Brewster urges communities to fight human trafficking jointly

Santo Domingo.- United States Ambassador James Brewster on Tuesday called on the communities to fight human trafficking and hailed the Justice Ministry’s efforts to prosecute and punish those crimes, especially international organizations.

"We have to keep redoubling efforts to confront this scourge, in my name and my country we must continue to reinforce the work being done to prevent this atrocity which is a prison without bars," the diplomat said.

Brewster spoke at a seminar on best practices and international cooperation to investigate and fight child sex tourism and human trafficking.

He said U.S. authorities have spent more than US$800 million worldwide in various countries to help prevention trafficking in persons, and lauded Dominican Republic for significant improvements in prevention, protection and legal prosecution in the past four years.

Brewster said the U.S. Embassy will continue to collaborate with the Justice Ministry and all government agencies , as well as NGOs to combat the problem.

Justice minister Francisco Domínguez, National Police chief Manuel Castro and Dominican Navy chief of staff Edwin Dominici attended the activity, among other senior government officials.