Public Prosecutor's Office, Judiciary Council, National Police and Ministry of Government participated in the working session organized by the Track4Tip Initiative in Ecuador
Quito, (Ecuador) February 24, 2022 - The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), through the Track4Tip Initiative, developed this morning a working session with the objective of strengthening coordination capacities around the investigation of trafficking in persons, as well as proposing solutions, based on good practices, that allow strengthening the identification of cases and the criminal justice response to this crime.
The hybrid meeting was attended by: John Game, Undersecretary of Citizen Security of the Ministry of Government; Tomás Guayasamín, Director of Prevention of Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants; María Susana Rodríguez, Specialized Prosecutor against Transnational and International Organized Crime and Ecuador's focal point before the Ibero-American Network of Prosecutors Specialized in Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants (REDTRAM); Solanda Goyes, National Director of Access to Justice Services; Guillermo Rovayo, Deputy Director of Human Rights of the Judiciary Council, Antonio Segovia, coordinator of the International Criminal Cooperation Network (REDCOOP) - AIAMP and delegates from the National Investigation Unit against Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants of the National Police.
"We cannot let physical borders be an obstacle to the investigation of transnational crimes. We must protect victims of trafficking in real time," said prosecutor María Susana Rodríguez, while presenting the operational and coordination structure of the REDTRAM made up of 21 Latin American countries plus Portugal, Spain and Andorra. "The objective is to facilitate direct cooperation by prioritizing the sending of spontaneous information to be useful in the investigation," she added.
Antonio Segovia, from Chile, offered an analysis of good practices regarding international criminal cooperation, including joint investigation teams, in relation to trafficking in persons in a transnational context. "The exchange of information through REDTRAM is of great opportunity and validity; the tool is flexible and dynamic".
For their part, representatives of the Judiciary Council shared the progress made in the Protocol between the Judiciary of Ecuador and Peru on trafficking in persons, a process also supported by Track4Tip, "We focus on gathering and processing information for the development of policies against trafficking in persons," explained Solanda Goyes.
In this regard, John Game congratulated the working session and thanked UNODC for its efforts. "Trafficking in migratory contexts requires special attention, it is important to strengthen institutions but also to be attentive to the casuistry".
Finally, Martin Tamayo, National Officer of the Track4Tip Initiative in Ecuador highlighted REDTRAM's experience. "These synergies at the international level are essential to achieve greater cooperation in criminal matters between prosecutors and police. Thank you for allowing us to promote these coordination spaces and strengthen internal capacities from our mandate."
TRACK4TIP is a three-year initiative (2019-2022), implemented by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), with support from the U.S. Department of State's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons / JTIP.
The project benefits eight countries in South America and the Caribbean with national and regional actions in Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, Curaçao and Aruba.
The overall objective of the project is to enhance the regional criminal justice response to trafficking in persons in the migratory flows of the beneficiary countries through a multidisciplinary and victim-centered approach, with actions at the regional and national levels to identify, prevent and prosecute cases.