2007 Press Releases
U.S. Officials Highlight Issue of Human Trafficking in Sverdlovsk Oblast
February 9, 2007
U.S. Embassy Resident Legal Adviser Terry Kinney, Department of Homeland Security attaché Brian Mize, and USAID Gender and Youth Consultant Elisabeth Duban visited Yekaterinburg from 28 January to February 2 to discuss the issue of human trafficking with oblast officials, police officials, and NGO representatives.
During their visit, the guests toured a juvenile delinquence temporary detention center, which is headed by Colonel Kopylov Nikolay Nikolayevich. They also toured the Migrant Center hostel being finished near Koltsovo Airport, after a meeting with its Director, Mikhail Aleksandrovich Bochkarev. The team was also hosted to a personal tour of the newly-renovated Urals Interior Ministry Law Institute by its Director, Major-General Aleksandr Guk, which trains militia cadets to become investigators.
The American officials met as well with regional NGO and ethnic community representatives from Sverdlovsk, Bashkortostan, Chelyabinsk, and Omsk to discuss success stories and challenges in the field of human trafficking. A three hour roundtable brought frank discussion of the issue, with ideas on how to better cooperate and resolve such problems.
A delegation of Sverdlovsk oblast deputies led by Lyudmila Babushkina also discussed the issue with the Embassy officials. It is hoped that a conference will take place in Yekaterinburg during the spring to provide training and and exchange of expertise between American and Russian police and experts on the subject of human trafficking.
