Supported by the Associazione di cultura e di studio italo-americana Luciano Finelli Friends of the Johns Hopkins University
hosted by Professor Sara Pennicino

Experts in human rights, anti-mafia prosecution and counter trafficking discuss their experience.

For further information on the Human Trafficking Initiative you can visit our website or contact amalang2@jh.edu.

PETER KYSEL

Peter Kysel has been Anti-Mafia Prosecutor at the Special Prosecution Office of the Slovak General Prosecution Office since 2004.

He has dealt with most prominent cases of organized crime and mafia-type organized crime, including those involving high level politicians and oligarchs. Kysel is a National Focal Point for Terrorism and Extremism at Eurojust and oversees a number of complex investigations and JITs (joint-investigative teams) that Slovakia is a part of. During his three-month professional stay at the Slovak National Desk in Eurojust in 2022, he significantly contributed to the work of the Genocide Network Secretariat. This work included the current investigation (JIT) into alleged war crimes committed in Ukraine. Kysel was one of the keynote speakers in a joint workshop on Understanding Organized Crime in the Context of Ukrainian Conflict, War Crimes Investigations and Enhancing Multi-Agency Cooperation and Coordination, organized by JHU SAIS Europe, KIND (Kids in Needs of Defence) and Human Rights League in Kosice, Slovakia in August 2022.

RACHEL WITKIN

Rachel Witkin is Director of Counter-Trafficking and Publications at the Helen Bamber Foundation, a multi-disciplinary NGO in London which delivers a long-term, tailored Counter-Trafficking Programme for adult survivors. She is an independent consultant for OSCE/ODIHR and the International Survivors of Trafficking Advisory Council (ISTAC) and was lead consultant and drafter for the OSCE/ODIHR National Referral Mechanisms Handbook (2022). Rachel is a visiting fellow at St Mary's University, where she teaches the "Trauma-Informed Code of Conduct for All Professionals Working with Survivors of Human Trafficking (TiCC)". She advocates for simple, practical and effective methods for working with survivors which can be adapted into all professional disciplines, and has recently begun work on the Modern Slavery Core Outcome Set (MSCOS) Community of Practice (www.mscos.co.uk). In 2015 she received a national award for ‘outstanding contribution to the fight against human trafficking' presented by Teresa May.

ALEXANDRA MALANGONE
Alexandra Malangone is a Slovak lawyer who has coordinated the CCSDD Human Trafficking Chapter since September 2020. In 2012 Malangone began working for the Human Rights League, a prominent Slovak NGO in the field of immigration and asylum law. She is one of the leading experts on issues relating to the protection of human rights of victims of trafficking in the country. From 2008-2016, she served as an independent national expert in the Council of Europe GRETA (Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings) and was a rapporteur for Denmark, Norway, Italy, Latvia, and Slovenia. From 2006 to 2009 she was a UN Officer in the Drugs and Crime National Project Office in Bratislava, Slovakia, heading the local UNODC office. Prior to this, she worked as a junior for the OSCE Special Representative and Coordinator on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings. Malangone graduated in International and European Law from Utrecht University and holds a Masters degree in International Cooperation and Development from the University of Pavia. In June 2016, she participated in a three week International Visitor Leadership Programme on Human Trafficking run by the US State Department. Malangone has most recently consulted for the OSCE OSR Office (Simulation based training on combating human trafficking in mixed-migratory flows), OSCE/ODIHR (National Referral Mechanisms), the Council of Europe (Alternatives to Detention), UNODC Morocco (National Referral Mechanism in Morocco) and ECPAT Austria (Safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults).