ARMENIA DRAMATICALLY INCREASES PENALTIES FOR

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 YEREVAN 000960 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR G/TIP, DRL AND EUR/CARC E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL KTIP KCRM HTSC AM SUBJECT: ARMENIA DRAMATICALLY INCREASES PENALTIES FOR TIP RELATED CRIMES YEREVAN 00000960 001.2 OF 003 Sensitive but unclassified. Please protect accordingly. -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (SBU) Recent changes in Armenia's Criminal Code significantly increase penalties for trafficking in persons (TIP),making them commensurate with penalties for crimes such as rape. The Prosecutor General initiated the amendments, which took effect July 16. The changes attempt to distinguish between trafficking and organizing prostitution, or pimping. We hope the government's interagency Anti-TIP Commission will use this opportunity to increase public awareness of the strengthened penalties and TIP issues in general. Anti- trafficking case data that recently appeared in Armenia's press tracks with preliminary data given to us by the Prosecutor General's Office. Armenian law enforcement investigated 17 cases of trafficking and pimping during the first six months of 2006 (Note: This could represent an increase, as law enforcement investigated 30 new cases in all of 2005). Two NGOs that work on anti-TIP reported they had assisted 12 victims of trafficking between March 1 and July 1. End Summary. -------------- TIP DEFINED MORE EXPLICITLY -------------- ¶2. (U) The changes to the Criminal Code were adopted June 1, but took effect July 16, after the president signed them. In developing the amendments, the Prosecutor General's Office cooperated with the OSCE, particularly with ODIHR (Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights),which enthusiastically supported the changes. Full text of the new statute is below at paragraph seven. ¶3. (U) Before the changes, the Code contained one article on trafficking (132) and two articles related to prostitution (261 and 262). In addition to amending those statutes, the Prosecutor General's Office added a new TIP statute, 132-1, which punishes human exploitation. The revisions to Article 132 punish trafficking acts leading to that exploitation (i.e. recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of a person). The prostitution statutes, Articles 261 and 262, deal only with those cases of recruitment of prostitutes and organization of prostitution, which do not contain the elements of Articles 132 and 132-1. This differentiation is significant, representing an attempt to make the provisions more concrete, and limiting the potential for widely varying interpretations of the law. The full text of the amended trafficking articles is below in paragraph seven. -------------- NEW PENALTIES EQUIVALENT TO THOSE FOR RAPE -------------- ¶4. (U) The amended articles remove correctional labor and fines from the list of possible penalties for those convicted of TIP crimes. Under the new legislation, the applicable prison term ranges from three to 15 years, depending on the aggravating circumstances. (Note: The penalty for rape is also three to 15 years, depending on the circumstances. End Note.) The increased penalties also have had the effect of bumping trafficking crimes up into the category of "grave" and "especially grave" crimes. According to the Armenian Criminal Code, those convicted of "grave" and "especially grave" crimes must serve at least half of their sentence, rather than one-third of their sentences, as was the case prior to the amendments. -------------- -------------- UPDATED STATISTICS ON TIP VICTIMS AND CONVICTIONS -------------- -------------- ¶5. (SBU) According to the Armenian Prosecutor General's Office, Armenian law enforcement has investigated 17 cases related to sexual exploitation in the first half YEREVAN 00000960 002.2 OF 003 of 2006. Five of those cases involved trafficking, and the other 12 involved pimping. (Note: Because these cases were prosecuted before the statutes were revised, it is possible that some of the 12 cases prosecuted under the pimping statutes were actually instances of trafficking. End Note.) The cases involved 75 women victims, 24 of whom were involved in the trafficking convictions (four in Armenia, 16 in the UAE, and four in Turkey). The remaining 51 women were involved in the pimping cases (10 in Armenia, 39 in the UAE, and two in Turkey). ¶6. (SBU) NGOs Hope and Help and the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) reported that they have identified and helped 12 victims between March 1 and July 1. Of these 12 victims, nine were trafficked to Turkey and three to the United Arab Emirates. Armenian law enforcement bodies referred five of the 12 victims to the NGOs. Two were referred by the Prosecutor General's office, and one each by the National Security Service (NSS),police, and border guards. According to preliminary data provided by Senior Prosecutor Armen Boshnaghyan, between March 1 and July 1 there were two convictions under the trafficking statute resulting in two and four years of imprisonment; two more cases are currently pending in court. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶7. (SBU) While the legal changes are encouraging, as always, it will be the GOAM's approach to implementation that will show how serious it is about punishing traffickers. We hope the GOAM's interagency Anti-TIP Commission will take advantage of the opportunity to publicize the harsher penalties and increase public awareness of the trafficking issue. -------------- FULL TEXT OF THE AMENDED TRAFFICKING ARTICLES -------------- ¶8. (U) Below is the full text of the amended Article 132 and the new Article 132-1 translated by post: Article 132: Recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons with the aim of exploitation. ¶1. Recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons by means of threat or use of non- life- or health-threatening violence; or by means of other forms of coercion, abduction, deception, abuse of a position of vulnerability; or by giving or receiving payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over the person with the aim of exploitation; shall be punished with imprisonment from three to six years. ¶2. Recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons with the aim of exploitation committed against 1) a person under 18; 2) a person who does not completely or partially understand the nature and character of his/her act due to mental disorder, or who is deprived of the ability to control it; shall be punished with imprisonment from seven to 10 years. ¶3. Acts stipulated under parts 1 or 2 of this Article committed 1) against two or more persons; 2) by a prior agreement between a group of people; 3) by the use of an official post; 4) by a threat or use of violence in peril of person's life or health; shall be punished with imprisonment from seven to 10 years. ¶4. Acts stipulated under parts 1 or 2 of this Article 1) that are committed by an organized group; or 2) that have caused death or other grave consequences by negligence, shall be punished with imprisonment from 10 to 15 years. ¶5. In this Article exploitation of persons shall be deemed: forcing others to engage in prostitution or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, and taking of organs or tissues of a person. YEREVAN 00000960 003.2 OF 003 Article 132-1: Forcing (engaging or keeping) a person into prostitution or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, or slavery or practices similar to slavery. ¶1. Forced prostitution or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, by means of threat or non- life- or health-threatening violence; or by other forms of coercion, abduction, deception, abuse of a position of vulnerability; or by giving or receiving payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over the person; shall be punished with imprisonment from five to 10 years. ¶2. The same act committed 1) against a person under 18; 2) against a person who does not completely or partially understand the nature and character of his/her act due to mental disorder or is deprived of the ability to control it; 3) against two or more persons; 4) by a prior agreement between a group of people; 5) by the use of an official post; 6) by life- or health-threatening violence; shall be punished with imprisonment from seven to 12 years. ¶3. Acts stipulated under parts 1 or 2 of this Article 1) that are committed by an organized group; or 2) that have caused death or other grave consequences by negligence, shall be punished with imprisonment from 12 to 15 years. EVANS