LITHUANIA RESPONSIVE TO TIP REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 VILNIUS 000591

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR G/TIP, EUR/NB, INL, DRL, PRM, IWI

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KCRM KWMN PHUM PREL PGOV SMIG LH
SUBJECT: LITHUANIA RESPONSIVE TO TIP REPORT

REF: A. STATE 85553 B. VILNIUS 520

VILNIUS 00000591 001.2 OF 002



1. (SBU) SUMMARY. Our interlocutors here positively
appraised the 2006 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report and
reftel points. The report,s recommendations have already
inspired the GOL to implement measures to improve
anti-trafficking efforts. The GOL is also working on a
comprehensive strategy to combat trade in humans that
includes strengthening a national anti-TIP coordination plan
that enhances coordination between local and national
officials. The release of the 2006 TIP report received broad
press coverage in Lithuania, and we continue to highlight
this issue in our public outreach. END SUMMARY.

--------------
Lithuania responds to TIP report
--------------


2. (SBU) Lithuania's National Coordinator for Trafficking in
Persons (TIP) Strategy, Igoris Bazylevas, told us that the
GOL assessed the 2006 TIP report as objective and useful on
the whole. He outlined steps the GOL planned to take as a
result of the report,s suggestions. In response to the
report, he said, the Ministry will include judges in the TIP
awareness training program for law enforcement officials and
prosecutors. Bazylevas also told us that the Interior
Ministry has allocated funds under the National TIP
prevention strategy to establish an official screening and
referral process to transfer victims to institutions
providing assistance, a need highlighted in the 2005 and 2006
TIP reports. He added that, in January 2006, Lithuania
established a specialized TIP police unit which has already
engaged in both international and domestic investigations, a
reform initiated in response to the 2005 TIP report.


3. (SBU) Bazylevas took issue with only one statement in the
report, saying that he was "skeptical" that 10 to 20 percent
of persons working in prostitution are under the age of 18.
Audra Sipaviciene, head of the Vilnius International
Organization for Migration, told us she also thought that the
number, as a percentage of all prostitutes, was too high,
although 16 percent of those victims who sought IOM's help in
2005 were minors.

--------------
Lithuania consolidating TIP strategy
--------------


4. (SBU) Bazylevas emphasized the need for an overall
coordinated strategy to combat trafficking in Lithuania and
described plans to strengthen the national coordination plan
to combat human trafficking. The State Secretary (the
ranking non-political civil servant) of the Interior Ministry
will become the country's official representative to combat
TIP. (The TIP coordinator position currently belongs to the
Deputy Head of the Public Security Department). The GOL will
establish TIP prevention coordination groups in all ten
counties in Lithuania to fight TIP on the local level. These
groups will include officials from municipalities, police,
NGOs and other organizations and will concentrate on
developing a coordinated approach to TIP.

--------------
New information initiatives
--------------


5. (SBU) Bazylevas said that the Ministry of Social Affairs
had established a specialized informational TIP prevention
website targeted at persons seeking employment abroad. The
Interior Ministry is planning to organize an international
anti-TIP conference in the fall of 2006. Bazylevas also
commented that the Ministry had increased funding to NGOs to
spread information programs to at-risk youth, although he
said many of the implementing NGOs need to build capacity to
reach their targets more effectively.

--------------
Embassy efforts
--------------


6. (SBU) This Mission continues to highlight anti-TIP efforts
in public outreach. Our July 4 event will feature a leader
of an organization dedicated to combating TIP and providing
services to victims as a special guest. The Charge will
publicly recognize the importance of her work and the
anti-TIP struggle writ large in a speech to high-level
government officials and other attendees.

VILNIUS 00000591 002.2 OF 002



--------------
Comment: Lithuania responsive to TIP report
--------------


7. (SBU) Lithuania continues to take TIP seriously. The
Interior Ministry's attention to the 2006 report is serious
and credible, and the GOL is taking concrete steps to address
specific recommendations. The appointment of the Interior
Ministry's second-in-command as the national anti-Trafficking
point person is a testament to Lithuania's political will to
address the scourge of human trafficking.
KELLY