Ministry of Justice organizes International Conference on Human Trafficking
The Minister of Justice, Ivo Valente, as Chairman of the Conference of Ministers of Justice of Portuguese-speaking countries, opened the meeting of the Working Committee and International Seminar on Trafficking in Human Beings of the CPLP, in Timor Plaza, on September 30th, 2016.
The aim of this conference was to seek ways to combat the crimes of human trafficking, which interfere with the sectors of security, justice, external relations, cooperation and social solidarity. It also served as a mechanism to establish a dialog between public authorities and civil society, for the prevention and combating of human trafficking and to find ways to support victims.
In his opening speech, the Minister of Justice stressed that “the meeting of the Working Committee on Human Trafficking, in the context of the Conference of Ministers of Justice of Portuguese-speaking countries, is an opportunity to examine how each nation prevents and combats human trafficking and performs the recommendations and activities that have already been designed in the Lisbon Action Plan”.
About the improvement of institutions and public authorities of Timor-Leste in combating human trafficking, Ivo Valente spoke about the development of Scientific Police for Criminal Investigation (SPCI), an institution which conducts the investigation of organised and complex crime. He also stated that SPCI has been having training support from the Judicial Police in Portugal, through the Support Programme to Democratic Governance in Timor-Leste and the Cooperation from the European Union, delegated to Portugal, through Camões (Institute for Cooperation and Language, IP). SPCI had courses on human resource development, theoretical training, practice and joint exercises on criminal investigation, laboratory and specialty areas.
The Minister recognized the challenges that international judicial cooperation and CPLP countries face. He encouraged all to continue to raise their capabilities and share the experiences from each nation in the fight against crime.
The Minister Ivo Valente thanked the members of Timor-Leste’s Working Group on Human Trafficking, composed by the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, the Secretary of State for the Support and Socio-Economic Promotion of Women, and by national and international NGOS in Timor-Leste.
The meeting of the Working Committee and International Seminar were organized by the Ministry of Justice of Timor-Leste and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), an intergovernmental organization dedicated to the area of migration. Focal Points of the Portuguese-speaking Countries on Human Trafficking, namely from Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe and Timor-Leste also took part.
