CSTO PA Permanent Commission Approved Draft Recommendations on Combating Human Trafficking

On March 27, at the meeting of the CSTO PA Permanent Commission on Socio-Economic and Legal Affairs in St. Petersburg, draft Recommendations on Improving the National Legislation of the CSTO Member States on Human Trafficking were reviewed and approved.

Parliamentarians and experts noted that human trafficking poses a threat to public safety and can cause serious harm to human rights, and the potential expansion of this illegal activity could escalate into a threat to national security of states.

Key initiatives outlined in the draft Recommendations:

Unification of national legislation and protection of victims. Te document proposes extending the practice of creating special databases containing information on this category of crimes to all CSTO Member States. The draft also calls for more detailed regulation of assistance to victims (primarily children), ensuring they are provided with safe accommodation in specialized facilities.

Improvement of criminal legislation. The document underlines the need to standardize the classification of crimes related to the removal, trafficking and use of human organs, tissues and cells, as well as the illegal involvement of humans in medical or scientific experiments.

Economic and informational counteraction. To undermine the financial base of perpetrators, legal norms aimed at eliminating the possibility of legalizing (laundering) illicit income need to be established. The draft proposes introducing administrative liability for legal entities involved in human trafficking or creating conditions for it.

Special attention was paid to measures for preventing the spread of recruitment advertisements on the Internet, including those disguised as dating services, travel companies or modeling agencies.