Azernews.Az

The State Department has termed Azerbaijan as a country failing to fully meet the requirements on fighting human trafficking set forth in US legislation.
Its annual report covering countries worldwide said Azerbaijan is primarily a source and transit country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. Women and some children from Azerbaijan are trafficked to Turkey and the United Arab Emirates for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Men and boys are trafficked to Russia for the purpose of forced labor. Men and women are also trafficked to Iran, Pakistan, the U.A.E., and India for purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor. Azerbaijan serves as a transit country for victims from Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Moldova trafficked to Turkey and the U.A.E.. The Azerbaijani enclave of Nakhchivan serves as a transit point for women trafficked to Turkey, said the 2008 trafficking in persons (TIP) report.
The report said the Azerbaijani government does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Azerbaijan is placed on Tier Two Watch List for its failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat trafficking in persons, to address complicity among law enforcement personnel, and to adequately identify and protect victims.
Although the government-funded shelter housed an increased number of trafficking victims in 2007, Azerbaijan has yet to develop a much-needed mechanism to identify potential trafficking victims and refer them to safety and care. Poor treatment of trafficking victims in courtrooms continues to be a problem, the US government said.
Although the government reportedly identified over 100 victims in 2007, only 29 received care and assistance at the government's shelter.
It further recommended to immediately implement a national mechanism for identifying victims and referring them to service providers; increase law enforcement efforts to prosecute traffickers; conduct training to improve treatment of victims by law enforcement; and vigorously investigate and prosecute the complicity of law enforcement personnel in trafficking.
The report alleged that the government's law enforcement efforts declined in 2007. Azerbaijan's 2005 Law on the Fight Against Trafficking in Persons prohibits trafficking for both sexual exploitation and forced labor, and prescribes five to 15 years' imprisonment, punishments which are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for other grave crimes, such as sexual assault. According to the government, it prosecuted 75 cases and convicted 85 trafficking offenders during the year.
However, the government's data on prosecutions appear to conflate trafficking with prostitution and smuggling charges. Moreover, over half of the convicted traffickers received house arrest or delayed or suspended sentences. The remaining traffickers received imposed sentences of one to 10 years' imprisonment. According to most civil society groups in Azerbaijan, corruption and lack of training among low-level law enforcement impedes overall anti-trafficking efforts.
The State Department's eighth such report builds on research of the situation in 170 countries. The countries are divided into three groups, with those vigorously fighting trafficking in persons being the first one. The second group which covers states failing to fully comply with US anti-trafficking laws but making a significant effort to address the problem, besides Azerbaijan, includes Russia, Armenia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India, China, Latin American and African countries.
The third group covers countries with a poor record on anti-trafficking. It includes Algeria, Iran, Qatar, Korea, Cuba, Kuwait, Moldova, Myanmar, Yemen, Papua New Guinea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Sudan and Fiji.