Human trafficking is one of the cruelest forms of human rights violations. In our country, the victims are more and more often children. Because of this phenomenon, a special department for the fight against human trafficking was created in the Federal Police Administration, and representatives of all levels of government got involved, with the aim of providing protection.
Of the 15 victims, only two were adults
Police agencies, judicial institutions and institutions of civil society are faced with a gruesome example of the expansion of the criminal offense – human trafficking.
“Data from the ‘Lara’ Foundation on the number of accommodation victims indicate that last year we had three people who were placed in our safe house as potential victims of human trafficking. This year, that number is 15. Out of those 15 people who were accommodated, only two were adults, the other 13 were children,” emphasizes Dragana Petrić, program coordinator of the “Lara” Foundation.
Petrić recalls the case from Brcko that has not yet been solved, when 31 minor children were found. Since the beginning of the year, a large number of investigations have been conducted, which have resulted in the arrest of persons suspected of being involved in the human trafficking chain. This list also includes persons on Interpol’s wanted list, says Edis Mutapčić, an investigator with the Federal Police Administration.
“We also took action in July of this year, under the supervision of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the aim of dismantling two international organized crime groups that are connected to international solicitation for prostitution. On that occasion, we documented a Chinese and a Brazilian organized crime group,” adds Mutapčić.
Criminal groups motivated by enormous profits
The question arises: does everything end with the ultimate exploitation and a kind of abuse of the victim, or does human trafficking also take other forms, such as organ trafficking?
“The Federal Police Administration had a case that ended in court about ten years ago, where human embryos were being trafficked. I don’t know if there will be a final verdict this time either, it is sometimes very difficult to prove human trafficking crimes due to several factors. Unfortunately, children are very often victims of human trafficking,” Mutapčić points out.
Human trafficking is recognized in all criminal and legal frameworks in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in addition to this, numerous supporting documents have been drawn up, because practice shows that this crime is constantly taking on new forms. Proving the commission of a crime is a test for the judiciary, because the perpetrator has only one goal, explains Eldan Mujanović, a professor at the Faculty of Criminalistics, Criminology and Security Studies at UNSA.
“One of the main generators of human trafficking is money, illegally obtained money that is obtained in enormous amounts in these criminal acts. On a global level, these are billions of euros or dollars, and this is the main motivator for criminal groups to constantly find new victims, exploit and recruit them,” explains Mujanović.
Penalties are high enough, but they are rarely imposed
The latest case recorded in Bosnia and Herzegovina is the one from the Tuzla Canton, where the victims are residents of a home for neglected children, who were not protected by the system, or rather, individuals who should have been first in line for child protection and law enforcement.
“We have a good legislative framework, but the system sometimes does not use the capacities of our legal framework enough in terms of processing and imposing the penalties that the law provides. Penalties are high enough, but they are rarely imposed, because it is often reclassified as other criminal acts for easier proof,” emphasizes Petrić.
An intensive institutional response is the only way to fight, our interlocutors agree, with an appeal to citizens to pay attention, because human trafficking often happens before our very eyes.
