A third area of current concern involves the issue of trafficking in human beings for purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Additionally, trafficking is perhaps the most direct tragic consequence of denying equal opportunity for women, especially when they suffer from poverty and a lack of economic opportunities. A fourth concern is the practice of torture. As we close out the 20th century, the scourge of torture continues to crush the lives of countless individuals in the OSCE region. Torture is an insidious assault on the core values of the OSCE human rights, democracy, and the rule of law often perpetrated by the very security forces charged with defending the individual in his or her society.
Torture thrives in darkness.
This Conference should provide a beacon of light to expose torture where it occurs even as we seek to prevent and punish such practices in keeping with our OSCE commitments. A fifth concern is corruption. Public corruption weakens states, undermines political consensus, saps the legitimacy of governments, and discourages and distorts investment. The result is that people suffer as countries and economies are weakened. The OSCE must become more active in addressing this threat to democracy and free markets.