims of trafficking in persons in conducted in accordance with the relevant cooperation agreement.
2. The form taken by measures included in the referral mechanism for victims of trafficking in persons is defined by the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan.
Article 13. Situation monitoring in the sphere of trafficking in persons and counteraction efforts
1. In accordance with their legal authority, the elements of the state system of counteracting trafficking in persons conduct situation monitoring in the sphere of trafficking in persons and counteraction efforts.
2. The legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan on investigative activity and criminal and administrative legislation on information technology and communications regulate the order in which monitoring is conducted in the given field by law enforcement agencies, including the latter’s use of technical and programmatic materials and the methods and conditions of joint actions taken by state agencies involved in investigative activity with mobile and other communication providers.
3. Situation monitoring in the sphere of trafficking in persons is conducted based on law enforcement agencies’ timely identification and registration of crimes committed in the given sphere.
4. Situation monitoring in the sphere of trafficking in persons is conducted by law enforcement agencies in the order established by legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan, and in accordance with their legal authority. This includes:
- The statistical analysis of the overall state and changes observed in crimes committed related to trafficking in per-sons.
- The organization of monitoring on internet and mobile communication networks.
- The organization of “hot line” networks and dedicated helpline call centers, including the use of telecommunication networks and electronic forms of communication.
- The collection and systematic analysis of information available as the result of investigative activities.
- The collection and systematic analysis of information available from agencies in institutions providing educational, scientific, pediatric, socially supportive, and other social services to the population, as well as from other agencies and institutions that are involved in working with children, and which are obligated by the legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan to inform law enforcement agencies about any facts of trafficking in persons or related crimes that have become known to their employees during the course of these organizations’ professional activities.
- The collection and systematic analysis of information contained in the declarations and written requests of nongovernmental and other organizations, as well as citizens.
- The monitoring of mass media outlets.
5. The results of those activities accounted for in the given article are to be used for the purposes of analyzing and predicting the overall state of crimes related to trafficking in persons, planning for and raising the effectiveness of efforts taken to counteract trafficking in persons and provide aid to victims of trafficking in persons.
6. No public disclosure is allowed of conditional information about victims of trafficking in persons, as well as other conditional information that has been collected during monitoring.
Article 14. Planning for activities to counteract trafficking in persons and provide support to victims of trafficking in persons
1. Agencies involved in the state system of counteracting trafficking in persons develop a National Plan for Counteracting Trafficking in Persons with the overall goal of raising the effectiveness of efforts to counteract trafficking in persons.
2. The National Plan for Counteracting Trafficking in Persons should be periodically confirmed by the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan for an established period of time, and should provide for the implementation of a series of comprehensive measures aimed at counteracting trafficking in persons, as well as protecting and providing aid to victims of trafficking in persons, including cooperation with social, international, and nongovernmental organizations and civil society representatives.
3. In accordance with their legal authority, the agencies involved in the state system of counteracting trafficking in persons develop individual action plans related to the realization of the National Plan for Counteracting Trafficking in Persons.
Article 15. Coordination of activities to counteract of trafficking in persons
1. For the purposes of guaranteeing the effectiveness of activities conducted by agencies included in the government system of counteracting trafficking in persons, as well as the organizing cooperative efforts between them, the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan has formed the Inter-Ministerial Commission for Counteracting Trafficking in Persons (hereafter: “Inter-Ministerial Commission”). In addition, local state agencies have founded territorial commissions for the counteracting of trafficking in persons (hereafter: “territorial commissions”).
2. On a continuous basis and either directly or by way of the territorial commissions, the Inter-Ministerial Commission coordinates the activities of all of the agencies involved in the state system of counteracting trafficking in persons, making sure to accord with the order provided for by the legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan.
3. In order to effectively implement investigative activities and criminal prosecutions in the sphere of trafficking in persons, the Inter-Ministerial commission continuously engages in cooperative efforts with national security agencies, the State Customs Service, the Migration Service, internal affairs agencies, prosecutorial offices, courts, and other state agencies, as well as with mass media outlets and social, nongovernmental, and international organizations.
4. The results of the activities implemented by the agencies involved in the state system of counteracting trafficking in persons, matters of its coordination in the Republic of Tajikistan, and its local administrative and territorial units in both the Republic of Tajikistan and neighboring countries are to be reflected in annual reports, which are provided by the Inter-Ministerial Commission to the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan. Local territorial commissions provide reports to the Inter-Ministerial Commission, as well as to local state agencies.
5. In accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan, the General Prosecutor of the Republic of Tajikistan and subordinate prosecutorial offices coordinate the activities of the state agencies involved in efforts to counteract trafficking in persons.
