6 PRINCIPLE 6 AND RELATED GUIDELINES: IDENTIFYING AND ADDRESSING PUBLIC-SECTOR INVOLVEMENT IN TRAFFICKING231 States shall exercise due diligence in identifying and eradicating public-sector involvement or complicity in trafficking. All public officials suspected of being implicated in trafficking shall be investigated, tried and, if convicted, appropriately punished.231 6.1. PURPOSE AND CONTEXT In many situations of trafficking, particularly those that are widespread, serious and intractable, there will be some level of direct or indirect involvement by public officials. Direct involvement refers to situations whereby public officials are actually a part of the trafficking process; for example as recruiters, brokers or exploiters. Examples of complicity in trafficking through less direct forms of involvement include the following: • Border officials accepting bribes or inducements to permit the passage of persons who may be trafficked; • Law enforcement officials (including international peacekeeping or international military personnel) accepting favours in This section draws on Gallagher, International Law of Human Trafficking, chap. 8. 231 exchange for protection from investigation or prosecution; • Labour inspectorates or health and safety officials accepting bribes to certify dangerous or illegal workplaces; • Law enforcement or other public officials (including international peacekeeping or international military personnel) maintaining commercial interests in businesses using the services of trafficked persons, such as brothels; and • Criminal justice officials, including prosecutors and judges, accepting bribes to dispose of trafficking cases in a particular way. Public-sector complicity in trafficking, whether direct or indirect, undermines confidence in the rule of law and the fair operation of the criminal justice process. It fuels demand for illegal markets such as trafficking, and facilitates the efforts of organized criminal groups to obstruct justice. Public-sector complicity in trafficking exacerbates victim vulnerability and renders almost impossible the full discharge of a State’s obligation to investigate and prosecute trafficking cases with due diligence. Principle 6 is directed at States and requires them to use all reasonable efforts to identify, eradicate, investigate and punish public-sector involvement in trafficking. COMMENTARY 117