OSCE Mission to Montenegro trains police officers across country on how to conduct interviews with trafficked victims

From 26 to 30 September, the OSCE Mission to Montenegro organized three training courses for police officers in Bar, Kolašin and Podgorica on conducting interviews with victims of human trafficking using a guide of standardized questions to ensure their rights are respected.

Working closely with the Interior Ministry’s Anti-Trafficking Division, the Mission brought together around 60 police officers from the central, southern and northern regions of the country to discuss how to identify and treat victims of human trafficking. They learned how to prepare for interrogations, create a safe environment, and assess the victim’s general health during interrogation.

Opening the training session in Podgorica, Stephen Harmon, program manager for the Mission for Security Co-operation and Governance, said less than one percent of trafficking victims are identified. “Early and accurate identification of victims should be treated as a priority to ensure victims are removed from exploitation and placed in safe custody, protection, assistance and support. Identifying and thoroughly interviewing victims can lead to rescuing more victims, identifying and dismantling human trafficking networks, and arresting and prosecuting offenders,” Harmon said.

Tijana Šuković, head of the anti-trafficking department at the Interior Ministry, said that in the first six months of 2022, the ministry’s team for the formal identification of victims of human trafficking identified 16 people, 13 of whom received the status of victims of human trafficking. “There were 10 minors and three adults. Ten people were female and three male. Regarding the form of exploitation, three people became victims of begging, three victims of sexual exploitation and seven people became victims of illegal marriage,” said Šuković.

The first training on human trafficking was organized in October 2021, attended by heads of security centers and police officers from all police stations across Montenegro.

These activities were in line with one of the key actions of the National Anti-Trafficking Strategy 2019-2024, which relates to improving the knowledge of law enforcement officers who come into contact or may come into contact with victims of human trafficking.