Over the past couple of years,
operations intended to increase regional security within the Central Asian
region have increased in frequency and efficacy. This is attributed to a substantial
development of information-sharing techniques between multiple regional
security organizations. In particular,
the Shanghai Cooperative Organization’s Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (SCO RATS)
and the Central Asian Regional Information and Coordination Center (CARICC) are
pooling their resources to fight human trafficking, drug trafficking, arms
trafficking, violent Islamic radicalism, and other trans-national threats
within the region. While human
trafficking is one of their pursuits, the prosecution and conviction process
seems to be substantially slower in manifesting, in comparison to the rapid
information-sharing and responses from the security organizations.
The
SCO RATS emerged as a parallel to the economic and political association of its
earlier member-states of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikstan, and
Kyrgyzstan. Originally known as the Bishkek
group (without a formal acronymic title), it was the first identifiable
collaboration of intelligence and military officials of the Central Asian
states within post-Soviet space. In
2002, the SCO representatives (1) organized the SCO RATS, which had initial
purpose of sharing intelligence and combating the trafficking of psychotropic drugs
across borders of the regions.
Their goals
eventually broadened to adapt to the diversity of problems which soon emerged
in the region, including trafficking in small arms, violent Islamic radicalism,
and trafficking in persons. Some of
these countries, such as Uzbekistan, were plagued by all of these security
dilemmas. According to a 2011 interview
(2) with Lieutenant General Dzhenisbek Dzhumanbekov, the Director of the
Executive Committee of the SCO RATS, stated that the organization still
recognized human trafficking, illegal migration, drug trafficking, separatism,
and extremism as troubles facing the organization. He also goes on to say that the SCO RATS and
CARICC, through information-sharing and other methods, are working together to fight
these problems. It should be noted that
CARICC is an organization that was chartered by the United Nations Office on
Drugs and Crime. This expanded the scope
of collaboration in the area from an exclusively regional framework to an integrated
international approach.
With all of this
expansion in investigate capacity and information-sharing, arrests of criminals
involved in transnational criminal activity are increasing, including those
involved in human trafficking. SCO RATS
provides an information-sharing resource for arrest operations like “Search,
which arrested roughly 24 known criminals involved in trafficking operations
and other illicit activity. In October
2013 in the Kustanay (3)Province of Kazakhstan, for example, a man wanted by
Uzbekistan was arrested on suspicion of trafficking men from Uzbekistan into
Kazakhstan for exploitative and dangerous labor arrangements. This is a great example of the present diligence
and persistence of the regional security collaboration and cooperation between
states of Central Asia. It demonstrates
a willingness to cooperate work towards a better state of national security and
human security within the region.
However, a final aspect
to consider is the prosecution and conviction of human trafficking suspects
after their arrest and extradition to their respective countries. While there is an apparent lag between
arrest, prosecution, and conviction, some convictions have continued through
October 2013. The Chartak District
Criminal Court in the Namangan Region convicted (4) a group of three traffickers
of fraud and exporting roughly 30 people out of Uzbekistan into the Russian
Federation. Could this be a sign that
authorities of Uzbekistan are increasing the conviction and punishment of human
traffickers? It is great progress to
see, but one of the main complaints the U.S. issued to Uzbekistan this year in
the Trafficking in Persons Report was that the smaller number of convictions
with relation to arrests and prosecutions was troublesome. However, the commitment of the OSCE and other
international organizations to re-educating and reforming the judicial system
of Uzbekistan could lead to better numbers in actual convictions by the end of
2013. It would certainly be a noteworthy
victory for the civil society and cooperative intelligence and security efforts
of Uzbekistan and the neighboring region.
Regional security initiatives of the SCO RATS and its cooperation with the international operations of CARICC are providing substantial security to the region of Central Asia, which would otherwise be overrun with unopposed human, drug, and arms traffickers. Countries such as Uzbekistan, which hosts the SCO RATS headquarters in Tashkent, appear to be participating more in regional security joint operations. This is an exciting trend to see, and it shows that Uzbekistan's earlier exit from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) does not necessarily mean that the administration of Uzbekistan has lost interest in pursuing national and human security within a regional, cooperative framework.
Sources:
2.
2. Samarkhan Kurmat. Kazinform 04 Feb 2011 “Antiterroristicheskaya
deyatel'nost' v ramkakh RATS SHOS budet sovershenstvovat'sya, ob"yedinyaya
usiliya stran-uchastnikov - D. Dzhumanbekov”
http://www.inform.kz/eng/article/2348324
3. Gazeta14 Oct 2013 http://news.gazeta.kz/art.asp?aid=387710
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