SENIOR POLICE OFFICER PLAYS DOWN US REPORT ON TRAFFICKING
Tert.am
22.07.11
The fight against human trafficking in Armenia is not as poor as
mentioned in the recent report by US Department of State, a senior
police officer has said.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Tigran Petrosyan, the head
of the police department of fight against organized crime, said that
the situation in trafficking in other post-Soviet countries is worse
compared to that in Armenia.
“Compared to other post-Soviet republics we have serious achievements
in the fight against trafficking and quite high rankings in terms of
efficiency,” said Petrosyan, adding that it is due to the format of
the US report that it created what he called “ambiguity”.
“The picture should not be generalized based on a private case. For
example, one of German centers made research on trafficking and
found out one Armenian woman and concluded that Germany is a final
destination country for Armenian trafficked women,” explained he.
In an annual report on trafficking of persons published in June the
US Department of State said that Armenia’s Government “does not fully
comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking”,
adding however, that “it is making significant efforts to do so”.
Tigran Petrosyan further said that even if that report were far worse,
he would deem that fact as positive and as a sign of the internationals
agencies’ attention to what is being done in Armenia.
Petrosyan also unveiled the preventative measures against trafficking
of persons in Armenia, adding that non-governmental organizations in
their part conduct activities which prove quite effective.
“The figures of the first half are really promising compared to the
results last years,” said he, adding that it is due to the reforms
to Armenia’s Criminal Code.