TIP INTERIM ASSESSMENT MEDIA REACTION FOCUSES ON

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ATHENS 000431

SIPDIS

EUR/SE FOR PARENTE AND MELLINGER, EUR/PPD FOR TEAL, EUR/PGI
FOR BUCKNEBERG, G/TIP FOR DONNELLY, INL/HSTC

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KPAO GR TIP
SUBJECT: TIP INTERIM ASSESSMENT MEDIA REACTION FOCUSES ON
"MODEST" PROGRESS IN GREECE

REF A: STATE 15286 and previous
REF B: ATHENS 328


1. SUMMARY: Post held an on-the-record February 2 press
conference for the TIP Interim Assessment release, which
resulted in eight TIP articles published February 2 through
February 11. The event not only provided post the
opportunity to discuss TIP and the Assessment with
journalists, but also allowed us to emphasize the important
role the media plays in informing the public about the
issue. Seven balanced, factual articles were published
shortly after the press conference and one paper published a
lengthy, favorable account of the presentation with four
additional well-researched TIP pieces. All articles focused
on the "modest" or "moderate" progress cited during the
interim period, with one article characterizing the report
as a negative assessment of Greece's overall efforts during
the period. END SUMMARY.


2. Accompanying the February 2 release of the TIP Interim
Assessment, post held a press conference for eleven
diplomatic and political reporters. The journalists asked
wide-ranging questions to gauge the U.S. evaluation of TIP
efforts in Greece, the latest TIP trends, how trafficking
conviction rates in Greece compare to U.S. rates, and what
improvements could be made in Greece.


3. The most noteworthy outcome of the press outreach was a
thoughtful two-page spread of TIP articles in the Saturday,
February 11 edition of the daily Apogevmatini. With a photo
of a Chinese family hiding the face of their former sex
slave daughter instead of the shots of scantily-clad women
that typically accompany Greek TIP articles, reporter
Marianna Androutsou covered the Interim Assessment, sexual
exploitation and selling of children, child sex tourism, and
recent TIP progress in Greece. One article praises the
moderation and realism of the assessment and the press
conference, as well as the "explicit call for more action in
fighting the plague" of TIP. The author rhetorically
questions why Greece has such strict penalties for TIP when
perpetrators are not severely punished, even when the police
successfully dismantle TIP networks. In a separate, lengthy
opinion piece, she describes the differences between the
American and European justice systems, calling the "severe
punishment" meted out in the U.S. as "out of the question"
for Greek and European justice still "burdened by the
political and philosophical dilemmas" of the Enlightenment.
She continues by questioning whether Greeks understand "the
importance of public awareness and collective responsibility
in connection with trafficking," calling it "tragic" and
"unbelievably naive" to see combating TIP as the exclusive
duty of the police and NGOs. A supporting article
comprehensively describes global child prostitution, and
calls for a strategy of public awareness campaigns. Another
describes how western countries "close their eyes" to sex
tourism in Thailand. Yet another article describes the
recent international TIP conference held in Athens (Ref B),
as well as the common declaration signed by South Eastern
European Justice Ministers on February 8 to strengthen TIP
action and enhance transborder cooperation to combat
organized crime.


4. The independent Kathimerini carried a substantial
article Feb 3 under the title "The U.S. says 'Yes, but' on
human trafficking," saying "some progressive steps have been
made by the GoG, but they were found, however, to be small
by the U.S. services." Kathimerini explained the tier
rating mechanism and noted that Greece has been rated for
two consecutive years as a Tier Two Watch List country, a
rating the paper described as "not at all honorary." The
article continued, "the competent U.S. Embassy officer ...
noted that lots of work need to be done in particular
regarding victim protection. She stressed that from the
research regularly conducted by the Embassy, there is good
cooperation with the GoG, the competent Ministries and the
NGOs working on trafficking. However, there is need for
better cooperation in order to create a more effective
system, and more efforts to sensitize the Greek public
opinion on the issue." The article also mentioned that
positive elements highlighted in the report, including the
signing last November of a Memorandum of Cooperation between
the government and 12 NGOs and the near-completion of a
protocol of cooperation with Albania on child repatriation."


5. The Feb 3 pro-opposition PASOK daily To Vima article was
titled "U.S. report critical for Greece," and focused on
needed improvements in victim protection and more penalties
to traffickers. Left-of-center pro-PASOK Ethnos, pro-ND
Eleftheros Typos and leftist pro-PASOK Eleftherotypia
carried short articles on Feb 3 highlighting items still to
be completed as well as positive developments noted in the
assessment. The long ANA Daily News Bulletin article quoted
much of the assessment. Besides a comprehensive summary of
the assessment, Agency France Presse on Feb 2 also included
background information on the November visit of the UN
Special Rapporteur on child exploitation and his criticism
of Greece for failing to track down the 500 children who
"disappeared" from an Athens orphanage between 1998 and

2003. The ANA reported, "An Embassy official stressed that
there was good and long-lasting cooperation with Greek
authorities and individual ministries on (TIP). She also
stressed that Greek law has harsh penalties for human-
trafficking offences but there were too few convictions."


6. COMMENT: The significant international TIP conference
and series of press articles on TIP just prior to the
assessment's release likely contributed to the media
interest in this mid-term report. While most of the
resulting articles were factual and relatively brief, the
press event reinforced the Embassy's desire for continued
cooperation with the media on TIP and other issues and set
the groundwork for publicity of the much-anticipated
announcement of Greece's tier-ranking in the June 1 annual
TIP report.

End Cable Text