UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 THE HAGUE 001855

SIPDIS

USAID FOR C. CORRINO; STATE FOR G, G/TIP, DRL, PRM, OES: J.
CHOW

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID ELAB KCRM KHIV KWMN PHUM PTER SMIG SNAR
SUBJECT: A/S JONES' HAGUE VISIT: TRAFFICKING, TERRORISM,
JUSTICE, AND HIV ISSUES


(U) 1. In a July 15 visit to The Hague, A/S Jones met with
senior officials from MFA, MoD, and MoJ, parliamentarians,
the National Rapporteur for Trafficking, and with Mission
personnel. This cable reports her discussions on trafficking
in people and counter-narcotics. The transatlantic
relationship, the Middle East, OSCE, and issues surrounding
French-German security ideas are reported septels. A/S Jones
cleared this cable.

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Trafficking in People
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(U) 2. A/S Jones raised the problem of trafficking in
persons in meetings with the National Rapporteur for
Trafficking Korvinus, MoJ Secretary General Joris Demmink and
MFA deputy Political Director Herman Schaper. She stressed
the importance of attacking the problem, both through
domestic programs and legislation and through multilateral
cooperation. A/S Jones welcomed the role of the Netherlands
in making TIP a priority issue for its OSCE presidency, and
the Dutch asked for U.S. support for TIP recommendations
recently approved by the OSCE economic forum. Dutch
officials said they will also make TIP a priority of their
European Union and Council of Europe presidencies in 2004.
MFA officials cited the linkages among drugs, trafficking,
and health epidemics. Together, these three formed a "trail
of misery" through Central Asia and Eastern Europe. They
lament a lack of cooperation between EU and Russia on these
issues. All interlocutors agreed that it is essential to
focus political attention on the problem, with the MFA
focusing on cooperation internationally, the Justice Ministry
focusing on police issues, and the Rapporteur serving as the
prod to the Dutch government, including to offer more
services to victims.

(U) 3. A/S Jones inquired about the bill bringing Dutch TIP
legislation in line with the Palermo Protocol and the EU
framework decision on trafficking in persons. Korvinus said
the bill was approved by

the government on June 20, 2003, and
sent to the Council of State for review, after which it will
be sent to the Dutch parliament. National Rapporteur
Korvinus expects some debate about the definition of
trafficking and working in slavery-like conditions, but she
has no doubt that the bill will be adopted. With respect to
the UN Palermo Protocol, Korvinus said she is worried that
the protocol does not protect victims once they return to
their native countries after a trial. Korvinus feared that
this would be an obstacle for victims to testify in court.
Jones shared her concerns, and suggested this could be an
area for cooperation.

(U) 4. A/S Jones asked whether the police are adequately
equipped to identify TIP victims. Korvinus replied that
police officers have been trained to do so. However, the
alien police and immigration officers have been raiding
brothels and streetwalking zones in their search for illegal
immigrants, particularly Bulgarian and Nigerian women,
without adequately checking whether the illegal immigrants
were actually victims of trafficking. She noted that
sometimes these officers overrule the regular police. To
improve the identification of victims, the Rapporteur,s
office has suggested setting up multidisciplinary teams. In a
later meeting, Secretary General Demmink gave a summary of
Dutch law enforcement efforts, which he described as "going
in the right direction," including a Ministry of Justice
interagency Task Force and the new trafficking penalty law
which goes into effect in 2004.

(U) 5. Ambassador Sobel asked Korvinus about possible
discrimination against foreign victims. Korvinus said that
the Netherlands, unlike Belgium, has no specific shelters for
trafficking victims. TIP victims and victims of household
violence are put together to give them better police
protection. According to Korvinus, there is no
discrimination against foreign women, but she admitted there
is an overall capacity shortage. She noted that TIP victims
are given three months to consider pressing charges, after
which they can stay in The Netherlands until the juridical
process has been completed. This can take as long as two
years. Although victims are given shelter, legal, medical
and financial assistance, the government does not allow them
to work. Korvinus considered this inhumane. She felt that
the victims should be offered some sort of legitimate
employment or training to be able to prepare for a future at
home.
(U) 6. A/S Jones also pressed her interlocutors to work
closely with other countries and through multilateral
institutions to combat trafficking. In her meeting with
Korvinus, A/S Jones noted that the EU needs to focus on TIP
problems in source countries. A/S Jones mentioned that the
U.S. had been pressing the EU Commissioner for External
Relations, Chris Patten, to focus on the Caucasus and Central
Asia regions to improve border controls, fight corruption,
and stimulate prosecution. She suggested that the EU could
play a role in the training of law enforcement officers so
that they can easily recognize TIP victims. In her meeting
with Secretary General Demmink, A/S Jones noted that her
recent visits to countries in Eastern Europe, Moldova in
particular, indicated to her how "differently and intensely"
we must work with every country to combat human trafficking.
She asked about Dutch liaison with source countries for
victims in the Netherlands and related transit countries and
pushed for better joint cooperation and investigations. She
asked for Dutch support for a new initiative to talk to NATO
about troops who may be consumers of trafficked prostitutes.

(U) 7. Korvinus remarked that it is not enough to start
public awareness campaigns in source countries to warn young
people of the dangers. It is also very important to educate
and train young people to improve their chances on the labor
market and reduce poverty. Later, Demmink described
cooperation with source and transit countries as a "mixed
bag" -- good with countries who are EU candidates or aspire
to be, not as good with countries like Russia and Moldova and
not easy with neighbors such as Germany and Austria who give
trafficking a lower priority. The Dutch will work on a
special regional treaty on trafficking in the Council of
Europe to build on the Palermo Protocol. The Dutch are also
encouraging EU and OSCE members to appoint special
Rapporteurs for trafficking.

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Counternarcotics Issues and Terrorism Issues
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(U) 8. A/S Jones raised U.S. concerns about counternarcotics
with Justice Ministry Secretary General Demmink and with
senior MFA officials. A/S Jones asked what measures the
Dutch were taking to curb Ecstasy production. MFA officials
said the Dutch government is committed to finding practical
areas of cooperation with the U.S. and has cut production.
Demmink answered that they have stepped up efforts and
reorganized and centralized their police Ecstasy units. As
of July 1, 2003, a new national police operation (National
Recherche) was set up to fight drug production and
trafficking on a national level. Demmink said that National
Recherche will have a direct link to the National
Prosecutors, office, which he believes will give them better
tools to fight drugs.

(U) 9. Ambassador Sobel raised the issue of cocaine
swallowers. He noted that the Dutch have no preclearance
procedures in the Netherlands Antilles and suggested that it
would be better to stop swallowers from getting on the
airplane at the source rather than dealing with them at
Schiphol. He noted that U.S. Customs had experience with
preclearance and said that they would be willing to share
their experiences. Demmink agreed that cocaine swallowers
from the Caribbean were a major problem for The Netherlands
and that preclearance was an idea worth considering. They
could begin with Aruba -- an island that did not/not have a
serious drug problem. If that were to prove successful,
perhaps they could move on to Curacao in the Dutch Antilles.

Chemical Precursors

(U) 10. A/S Jones raised the issue of precursor chemicals
coming to the Netherlands from China. Demmink replied that
the Dutch Ambassador in Beijing will soon open negotiations
with the Chinese with the aim of drawing up an MOU. A/S
Jones said that the U.S. would be willing to assist should
that be required.
Bilateral Follow Up

(U) 11. Ambassador Sobel asked about progress on the Agreed
Steps from the March 2003 Bilateral. DDG Ijzerman said that
things were progressing well and a June 25 meeting had
clarified several issues. Both sides would continue to
follow up on a regular basis. He also mentioned the recent
Justice-to-Justice conference at Zutphen as being
particularly useful in increasing the understanding of both
sides.

Asset Seizures

(U) 12. A/S Jones asked Demmink what they were doing on the
issue of asset seizures. Demmink said that there is a legal
framework for this issue but that the difficulty is
convincing the courts of the proof of linkage between the
money and the accused. Marjorie Bonn commented that seizure
is easy, the problem is confiscation.

Targeting Drug Leadership

(U) 13. DCM Russel noted that The Netherlands should be
fighting against the major Ecstasy syndicates and not the
small players. He suggested that a major campaign conducted
over a short period of time might have a big effect on the
market. Demmink agreed with that strategy, but said that
there are very few large organizations in the Netherlands -
most are small groups of operators.

EU Presidency - Law Enforcement Issues

(U) 14. Ambassador Sobel asked what the Netherlands, top
priorities would be in terms of law enforcement during their
upcoming EU Presidency in 2004. DDG Ijzerman noted that with
25 new members the agenda would have to be very limited. He
said that there would be two major law enforcement items on
the agenda: 1. An EU Action Plan for Illegal Drugs; 2. The
development of a comprehensive strategy on organized crime.

Terrorism Prosecution

(U) 15. A/S Jones asked Demmink if prosecution of terrorist
acts is unnecessarily difficult in the Netherlands as
indicated by two recent terrorism related cases that were
dismissed. Demmink responded that the Ministry of Justice
was well informed in every stage of those cases that the
evidence was sometimes thin or based on intelligence that is
difficult to use for conviction. He felt that the issues
raised by these cases were valuable in the process of
refining counter terrorism laws and policies. He also talked
about conspiracy laws that differed in each EU country,
making an EU arrest warrant difficult. Similar to
intelligence information, conspiracy evidence can be used as
a vehicle for investigation but may not be enough for a
conviction.

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HIV/AIDS
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(U) 16. MFA Western Hemisphere Director Marion Kappeyne
complimented President Bush's Emergency AIDS Initiative. She
said the MFA is committed to cooperating with the U.S. in the
fight against AIDS and that Dutch and U.S. officials are now
identifying areas of cooperation in a select group of target
countries in Africa. Kappeyne suggested that when possible,
donor countries should make use of existing mechanisms in
focus countries, rather than creating new ones. This
approach, she said, ensures sustainability. Rob Swartbol of
the Prime Minister's office said the PM plans to attend the
AIDS meeting on the margins of the UNGA in September.
RUSSEL