AZERBAIJAN MAKING SOLID PROGRESS ON TIP COMMITMENTS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAKU 000478

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/CARC; G/TIP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM KCRM KWMN SMIG EAID PGOV PREL AJ
SUBJECT: AZERBAIJAN MAKING SOLID PROGRESS ON TIP COMMITMENTS



1. (SBU) The GOAJ has made substantial progress in the past
several months to meet its trafficking in persons (TIP)
commitments outlined in the USG's annual trafficking in
persons report. In the two months since PolOff last visited
the site of the victims' shelter, the GOAJ has transformed a
building that a year ago appeared entirely unworkable into
something that will soon become a proper shelter.
Representatives from both OSCE and IOM positively assessed
the workmanship and are currently advising the GOAJ on the
necessary furnishings, which is essentially all the shelter
needs to be complete. Rooms for the victims, communal rooms,
medical rooms, kitchens, sick bays, and exercise rooms are
complete and bathrooms have been equipped with appropriate
accommodations. The GOAJ is working with the OSCE to
determine the appropriate passive security measures, some of
which have already been installed. These will include
surveillance cameras discreetly placed throughout the outside
of the property, decorative bars on all windows (common on
houses in Azerbaijan) complete with electronic breakers to
set off a signal if opened, and a perimeter wall. Entrance
through the gate in the perimeter wall and the front door
will be controlled electronically from a small control room
inside the shelter where video footage and alarms will be
accessible. While renovation of the shelter has no doubt
sparked some interest of local residents, we expect that it
will soon blend into Baku's landscape.


2. (SBU) Given the pending completion of the secure
accommodation for victims, the international community
working group is hard at work with the GOAJ to staff the
shelter and the TIP hotline with trained NGO representatives
to take over the management of both measures. More than 30
NGO activists have signed up to work on the shelter and
hotline respectively, understanding the commitment that the
task ahead of them will require. The GOAJ has almost
completed its vetting process of the individuals and we
expect that we will be able to start training the groups with
experts provided by ABA/CEELI, IOM, and INL by mid-April.
These three organizations are devising a training module that
will include Azerbaijan's TIP legal framework, psychological
training, management, and best practices from throughout the
world. Following these steps and in cooperation with the
GOAJ, we are confident that Azerbaijan will have the
appropriate infrastructure in place to appropriately care for
and manage its trafficking in persons victims and their
families.


3. (SBU) During a regular meeting with the National TIP
Coordinator on March 28, PolOff also learned that the vetting
process of the Special Police Anti-Trafficking Squad (SPATS)
has been completed and the successful officers appointed to
the unit. This follows the February written and oral testing
of the candidates, which was open to both domestic and
international community observation. The examination process
was conducted relatively smoothly (in particular given that
this was the first time the Ministry of Internal Affairs had
undertaken such a process) and the Coordinator welcomed the
written commendations and recommendations the international
community working group presented to him. The Coordinator
said that he would welcome further international community
assistance in testing/vetting processes, and he believes the
process undertaken for the SPATS will become a model for the
GOAJ. Following the news that the background investigations
on the officers have been completed, RLEA plans to follow up
with the MIA to receive a more detailed brief on the conduct
of that process.


4. (SBU) In addition, the GOAJ has been instrumental in the
prosecution of a TIP case in the United States with local
connections. Earlier this year, two Azerbaijani citizens
were convicted in a U.S. federal court for trafficking
crimes, one of whom received the longest sentence ever handed
down in a sex trafficking case. (Their sentences were 20
years and 10 years, four months, respectively.) The GOAJ
played an instrumental role with the USG to investigate the
TIP crime from the country of origin and provide relevant
information to U.S. federal prosecutors to clinch the case.
Not satisfied with merely catching the operatives in the
U.S., the GOAJ and in particular the Coordinator worked
proactively with USG officers on the ground to investigate
the two local recruiters/middlemen. The GOAJ worked with USG
experts to build the case against the two recruiters who were
involved in luring the women, facilitating their visas
(including posing as family members for the women),document
falsification, etc. to get the young women from Azerbaijan to
the Azerbaijani handlers in New York. This case will likely
go to court in Azerbaijan in the next week.


5. (SBU) COMMENT: Given the positive progress to date, we
believe the GOAJ has hit a point of "critical mass" on its

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TIP efforts such that sufficient inertia has been created to
prevent possible regression. The GOAJ is clearly enthused
and proud of the achievements it has made to date and we
believe that under the current Coordinator's leadership, this
issue will continue to receive high-level GOAJ attention and
effort.
HARNISH