CAT/C/BGR/CO/6
insufficient health care and the absence of specialized services for child victims (arts. 2, 3,
14 and 16).
28.
The State party should:
(a)
Vigorously enforce the anti-trafficking legislation to combat human
trafficking by promptly, thoroughly and impartially investigating all allegations of
trafficking, prosecuting those accused and, if found guilty, punishing them with
penalties proportionate to the gravity of their acts;
(b)
Take effective measures to prevent and eradicate human trafficking,
including by providing specialized training to public officials, in particular law
enforcement, immigration and prosecutorial personnel, on how to identify victims and
investigate, prosecute and sanction perpetrators; and set up a mechanism to identify
victims of trafficking;
(c)
Ensure the effective implementation of the national anti-trafficking
strategy for the period 2017–2021, provide the National Commission for Combating
Trafficking in Human Beings with funds sufficient to carry out its mandate effectively,
broaden cooperation with non-governmental organizations and conduct national
prevention campaigns highlighting the criminal nature of acts of trafficking;
(d)
Increase the protection of and provide support and redress to victims of
trafficking, especially minors, including free legal aid, specialized medical and
psychological aid and rehabilitation; increase the number of shelters and crisis centres;
and enhance assistance to victims in reporting incidents of trafficking to the police,
including by establishing a 24-hour hotline for victims to report cases of trafficking;
(e)
Continue international cooperation with countries of origin, transit and
destination of trafficking with regard to preventing and punishing transnational
forms of trafficking and prevent the return of trafficked persons to their countries of
origin where there are substantial grounds to believe that they would be in danger of
torture;
(f)
Provide the Committee with comprehensive disaggregated data on the
number of investigations, prosecutions and sentences handed down to perpetrators of
human trafficking and on the provision of effective redress to the victims.
Discrimination, violence and hate crimes against vulnerable groups
29.
The Committee is concerned at reports about the marked increase since 2014 in the
incidence of violence against minority groups such as Roma and Muslims and their places
of worship, migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, Turks, Jews, persons of African descent,
and members of sexual minorities, as well as human rights activists defending them. The
Committee is concerned at the low conviction rates of law enforcement officers who have
been prosecuted for this type of crime, mostly for inflicting light injury, and who were
subsequently sentenced to suspended sentences or fines (arts. 2, 12–14 and 16).
30.
The State party should:
(a)
Define hate crimes in national legislation and establish protocols to
prevent them and to ensure that, in criminal prosecution of offences, being motivated
by discrimination constitutes an aggravating circumstance;
(b)
Systematically investigate violent acts and discrimination, prosecute
perpetrators and, if found guilty, convict and punish them; provide the Committee
with information about the outcome of any proceedings in relation to the attacks
carried out by the Ataka political party against the Muslim community in May 2011
near the Banya Bashi mosque in Sofia;
(c)
Step up efforts to eradicate stereotypes regarding and discrimination
against Roma and other vulnerable minority groups by enhancing awareness-raising
campaigns among the general public;
(d)
Take concrete steps to ensure that members of the Roma community and
other vulnerable minorities and groups are not singled out; ensure that the excessive
use of force against members of such communities by law enforcement officials is
promptly and impartially investigated and that the perpetrators are prosecuted and
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