Shameful investigation into sex-trafficking case
Serbia and Montenegro: Shameful investigation into sex-trafficking case
The government of Montenegro must
re-open as a matter of priority a
high-profile
sex-trafficking case in which Montenegrin politicians,
judges, police and civil servants are implicated,
Amnesty International said
in a letter to the Minister
of the Interior of Montenegro. The Moldovan
woman in the
centre of the case alleges that Montenegrin politicians,
judges, police and civil servants had tortured and raped
her and other
East European women who like her had been
trafficked and held as
sex-slaves.
"We are concerned
that the government-appointed commission to
investigate
the actions of the police and judicial authorities in the
case
failed to adequately address the issues, giving
rise to suspicions of an
attempt to cover-up alleged
official complicity in the trafficking of
women and
girls for forced prostitution in Montenegro," Irene Khan,
Secretary General of Amnesty International said.
The
Moldovan woman, known as S. C., is believed to have been
trafficked
into Montenegro and forcibly made to work as
a prostitute in the period
from 1999 to November 2002,
when she found shelter in a Women's Safe
House in the
capital Podgorica. The 28-year-old mother of two, suffered
horrendous physical and sexual abuse for over three
years resulting in
severe injuries including seven
broken bones, internal injuries so that
she could not
sit down without pain, scars from handcuffs, cigarette
burns on her genitals, and bruises in her mouth.
A
criminal investigation was opened into the case and four
people
including Deputy State Prosecutor Zoran Piperovic
were arrested on suspicion
of being involved in
trafficking women for the purposes of forced
prostitution. In 2003, the case against the four
suspects was dropped
ostensibly for lack of evidence.
Under international pressure, the
Montenegrin government
allowed for an inspection into the legality of the case.
In November 2004, a government-appointed commission
completed its
investigation in the actions of the police
and the judicial authorities in
the case. The
Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE),
which is monitoring the case, expressed its
dissatisfaction with the
commission's findings.
On
its part, Amnesty International is seriously concerned that
the
Commission:
- portrays S. C. as a criminal rather
than as a victim of serious human
rights violations;
- makes derogatory references to her character;
- gives rise once again to suspicions of an attempt to
cover-up
apparent official complicity in the trafficking
of women and girls for forced
prostitution.
"The
Montenegrin authorities are duty bound by domestic and
international law to bring the perpetrators to justice
and ensure that S. E. is
offered the possibility for
compensation for damage suffered. However, to
Amnesty
International's knowledge, nobody has been brought to
justice
for the trafficking for forced prostitution and
torture of S. C., and
she has not received any
compensation," Irene Khan said.
Amnesty International
considers that the Commission has failed to
address the
issues in an acceptable manner, and urges the Montenegrin
authorities to re-open the case. Furthermore, the
organization is seeking
information as to whether there
has been any disciplinary or criminal
measures initiated
against members of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for
dereliction of duty in line with the Commissions
findings.
View all documents on Serbia and Montenegro
at
http://amnesty-news.c.topica.com/maac8AoabdPe3bb0hPub/