BOSNIA: TIP REPORT DEMARCHE

UNCLAS SARAJEVO 001321 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR (DICARLO),D (SMITH),P (BAME),EUR/SCE (ENGLISH, SAINZ, FOOKS, MITCHELL),G-TIP, NSC FOR BRAUN, USNIC FOR WEBER, GREGORIAN, OSD FOR FLORY E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KCRM KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL BK SUBJECT: BOSNIA: TIP REPORT DEMARCHE REF: SECSTATE 85544 ¶1. (U) Poloff delivered the 2006 TIP report and demarche (ref A) to Samir Rizvo, the State Coordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings on June 5. The Coordinator was pleased with comments in the report acknowledging that significant progress has been made in a number of areas. The report received positive coverage in the media, with local papers quoting both portions that praised BiH's progress, and those that cited needed improvements. In a normally negative news climate, any coverage of positive progress made by BiH is productive. ¶2. (U) Rizvo updated poloff on major upcoming programs and initiatives, including some which are aimed at preventative education and TIP awareness. Since the end of the TIP reporting period, Rizvo's office co-hosted (with OSCE) a three- week training program for police and prosecutors. The Coordinator's office is also finalizing an anti-TIP manual for social workers, health care professionals, police and prosecutors with an emphasis on the protection of children. Anti-TIP education initiatives include plans to add an information campaign to the curriculum for all children throughout BiH starting in the 5th grade. When implemented, this will be only the second topic (in addition to the human rights and democracy curriculum of Post's Civitas civic education program) that is taught throughout all of BiH, where there is no standard state level curriculum. Finally, the Coordinator's office expects to complete final drafting of the law on the protection of domestic TIP victims in July, with the hope of adopting it before the October national elections. ¶3. (SBU) COMMENT. The BiH government continues to make significant progress in fighting TIP. The areas for improvement cited in ref A -- the need for stiffer sentences for trafficking perpetrators and more aggressive investigation and punishment of public officials involved in TIP -- are part of broader systemic challenges in BiH that should be addressed as rule of law reforms move forward. We are encouraged that the State Coordinator's office has addressed almost all the points in last year's TIP strategy, and has accomplished this with limited resources. An additional plus is that the report received positive, high quality local media coverage. In a pre-election climate where negative news sells and confidence in the government is low, BiH's on-going efforts to combat TIP sparked all-too-rare news coverage of government success. END COMMENT. MCELHANEY