Kyrgyzstan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the protection of victims of human trafficking, but makes significant efforts to do so. Tilek Kudayarov, deputy head of the International Legal Cooperation Department of the Prosecutor General’s Office, announced at a press breakfast.
According to him, there is a global rating prepared annually by the U.S. Department of State, which evaluates the efforts of governments of countries to combat human trafficking.
«All countries are divided into four groups in it. Until 2018, Kyrgyzstan was in the second group as a state that does not fully meet all the requirements for combating human trafficking, but is making efforts to do so. In 2018, we were put on the special watch list, where we had been for two years. If we had stayed there for another year, then Kyrgyzstan’s rating would have been lowered, which carried both reputational risks, as well as a reduction in funding for a number of projects, and others,» he said.
To prevent this, the Prosecutor General’s Office created a special group that studied the investigative practice (about 400 cases) and found out that many cases were incorrectly qualified.
«Basically, cases were initiated under the article «Human Trafficking» for the sale of newborns. And, for example, exploitation, both sexual and labor, was qualified under other articles. For example, involvement in prostitution and so on. A lot of work and analysis has been done. As a result, more than 40 cases were canceled, and several training manuals on the investigation of crimes related to human trafficking were developed. A number of trainings were conducted throughout the country. This made it possible to return Kyrgyzstan to the second group,» Tilek Kudayarov told.
According to him, 30 criminal cases were initiated on the fact of human trafficking and other related crimes in 2022, which is significantly higher than in previous years.
