CENTRAL ASIA 4.11 Centre in Ashgabat Background The OSCE Centre in Ashgabat assists the Host country in promoting OSCE principles and commitments and encourages the Host country’s co-operation with the OSCE. In 2013, two international and two national staff members implemented law enforcement-related programmatic activities. Criminal Justice Development In 2013, the Centre continued to support Turkmenistan in advancing its penitentiary system towards an alignment with OSCE commitments, international conventions and standards of best practices. In co-operation with the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), the Centre organized a seminar on human rights of inmates, including protection and treatment of particularly vulnerable groups of prisoners, for 20 representatives of the MIA and its Institute, and personnel working in penitentiary facilities. The Centre supplemented these seminars with a familiarization visit to Ankara, Turkey for four representatives from the MIA, the General Prosecutor’s Office and the Red Crescent Society of Turkmenistan. The visit increased awareness on good practices regarding the treatment of prisoners, including women and juveniles, and long term prisoners. Moreover, throughout 2013, the Centre produced a 676page strong article-by-article Commentary to the current Criminal Code of Turkmenistan. The Commentary was presented at a roundtable to 20 representatives of Turkmenistan’s Mejlis, the Ministry of Interior, the Supreme Court, the General Prosecutor’s Office, as well as legal practitioners and law teachers and researchers from Turkmen State University and Police Institute under the Ministry of Interior. Participants discussed the provisions of Criminal Code on punishment and relief from criminal responsibility, crimes against person, peace and security of mankind and the state. Trafficking in Human Beings On 21-22 May, the Centre facilitated the participation of three representatives from the MIA and the Ministry of Labour and Social Security in the “Regional Roundtable on National Referral Mechanisms: Gaps Analysis and Good Practices”, organized by ODIHR in Istanbul. On 10-11 June, the Centre facilitated the participation of two representatives from the MIA and the General Prosecutor’s Office in the high-level conference on “Strengthening the OSCE Response to Trafficking in Human Beings”, organized by the OSCE Ukrainian Chairmanship in Kyiv. On 25-26 June, the Centre facilitated the participation of two representatives from the MIA and the General Prosecutor’s Office in the 13th Alliance against Trafficking in Persons conference on “Stolen Lives, Stolen Money: The Price of Modern Day Slavery”, organized by the OSR/CTHB in Vienna (see also chapter 3.3). On 23-24 July, the Centre, in co-operation with the OSCE Secretariat and ODIHR, organized a two-day training course in Ashgabat for Turkmenistan’s law enforcement agencies, the judiciary and criminal lawyers who work on the investigation and prosecution of trafficking 126