The Big Profits from Human Trafficking Remain in European Countries
The Big Profits from Human Trafficking Remain in European Countries | |
| INTERVIEWS | Investigating human trafficking requires international cooperation, says Prosecutor Georgi Kuzmanov from the Bourgas Regional Prosecution Office
In his present capacity, he has participated in a series of seminars on human trafficking and domestic violence, specialising in this area. Among his human trafficking cases, his greatest success to date is securing convictions of two accomplices charged with procurement of underage girls – one was sentenced to twelve years in prison and a fine of 100,000 leva, and the other to fifteen years in prison and a fine of 200,000 leva. Another case has been submitted to the Bourgas Regional Court. The case is against four defendants charged with trafficking. The proceedings are pending. From mid-2004, Georgi Kuzmanov is the spokesman of the Bourgas Regional Prosecution Office. Mr Kuzmanov, what amendments concerning human trafficking have been introduced into the Bulgarian legislation and, more specifically, into the Penal Code? The problems related to the prevention and combat of illegal migration and human trafficking are becoming increasingly important both for the individual countries and at the international level. This is due to the fact that in addition to grave social problems, illegal migration and human trafficking are also and above all issues involving gross abuse of human rights. Considering the importance of the problem, the Bulgarian lawmakers have taken a series of steps to develop a strategy and introduce measures for effective and adequate combat against this type of organised crime. The national legislation and visa policy are being revised so as to harmonise them with European standards in the combat against illegal trafficking in human beings. An Act to Amend and Supplement the Penal Code, effective 1 October 2002, provides a legal definition of ‘organised crime group’ and introduces a new section on ‘Human Trafficking’ in Chapter Two, ‘Crimes Against the Person’. A Combat Against Human Trafficking Act was also adopted in May 2003. The Black Sea region of Bourgas is an extremely attractive region for the development of organised crime groups. On the territory of the city there are an airport and a port with border checkpoints and customs, a free trade zone, well-developed transport, industry and tourism with numerous units that have been or are due to be privatised. As a tourist centre, Bourgas is attractive for holidaymakers as well as for crime groups from the country and abroad. Bulgaria, including Bourgas Region, remains primarily a transit country along the ‘Balkan route’ of illegal migration from crisis regions in Asia and Africa. The very character of this mode of criminal activity predetermines the international composition of networks applying complex schemes of interaction between international crime groups involved in the various aspects of trafficking: organisation, recruitment, transportation, counterfeiting or forgery of passports, visas and other documents. Emigrating foreigners are compelled to engage in smuggling and other types of criminal activity associated with illegal migration. Internationally organised trade in women and children for the purpose of sexual exploitation is the other significant aspect of the problem. The Bourgas Regional Prosecution Office has conducted several pre-trial proceedings for human trafficking, in which international involvement was established in the course of the investigation. This contemporary form of slave trade is almost entirely under the control of organised crime. Bulgarian crime groups are becoming increasingly involved in sexual exploitation of women and children, and sale of children for the purpose of adoption. The key players in those criminal networks are persons who, just like the victims themselves, are from regions in Bulgaria suffering from severe economic depression and high unemployment rates. The Bulgarian services dealing with the problem have recognised the need of greater international cooperation in the resolution of this global problem and, accordingly, last year the Republic of Bulgaria’s prosecuting authorities increased their cooperation on the problem with officials from other countries. They have also improved their interaction with NGOs concerned with human trafficking. What does the practice concerning the application of those standards in the already instituted investigative proceedings in 2004 show? In 2004 five cases were instituted under Article 159a of the Penal Code, of which one has been submitted with an indictment to the Bourgas Regional Court and another has been dismissed for lack of proof after the victims of trafficking changed their statements and refused to cooperate with the investigating authorities in establishing the objective truth. Three cases have been instituted under Article 159b of the Penal Code, into which investigations are pending, and five have been instituted under Article 182a of the Penal Code. Investigations into those cases are also pending. The criminal acts in those cases, which have been accomplished abroad, are being investigated by the National Investigative Service in Sofia. The pre-trial proceedings in those cases are impeded by the international character of the criminal activity, the lack of sufficient funding for investigations, and the difficult contact with colleagues in the countries where the crime has been accomplished. Quite often investigations against one and the same crime group are conducted in several European countries and Bulgaria, but the investigating authorities in none of the countries are aware of that. Investigation of those cases requires international cooperation at a much higher level. That is precisely why the Bulgarian prosecuting authorities are taking part in international projects and seminars on the combat against human trafficking. How would you comment on the fact that pregnant mothers who export their children and give birth to them abroad are not subject to criminal liability? Every mother has the right to do what she deems is best for her and for her child. It is laudable that she has chosen not to have an abortion but to give life. If she sees a variant which she thinks will allow her to secure a better future for her child, no one can blame her for her action. The Bulgarian State prosecutes persons (Article 182a of the Penal Code) who incite, by donation, promise, intimidation or any other way, a parent to abandon his or her child or to consent to the child’s adoption. Those persons misuse the desire of solvent families to have children and of others who have financial difficulties in bringing up their children. We have established that the mothers of the children are paid little if at all, whereas the criminals who have incited them to put their children up for adoption earn a four- or five-digit ‘commission’. It should be kept in mind that the laws of the countries in which the children are adopted do not consider that this constitutes a crime. In the course of the investigations into the cases instituted in Bulgaria, we have established that in these cases everything is organised by solicitors and firms of solicitors working in EU member countries. Is trafficking in children conducted on an organised basis? There are persons in Bulgaria who earn a living from trafficking in children, but in fact the big money – the ‘commissions’ – goes to citizens of European countries who have organised and legalised the adoptions. In general, the big profits from human trafficking and sexual exploitation remain in European countries. I would like to note that Bulgaria has a well functioning information system for registration of persons – their place of residence and location. Interior Ministry officials who trace persons are also working well, and we usually have no problems in locating people. For their part, the border police always give us requested information about any Bulgarian citizen – who, when, with whom and with what they have left or entered the country. However, successful combat against human trafficking and abuse requires an entirely new level of international cooperation in investigations. Does the legal framework concerning trafficking and trade in people need to be improved at the international level? In Bulgaria we don’t yet have rich practical experience because the provisions in the Penal Code and the Combat Against Human Trafficking Act are comparatively new, but what we have established to date is that the punishments provided by the law are too lenient for acts that are so dangerous to society. What needs to be revised is the Code of Criminal Procedure. I strongly hope that following the planned amendments, criminal procedure won’t be as formal as it is at present. This will allow the investigating authorities to do their job well and on schedule. No country in the EU, be it the one with the most powerful economy, can cope alone with transnational crime such as trafficking in people, drugs, weapons or counterfeit money. In the last few years Bulgaria has been introducing the necessary amendments into its legislation to make it adequate to the country’s needs with a view to EU accession. If a house is infested with insects, it would be an illusion to assume that we could disinfest a single room only rather than the whole house. Because the insects are bound to return to the disinfested room… Georgi Kuzmanov was interviewed by Rumyana Emanuilidu |
Georgi Kuzmanov was born in Bourgas in 1971. Upon finishing the English-language high school in his home town, he went on to graduate from the Bourgas Free University. He has travelled to almost all countries in Europe, Africa and Asia. He has been an investigating magistrate at the Bourgas District Investigative Service. He is currently a prosecutor at the Bourgas Regional Prosecution Office, the fourth largest regional prosecution office in Bulgaria.