*EPF406 05/09/2002
Text: Human Trafficking in Peace Mission Areas Under Review
(International meeting May 9-10 in Turin, Italy) (470)

The international community has been shocked in recent months to learn of incidences of human trafficking and sexual exploitation occurring in regions where international peacekeepers are in place -- notably in Bosnia Herzegovina and West Africa. This issue and how best to tackle it are the main agenda items at a meeting May 9-10 in Turin, Italy, according to an announcement from the U.N. Information Service.

The U.S. State Department has initiated a policy of zero tolerance toward immoral, illegal or unethical behavior on the part of U.S. civilian police engaged in international peacekeeping missions. Further details on that are available at http://www.usinfo.state.gov/topical/global/traffic/02042401.htm

Further details on the May 9-10 meeting are available at
http://www.unicri.it/experts_meeting.htm

Following is the text of the UNIS press release:

(begin text)

UNITED NATIONS Information Service

8 May 2002

Trafficking Of Women In Peace Mission Areas To Be Discussed By International Experts At Meeting In Turin

VIENNA, 8 May (UN Information Service) -- The trafficking of women in peace mission areas and how to tackle it will be discussed by international experts at a meeting this week in Italy. The two-day conference "Trafficking, Slavery and Peacekeeping: the Balkans Case" is being organized by the UN Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) in collaboration with the Transnational Crime and Corruption Center at the American University (TraCCC) from 9-10 May 2002 at the UNICRI Headquarters in Turin, Italy.

A number of distinguished high level experts from the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), the UN Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (ODCCP) and other international organizations including the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Staff College, International Labour Organization (ILO), World Health Organization (WHO), International Organization for Migration (IOM), the European Union as well as from national governmental agencies and military forces and NGOs will be involved in the meeting.

The UNICRI/TraCCC experts meeting will consider how to develop just and comprehensive responses to the trafficking of women in peace mission areas and will focus particularly on the instruments for alleviating these abuses and the means for severing any links between the international community and those engaging in trafficking.

Specific training strategies targeted at military, police and civilian peacekeeping personnel to be implemented at national and international levels will be outlined at the conference.

The meeting is a follow-up to "Transnational Crime and Peacekeeping: Comparative Perspectives", a McCormick-Tribune Foundation-sponsored TraCCC conference held in Cantigny, Illinois, USA, on 6-7 September 2001, which highlighted the need for an in-depth examination of, and coordinated action against, this hideous form of trafficking.

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(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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