Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06BAGHDAD734
2006-03-07 19:24:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Baghdad
Cable title:  

IRAQ: ANNUAL TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT

Tags:  KCRM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF PHUM PTER 
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VZCZCXRO1168
PP RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK RUEHMOS
DE RUEHGB #0734/01 0661924
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 071924Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3138
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 000734 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

PLEASE PASS TO G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, PRM, IWI, NEA/RA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KCRM PHUMPTER KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF
SUBJECT: IRAQ: ANNUAL TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT

REF: 06 STATE 00003836

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 000734

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

PLEASE PASS TO G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, PRM, IWI, NEA/RA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KCRM PHUMPTER KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF
SUBJECT: IRAQ: ANNUAL TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT

REF: 06 STATE 00003836


1. (U) The following is post's submission to the annual
trafficking in persons report. Embassy point of contact
is PolOff Lourdes Lamela, US phone 914-822-2901 and at
email Lamelalm @ state.gov. This report reflects
approximately 26 hours of preparation.

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OVERVIEW
--------------


2. (U) Country Overview: The political, social, and
economic landscape in Iraq is changing as Iraq moves to
its first democratically elected government under its new
constitution. Historic elections and the first step in
the formation of the Iraqi Transitional Government took
place on January 30, 2005. In two subsequent polls,
voters adopted a constitution on October 15, 2005 and
elected a new parliament under that constitution on
December 15, 2005. The elections and referendum were
regarded as free and fair, and were critical steps in
Iraq's democratic process.


3. (U) Civil society, political figures, and the NGO
community view Trafficking in Persons (TIP) as a
potential, albeit rarely documented, problem in Iraq that
will grow larger if law enforcement does not check major
criminal activity. Anecdotal reports indicate that TIP
was a bigger problem during the Saddam regime because the
Ba'ath party was involved in trafficking schemes and
because of the lack of employment opportunities locally.
The past reporting year has been characterized by
significant insurgent activity against both civil and
government targets which has resulted in trafficking
cases being relegated to non-priority status.

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THE LEGAL LANDSCAPE
--------------


4. (U) During the reporting period, the operative
constitutive law was the Law of Administration for the
State of Iraq for the Transitional Period (TAL). Article
13(G) of the TAL states that slavery, the slave trade,
forced labor, and involuntary servitude with or without
pay is forbidden. The new Constitution, which was
approved October 15, 2005 by national referendum and will
come into force upon the seating of the new government
reinforces these tenets and specifically addresses
trafficking in women and children. The third section of

Article 37 in the new Constitution states: "Forced labor,
slavery, slave trade, trafficking in women or children,
and sex trade shall be prohibited".


5. (U) Iraqi law prohibits rape as well as prostitution.
Other laws in force include CPA Order 89 which amends the
Labor Code of 1987 to limit working hours for those under
18 years of age and prohibits their employment in
dangerous occupations. Order 89 also prohibits employment
for those under the age of 15 years, and specifically
bans all forms of trafficking in children including
slavery, prostitution, and debt bondage.

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TRACKING TRAFFICKING
--------------


6. (U) The Ministry of Interior (MOI) has responsibility
for trafficking-related issues. However, it does not keep
statistics on Trafficking in Persons cases, nor does it
have a unit designated to investigate trafficking cases.
Given the current security situation and high rate of
insurgent related incidents against civilians - including
bomb attacks, kidnapping, murder, and related violent
crimes - the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and Iraqi Police
Service (IPS) make their priority the prevention and
suppression of these crimes. The likelihood of
accountability for trafficking crimes in the current
security climate is considered low.


7. (U) The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (MOLSA)
Labor Directorate has jurisdiction over the labor code,
child labor, wages, occupational safety and health
issues, and labor relations. In MOLSA, the Children's
Welfare Commission works closely with the Ministry of
Education in a broad range of child protection issues.
In addition, MOLSA-run vocational centers have offered
training to youth in careers that offer a chance for

BAGHDAD 00000734 002 OF 003


productive employment. The exercise of labor rights does
continue to remain limited, however, due in part to
insurgent violence and high unemployment.

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ANECDOTAL TRAFFICKING INFO
--------------


8. (U) Though no specific data exists, anecdotal reports
suggest that Iraq could be considered a country of origin
for trafficking. Informal reports indicate that Iraqi
women and children are taken to Turkey, Iran, Qatar,
United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Jordan, Syria, and other
Gulf states for employment in prostitution and domestic
labor. Sources believe that the targeted population
appears to be poor, uneducated women and children from
rural areas within Iraq, particularly in Kurdistan (due
to its close proximity to Turkey). There is no evidence
currently that would suggest that Iraq is a TIP
destination point.


9. (U) Although prostitution in Iraq is illegal, it
continues to exist. Anecdotally, prostitution in Iraq is
not conducted through a second party, but rather is an
individual and word of mouth enterprise. The extent of
prostitution and its forms are still not well documented.


10. (U) "Child marriage" and forced marriages are
practices that continue to occur in Iraq, although
discouraged in larger, modern cities. The Iraq Legal
Development Project in its July 2005 assessment reported
on instances in which women were used as bargaining tools
or as gifts between tribes. This practice is illegal in
Iraq and has been criminalized under Article 9(2) of the
Iraqi Personal Status Code. It is suggestive of a
chattel system where the woman is regarded simply as
human property.

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CHILD LABOR
--------------


11. (U) Despite the various laws and regulations,
children were routinely used as an additional source of
labor or income among the 1 million families subsisting
on a per capita daily income of less than $1 (1,500
dinars). This work often took the form of seasonal manual
labor in rural areas. In cities it often meant begging or
peddling a variety of products, as well as working in
sometimes hazardous automobile shops or on construction
sites.


12. (U) Additionally, news reports indicated that
families also used minors in insurgent activities. For
example, the UN Global Policy Forum in its March 15
report indicated that more than 20 Baghdad children
received daily lessons to become insurgents and
participated in diversion tactics to distract troops.


13. (U) Projects to combat child labor were few, and
those that existed affected a few hundred children. The
government's actions were supported by the UN Children's
Fund (UNICEF) or NGOs. For example, the Italian branch of
the international NGO Terre des Hommes and UNICEF
operated a rehabilitation and counseling center for a
small number of working street children in Baghdad.
Kurdish authorities supported several small-scale
projects to eliminate child labor in the KRG area. UNICEF
has helped fund centers for working children in Irbil and
Baghdad that was run by the Children's Welfare Commission
at MOLSA.

--------------
CONCLUSION
--------------


14. (U) Iraqis report that TIP was more of a problem
during Saddam's regime than this past year. Many Iraqis
report that they designed coping strategies after years
of kidnappings under Saddam including keeping women and
children close to home and not allowing them out
unsupervised. Despite this alleged improvement, Iraq has
a long way to go before it has the capacity, funding, and
security situation to focus on TIP issues. Iraq has a
basic legal framework that would seem to discourage
instances of TIP, but it does not yet have the ability to
even track these issues, nor follow up on them.



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