KOSOVO: TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REMAINS A PROBLEM,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PRISTINA 000973

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR DRL, INL, AND EUR/SCE, NSC FOR BRAUN, USUN FOR
DREW SCHUFLETOWSKI, USOSCE FOR STEVE STEGER, JUSTICE FOR
OPDAT ACKER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/09/2016
TAGS: GTIP KJUS KCRM PGOV UNMIK YI
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REMAINS A PROBLEM,
INTERNAL VICTIMS INCREASING


Classified By: COM TINA KAIDANOW FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D).


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Trafficking in persons (TIP) continues to
plague Kosovo, but UNMIK and the Provisional Institutions of
Self-Government (PISG) have taken some important steps to
combat it, including undercover police operations, adoption
of a two-year action plan to combat trafficking in human
beings, and interviewing at-risk foreign females identified
through Office of Foreign Registration records. In October
2006, the Kosovo Police Service (KPS) mounted three major
anti-trafficking actions, resulting in 21 women being rescued
and placed in shelters. Unfortunately, those raids
highlighted the complexity of TIP in Kosovo. The women
rescued in two of the raids later changed their stories, and
the presiding judge ultimately allowed them to leave the
shelters and go back to work, despite KPS objections. END
SUMMARY.

The Trafficking Problem in Kosovo


2. (SBU) Trafficking in persons remains a problem in Kosovo.
It is a source, transit and destination point for trafficked
persons, and victims tend to be women and children trafficked
internally or from Eastern Europe, the Balkans and the former
Soviet Union into Kosovo, primarily for sexual exploitation,
but also for domestic servitude or forced labor in bars and
restaurants, and through Kosovo to Macedonia, Albania and
Western Europe. According to the International Organization
of Migration (IOM),45 percent of victims are recruited
through job promises, 24 percent are kidnapped or forced to
come to Kosovo, and 12 percent are given false promises of
marriage.

Trends


3. (SBU) Internal trafficking is a growing problem in
Kosovo, and the number of internally trafficked women and
girls slightly surpassed the number of foreign victims thus
far in 2006. (Note: The numbers are very close, so this may
not be true by year-end. End Note.) According to IOM, young
girls and women from rural areas are particularly at risk, as
are those from urban areas with a high level of poverty,
unemployment and illiteracy. They also believe internally
trafficked women and girls face worse conditions than foreign
victims of trafficking (VOT).


4. (SBU) While there are still reports of VOTs being
subjected to beatings, rape, denial of access to health care
and confiscation of travel and identity documents,
traffickers seem to be changing their tactics. Anecdotal
evidence suggests VOTs are being treated better so that they
have less incentive to request assistance and that
traffickers are shifting the commercial sex trade out of
public bars and hotels and into private homes and escort
services to better avoid detection.

Anti-trafficking Laws


5. (SBU) UNMIK regulations criminalize TIP. Conviction for
trafficking is punishable by 2 to 20 years in prison, while
engaging or attempting to engage in trafficking is punishable
by 2 to 12 years in prison or up to 15 years if the victim is
under 18. Organizing a group to engage in trafficking is
punishable by 5 to 20 years in prison, and facilitating
trafficking through negligence is punishable by 6 months to 5
years in prison. The maximum sentence for clients of VOTs is
up to 5 years if the victim is an adult and up to 10 years if
she is under 18, but proving the client knew he was with a
VOT is a challenge.

Law Enforcement Efforts to Combat Trafficking


6. (SBU) UNMIK's Trafficking in Human Beings Section and the
Kosovo Police Service (KPS) Section for Trafficking in Human
Beings (SITHB) worked together on TIP until May 2006, when

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the competence was completely transferred to the SITHB.
SITHB records indicate that from January through August 2006,
they conducted 127 observations, including 21 secret
operations, 11 of which were with local inspectors. They
also searched 946 premises suspected of being used for TIP
and prostitution, and closed 20 of them. They arrested 22
people for trafficking, 3 for offering prostitution, 11 for
prostitution, and 17 on trafficking-related charges, such as
illegal weapons possession and counterfeiting. They rescued
37 VOTs, 27 of whom received needed assistance. From January
through October 2006, a total of 57 new cases were opened, 45
were closed, and 384 remained under investigation.


7. (C) The prosecutor's office filed 34 cases for
trafficking in persons, but only 4 were resolved as of the
end of October 2006, resulting in 3 convictions. Factors
contributing to the low conviction rate included the lack of
a witness protection program (although anonymity is provided
during the trial through written testimony) and inadequate
training for judicial personnel. Zyle Feritaj (protect) of
the KPS SITHB confided to poloff and RLA that judges and
prosecutors need to be better educated to deal with TIP
cases. She was particularly concerned with cases in which
judges ordered women sent to or released from shelters
despite KPS SITHB objections. She believed some VOTs were
put back on the street, while suspected recruiters were put
in shelters where they could prey on vulnerable women and
girls.

Other Efforts to Combat Trafficking and Assist Victims


8. (SBU) In addition to UNMIK, KPS SIHTB, and Kosovo judges
and prosecutors, the border police, the OSCE, the Prime
Minister's Advisory Office on Good Governance (AOGG),and
ministries of health, education, interior, public services,
justice, labor and social welfare are responsible for
combating TIP in Kosovo. NGOs and international
organizations, especially IOM, handle protection and
prevention-related anti-trafficking activities. In May 2005,
Kosovo's Provisional Institutions of Self-Government (PISG)
released a two-year action plan to combat trafficking that
consolidated government anti-trafficking efforts and
established a Counter-trafficking secretariat within the AOGG
and a National Counter-trafficking Coordinator (NCC). The
action plan also assigned counter-trafficking activities to
other governmental and non-governmental actors.


9. (SBU) Where assistance to victims is concerned,
international and local NGOS are the main actors. Local
NGOs, such as the Center to Protect Victims and Prevent
Trafficking (PVPT) and Hope and Homes, operate shelters that
provide medical care and psychological counseling services to
victims in cooperation with the PISG, OSCE and the IOM. An
interim security facility also provides temporary shelter to
victims while they consider whether to be repatriated or
testify against their traffickers. Police often refer
victims to IOM through the OSCE regional offices, and the IOM
assists them with repatriation.

KPS Making Busts, But Judges Are An Obstacle


10. (C) Anecdotal evidence suggests the KPS SITHB may be
more aggressively combating TIP, but that the judicial system
is an obstacle. SITBH efforts netted three busts in October
2006, resulting in the rescue of 21 foreign VOTs. On October
3, SITHB rescued 7 Moldovan women, including a 17-year-old,
and arrested three Kosovar Albanian men in Prizren on
suspicion of trafficking. The KPS took the women to a
shelter, where they later claimed they were not victims.
Despite KPS objections, the judge presiding over the case
ordered their release from the shelter because they wanted to
remain in Kosovo and go back to work. On October 5, KPS
SITHB officers raided a nightclub in suburban Pristina and
arrested five Kosovar Albanian men and two Moldovan women on
suspicion of trafficking. They took in six other Moldovan

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women as possible VOTs. The next day, however, police
arrested the six for concealing the act of human trafficking
and recruiting other females for prostitution in cooperation
with the nightclub's owners and workers. All of the women
later claimed they were VOTs and were sent to the Ministry of
Justice shelter. As in the Prizren case, when they changed
their minds again and said they wanted to go back to work,
the judge ordered their release from the shelter despite KPS
objections. On October 24, five Kosovar Albanians were
arrested for trafficking following a KPS raid on a bar in
Pristina, and six Moldovan women were identified as VOTs and
sent to a shelter. The SITHB Chief, Lieutenant Colonel
Ramadan Ahmeti (protect),told poloff that the women appeared
before a judge and gave a statement. They will remain in a
shelter until they can be repatriated. (Note: In the first
two cases mentioned above, the KPS SITHB used surveillance
equipment donated by the U.S. Department of Justice in
September 2006. End Note.).


11. (SBU) COMMENT: Trafficking in persons remains a problem
in Kosovo, and the rise in internal trafficking is of special
concern. Kosovo is taking steps to combat trafficking and
assist victims, making particular strides in law enforcement
and victims assistance, but this is a very complex issue. As
the cases above illustrate, VOTs are reluctant to come
forward and often change their stories, most likely out of
fear of their traffickers. While the KPS SITHB's three
police actions in October 2006 are a hopeful sign, the fact
that judges released VOTs from shelters and placed suspected
recruiters in shelters over KPS SITHB objections is
worrisome. USOP will continue to closely monitor and report
on TIP issues in Kosovo. END COMMENT.


12. (SBU) U.S. Office Pristina clears this cable in its
entirety for release to U.N. Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari.
KAIDANOW