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DOJ/OPDAT Eurasia Programs
Recent Activities
During the Fourth Quarter of Fiscal Year 2005 (FY05), the U.S.
Department of Justice's (DOJ) Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance
and Training (OPDAT) continued to focus its justice sector reform assistance in
Eurasia on the following substantive areas: criminal procedure reform, anti-corruption
efforts, the development of anti-money laundering strategies, institutional reform of
Procuracy and law enforcement entities, intellectual property rights (IPR) enforcement,
and the design of programs and legislation designed to combat trafficking in persons (TIP).
Azerbaijan
The Resident Legal Advisor (RLA) reported significant achievements this quarter,
most notably in the promotion of anti-money laundering legislation, increased efforts to
counter TIP, and support for the creation of an independent judiciary and implementation
of the new Code of Criminal Procedure.
With regard to ongoing efforts to promote adoption of comprehensive anti-money laundering
and terrorist financing legislation, the groundwork laid in previous quarters came to
fruition with the Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers' working group incorporating more
than 30 revisions recommended by DOJ and the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and producing a final draft money
laundering/terrorist financing law which appears to meet international requirements as
articulated by the UN, the Financial Action Task Force and the Council of Europe (COE).
It is hoped that the legislation will be adopted by Parliament in its next session.
DOJ continues to urge Azerbaijan to amend the Criminal Code to implement the modern,
victim-centered approach to trafficking in persons, and to take further steps against
trafficking such as the establishment of a national toll-free hotline for prevention and
victim assistance, and the creation of a vetted specialized anti-trafficking unit. To this
end, DOJ organized a major anti-TIP conference this quarter, in August 2005, that brought
together more than one hundred government officials, local NGO representatives and
international partners to discuss Azerbaijan's National Action Plan to Combat Human
Trafficking, best practices in preventing human trafficking, creating shelters for TIP
victims and using vetted police units to investigate human trafficking cases. DOJ prosecutors
and an FBI case agent discussed a federal prosecution in New York that involves Azerbaijani
traffickers and victims, thus emphasizing the reality of Azerbaijani citizens becoming
perpetrators and victims of trafficking.
Significant steps were also taken this quarter to promote judicial independence and
integrity. Specifically, the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) conducted judicial exams in accordance
with clearly articulated standards and allowed international observers at the exams. With
international representatives as monitors, 100 exam questions were drawn randomly from a
1000 question database just before the exam was administered. Four versions of the same
100 questions were then printed and immediately distributed to the examinees that took the
exam by a number without reference to their identity. The examinees were seated with more
than an arm's distance between them and given one of four versions of the test. If an examinee
needed to take a break an escort was provided. After the allotted four hours, the exams were
collected and graded by computer in the presence of the examinees and observers. The exam
results were immediately disclosed to the examinees and observers and later published in the
local newspaper. The international donor community remains committed to offering further
assistance to the MOJ in this process.
Finally, DOJ engaged in substantial training efforts designed to implement and expand use of the reforms contained
in Azerbaijan's new Criminal Procedure Code (CPC). Many of these new provisions are not yet being used by legal and law
enforcement professionals in their daily practice. Accordingly, DOJ teamed up with American Bar Association (ABA)/Central European and Eurasia Law Initiative (CEELI) to offer monthly programs in
Baku and the regions on key aspects of the new CPC. The monthly trainings have focused on CPC provisions designed to
implement Articles 5 and 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and deal with such issues as fair trial standards,
the presumption of innocence, access to a lawyer, the prohibition on torture and evidence acquired through its use, and the
standards for arrest and detention including the right to release, house arrest, restrictive measures and bail). Each monthly
training was a two-day workshop offered to prosecutors, judges and advocates, and includes a mock court hearing with the
advocates playing the judges, the judges representing the government, and the prosecutors representing the applicants. An
additional criminal procedure training program focusing on jury trials (a right now guaranteed by the new Azeri Code, but not
yet implemented) was conducted in Baku in September.
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Bangladesh
DOJ notes significant progress in efforts to promote the establishment, by Bangladesh, of an
effective anti-money laundering and terrorist financing regime. The most significant
accomplishment has been Bangladesh's signing, in September 2005, of the UN Convention on
the Suppression of Terrorist Financing. Bangladesh is now party to all twelve anti-terrorism-related
conventions. DOJ worked with government officials on the inter-ministerial committee which
was reviewing the convention to allay concerns about the Convention. DOJ also provided
research assistance on certain outstanding legal questions about the effect of signing the
convention, and be so doing was able to help resolve outstanding concerns on the part of the
GOB and cleared the way for final ratification of the Convention.
Significant progress was also made in the area of anti-money laundering efforts this quarter,
with the submission of the central bank's draft Anti Money Laundering law to the cabinet;
the new draft would substantially amend inadequate existing anti-money laundering laws.
DOJ/OPDAT has worked closely with the Bank to provide advice on the draft. Of particular
importance, the draft law now criminalizes terrorist financing as well as making it a predicate
money laundering offense.
Another major change in the draft law would establish a special investigative and prosecution
task force, to pursue cases referred by the Financial Intelligence Unit at the
Bangladesh Bank (BB). To date, there have been no prosecutions of money laundering violations
under the current law; creation of a task force would help address this problem. With the
task force concept now incorporated in the draft law, the RLA has met with Bangladeshi
officials to discuss the specifics of creating an investigative and prosecution unit,
including practical nuts-and-bolts issues such as staffing, recruitment and work space.
DOJ will provide a concept paper for this unit.
DOJ also assisted an FBI team of instructors this quarter in organizing the first seminar
held in Bangladesh on Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Investigations. The 5-day course
was attended by 28 prosecutors, police investigators, legal drafters, and judges, and
was enthusiastically received. More such training has been requested. The urgency to provide
this training is particularly acute in light of continued, highly coordinated terrorist
activities, including the August 17 incident where 500 explosions went off simultaneously
across the country.
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Georgia
The RLA continued to assist the Georgians with drafting a new criminal
procedure code that complies with relevant Western standards (e.g., the European Convention
on Human Rights, to which Georgia is a party). The draft Code is now undergoing final
revisions. The drafting group will present its final product for discussion and revision
by Georgian and foreign experts next quarter. In anticipation thereof, the RLA sponsored a
two-day "retreat" for prosecutors to discuss the proposed draft. Among other things, those
prosecutors on the drafting group were able to hear feedback from their colleagues about
current practices, as well as and how some recently enacted reforming amendments to the
existing Code had already changed their practice. The workshop aimed to identify problems
that prosecutors encounter in their daily work and to define ways to improve such problems
within the draft CPC.
The RLA also continued a series of regional training seminars for the Procuracy on the
recent amendments to the CPC, which include the introduction of an American style form of
plea bargaining. The latest programs were conducted for Procuracy offices in some of the
most remote regions of Georgia. The RLA and the prime CPC drafters from the Procuracy also
used the conferences to introduce prosecutors to the upcoming procedural changes likely
to be instituted under the new CPC.
OPDAT and the RLA continue to support the Procuracy as it embarks on an ambitious program
of reforms to promote institutional transparency and to establish standards of
accountability. During this quarter, a set of comprehensive procedures for screening,
selecting, and evaluating all Procuracy personnel were drafted by OPDAT in consultation with
Procuracy leaders. The draft regulations mandate that all prosecutors be selected and
promoted by competition based strictly on professional competence and moral character.
Job performances of all existing employees will be reviewed regularly, first by immediate
supervisors and then by a new Procuracy "Competition & Attestation Commission." In screening,
selecting, and evaluating personnel, the Procuracy will use human resources standards,
procedures, and forms developed with OPDAT assistance. These new procedures will reflect
hiring and employment standards in place in state and federal prosecutors offices in the US.
DOJ also continues to encourage the Procuracy to follow high ethical and professional norms,
and recently brought a DOJ expert to Georgia to work with the Procuracy's Inspector General
unit on ethics and professional responsibility. Shortly thereafter, the Procurator General
dismissed several prosecutors who failed to appear in court or who were unprepared for their
appearances.
The Procuracy's specialized, vetted unit for the investigation and prosecution of money
laundering crimes continues to be supported by the RLA. They continue to investigate and
prosecute cases, even implementing new techniques contained in the amended CPC, namely the
plea bargain. The Procuracy's Human Rights Unit, which like the money laundering unit is
advised and supported by the RLA, also continued its successful operation, this quarter
initiating a case against a regional police chief who was charged for the assault and torture
of an under aged prisoner in his station.
In August, OPDAT arranged for the RLA to bring one of the highest ranking Members of
Parliament, the Prosecutor General, and six other Georgian law enforcement officials to the
US on a week-long study tour. The first day was spent in Washington, DC, where the Prosecutor
General and the MP met with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and FBI Director Robert Mueller.
The entire group received briefings on the American federal criminal system. The group
then spent the rest of the week at the US Attorney's Office in Macon, Georgia, watching
the federal law enforcement system in action. The particular focus of this trip was on operation
of the adversarial process. While the extension of adversarial process to criminal proceedings
is a major component of the soon to be enacted CPC, it was not a part of the Soviet criminal
justice system, and constitutes a new reform for Georgian prosecutors and law enforcement
officers.
Finally, OPDAT arranged for two high-level Georgian law enforcement officers (a senior
trial prosecutor and the head of the Ministry of Interior's (MOI) anti-TIP unit) to attend
an OPDAT sponsored Human Trafficking conference in Baku, Azerbaijan. The MOI Chief gave a
talk wherein he discussed the task force approach used by Georgian police and prosecutors to
investigate and prosecute TIP cases. As a result of their participation in this program,
the Georgians were able to meet with their Azeri counterparts and develop a working relationship.
This will be essential in investigating future TIP cases as well as any other trans-border
criminal activity.
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Moldova
The RLA continued efforts to monitor the handling of TIP investigations and prosecutions
in order to identify obstacles and problems that arise in the pursuit of such cases to
satisfactory conclusion. This quarter the Supreme Court agreed to enter into a joint project
with DOJ to analyze case files in trafficking cases closed during 2004 and the first half of
2005. The purpose of the project is to track how TIP cases work their way through the courts in
order to identify both problems and best practices in judicial administration, as well as
prosecutions. Moldovan lawyers working for the project will individually analyze the case files
to determine the main types of evidence presented, the length of time between filing of the cases
and final disposal, the number of continuances and reasons for them, final resolutions and stated
grounds for the courts' decisions, etc.
Support to the Procuracy continued with the donation, arranged by DOJ, of $17,000 worth of
computers, video cameras, books and other equipment to the Procuracy's newly formed
Continuing Legal Education Center. The Center operates a professional training program
for new and current prosecutors.
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Russia
DOJ continued to promote adoption of expanded anti-trafficking legislation, as well
as comprehensive implementation by law enforcement of existing anti-TIP laws. DOJ also
continued to provide assistance designed to encourage the professional development and
adversarial skills of Russia's lawyers, and to improve law enforcement capacity to combat
criminal violations of intellectual property rights and cyber crimes.
- RLA Efforts to Support Implementation of Russia's New Anti-Trafficking-in-Persons
Legislation
The RLA's Office has worked closely with the Russian Duma to conduct a program of seven regional
conferences designed to train prosecutors, law enforcement, local governments and NGOs on how to use
the new anti-trafficking and related witness protection legislation effectively, as well as to raise
public awareness of the new laws and of human trafficking generally. This quarter, the training
program--the fifth in the series-- was held in Vladivostok in July. Two final programs are planned
for the coming quarter in Sochi (October) and Yekaterinburg (November). To date, these conferences
have drawn sometimes standing room only crowds to participate. The conferences provide an
opportunity for police and anti-trafficking NGOs to meet and discuss closer cooperation and mutual
concerns about human trafficking in Russia.
Related to these trainings, the RLA's Office has also worked closely with ABA/CEELI to develop
an anti-TIP manual. This manual serves as a guide on how to investigate and prosecute TIP
cases and has been introduced at the regional training programs. Additionally, in September 2005,
the RLA's Office held a "Child Trafficking/ Internet Pornography" conference which assembled
Russian and American experts in Moscow to address how both nations can work together to address
this transnational issue. The conference drew a significant audience from the Russian government
including the Federation Council (the upper house of Russia's parliament), the Duma, and numerous
members of Russian law enforcement.
- DOJ Works With Russian Legislators to Promote Adoption of Even Stronger Anti-Trafficking Laws
DOJ continued to work closely with Russian counterparts to encourage passage of additional
anti-trafficking legislation that would create a comprehensive protection scheme for trafficking
victims and formalize a referral mechanism between non-governmental organizations that assist trafficking
victims and law enforcement and the government.
- Development of Capacity to Combat Organized Crime (Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty Project)
The Federal Service for Financial Monitoring ("FSFM", Russia's FINCEN), has worked with DOJ, in
conjunction with Federal Law Enforcement Training Center ("FLETC") and Treasury, to develop money
laundering training classes for law enforcement. As a result, the RLA's Office organized a four-day
money laundering conference, "How to Investigate and Prosecute Money Laundering Cases" held at the
MVD Training Academy in Moscow. This course presented comprehensive, hands-on training on effective
investigation and prosecution of money laundering cases.
- Improving IPR Enforcement Capability
In the area of intellectual property rights, the RLA's Office organized a program in
Novosibirsk, (the seventh in the series of regional programs) in September for approximately 100
law enforcement and judicial participants from all over Siberia. The program focused on IPR
investigations. In addition, the legislative panel of the conference served as a valuable opportunity
to explore legislative proposals that could combat IPR violations.
- Criminal Procedure Reform: Support to the Federal Chamber of Advocates and Development of
Professional Liability Standards for Attorneys
The RLA's Office has assisted the Chamber with its efforts to draft legislation establishing
legal and ethical standards for the Russian bar. Regional programs organized by DOJ have served
as a form of public hearing to garner input and recommendations from the bar on draft
legislation. OPDAT's support for these programs is in recognition that good defense lawyers hold
both prosecutors and judges to a higher standard, and are a key component of an adversarial
system. OPDAT has now asked ABA/CEELI to become the Chamber's primary U.S. partner while the
DOJ limits itself to a single remaining project, the issue of attorney liability (a priority
because a new Russian law mandates that a liability system be in place by January 1, 2007). Accordingly,
the RLA's Office and the Chamber organized a series or programs to address this issue. This quarter,
programs on this issue were held in July in and Petrozavodsk and in September in Krasnoyarsk.
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Ukraine
The RLA continued to focus her efforts on a range of projects, including criminal procedure
reform, and the strengthening of both anti-TIP and anti-money laundering capacity on the part
of Ukrainian law enforcement.
Reform of the Soviet era Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) remains the most pressing item on the
agenda. Much of the RLA's work this quarter focused on efforts to assure comprehensive review of the
pending draft before it is voted on in Ukraine's parliament, the Rada.
The RLA arranged for translations of the CPC into English and Russian and provided them to the
Council of Europe and to an array of other foreign experts with a request to review the Code and
provide commentary. Representatives from the Council of Europe traveled to Ukraine in September
to meet with the Ministry of Justice and coordinate with the RLA. Expert reviews from outside the
Council of Europe are in the process. In the coming quarter, the RLA will organize targeted roundtables
to address key aspects of the proposed Code.
In the area of Trafficking in Persons, the RLA has been working with other Embassy officers to
develop support for draft legislation which would implement Palermo Convention requirements. The RLA
has also met with representatives of the Prosecutor General's Office, including those responsible for
TIP prosecutions, to lay the groundwork for specific training initiatives. The first collaborative
training efforts will take place in the first quarter to FY06, in cooperation with the newly
renovated Prosecutor General's Training Academy. Finally, paperwork proposing the establishment of
a separate TIP unit is currently on the desk of the Prosecutor General for the first time, for
which the RLA will advocate.
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Uzbekistan
Several events are planned for the first quarter of FY06, to focus on core programs: development
of appropriate law enforcement responses to abuse of persons in custody, and implementation of
judicial oversight of pretrial detention decisions.
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