(Ponce, P.R. – June 8, 2011) – – INTERPOL Washington, the U.S. National Central
Bureau, and officials from Puerto Rico are jointly coordinating the first ever Human
Trafficking Training Symposium, June 6 through June 10, 2011, in Ponce, Puerto Rico.
More than 300 law enforcement representatives from Puerto Rico, the Continental U.S.,
and the Americas Region of INTERPOL will be in attendance to learn and share best
practices for combating human trafficking.
As part of the Symposium, Dr. Cesar Rey, President of the Board of Directors of the
Ricky Martin Foundation, offered a presentation highlighting the most important findings
of the first research conducted in Puerto Rico on this crime: "Human Trafficking in
Puerto Rico: An Invisible Challenge”, an alliance between the Ricky Martin Foundation,
Johns Hopkins University (Protection Project) and the University of Puerto Rico.
"I am confident that today's presentation will contribute to the abolition of slavery. We
are grateful to INTERPOL for organizing this event and their commitment to end human
trafficking. After this event, the participants will become warriors of light, advocates to
children who are vulnerable to exploitation, "said Ricky Martin, in a video aired during
the presentation.
Dr. César Rey emphasized during the presentation that the investigation is "intended to
educate about this global phenomenon, create social awareness in society and strengthen
the capacity of government officials and non-government sector organizations to combat
this ruthless crime."
"The City of Ponce feels enormously honored for being chosen by INTERPOL
Washington as the venue for the Human Trafficking Training Symposium. As citizens,
it is our duty to join every effort to eradicate the atrocity of human trafficking. Fighting
modern slavery and human trafficking is a shared responsibility, and the City of Ponce
takes a step forward to collaborate in this common purpose. We gladly make available to
INTERPOL Washington all of our resources to successfully achieve the goals pursued by
this historic symposium,” stated Mayor Maria Melendez Altieri.
ABOUT INTERPOL
The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) was established in
1923 and is the world’s largest international police organization with 188 member
countries. INTERPOL Washington is the official representative of the Attorney General
to INTERPOL and services more than 18,000 federal, state, local, and tribal law
enforcement agencies within the United States. By using a state-of-the-art, high-level
technological infrastructure, INTERPOL provides technical and operational assistance to
police agencies throughout the world as they face an increasing number of transnational
crimes.
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