Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06YEREVAN960
2006-07-19 06:48:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Yerevan
Cable title:  

ARMENIA DRAMATICALLY INCREASES PENALTIES FOR

Tags:  PGOV PREL KTIP KCRM HTSC AM 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO2884
RR RUEHDBU RUEHLN RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHYE #0960/01 2000648
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 190648Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY YEREVAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3545
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHDE/AMCONSUL DUBAI 0044
RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI 0034
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 1081
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
-------

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