U.S. Department of State 2005 Trafficking in Persons Report - Tajikistan

Tajikistan (Tier 2)

Tajikistan is a source country for men, women, and children trafficked to Russia, Kazakhstan, the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.), Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Iran for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor.

The Government of Tajikistan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Over the past year, the government adopted a comprehensive trafficking in persons law, established a specialized anti-trafficking police unit, and created an interagency commission to coordinate anti-trafficking activities and draft a national action plan. While victim assistance and protection remained inadequate, in large part due to a lack of resources, Tajikistan's new law provides a useful framework for the protection of victims. The government should make strong efforts to meet trafficking victims' needs and increase convictions.

Prosecution

The Government of Tajikistan adopted a comprehensive Law on Combating Trafficking in Persons in August 2004. Tajikistan's Criminal Code criminalized trafficking in persons for both sexual and labor exploitation. Penalties include imprisonment of five to 15 years and confiscation of property. Traffickers may also be prosecuted under other laws such as those prohibiting exploitation of prostitution, rape, kidnapping, and buying and selling of minors. In 2004, law enforcement officials investigated 14 trafficking cases. A Dushanbe court in late 2004 handed down the first conviction under Tajikistan's new anti-trafficking law, sentencing a trafficker to 14 years' imprisonment and confiscating her property. In May 2004, the government established a dedicated police unit with five officers directly involved in trafficking investigations. The Ministry of Interior added a special trafficking training course to its academy curriculum. The government arrested 14 low-level law enforcement officers who engaged in sexually exploiting underage girls. Defendants charged with trafficking have received reduced charges allegedly due to bribes accepted by judges.

Protection

Assistance for trafficking victims in Tajikistan remained inadequate during the reporting period. In theory, victims are protected under the new anti-trafficking law, but in practice the government offers no protection or reintegration programs for victims, citing limited resources. The Ministry of Interior and a local NGO signed an agreement on cooperation in December 2004, in part, as an effort to try to locate space to interview victims in a secure, confidential environment. Enforcement officials did not jail, fine, detain, or otherwise punish victims.

Prevention

In January 2005, the government established an interagency commission on combating human trafficking, a product of its new anti-trafficking law. The commission began meeting monthly in February and is charged with producing a national plan to combat human trafficking. The commission consists of representatives from the Ministries of Interior, Security, Labor, Foreign Affairs, Education, Health, and Economy and Trade, as well as the State Border Protection Committee, the Prosecutor General's Office, and the President's Administration. The government continued to cooperate with local NGOs and international groups on prevention, and may include them in future meetings of the commission. On May 5, 2004, the Ministry of Interior and IOM signed a Memorandum of Cooperation in the Sphere of Combating Trafficking in Persons, leading to a formal cooperative relationship between IOM and the anti-trafficking unit on prosecution and protection activities.