CHIEF PROSECUTOR MEETS WITH OSCE MISSION OFFICIALS

Central topics of the meeting were joint cooperation and activities in prosecution of criminal offenses of human trafficking and illegal migrations.

The Chief Prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Gordana Tadić, together with Prosecutor Merisa Nurkić and with her associates, has met with OSCE Mission officials, namely with Mr. Valiant Richey, OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, and Mr. Michael Schuetz, Chief of the Rule of Law Section of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Mr. Boris Topić, Anti-Trafficking Advisor of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, who are engaged in the segment of combating trafficking in human beings and providing assistance to injured parties and victims of these crimes.

At the meeting, Chief Prosecutor Gordana Tadić informed the OSCE officials about the results achieved in the cases of smuggling of persons and human trafficking, as well as about the work of the Task Force for Fight Against Trafficking in Human Beings and Organized Illegal Immigration, which she has headed for almost five years. She pointed out that, thanks to the work of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Task Force, as well as thanks to the work of the specialized network of prosecutors and investigators, among others, Bosnia and Herzegovina had moved up from the U.S. Department of State’s Tier 2 Watchlist to Tier 2.

The Chief Prosecutor informed the representatives of the OSCE Mission about the latest amendments to the Book of Rules of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina which enabled the establishment of the Department for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings and Illegal Migrations in the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

She particularly emphasized the importance of training sessions in this area provided by the OSCE Mission, especially those pertaining to early identification of victims of human trafficking in the migrant population and providing assistance to them, despite all the difficulties faced by the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, given that vulnerable categories, most often children and women, do not have identification documents and quickly change their place of residence and are afraid of the organizers of their exploitation.

Also, the existence of a language barrier makes it difficult to establish direct communication, which is why translators for the languages of the countries from which migrants come to Bosnia and Herzegovina must be involved.

The Chief Prosecutor stressed the importance of cooperating with non-governmental organizations that provide assistance to victims, especially for the purpose of providing accommodation in safe houses until the completion of the initiated proceedings.

The Chief Prosecutor also stressed the importance of cooperation between the Task Forces from the region, given the shared concerns regarding illegal migrations and victims of trafficking, and she informed the OSCE representatives that an on-line meeting had been held at the end of the last month on that topic.

The Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina have good long-term cooperation in various areas of rule of law and this cooperation will continue intensively in the future, because, in addition to providing assistance in cases of human ​trafficking which are a priority in the work of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina also provides assistance to the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina in all areas in which it implements projects and activities to support the judiciary.