Saturday, July 09, 2005

antitrafficking.am

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Armenia has announced the launch of an updated anti-trafficking web site, http://www.antitrafficking.am. It is targeted towards the dissemination of information internally to Armenia and is only available in Armenian.
The website provides general information on trafficking, overview of the situation internationally and locally, relevant international and domestic legislation, description of actions undertaken by the Armenian authorities, local and international organisations to combat trafficking in Armenia. The web resource features a News section, links to partner organisations, video materials (public service announcements), Feedback and Poll, where visitors can answer various questions on trafficking. The website is constantly being updated with up-to-date information on efforts to prevent trafficking, protect victims, and prosecute traffickers in Armenia.
It's a pity that there is no English and/or Russian version of the site so that others can monitor what the situation is in Armenia. However, for that, I'm sure the work of Edik Baghdasarian and Ara Manoogian at Hetq, as well as Arpine Harutyunyan at ArmeniaNow.com, can fulfill that need. Talking of Ara Manoogian, the US citizen of Armenian descent who now lives in Nagorno Karabagh has some harsh words on the government's anti-trafficking "efforts" over at Martuni or Bust.
The information we had right after Lucine arrived to Armenia was that she visited with the prosecutor’s office and paid a $150,000 bribe to clear her “debts.”

Last years trial of mother pimp Nano and her gang at least put them behind bars for a few months, probably because for the 5 traffickers, they only paid $300,000 to the prosecutor’s office ($60,000 each).

[...]

Though I was hoping that this time the prosecutor’s office would do the right thing, I’m glad they showed their true colors and did what they do best and that is to help criminals like themselves continue to commit crimes against our people.
Ara's blog can be found online here.

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posted by Onnik Krikorian at 12:25 PM

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