TIP IN TURKEY: POLICE GUIDEBOOK ON TIP

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 ANKARA 004448 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, EUR/PGI, EUR/SE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD PREF TU TIP IN TURKEY SUBJECT: TIP IN TURKEY: POLICE GUIDEBOOK ON TIP INVESTIGATIONS PUBLISHED, DISTRIBUTED ¶1. (U) In an August 5 meeting at the Turkish Security Directorate, Foreigners Department Assistant Director Murat Oz provided para 2 text of the Turkish Security Directorate's anti-TIP guidebook. Oz told Emboff that the guidebook was published by the Security Directorate and distributed to law enforcement officers, agencies, and departments including the Departments of Order, Smuggling and Organized Crimes, and Foreigners at the Turkish Security Directorate. ¶2. (U) Text of the Turkish-language TIP Investigation guidebook provided through unofficial local FSN translation. BEGIN TEXT: SECURITY DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOREIGNERS BORDER ASYLUM DEPARTMENT HEAD THE FIGHT AGAINST HUMAN TRAFFICKING - GUIDE BOOK Human Trafficking should not be confused with human smuggling. It is a modern version of slavery that threatens individuals, societies, nations and states. Human Trafficking is an international phenomenon, reaching dangerous levels especially after the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Human trafficking in our country is seen from time to time in cases of forced prostitution (mainly of women between the ages of 18-25 and mostly from Eastern Bloc countries). The important point here is to carefully make the distinction between those who freely decide to engage in prostitution for financial profit and those who are forced into prostitution. Traffickers recruit victims by exerting force, pressure and creating fear, by cheating and through deceit. There is a lasting relationship between the exploiters (human traffickers) and the exploited that continues after crossing the border. This modern cross-boundary crime includes sexual or other types of exploitation and servitude, violation of human dignity and loss of freedom for the victims. Paragraph "b" was included in Article 201 of the Turkish Penal Code on August 9, 2002. The crime of human trafficking was defined and punishments were set. According to this provision: Article 201/b - Those who provide, kidnap, transport from ONE place to another, shelter individuals to make them work by force or serve, be subject to slavery or similar treatment, impose threat, pressure, force or violence on them, shall be sentenced to heavy imprisonment from five years to ten years and fined not less than 1 billion TL. If the acts were attempted with the purposes mentioned in paragraph one, it will be regarded that they were done without the consent of the victim. In cases that minors who have not completed the age of 18 are provided, kidnapped, transported or sheltered with the purposes mentioned in paragraph one, even if none of the acts of the crime were committed, the perpetrator shall be punished with the punishments mentioned in paragraph one. If the crimes mentioned above were committed in an organized manner, the punishments shall be increased by ONE fold. Human trafficking is usually organized internationally and results in grave consequences for victims' security, prosperity, and human rights. Because income obtained from human trafficking with the purpose of sexual exploitation is high, continuous and low-risk, it is a preferred method of organized criminal gangs. Victims find themselves serving as "slaves" in the sex industry, domestic servants at homes or workers in factories under inhuman conditions for long periods. Here the main goal of human traffickers is to make money through long-term exploitation. With this purpose, human traffickers use elements of force such as incarceration, debt bondage, isolation, confiscating identity and travel documents, intimidation, rape and use of force, threats of violence against a victims' family. Other efficient methods utilized by traffickers include pressure methods. Traffickers tell victims they are free to go to the police, because they falsely assert police were purchased through bribes. Traffickers may also tell victims that they will be deported immediately, without interrogation, if they go to police. ONE of the reasons that victims' hesitate to apply to the police is that most of them come from countries where police are regarded negatively, a force of pressure rather than an assisting service. Turkish police personnel conducting investigations should be very careful to provide full information about all kinds of assistance, support and services that would be helpful for the victims to obtain relief from their current situation. When victims become witnesses, the duty of the personnel that conduct the investigation is to be sensitive towards the victimized witness and respect her rights. Their duty is also to prepare the most appropriate conditions for her to present the evidence she has, testify and overcome the trauma that is entailed inevitably to the investigation and trial process. Explaining the situation thoroughly and building confidence are key factors in communicating with the victims. There are three main issues that concern victims: - Personal Security - Privacy Issues: Protection from the media - Separation from the human traffickers who exploited them The following issues should be handled with priority in order to calm victims and facilitate the collection of evidence that will assist in the investigation: - Personnel who take testimony should be respectful, helpful and should refrain from judging the person. In c of sexual exploitation, the terms used for defining the victim, human trafficker, customers and prostitution shou be selected carefully so that the victim is not intimidat or embarrassed. - Personnel conducting the investigation should act in a professional manner with the victim and should refrain fr physical contact. The personnel conducting the investigation should refrain from behavior that would suggest disrespect to the victim. - Use of proper and respectful language is very important. The officers should refrain from using obscen words or sexual implications. - In all cases the officer taking victim's testimony should be of the same gender with the victim. - The officers taking the testimony of the victim should be trained about the crime of human trafficking. - The meeting with the victim should be held in a quiet location. Psychological support should be available. Thi situation will decrease a victim's hesitation and develop confidence in law enforcement officers. - Human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation is a crime that emerges as a way of life. I most cases, most evidence is hidden in details. So the victim should give detailed information about incidents, matter how lengthy. - Investigators should stress the importance of providin any details about places where incidents happened, routs, clothes, people, documents, decoration and furniture in t room where the victims were locked or raped. - It is also very important that the victims should be warned clearly that they should tell the truth. - It is of vital importance that the victims should know that attempts to lie to or intentionally deceive investigators will be uncovered during the course of the investigation and that this would defame the victim as a witness and that it would endanger the court case. - In this regard, the victim should be encouraged to tal about the impact of the crime on her quality of life; whether she feels ready to establish a free life as a nor citizen; whether she can go back home without fear; wheth she has lost her confidence and respect. Upon a victim's complaint or upon information from another resource, when it becomes necessary to launch a raid in a building to capture human trafficking perpetrators or rescue victims, the following elements should be used as an ideal practice: - Translators speaking the language of perpetrators and victims; - Officials documenting with video and photos; - Forensic medicine officials; - Special technical support teams. Victims of human trafficking might be suspected of crimes such as possession of fake visas or travel documents or voluntary prostitution. However, it should not be forgotten that they are the most important witnesses against human traffickers. To encourage confidence and trust, victims should not be held with criminals in the security precinct. Without human traffickers around, victims will be more inclined to share information. Assigned security personnel should carefully record every possible detail about the place of incident and apprehension of suspects, including statements during apprehension, situation of the rooms in the place where prostitution is being done, and clothes worn by victims. Details should be recorded in such a manner that suspects later cannot claim they were unaware of prostitution. Suspects' offices, brothels or meeting buildings and houses should be searched in accordance with legislation. Records about these places are very important, especially if the victims claim they were subject to bad treatment and/or sexual rape. If the victim engaged in prostitution, it will be a remote possibility to find a forensic medicine sample that would become evidence for a rape case. For this reason, a video film that displays the layout and setting of the incident venue will be vital evidence enhancing the testimony of the victim. The following checklist should be used to acquire evidence in human trafficking criminal investigations; responses should be attached to the record: - Copy of an ad, appointment book, letter to language schools, applications to consulates for visa; - No matter how small the amount is, cash money, credit card, check book or a document about a financial transaction; - Any documents showing remittances of victims to human traffickers in the form of a daily payment book, hand written payment list, or money transfer receipts; - Identity cards and travel documents, tickets, receipts, boarding passes, luggage tags and all related documents; - Letter of guarantee, dance contract, language school records, contracts such as finding friends or marriage agency employment; any contract and all kinds of documents related with issuance of passports and visas; - Any documents about daily administration of prostitution such as announcement material, daily sketch papers, price lists, texts to be read; - Pornographic material to be used in prostitution; - All kinds of rental agreement documents and contracts for buildings and other associated facilities associated; - Computers, cellular phones, fax machines, personal data banks an all kinds of communication and information technology equipment; - Expensive motor vehicles, jewelry, furniture or technical equipment and other valuable material. In Summary: The crime of human trafficking should be referred to as a violation of human rights. People and networks involved in trafficking should be identified and treated in accordance with article 201/b of the TPC. The victims should not be treated as criminals but victims of a crime; victims should not be kept in detention but in an appropriate, clean and secure medium. People, who come to our country just to make money through prostitution and stay in our country for this purpose, should be subject to legal and administrative procedures. Those who are victims and who reveal the criminals shall be given residential permits for ONE month at the first instance. Any information and/or intelligence should be evaluated and reported with case notes. After gathering information from other provinces, as required, necessary steps should be taken in coordination with the related security and Jandarma commanders. The Ministry of Interior must be informed about steps taken. After taking testimonies of the suspects, victims, and other members of the organization, their external links should be discovered in detail and legal procedures should be initiated against these people, then our ministry should be informed. Victims should be sent to the closest HEALTH institution to undergo full medical evaluations and physicals. Considering victims of foreign nationalities are in a country away from their language and culture, translators should be provided. When victims are rescued, forensic medicine examinations should be conducted and, in the absence of a Ministry of Interior forensic medicine physician, a trusted and experienced doctor should do the examinations. Physical and psychological exams of the victims should be administered. If the victims have travel documents and/or identity documents, photocopies of these documents should be taken and sent to our ministry as attachments. Information about transit, destination and departure countries on the travel documents should be compared with the testimonies of the victim and if they contradict, the victim's testimony should be taken again. Under the light of evidence collected, those who are responsible should be sent to the judiciary immediately. END TEXT. DEUTSCH