GOAM ACTIVE ON TIP NATIONAL ACTION PLAN, RAISING

C O N F I D E N T I A L YEREVAN 000106 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/CARC, G/TIP, DRL E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/31/2017 TAGS: HSTC PHUM PREL PGOV KCRM KWMN SMIG AM SUBJECT: GOAM ACTIVE ON TIP NATIONAL ACTION PLAN, RAISING LEVEL OF INTERAGENCY COMMISSION REF: A) 06 YEREVAN 1548 B) 06 YEREVAN 1667 C) 06 YEREVAN 1715 Classified By: CDA A. F. Godfrey for reasons 1.4 (b, d). ¶1. (C) Charge d'affaires presented the interim TIP report to Armenian DFM Arman Kirakossian January 30, a week later than first planned, because Kirakossian had had to travel abroad. CDA emphasized the progress Armenia had made, and pointed out that its relatively positive interim assessment was largely a result of the actions it had taken in the last two months of 2006 (ref C),after post's strong interventions with the GOAM. CDA noted that, while positive, the Prosecutor General,s restructuring of the Anti-TIP Unit was not the strong response to allegations of investigative misconduct for which we had hoped (reftels). He stressed that continued momentum on TIP was critical. ¶2. (C) Kirakossian told CDA that the MFA had finally submitted to the government its proposal to raise the working level of the Anti-TIP Interagency Commission to the ministerial level (see paragraph 3). In response to another of the complaints we raised to the GOAM during our anti-TIP blitz late last year (reftels),Kirakossian said the commission would meet February 8 to vote on the draft of the overdue National Action Plan on trafficking before sending it for cabinet approval. ¶3. (C) Anna Aghadjanian, head of the MFA's human rights desk and an active member of the interagency commission, told us the MFA had proposed to raise the commission to the ministerial level, with Hovik Abrahamian, minister of territorial administration and infrastructure coordination, at the helm. Abrahamian's ministry oversees the police and migration departments, as well as local government structures across Armenia. Under the MFA's proposal, the other members of the group would be deputy ministers, and the current commission would be retained as a working group. Aghadjanian said she expected a response from the cabinet any day. ¶4. (C) COMMENT: Though many members of the current commission are hard-working and dedicated to the cause, the group has lacked sufficient authority to make any real progress in the fight against TIP. Abrahamian -- a political heavyweight and de facto deputy prime minister -- certainly has the power to make the commission fully effective, should he prove serious about taking it on. If he is appointed, we will engage with him heavily to ensure he understands the importance of his role -- and the consequences to Armenia's TIP rating, should he fail to take it seriously. GODFREY