Havana, August 16 (RHC)-- Cuba's Ministry of the Interior (MININT) and The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have signed an agreement to strengthen their cooperation to prevent and fight sexual crimes against children.   The collaboration will focus, among other things, on the issue of transnational child sex offenders.

Strong cooperation – through communication and information-sharing – between law enforcement in originating and destination countries is key to the prosecution of transnational child sex offenders who may otherwise slip through jurisdictional cracks and continue to use travel and tourism to access and sexually exploit children.

While Cuba and Canada have worked closely together on investigations, this new agreement formalizes their respective roles and responsibilities and solidifies what both sides consider an important partnership. Specifically, the agreement will facilitate the exchange of information in investigations of sexual crimes against children. It will also allow the The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the MININT to coordinate, collaborate on and/or conduct joint investigations; train and educate law enforcement officials in preventing and fighting sexual crimes against children; exchange expertise, methodologies, best practices, and technologies.

The text reaffirms the willingness of the two countries to respect the objectives of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. Also, it tackles the Supplementary Protocol to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children.