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Caucasus journalists are join their efforts against human traffic

Zahir Amanov

To Iran – to collective oral sex...

Walls Built of Human Sculls
You think they are in the past?

By Arzu Soltan

In ancient times kings used to build walls of human sculls. When it rained blood used to come down from these walls… Nowadays walls, villas are built of human hearts, kidneys, and livers. However, when it rains, even when it pours no one sees the blood coming down from these walls...

Azerbaijan government declared that only in February this year they discovered that children were taken out of the country for the purpose of transplantation of human organs. According to the investigations conducted by the Ministry of National Security, it became evident that the diseased children are taken abroad allegedly for the treatment or offer for the adoption, but later their organs are sold. Namiq Abbasov, the Minister of National Security made the statement emphasizing the fact that human trafficking is a serious problem not only in Azerbaijan, but also in the former soviet countries...

«My girl, let me marry you off »

She was born at the village, one of the villages of Lenkeran district. She was brought up like other country girls in a family where the daily rounds are brought to the front. However, she had an obscure idea about the bright future kneaded out of what she had learned at the school, seen from the movies she used to watch sometimes, and heard from her age mates. However, her parents didn’t wait for that future to come true. As soon as she became 14 years old her parents began to sing the wedding march and didn’t pay any attention to her protest. They had the poor girl got married. And there would not be a problem if she got married with our own Meshedi Ibad?! (a comedy character in a movie called “This or that, doesn’t matter”)

Her parents having their daughter got married under the Islamic rituals thought for a while that she was happy. And the village people had the same idea. In fact, such kinds of marriages are not the rare cases for the whole village, district and the region...

However, the poor girl came back. The village people were unaware of in what moral and physical conditions she came back, as they thought that the marriage was unsuccessful. But only the girl knows the reality...

Human trafficking – is a modern form of slavery accompanied with gross violation of human rights. Human beings become manageable objects and property of others. People are taken out of the country, exploited against their will, run into debt, deprived of freedom of activity, undergone physical, sexual and psychological violence in a very disgusting form.

It turned out that a man claiming to be the husband of the poor girl has sold her to one of hotels owners in Tehran. A girl who has never gone far away from her village, house, and family, brought up in a religious environment had to render a sexual service to 7-8 clients daily in a secluded place. This child who does not have documents and who knows nothing about the situation in which she is has brought millions to her “owners” within a couple of months. Finally, one day the God sent a savior as a client to the girl exposed by the human hunters and who didn’t have an opportunity to meet with other people. This man who was an Azeri lived in Tebriz got interested in her fate, had mercy on her, managed to steal the girl from the hotel and brought her home. I wonder if in a place where people are in want of sons and parents who sell their underage children to unknown persons were really happy to receive their daughter in such conditions (She was pregnant when she came back)?

That is all. The whole story about this girl ends here. There is no one who investigates the case, nor punishes the culprits, nor wants to help the poor girl, nor takes the actions in order the prevent occurrence of such cases. Because, the family members who think they are disgraced even don’t want to talk about it. They prefer not tell anything neither to their fellow-countrymen, nor the law-enforcement agencies, nor the representatives of the mass media... Even the NGOs that have found the traces of such facts cannot get anything...

Such cases do happen with regard to many girls got married with the citizens of the Iran Islamic Republic under the Islamic rituals. The problem is not all of them can get rescued.

Tomorrow a baby brought up at their neighbor will be married off in such a way. But nobody tells anything, because everyone wants “to protect” his honor...

Every year 4 000, 000 people in the world, especially women and children become the victims of the human trafficking, that bring an illegal income to the organized criminal groups amounting to $7 billion annually. (Excerption from «The Women’s Dialogue» Magazine, 18, 2002)

«Lock, stock and barrel...»

According to the opinion of the national NGOs, an illegal transportation of people in Azerbaijan is carried out under different plans in different areas of the country. That is, in the southern part of the country the girls and women are taken out of the country for getting married as per Islamic rituals and the boys for getting a religious education, whereas in the western part of it they are taken abroad with the false promise of getting highly paid jobs. And the itineraries are also different. Based on the information provided by Azer Allahverenov, the head of the Migration Resource Center (hereafter referred as MRC) a few yeas ago about 30 boys from the villages of Lerik and Yardimli districts were taken to Iran in order to get a religious education at the training center located at the approaches of Savalan Mountain. Later when their parents went to visit their children found neither the training center, nor their sons and nor the people who had taken their children. (The latter ones didn’t leave any coordinates). Neither the appeal made by these parents to the Embassy of Iran in Azerbaijan, nor other measures didn’t yield any results.

A. Allahverenov also provided us with some information that two sisters married off with Iranian citizens in the years 2000-2001 as per Islamic rituals were found in Pakistan who had been sexually exploited.

According to the social survey conducted by Azerbaijan Children’s Union (ACU) during 2002-2003 at the southern regions of the country within the framework of the project on investigation of women’s social problems 57% out of 500 hundred women participated at the survey had a religious marriage contract. As per words of Kemale Agayeva who is the head of the union, there can be no girl found in upper forms (high school) in Lerik, Masalli, Bilesuvar, Celilabad, Yardimly, Lenkoran, Astara districts...

If you remember during soviet times it was prohibited to get a religious marriage-contract without having a civil one. We don’t know whether the mullahs breaching this law will be punished or not, though this restriction was renovated in March 6^th, 2003 by Haji Allahshukur Pashazadeh, a chief clerk of the Caucasian Muslims.

The project implemented jointly by the ACU and the International Migration Organization in 2001 revealed some facts related to illegal transportation of people, in particular girls out of the country. As per words of K. Agayeva, it became known that for example, the Iranian merchants have taken the boys at the age of 14-15 from the villages of Nakhchivan AR for the employment in Iran. Allegedly they have paid $1000-1500 in advance to each of their families. Though nothing is known about the fate of these children, it is not excluded that they are engaged in hard work.

Human and law

Unfortunately, it should be noticed that the human trafficking, which is in the second place after drug dealing and traffic in arms among the most heinous organized crimes in the world, is a prospering business in Azerbaijan.

Pursuant to the calculations of the National NGOs, during the years 1995-2000 more than 2000 women were taken to Dubai, Turkey and other countries fraudulently.

However, we still talk very little about this. We have not witnessed the noisy court trials and none of the local human traffickers have been called to responsibility under the law yet. There is not even an appropriate statue on human trafficking.

Oruc Zalov, the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs claims that Azerbaijan has proved its critical position regarding the struggle against this crime by joining the UN Convention on «Elimination of slavery», «Struggle against the human trafficking and exploitation of prostitution by the third person» in 1996, and «Struggle against the transnational organized crimes» and their protocols (Palermo Protocol) in May, 2003. As per his words, in 2003 23 facts with respect to the misleading to prostitution and 20 persons were brought to responsibility.

According to the information provided by the «Olaylar» agency based on the Woman Crisis Center, 110 victims of human trafficking has been discovered in Baku, Ganja, Mingechevir and Shemkir cities pursuant to the research conducted by the John Hawkins Institute of the USA. 18 of them are forcibly involved in exploitation, 7 illegal transportation, 5 children sold by their parents, the rest are the girls of 14-15 ages. 60 percent of them are infected with diseases.

According to the opinion of the Deputy Minister, Azerbaijan has become a focus of attention of the international organized criminal groups for its favorable geopolitical situation. The facts that 20% of the territory of Azerbaijan is under occupation, existence of more than 1 million refugees are the factors simulating the occurrence of such a problem.

Human trafficking and the actions like illegal transportation of people are not envisaged in the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan Republic as an act of social danger.

«Oh my God! Watch over this child»...

Namiq Abbasov, the Minister of National Security stated the existence of some criminal facts documented with video, audio files and photos during the initial stage of investigation on the child trafficking, and the delivery thereof to the procurators office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the investigation. On 22^nd of March this year the State Procurator’s Office declared the opening of a case on the child trafficking. However, nothing is made public, as the investigation is under way.

The child trafficking is prospering business throughout the world. The underage children are illegally taken abroad for different purposes. In fact, the aim is one – to earn money by using them. However, the income is generated through different ways. For example, exploitation of child labor, sexual exploitation, child pornography, and transplantation of human organs. The investigation carried out in different levels show that boys who have taken abroad are forced to work in constructions and other hard works, and the girls are mislead to prostitution. Both girls and boys are made to participate in porno movies and serve pedophiles. Even it has been discovered that in most of the times they have the underage children fight with each other with cold arms that results in their death.

The International Campaign Against Child Trafficking (ICACT) considers that children are taken abroad not only for the their organs and parts of the body, but also to make them engage in other illegal activities. They are used for prostitution, beggary, illegal transportation of drugs, and they also offer them to childless couples for adoption and etc.

How come that the underage children become the victims of child trafficking?

It is not difficulty to imagine how it happens in Azerbaijan. First of all, there is not an exact registration of children born in the country. As they are born not only in the maternity homes, but also at the villages, houses, and tent camps. And there is not a responsibility defined for non-registration of children, non-provision thereof with birth certificates. Just recently I came across with the announcement of the Ministry of Justice calling people to register the birth of their children...

Thus, children without any registration, medical control, and compulsory education ... become waifs and strays of the society.

According to the researches made by the MRC there are 7-8 thousand homeless children in the big cities of Azerbaijan and they are always at the focus of attention of the criminal groups. 27% of girls and 11% of boys who participated at the survey of the Center admitted the fact that they have rendered sexual services. Virtually, it is very easy to take them out of the country or seduce them. Based on the experience, the expenses incurred on the development of false documents for them are insignificant compared to the income they bring to their “guardians”.

Pursuant to information provided by the UNICEF 1, 200 000 children in the world become the victims of the child trafficking annually and such a business brings 10 billion dollars income.

As per the information obtained from the NGOs, an Israeli citizen who managed to take 14 children out of the country in the year 2001 was arrested by the law-enforcement agencies when he wanted to take with him the 15^th one. However, nothing is known on how he was punished...

The children are taken out of the country without documents, inside of a cargo as contraband and through other different ways. Azer Allahverenov, the coordinator of MRC stated according to the official information of the Ministry of Internal Affairs during the years 1999-2001 694 children in Azerbaijan got lost and 280 of them was not found yet. He says that, most likely most of them are not in Azerbaijan already.

The Paragraph 8 of the Law of the Azerbaijan Republic (May 1, 1998) on Children’s Rights runs: «Every child has the right to live, to be brought up physically, mentally and morally in normal conditions. The government incurs the responsibility for taking economic, social and legal measures to ensure such conditions, and establish a sound and safe environment».