MACEDONIA: RENEWED COMMITMENT TO FIGHTING TIP

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SKOPJE 000974 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS FOR STATE G/TIP (JENNIFER DONNELLY),STATE EUR/SCE (GAILYN MCCLUNG),DOJ (JOE JONES),DOJ/OPDAT (CARL ALEXANDRE) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM MK SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: RENEWED COMMITMENT TO FIGHTING TIP REF: A. SKOPJE 132 ¶B. SKOPJE 740 AND PREVIOUS SUMMARY ¶1. (SBU) In 2007 the Government of Macedonia (GOM) has shown a concerted effort to make fighting human trafficking (TIP) a high priority. The National Commission on Combating TIP (NC) has adopted Post's seven priority recommendations to combat/prevent TIP in Macedonia, and the Minister of Interior (MOI) has committed to adopt them as a GOM-wide plan that would include all relevant ministries. Stronger laws, better victim assistance mechanisms and more effective TIP-related law enforcement procedures are among the areas that Macedonia needs to work on to improve its anti-TIP compliance. End summary. ANTI-TIP UPDATE ¶2. (SBU) On December 13, DCM Navratil called on Minister of Interior Jankuloska and Macedonian Director of Police Todorovski to discuss GOM activities to combat and prevent TIP. Following the successful example of our 2006-2007 six priority anti-TIP recommendations (Ref. A),the DCM provided a similar 2007-2008 plan, based on G/TIP's Macedonia Action Plan. Minister Jankuloska discussed the seven new priority recommendations with the DCM, and promised to distribute them to the other ministries and make it the GOM's near-term action plan for which the MOI has the lead role. ¶3. (SBU) The seven priority actions are: -- Adopt the Draft Law for Amending the Criminal Code that deals with TIP; -- Fully implement a database for TIP victims and TIP criminals; -- Include language in Art. 418-b (smuggling) verdicts that indicates if the smuggled persons were also TIP victims; -- Start implementing the new Standard Operational Procedures (SOPs) for dealing with TIP victims; -- Consider the possibility for the GOM to provide financial assistance to the domestic TIP victims shelter; -- Intensify efforts to investigate, prosecute and convict TIP-related crimes; and -- Deliver high-level public statements condemning TIP and the demand for commercial sex. ADOPT CRIMINAL CODE AMENDMENTS ¶4. (SBU) Minister Jankuloska informed the DCM that the Draft Law for Amending the Criminal Code is currently in Parliamentary procedure. She expects that the amendments would be passed unanimously because there is no public opposition to them. Cognizant of the fact that Parliament may be distracted by other priorities, Jankuloska committed to present our priority action plan to the GOM and push for fast adoption of the TIP articles. IMPLEMENT TIP DATABASE ¶5. (SBU) The Minister talked about the on-going project between Vienna-based NGO ICMPD and the GOM related to a comprehensive TIP database. In January 2008, ICPMD is planning to train employees of the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) and the MOI, since there will be two databases: one on TIP victims (hosted by the NRM),and one on TIP criminals (hosted by the MOI). The databases should be operational by February 2008. SMUGGLING V. TIP ISSUES ¶6. (SBU) As has been reported before (Ref. B),the toughest TIP-related challenge for the MOI is to build cases on "pure" TIP charges when potential victims have consistently refused to identify themselves as such, and when the evidence during raids has not been sufficient to prove trafficking. A concerned Jankuloska complimented her police inspectors for trying to find "lesser charges" to convict TIP-related criminals, in order to keep them behind bars. SKOPJE 00000974 002 OF 003 NEW SOPs ON TIP VICTIMS ¶7. (SBU) Over the past six months, an inter-ministerial team (MOI, Ministry of Justice and NRM) has drafted extensive SOPs for conducting TIP raids and protecting potential TIP victims. The SOPs are currently in the legal departments of the relevant ministries before adoption by the whole GOM. Minister Jankuloska assured the DCM that even now the Anti-TIP Sector of the MOI follows most of the SOP procedures during raids. The main area of improvement, confirmed by our DOJ police advisor, is in the participation of NGO representatives and/or social workers during post-raid victim interviews. ¶8. (SBU) Such was the case in the four November 30 raids on night clubs in the Tetovo region in western Macedonia. During the raids, 19 women were discovered (12 from Macedonia and seven foreigners). On December 1, all women were interviewed by two Anti-TIP Sector police officers and two social workers, in order to determine whether they were TIP victims. All women claimed that they were willingly involved in the jobs at the four clubs. The Macedonian nationals were then let go, while the seven foreigners were deported on the basis of their illegal employment in Macedonia. ¶9. (SBU) Agreeing with the Minister that victim identification is a complex issue, the DCM suggested the inclusion of NGO representatives and social workers during the raids, rather than just in the post-raid interviews. The Minister promised to look into such an option, noting that the MOI would need a good system to ensure the safety of the NGO civilians. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO SHELTERS ¶10. (SBU) The Minister said that, even though the GOM was strapped for resources, it was ready to translate its commitment to fighting TIP into material support to shelters and NGOs. The MOI has signed memorandums of understanding with two of the main TIP-related NGOs in the country, and is planning to provide free security to the domestic victims' shelter that is run by one of these NGOs. In addition, the NC is ready to contact some of its member ministries with a request for pro bono doctors, legal advisors, social workers and other specialists to the shelter which is now paying for the services of private professionals. INTENSIFY PROSECUTIONS AND CONVICTIONS ¶11. (SBU) Minister Jankuloska provided positive news about Macedonia's stepped-up efforts to fight trafficking. She reported that for the 11 months of 2007, there were 30 prosecutions, with 77 defendants, 49 of whom were convicted. The speedy convictions mark a significant departure from the past when TIP cases would take years to complete and conviction rates were lower. HIGH LEVEL PUBLIC STATEMENTS ¶12. (SBU) The Minister said that she and other senior members of the GOM have made numerous public statements condemning TIP, but she acknowledged that "it's never enough." She said that her most recent statements were at an NGO-organized regional workshop, and at the December 12 Ohrid regional police meeting. She added that she was looking for additional ways for promotion of the anti-TIP message and gave as an example the newest anti-TIP campaign "It's Simple," which is conducted by the NRM, OSCE and the NC. COMMENT ¶13. (SBU) Throughout this year, Post has encouraged and observed heightened GOM attention to TIP issues. Proactive NC leadership and a clear commitment of the most senior members of the GOM have made our anti-TIP cooperation with the Macedonians better than ever. Our on-going working level contacts have been strengthened by Post's TIP Officer's participation in the GOM's Anti-TIP Secretariat and in the ICMPD-led Transnational Referral Mechanism Advisory Board. We will continue our active engagement with the Macedonian SKOPJE 00000974 003 OF 003 government on this issue. MILOVANOVIC