In October 2012, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) organised an expert consultative meeting for the development of a prosecutors training manual on the operationalisation of the Anti- human Trafficking Act No. 11 of 2008.

The meeting, held at Radisson Blu Hotel in Lusaka, was attended by Technical Working Group (TWG) members from the Ministry of Justice, the National Prosecution Authority, Home Affairs Research and Planning Department (HARID), IOM and prosecuting officers from Zambia Revenue Authority, Drug Enforcement Commission and the Human Rights Commission. The objective of the meeting was to solicit input from the participants and agree on proposed way forward for the development of a prosecution specific training manual on the implementation of the Zambia Anti-Human Trafficking Act No. 11 of 2008.

During the official opening of the meeting, the IOM Chief of Mission, Dr. Choga stated that “law enforcement does not operate in a vacuum; it has to be complemented by laws, structures and mechanisms and it was the role of prosecutors to ensure that all perpetrators of trafficking are prosecuted in the courts of law”.  He further indicated that IOM has developed training manuals for law enforcement and Civil Society Organizations aimed at operationalizing the Anti-Human Trafficking Act No.11 of 2008. “The development of a manual for prosecutors is a great step in operationalizing the Anti-Human Trafficking Act and will enable prosecutors to acquire the necessary skills required to prosecute trafficking cases”, he said. Furthermore, Dr. Choga stressed that building the capacity of prosecutors with the right skills is critical to achieving successful prosecution of cases.

According to the United States Global Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report for 2012, Zambia is a source, transit and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labour and sex trafficking. Although the Government of Zambia maintained strong anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts during  2011 through the prosecution of four trafficking offenders ( one led to an acquittal, and three prosecutions remained on-going at the close of the reporting period),  it did not, however, convict any trafficking offenders.

The development of the Prosecutors Manual builds upon the Zambia Law Enforcement Manual. To date, a total of 96 law enforcement officers from Zambia Police, Department of Immigration, Drug Enforcement Commission, HARID and Zambia Revenue Authority have been trained in understanding human trafficking, victim identification, protection and investigations. The law enforcement trainings conducted have been facilitated by trained trainers from the Department of Immigration, Zambia Police and Home Affairs Research and Planning Department. These trainers were trained at Lilayi and Kamfinsa Police Training Colleges using the Law Enforcement Manual. The training for law enforcement has been incorporated into existing training programmes within institutions for new recruits and in-service officers.

In his opening remarks at the consultation, a representative from Home Affairs Research and Planning Department, Mr. Chrispin Hamooya, urged the expert group to ensure that “the manual for prosecutors being developed should not become a white elephant, rather it should be used to increase the number of trafficking cases prosecuted”. 

The consultative meeting is part of IOM's broader programme of support to the Government of Zambia to operationalize the Anti-Human Trafficking Act no 11 of 2008. This activity was made possible through the support of the United States Department of State's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP Office).