TIP UPDATE: SLOVAKIA PASSES ACTION PLAN; SENTENCES

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRATISLAVA 000043

SIPDIS


FOR EUR/NCE MLABONTE AND EFICHTE; EUR/PGI FOR JBUCKNEBERG;
G/TIP FOR MHALL AND JDONNELLY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/19/2021
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SMIG PREL SOCI LO
SUBJECT: TIP UPDATE: SLOVAKIA PASSES ACTION PLAN; SENTENCES
TRAFFICKERS TO JAIL

REF: 05 BRATISLAVA 903

Classified By: DCM Lawrence R. Silverman for Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D).


1. (SBU) SUMMARY AND COMMENT: Slovakia has carried its
2005 momentum on trafficking issues forward into the new year
with admirable resolve: the Cabinet passed its National
Action Plan on January 11; courts sentenced eight people from
Slovakia and the Czech Republic to prison terms ranging from
3 to 8 years for trafficking women to the Czech Republic and
forcing them to work as prostitutes; and the National
Coordinator for the Fight Against Trafficking in Persons has
breathed new life into the case of seven traffickers arrested
in 2003 for sending at least 60 women abroad over an
eight-year period. While Slovak authorities admit that there
is more that can be done, we have been pleased that the
government continues to make anti-trafficking efforts a
centerpiece of its law enforcement and human rights efforts.
END SUMMARY AND COMMENT.

SLOVAKIA ADOPTS NATIONAL ACTION PLAN
--------------


2. (SBU) Maintaining the timeline given to visiting G/TIP
and EUR/PGI officers in November 2005, National Coordinator
for the Fight Against Trafficking in Persons Pavol Draxler
submitted Slovakia's first National Action Plan to Combat
Trafficking in Persons to the cabinet in January; it was
adopted by the government January 11 after the Minister of
Interior made a strong public case for attention to this
issue. Since the plan was approved after the 2006 budget was
adopted, it will be implemented with funds from the current
Ministry budgets (earmarking approx. USD 242,000 for this
year's activities). In the future, the Action Plan will be
renewed to reflect the permanent anti-TIP funding Draxler
hopes to submit in the 2007 budget process. The Action Plan
consists of 19 initiatives, designates lead ministries, and
assigns deadlines (Note: As expected, most of the
initiatives are the responsibility of the Ministry of
Interior, where the National Coordinator is housed. End
Note). In addition to a "help line" which Draxler says
should become active soon, the government is undertaking a
better victim support network, as well as a media campaign --
already prepared, "very nice" and ready for deployment -- to
increase awareness of trafficking as part of Slovakia's
overall prevention strategy.


3. (C) Draxler told us that, because of the very thorough
cooperation among the relevant Ministries during the drafting
of the plan, approval by the cabinet had been a foregone
conclusion. However, Draxler reiterated concerns he voiced
to the G/TIP delegation in November, noting that the NGO
community has not chosen a spokesperson or coordinating
official and are "expecting the state to manage them," which
Draxler, himself a former NGO activist, finds ironic. He
expressed hope that one organization -- Slovak NGO
heavyweight Pontis Foundation -- was emerging as a likely
leader in this coordination effort. As far as challenges,
Draxler has identified the establishment of the victim
support network as the "hardest" task called for by the
action plan, requiring significant resources as well as NGO
coordination.

COURTS SENTENCE TRAFFICKERS TO PRISON
--------------


4. (U) In early January, courts in the northern Slovak town
of Martin sentenced 8 traffickers -- seven Slovaks and one
Czech -- to sentences ranging from 3 to 8 years in prison for
trafficking 12 women to the Czech Republic, where they were
forced into prostitution. The traffickers were arrested in

2003.

NEW ENERGY FOR DORMANT CASE
--------------


5. (SBU) Responding to an inquiry from post, Draxler
(strictly protect) investigated the status of a case stemming
from the 2003 arrest of 7 members of a trafficking gang which
had sent at least 60 women to Germany, Poland, Switzerland,
and France over an 8-year period. Draxler told us that his
inquiries to Nitra, where the case was filed, revealed that
the prosecution of the case was "on hold" while other
priorities were pursued. Draxler (who is close to Minister
of the Interior Palko) "shook up" the prosecution and
breathed new life into the case, which he expects will be
brought to trial -- if not resolved -- this year.
VALLEE


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