ISRAEL PASSES NEW TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS LAW

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 004155

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB GTIP PHUM IS KCRM KJUS
SUBJECT: ISRAEL PASSES NEW TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS LAW



1. (SUMMARY) The Knesset approved October 17 a law to
strengthen and broaden penalties for human trafficking, an
objective that Post has been advocating for and that the
Olmert government strongly embraced. MK Zehava Gal-On
(Meretz) drafted the law, which was supported by the
government and passed in a unanimous vote. The law broadens
the definition of trafficking in men, women and children to
include labor and other forms of exploitation; establishes a
fund consisting of property confiscated from traffickers and
fines assessed to them; and increases to 20 years the maximum
prison term for human trafficking, similar to other serious
crimes such as rape. The media quoted Gal-On as saying "We
are talking about an innovative, revolutionary and
precedent-setting law that deals harshly with traffickers of
people and body parts. The law will provide law enforcement
officers better tools to combat the phenomenon." (END
SUMMARY)


2. The new law stipulates trafficking offenses for the
purposes of stealing organs, kidnapping newborn children,
slavery, forced labor (including the taking of passports),
prostitution, pornography and sexual abuse. The definition
of slavery, the first in the Israeli legal system, is "a
situation in which authority normally exercised over property
is imposed on a person." An unofficial translation of the
draft law (no official translation of the final law is yet
available) said that the existing Legal Aid Law will be
amended to provide legal aid to all victims of trafficking
and slavery, including those trafficked for the purposes of
labor. Previously, legal aid was accorded only to victims of
trafficking for the purpose of prostitution. According to
the unofficial translation, the victim does not have to meet
economic criteria to receive the aid.


3. Highlights of the new law include increased sentences for
trafficking and compensation to victims.
-- The maximum penalty for trafficking in persons under the
law is 16 years, increasing to 20 years if the victim is a
minor.
-- The maximum penalty for kidnapping for any of the purposes
of trafficking is 20 years, with a maximum penalty of 10
years for taking a person outside the borders of the country
in which they reside for the purposes of trafficking.
-- The law increases from one to three years the penalty for
withholding a passport, increasing to five years with certain
aggravated circumstances, such as placing the person deprived
of their passport in jeopardy.
-- The law instructs the court to grant to trafficking
victims compensation to be paid by the offender or through a
dedicated fund to be set up for such purposes.
-- The courts will be authorized to hold trials involving
trafficking in persons behind closed doors and to prevent the
publication of details that identify the victims.


4. When the bill passed a committee reading in September,
Justice Ministry Trafficking Coordinator Rachel Gershuni
described the initiative as a pilot program -- to be reviewed
after two years -- that will expand legal aid to all
trafficking victims, not just those trafficked for
prostitution. After the law was approved October 17, the
media quoted Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee
Chairman Menachem Ben-Sasson (Kadima) as saying "this law
places Israel in line with the world's most enlightened
nations, and deals with one of the worst problems in crime
and corruption worldwide."


5. Anti-trafficking NGO Hotline for Migrant Workers praised
many aspects of the new law, calling it comprehensive and an
important tool in the prevention of trafficking in persons,
notably increasing the prison terms for trafficking and
expanding the definition of trafficking to include all forms
of trafficking, including trafficking in labor, organs and
children. The Hotline did criticize the law for allocating
confiscated property and fines from traffickers to the
government rather than directly to the victims, and for
failing to include in the expanded definition of trafficking
the charging of fees for job placement absent a legal job to
offer in Israel. The Hotline also urged stronger steps for
the rehabilitation of victims, notably clearer policy for the
issuance of visas to encourage victims to testify against
their traffickers and to assist in the rehabilitation process.

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