MACEDONIA: POLICE LAUNCH ANTI-TIP RAIDS IN WESTERN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SKOPJE 000365

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

FOR G/TIP (SALLY NEUMANN),DOJ (JOE JONES),DOJ/OPDAT (CARL
ALEXANDRE)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM MK
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: POLICE LAUNCH ANTI-TIP RAIDS IN WESTERN
MACEDONIA

REF: A. SKOPJE 132

B. SKOPJE 317

SUMMARY


1. (U) Four recent government (GOM) anti-TIP raids in western
Macedonia in April and May highlight the GOM's increased
anti-TIP efforts at the operational level. Ministry of
Interior (MOI) officials acknowledge the initial raid was
flawed, but have since provided better victim protection and
evidence collection. The four operations rescued 33 external
and internal TIP victims --four of them minors-- and allowed
police to bring six TIP-related charges against club owners
and their accomplices. End summary.



2. (SBU) In a May 4 meeting with Post's Department of Justice
Senior Police Advisor and Post's TIP Officer, the MOI's new
Head of the Sector to Combat TIP, Sande Kitanov, reviewed
recent police raids that are part of GOM efforts to
investigate TIP allegations in suspicious establishments in
western Macedonia. So far, with the active support of the
Minister of Interior, the police have carried out four
operations as part of a comprehensive on-going effort to
combat TIP. Despite initial operational shortcomings and
lack of victim cooperation, the police have utilized lessons
learned and are handling the cases more effectively. As a
result, the police have:

- Established a system of centralized decision-making to
identify TIP victims;
- Centralized raid coordination to avoid leaks;
- Included social workers and labor inspectors in the raids,
and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in the
victim interviewing process;
- Taken advantage of recent changes in the law regarding plea
bargaining to secure future convictions;
- Provided a reflection period to vulnerable victims who have
then decided to testify; and
- Heightened efforts to finalize Standard Operational
Procedures (SOP) for TIP cases by the end of May.


April 22 Operation - 14 victims
--------------


3. (SBU) On the night of April 22, Macedonian police raided
seven clubs in the Tetovo area and seven in the Gostivar
area. The joint police, labor and public revenue inspector
operation discovered fourteen external and internal female
TIP victims. Even though no TIP victims were discovered at
one site, the Oriental Ace club near Tetovo, the public
revenue inspector seized Euros 11,000 and closed down the
establishment, which has a reputation for prostitution
activities, for "business irregularities."


4. (SBU) The MOI has launched an internal investigation into
the case of three off-duty police officers who were present
"as guests" in the Oriental Ace club at the time of the raid,
and has seized two pistols from those officers. All 14 TIP
victims found at the other localities are at the MOI Transit
Center, where IOM has conducted preliminary interviews,
followed by interviews by female MOI officers. So far, not
one of the 14 victims, who have legal work documents to stay
in Macedonia, has agreed to testify against the clubs' owners.


April 24 Operation - 11 victims
--------------


5. (SBU) Convinced that the April 22 operation against the
Oriental Ace club had been leaked in advance by an insider,
the MOI decided to exclude the Tetovo police from a follow-up
operation at the same club on April 24. The club was found
to be fully operational at the time of the raid, despite a
Public Revenue Service (PRS) seal from the April 22 raid that
should have closed the club down. In the 15 minutes required
for the police to enter the establishment, the club owners
hid eight Bulgarian and two Serb women and one Macedonian
(Roma) woman in a 2 square meter enclosure in the ceiling
above the bar. All the women were rescued, and after
interviews by IOM and the MOI, the 10 foreigners were placed
at the Transit Center and the Macedonian national at the Open
Gate La Strada (OGLS) shelter.

SKOPJE 00000365 002 OF 003




6. (SBU) Since none of the victims agreed to testify against
the club owner, the Special Organized Crime Prosecutor, in
consultation with the MOI and the investigative judge,
decided that there was no solid evidence to build a TIP or a
sexual exploitation case against the owner of Oriental Ace.
However, the owner, Ali Arifi, has been charged with two
criminal offenses - illegal deprivation of liberty (i.e. the
placement of the women in the ceiling enclosure) and
violation of an employee's rights (i.e. none of the women had
health insurance or social security). If convicted on these
charges, Arifi could be sentenced up to three years on the
first charge, and up to a year on the second.


April 26 Operation - 4 victims
--------------


7. (SBU) Frustrated with the lack of incriminating testimony
in the two Oriental Ace raids, the MOI decided to concentrate
its efforts on the post-raid interviewing of four TIP victims
found at the "Redgo" club near Tetovo on April 26. All four
TIP victims are ethnic Albanian Macedonian nationals, two of
them minors. The victims were placed at the OGLS shelter,
where they were assigned a support team consisting of a
social worker and a psychologist (and a guardian for the
minors).


8. (SBU) For two days, the police allowed the victims to
recuperate, and then interviewed them in the presence of
their support teams. On the basis of the minors' testimony,
the Special Organized Crime Prosecutor has charged the owner
of the bar, a driver and the subject guarding the victims
with crimes under Art. 418a (2) for TIP under aggravated
circumstances. The prosecutor and police agreed to a plea
bargain arrangement with a guard at the club, who is now
cooperating in the case involving the two adult TIP victims.
(Note: in Macedonia, cases involving minors are treated
separately from cases that involve adults.) If convicted,
the two main suspects could be sentenced to a minimum of
eight years in prison.


May 2 Operation - 4 victims
--------------


9. (SBU) In a May 2 operation, police rescued four TIP
victims in a centrally located pizzeria in Tetovo. All four
are Macedonian nationals; two of them are minors. One of the
minors, the only ethnic Macedonian in the group, is a
15-year-old girl from Kumanovo who was sold by her mother at
the age of 12 and has been abused sexually ever since. Three
of the victims are currently at the OGLS shelter, and one of
the two minors is with her family. The Kumanovo minor has
cooperated with the Special Prosecutor and police. The
collected evidence has allowed them to build an Art. 418a (2)
TIP case under aggravated circumstances against the
ringleader, Jusuf Dauti, who is in 30-day detention, and a
child neglect case against the girl's mother. If convicted,
Dauti could be sentenced to a minimum of eight years in
prison.


COMMENT



10. (SBU) Following extensive political statements and public
awareness campaigns on combating TIP in February and March
(refs A and B),the GOM is showing its teeth by carrying out
successful anti-TIP raids and post-raid victim protection.
At the institutional level, the MOI's leadership has shown
willingness to move away from its past refusal to acknowledge
the extent of the TIP problem in Macedonia. MOI officials
now acknowledge the existence of internal TIP victims and
have started treating trafficked minors as a special category
of victims. The new Head of the anti-TIP Sector, a long-time
beneficiary of USG training, has been receptive to Post's
suggestions on how to improve police operations, but he still
faces challenges in coordinating operations with the local
police. Post continues to monitor the anti-TIP efforts of
the GOM and believes that, once the TIP SOPs are drafted and
implemented, Macedonia will be even better prepared to
protect victims and secure evidence to effectively prosecute
TIP cases.

SKOPJE 00000365 003 OF 003


MILOVANOVIC