Bosnia and Herzegovina
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BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 350 Fifth Ave 34 th Floor New York, N.Y. 10118-3299 http://www.hrw.org (212) 290-4700 Vol. 14, No. 9 (D) – November 2002 I am trying to get two foreigners’ department officers fired. They were from PSC [public security center] Prijedor. A seventeen-year-old from Romania had 500 clients, was beaten and maltreated…. I met the girl again, [and she refused to speak to the local police inspector. She told us that] the inspector [went] to the brothel and stamped the passports with the inspectors from the foreigners’ department who used the girls for free. Testimony to Human Rights Watch Hundreds of nightclubs dot the landscape throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina. Some contain trafficked women and girls trapped in debt bondage. (c) Human Rights Watch HOPES BETRAYED: Trafficking of Women and Girls to Post-Conflict Bosnia and Herzegovina for Forced Prostitution 1630 Connecticut Ave, N.W., Suite 500 2nd Floor, 2-12 Pentonville Road 15 Rue Van Campenhout Washington, DC 20009 London N1 9HF, UK 1000 Brussels, Belgium TEL (202) 612-4321 TEL: (44 20) 7713 1995 TEL (32 2) 732-2009 FAX (202) 612-4333 FAX: (44 20) 7713 1800 FAX (32 2) 732-0471 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] November 2002 Volume 14 No. 9 (D) BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA HOPES BETRAYED: Trafficking of Women and Girls to Post-Conflict Bosnia and Herzegovina for Forced Prostitution I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY......................................................................................................................................................4 II. KEY RECOMMENDATIONS...............................................................................................................................................7 To the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina......................................................................................................................7 To the United Nations..............................................................................................................................................................8 To the U.N. Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina ....................................................................................................................8 To the U.S. government...........................................................................................................................................................9 To the Stabilization Force (SFOR) ........................................................................................................................................10 III. BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................................................................11 The International Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina....................................................................................................13 IV. WOMEN’S AND GIRLS’ EXPERIENCES OF TRAFFICKING INTO THE BOSNIAN SEX INDUSTRY..................15 Women’s and Girls’ Reasons for Migrating..........................................................................................................................15 Recruiting Practices ...............................................................................................................................................................15 Trafficking Routes and Transportation..................................................................................................................................16 Sale of Women and Girls.......................................................................................................................................................17 Conditions in the Nightclubs .................................................................................................................................................17 Police Raids ...........................................................................................................................................................................18 Prosecutions of Victims.........................................................................................................................................................19 Escaping from the Nightclubs................................................................................................................................................19 Returning Home.....................................................................................................................................................................19 V. INTERNATIONAL AND DOMESTIC LEGAL PROTECTIONS AGAINST TRAFFICKING........................................21 International Law Protections................................................................................................................................................21 The Trafficking Protocol ...................................................................................................................................................21 Standards Relevant to the Trafficking of Children: The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution, and Child Pornography.................................................................................22 Convention on the Rights of the Child...............................................................................................................................23 Other Relevant Standards for Combating Trafficking of Women and Girls......................................................................23 Domestic Legal Protections...................................................................................................................................................24 The Federation: Criminal Law...............................................................................................................................................24 Criminal Charges against Corrupt Officials.......................................................................................................................25 Confiscation of Assets and Compensation of Victims.......................................................................................................25 Republika Srpska: Criminal Law...........................................................................................................................................25 Criminal Charges against Corrupt Officials.......................................................................................................................26 Confiscation of Assets and Compensation of Victims.......................................................................................................26 Brcko Criminal Code.............................................................................................................................................................26 VI. LOCAL POLICE INVOLVEMENT IN TRAFFICKING...................................................................................................26 Direct Links to Trafficking of Women and Girls...................................................................................................................26 Police As Bar/Brothel Owners and Traffickers .................................................................................................................27 Police As Employees of Establishments Holding Trafficked Women and Girls...............................................................27 Police Complicity and Corruption: Bribes and Freebies....................................................................................................28 Police Visitors to the Nightclubs .......................................................................................................................................29 Tip-offs about Raids ..........................................................................................................................................................31 Involvement by Police Foreigners’ Departments...............................................................................................................31 Fake and Forged Documents .............................................................................................................................................32 The International Police Task Force (IPTF) and Monitoring the Local Police......................................................................33 VII. THE BOSNIAN GOVERNMENT RESPONSE................................................................................................................35 Failure to Prosecute Traffickers.............................................................................................................................................36 Failure to Prosecute or Discipline Corrupt Police Officers....................................................................................................37 Prosecution and Deportation of Trafficking Victims.............................................................................................................38 Lack of Witness Protection....................................................................................................................................................39 Lack of Regularized Immigration Status ...............................................................................................................................39 VIII.