QROMANIAQS EIGHTH ANNUAL ANTI-TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 13 BUCHAREST 000178

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPT FOR G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, PRM, IWI
DEPT FOR EUR/NCE AARON JENSEN
DEPT FOR USAID, DOJ, DHS, DOL, DOT

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM PREF SMIG ELAB EAID KCRM KWMN KFRD
SOCI, RO
SUBJECT: QROMANIAQS EIGHTH ANNUAL ANTI-TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS
REPORT

REF: STATE 00002731

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ZFR CANCEL ENTIRE MESSAGE - REPLACED BY BUCHAREST 0183 ZFR ZFR


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reduced significantly in recent years. The increase in trafficking
victims destined for Italy, Greece and Spain parallels the increase
in overall migration of young Romanians who travel to these
countries for low-wage jobs.


B. The profile of traffickers is broad and varied. In some cases
traffickers belong to internationally organized groups, which also
specialize in other crimes such as the smuggling of drugs, guns,
etc.; however in the majority of cases, traffickers appear to
comprise small groups with loose structures, including family
members or other individuals who are often known to the victims.
Some victims may at some point become traffickers themselves,
particularly as recruiters, as they see no other opportunities
before them.

The number of victims identified by the GOR likely does not reflect
the total number of victims of TIP-related crimes. Many victims are
reluctant to identify themselves, primarily because of the social
stigma associated with TIP activities. There is also a general
distrust among TIP victims of government officials and their
readiness to assist them. Many victims either seek no assistance or
prefer to take advantage of other options rather than accept
government assistance.

A National Interest Program for victim assistance was created by the
National Agency Against Trafficking in Persons (NAATIP) in the last
quarter of 2006. This program, the first of its kind in the
Ministry of Interior and Administrative Reform, made approximately
160,000 USD available to NGOs in the form of grants. The funds were
made available late in 2007 and the administration of the funds was
a complex endeavor. For this reason, only three NGOs had their
grants approved, for a total of approximately 72,000 USD
distributed. The NGOs were: Ad Pare Q 48,000, AFIV Artemis Q 8,800
USD and ANMRF Louis Pasteur Dej Q 23,000 USD. In 2007, governmental
support for NGOs became more consistent.


C. NAATIP is the governmental agency that leads the efforts of all
other agencies involved in anti-trafficking. The director of NAATIP
is the chairman of the Inter-ministerial Working Group (IWG) on
Human Trafficking. Other government agencies involved in anti-TIP
activities include: the Ministry of Administration and Interior
(MAI),the General Inspectorate of Border Police(GIBP),the General
ProsecutorQs Office (GPO),the Ministry of Justice (MOJ),the
Ministry of Labor and Social Solidarity (MLSS),the Ministry of
Education and Research (MER),the Ministry of Health (MOH),the
Ministry of Finance (MOF),the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Human
Rights Department),the National Authority for Child Protection
(NACP),the Ministry of Public Administration (MPA),the Ministry of
European Integration, the National Office for Refugees, the Ministry
of Culture and Religion, the National Audio-Visual Council, the
National Authority for the Labor Force, the Ministry of Youth, the
Agency for Student Camps and Tourism and the National Authority for
Child Protection and Adoptions. All of these agencies are members
of the IWG.


D. In 2007, funding was increased in order to provide personnel
responsible for combating trafficking in persons, and there are no
serious monetary impediments for the GOR to combat TIP on all
levels. Since RomaniaQs accession into the European Union there

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has been a serious focus on addressing corruption and providing
better funding for law enforcement personnel and prosecutors. These
plans remain works in progress, however, and although improvements
have been made, more work is necessary to enable Romania to reach
the standards of the more established members of the European Union.
The vast majority of victims identified by the GOR held Romanian
citizenship and were eligible for the same social services as any
other Romanian citizen. By U.S. and Western European standards,
some of these social services - particularly health services - were
lacking, but this is part of a larger social issue that affects TIP
victims in a similar manner as it does the majority of Romanian
citizens. There are still serious cultural taboos to being
identified as a TIP victim, especially young women who were forced
into prostitution. Due to these taboos, victims often remain silent
about what crimes were committed against them and this makes the
identification of the total number of trafficking victims a
difficult task.


E. The GOR monitors anti-trafficking efforts through the NAATIP and
in 2007 has improved its ability to gather statistics regarding TIP
victims and prosecutions of TIP offenders. This has been done
through the advancement of a TIP National Database (nominated below
as a QTip Best PracticeQ) that has been instrumental in tracking
countrywide trends in trafficking, and serving as a way to ensure
that no victims fell into the QcracksQ of the system. The General
Prosecutors Office and Ministry of Justice were responsible for
providing the number of prosecuted and trialed TIP cases, including
the number of arrested and convicted persons. The GOR has been very
forthcoming in sharing these statistics with NGOs, other governments
and international organizations. Twice a year the GOR provides a
public update on progress regarding TIP issues; foreign government
representatives, international organizations, NGOs and all relevant
GOR institutions were invited to participate.




2. (SBU) INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION OF TRAFFICKERS:
-------------- --------------


A. Law no. 678/2001 specifically prohibits trafficking and seeks to
protect and assist trafficked victims. Article 2 of the law
specifically covers both trafficking for sexual exploitation and
trafficking for non-sexual purposes (e.g. forced labor). Moreover,
the law sets forth prosecution measures and punishments for
traffickers. Law no. 39/2003 for Combating Organized Crime
specifically defines TIP as a serious crime, and includes TIP
offenses. Article 2 of the law defines an organized criminal group
as: Qa structured group formed of three or more persons that exist
for a period of time and acts in a coordinated manner for the
purpose of committing one or more grave offenses, in order to obtain
directly or indirectly a financial benefit or other material
benefit.Q The GOR also uses other laws in the prosecution of
trafficking cases, especially laws prohibiting pimping. All of
these laws taken together cover the full scope of trafficking
offenses.

TIP victims have the right to seek a civil remedy, and this can
occur simultaneously with the criminal proceeding, at the conclusion
of the criminal proceeding or completely separate from the criminal

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case.

The following are pieces of legislation were added in 2007 to
bolster existing TIP legislation: 1) Government Decision 1238/2007,
which approved specific National Standards for specialized
assistance services for trafficking victims and ensured a minimum of
individualized services which were dependent on each specific case;
2) Draft of NAATIP President Decision 1/2007, to approve the
National Interest Program to improve assistance provided to victims
and support NGOs with non-reimbursable funds; 3) Joint Order of
ministers and agency presidents to set up, organize and bring into
operation the Thematic Working Group to nationally coordinate
activities for the protection of victims of trafficking, published
in the Official Journal no. 799/2007.


B. Violations of Article 12 of Law no. 678/2001 carry sentences of
three to 12 years and raise the sentence to five to 15 years for
aggravating circumstances. The sentence provided in Article 13
paragraph 1 is from five to 15 years if the victims are below the
age of 18. The same article carries terms of seven to 18 years in
case of trafficking of minors under certain aggravating
characteristics, such as kidnapping while armed, by a group of
persons, or causing bodily injury. If the kidnapping results in the
death or suicide of the victim, the sentence goes from 15 to 25
years. Law 678/2001 defines trafficking in two articles (12 and 13)
and several paragraphs that interact to provide a complex set of
sentences ranging from three years (at a minimum) to 25 (at a
maximum). The sentence is dependent on factors such as: number of
perpetrators, age of the victim, and severity of damage caused to
the victim, kidnapping or fraud, and if violence or threats were
used.


C. The same penalties awarded in sexual exploitation cases are also
applied for labor trafficking offenses, to include recruiters.


D. Article 197, which covers rape, carries a sentence of three to
10 years, with the penalty raised to five to 15 years if the act
involves any of the following: two or more participants; is
conducted by the guardian of the rape victim; or if severe injuries
result. The penalties rise to 10 to 20 years if the victim is under

14. If the victim dies or commits suicide, the sentence increases
to 15 to 25 years. These penalties overall are comparable to
penalties for sex trafficking, as sentences for both range from
three to 25 years.


E. In Romania, all prostitution activities are criminalized, to
include the activities of brothel owners and pimps. However, there
is no law to punish the client, with the exception that if the
prostitute was a minor and the client admitted knowing that fact
before the act, the client can be prosecuted for sexual acts with a
minor.


F. Between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2007, the courts
rendered final convictions against 188 persons for committing the
offence of trafficking in persons. Out of these:

Q- 1 person was sentenced to 6-12 months imprisonment;
- 76 persons were sentenced to 1-5 years imprisonment;
- 66 persons were sentenced to 5-10 years imprisonment;

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- 1 person was sentenced to 10-15 years imprisonment;
- 17 (1 being a minor) persons were sentenced to a penalty
for which the sentence was conditionally suspended;
- 26 (1 being a minor) persons were sentenced to a penalty
for which the sentence was suspended under observation;
- 1 person was sentenced to a penalty for which the court
pronounced the sentence at the working place.

Under the Romanian Penal Code, an individual serving prison time for
a TIP offense can be released early from prison if two thirds of the
sentence has been served and the individual has demonstrated
significant moral rehabilitation. The Romanian legal system does
not provide for plea bargains or fines - only imprisonment sanctions
are given for TIP offenses.

The legal framework encourages the traffickers to cooperate with the
prosecution within the criminal proceedings. Article 20 from Law
no. 678/2001 provides: QThe person who committed one of the offences
provided by this law and during the criminal lawsuit denounces and
helps for identification of the other participant to the crime,
shall benefit by reducing his own penalty with a half.Q

In 2007, the Government indicted 398 defendants in 160 files for
committing TIP offenses.

Labor recruiters are prosecuted under Law no. 678/2001.


G. In 2007, the USG provided training to prosecutors, police
officers, judges, NAATIP officials and other law enforcement
officials through a DOJ sponsored Victim Witness Coordination
program. Most of this training took place in the North and West
regions of Romania. The program brought in experts from the U.S to
instruct Romanian officials on how to work effectively with victims
of trafficking during all legal proceedings. The responsibility for
sustaining this program fell under the NAATIP.


H. In 2007, Romanian prosecutors and law enforcement officials
collaborated with their counterparts from other countries in
numerous investigations regarding TIP offenses; 113 requests for
information were initiated by foreign judicial authorities and 119
were initiated by Romanian prosecutors. There are Romanian Law
Enforcement Liaison officers deployed to all Romanian embassies of
main destination countries.

Also, General Directorate for Combating Organized Crime (GDCOC) and
the Border Police have in many cases collaborated with officers from
other European Union countries.


I. The Romanian government extradites persons who are charged with
trafficking in other countries, if the legal conditions for
extradition are fulfilled. In 2007 there were no cases of
extradition for trafficking offenses.

Art. 19 from the Romanian Constitution provides:
(1) No Romanian citizen shall be extradited or expelled
from Romania.
(2) By exemption from the provision of para. (1),
Romanian citizens can be extradited based on the
international agreements Romania is a party to according

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to the law and on a mutual basis.
(3) Aliens and stateless persons may be extradited only in
compliance with an international convention or in terms
of reciprocity.
(4) Expulsion or extradition shall be ruled by the court.


J. There is no evidence of government involvement in or tolerance
of TIP. There were no prosecutions of Romanian officials for TIP
offences during the reporting period.


K. N/A.


L. The NAATIP was responsible for training all Romanian peacekeepers
on the realities of trafficking in persons prior to their
deployments. These training sections were conducted several times
by NAATIP officials during 2007.


M. Romania does not have an identified child sex tourism problem,
although the media have reported some incidents of sexual abuse of
children by foreign nationals visiting Romania. RomaniaQs child
sexual abuse laws have extra-territorial coverage. In the past,
foreign pedophiles were arrested and prosecuted in Romania for child
sex offenses.

In 2007 there were no cases of foreign pedophiles extradited to
their origin country.

The National Authority for Protection of Children Rights, in
cooperation with MAI, Romanian Hotel Industry Federation, Ministry
of Transportation, Ministry of Tourism and NGOs, continued the
project QIntersectorial collaboration between public and private for
prevention of trafficking and sexual exploitation in hotel industry
and tourism.Q A conduct code for protection of children against
sexual exploitation in tourism industry were expanded and promoted
within this project.



3. (SBU) PROTECTION AND ASSISTANCE TO VICTIMS
-------------- -



A. The GOR provides assistance to foreign trafficking victims, but
since Romania is not a destination country, there were few victims
identified from other countries, the exception to this being
Moldovan citizens. In many cases the Moldovan victims are treated
similarly to Romanian citizens, since many of them are legally in
Romania. There were no reported incidents where foreign trafficking
victims were deported from Romania. IOM has the lead on any cases
involving the repatriation of foreigners and has a good working
relationship with the GOR.


B. Under the provision of Law no. 678/2001, victims of trafficking
shall receive special physical, legal and social protection and
assistance. They are also entitled to physical, psychological and
social recovery. Upon request, TIP victims can receive temporary
accommodation in government shelters for ten days. The
accommodation time can be extended by three months or for the entire
duration of the criminal procedure, upon the request of the criminal
investigation authority. Victims of trafficking are also covered

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under the Protection of Crime Victims Law, which entered into force
in January 2005. The law specifies that Romanian authorities offer:
information regarding victimsQ rights; psychological aid; legal aid;
and financial compensation funded by the GOR. In 2007, government
reports mentioned at least eight operational state shelters for
adult victims of trafficking, each providing access to legal,
medical and psychological services to varying degrees.

In 2007, 669 victims of trafficking were assisted by the NAATIP.
This was an increase compared to 2006, when 476 victims were
assisted. This indicates that aid provided by the GOR is reaching
more victims than before. Most of the assistance provided in 2007
was in the form of social/legal assistance. Only 69 of the victims
were placed in shelters by NAATIP, 27 in NGO shelters and 42 in
state-run shelters. Most TIP victims in Romania opted to receive
services while staying with friends and family. In Romania there is
a severe bias, dating to the communist times, against state-run
facilities; even though some state-run shelters are in good
condition, few victims take advantage of these types of services.


C. The National Interest Program for victim assistance was created
by the NAATIP in the last quarter of 2006. This program, the first
of its kind in the Ministry of Interior and Administrative Reform,
made approximately 160,000 USD available to NGOs in the form of
grants. The funds were made available late in 2007 and the
administration of the funds was a complex endeavor. For this
reason, only three NGOs had their grants approved, for a total of
approximately 72,000 USD distributed. The NGOs were: Ad Pare Q
48,000, AFIV Artemis Q 8,800 USD and ANMRF Louis Pasteur Dej Q
23,000 USD. In 2007, governmental support for NGOs became more
consistent.


D. The National Authority for Protection of Child Rights set up an
identification system for minor victims of trafficking. Some law
enforcement agencies have procedures for identifying victims of
trafficking; this has improved through the training and expertise
provided by the 15 regional centers of the NAATIP.


E. Not applicable since in Romania there is no legalized
prostitution.


F. According to Romanian law, modified in 2005, victims of
trafficking who are arrested for prostitution or begging cannot be
prosecuted for these offenses. Normally, victims that come from
other countries are identified prior to their repatriation; there
are sometimes delays in identifying internal victims. Children are
always considered victims in relation to trafficking and they are
the beneficiaries of support and protection according to the
Romanian laws. In the past there were anecdotal reports of
trafficking victims being arrested for crimes, but these reports
have reduced in 2007.


G. Romanian legislation contains special provisions that provide
benefits and protections for victims who assist in the investigation
and prosecution of trafficking offenses. Prosecutors responsible
for TIP cases usually keep an objective viewpoint when investigating
TIP cases and are required to remain unbiased when investigating
whether a crime took place.


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There are no legal impediments to a victim seeking legal redress,
but the Romanian legal system is slow-moving and often victims are
not able to remain in the location when the investigation/trial is
taking place. Victims are able to file civil suits against their
traffickers as part of the criminal process or as a separate civil
action. There is nothing preventing witnesses from leaving the
country, and foreigners who are victims of trafficking are
repatriated at the expense of the Romanian government. The
repatriations are often as dictated by bilateral treaties which
Romania has with neighboring and western European countries.
Foreign citizens who are victims of trafficking have the right to
wait 90 days to decide if the would like to cooperate in a criminal
proceeding. The victim witness coordination program that is
outlined in the Qbest practiceQ section of this report has begun to
address this issue.


H. The GOR has both formal and informal measures for protecting
victims and witnesses of trafficking offenses. The formal system
includes assistance in changing the witnessQs identity and
residence. This is a specialized system that requires a
prosecutorsQ request and an assessment based upon criteria used by
the witness protection unit. Although these measures have been used
to protect witnesses in TIP cases in the past, they were not used to
protect any TIP victims in 2007. In addition, the victim can invoke
less formal judicial procedures to assist in protecting their
identity and reduce their contact with the defendant and defendantQs
associates while testifying in court. TIP investigators in several
counties describe taking a personal interest in ensuring the
protection of TIP victims. At the same time, individual TIP victims
have continued to complain about being contacted or harassed by
traffickers and their associates.

The GOR provides shelter services for both adult and juvenile
victims of TIP offenses. There are currently nine operational
state-sponsored TIP shelters for adult victims. The state
facilities are emergency shelters and are not designed for long-term
rehabilitation. Despite this, they offer a full range of medical,
psychological, and educational services along with social services
and employment assistance through staff that are most commonly
affiliated with broader social service programs for children. Since
the state shelters are administered through local officials, their
facilities, services, and relationship to other service providers
vary. Upon the request of the prosecutor, victims are entitled to
remain in the shelter throughout the investigation and trial.
Police and prosecutors have a statutory obligation to inform victims
of the right to go to a state shelter and to have access to other
services. In practice, investigators report that a majority of
victims do not want to go to a state shelter. The interpretation of
applicable privacy rules often prevents law enforcement from placing
the victim in a state shelter without the victimQs approval. The
best scenario for a trafficking victim who is interested in long-
term assistance would be to be placed with one of the NGOs that
support TIP victims who are in a better position to provide long-
term care for the victim.

Minors who are victims of trafficking have a series of possible care
facilities which include: emergency centers, transit centers, the
victimQs family with the support of social services, foster care, or
placement centers. If a child is identified as a victim of

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trafficking he/she would not be placed in a juvenile justice
detention center.

In 2006, the Romanian Ministry of Justice1 changed existing law to
make it easier for TIP victims to testify in court cases using video
testimony.


I. Specialized training for GOR officials continued in 2007.

The National Authority for Protection of Child Rights has developed
partnerships for specialized training from international
organizations to include: ICMPD, International Migration
Organization, UNICEF, ILO and local NGOs.

The Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs encourages its embassies to
foster contacts with NGOs and international organizations that are
involved in TIP issues. The training received by MFA officers prior
to their assignment has some applicability in assisting TIP victims,
but, specific training for MFA officers on TIP issues is limited.

RomaniaQs diplomatic missions have relationships with different NGOs
that specialize in providing assistance for trafficked victims, as
well as with IOM (International Organization for Migration) for
assistance in the voluntary return of trafficked victims.


J. The Romanian government provides assistance to TIP victims who
are repatriated. The victims are repatriated at the cost of the
government and are eligible to receive the same benefits as internal
victims. These benefits were described above in section A.


K. In 2007, as noted above, the GOR increased funding for NGOs.
The Romanian government cooperates with the following international
organizations and NGOs that work on TIP issues:

IOs:
UNICEF, UNHCR, ANAEM France, IOM, International Labor Organization.

NGOs:
Red Cross - Romania - information education campaigns to prevent
child trafficking.

Salvati Copii (Save the Children)
- Activities aiming to prevent trafficking and sexual exploitation
in the hotel and tourism industries. A group of experts developed a
code of conduct for hotels and tourism industries. Information
materials were produced and distributed in hotels and through the
tourism agencies.
- Social assistance and counseling for child victims of trafficking.
- Training for border police, police and social workers on
interviewing children victims of trafficking.

Caritas - anti-TIP and anti-drug information education campaigns in
schools.

AIDRom - Prevention and training activities for governmental and
non-governmental representatives to acquire the necessary skills for
identifying and solving potential situations that could lead to
trafficking and to establish a network of local contacts involved in
similar anti-TIP activities.

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Young Generation - shelter, social assistance and counseling to
victims of trafficking

Social Alternatives - prevention activities, anti-trafficking
newsletter, psychological assistance to victims of trafficking

Reaching Out - long-term reintegration services to victims of
trafficking, social assistance, counseling and shelter

Adpare - shelter, counseling, reintegration services for victims and
also prevention activities including peer education program in
Bucharest schools

Betania - social assistance and counseling

Conexiuni - social assistance and counseling



4. (SBU) PREVENTION:
--------------


A. The Romanian government recognizes that trafficking in persons
is a serious problem. In Embassy discussions with senior Romanian
officials, all of them from across the political spectrum recognize
TIP as a problem in Romania. The additional funding received by the
NAATIP in 2007 reflects this high level interest. The GOR is also
very active in hosting the Southeast European Cooperative Initiative
(SECI) Bucharest-based regional anti-crime center, and throughout
2007 a Romanian official headed the Task Force on Combating
Trafficking in Human Beings within SECI. SECI is a regional model
for the sharing of law enforcement information, including about TIP,
and its TIP task force is one of SECI's most successful endeavors.


B. The GOR partnered with several different NGOs to produce anti-
trafficking campaigns. There have been several informational and
educational campaigns both at the national and at the local levels
in which the government has been either the initiator or a key.
Some campaigns were financed by the government, while others were
financed by international donors through NGOs.

Campaigns developed in 2007:



- NAATIP conducted a national anti-trafficking campaign called
QWatch out! ThereQs a price to pay!Q This campaign contained
information for the public at large about TIP issues and was
intended to promote the NAATIP sponsored toll free number. There
were television spots, spots on the TAROM international flights to
and from Bucharest, and many promotional products. The National
Agency for Roma translated the materials into Romani and helped to
disseminate this information to the Roma community;
- There was a campaign specifically targeting at-risk groups (at-
risk children, the elderly, persons with disabilities and asylum
seekers) called QBeware of Perfect Opportunities with Perfect Jobs!Q
This campaign was carried out with materials and participation of a
theater group that performed skits on TIP topics for at-risk groups.
This campaign was carried out between July 2007 and February 2008;

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- On EU Anti-Trafficking Day, 18 October, 2007, NAATIP carried out
awareness activities in Bucharest and counties throughout the
country. Most of these activities were associated with existing
campaigns;
- The National Authority for Protection of Children Rights continued
the public education campaign regarding the rights of the child
QThe Rights of the Child are Law.Q which ran throughout 2007;


C. The relationships between government officials and NGOs
concerned with trafficking continued to improve in 2007. There is
particularly good cooperation at the working-level that is often
driven by personal contacts.

At the national level, NGOs and international organizations
participate in the IWG meetings. NGOs report that their presence in
these meetings is useful at the level of information exchange, but
their power in influencing policy is limited.

More Romanian counties reported that they created similar working-
level multi-agency teams comprised of representatives of civil
society and various governmental institutions involved in anti-
trafficking activities at the local level. This was being driven by
the 15 regional NAATIP offices located throughout the country.
These multi-agency teams met on a regular basis and have had
positive results


D. The GOR monitors its borders through the General Inspectorate of
Border Police (GIBP). The GIBP monitors immigration and immigration
patterns and uses this analysis to prevent trafficking from
occurring. The National TIP Database is also instrumental in
identifying trafficking trends, particularly concerning the Czech
Republic.


E. Coordination on TIP issues among the government, international
organizations and NGOs occurs within the framework of the IWG, which
is made up of various governmental ministry representatives and
international organizations and is coordinated by the Ministry of
Administration and Interior (MAI). NGOs and US Embassy
representatives are invited to all IWG meetings. In December 2005,
the Romanian government passed a law establishing the National
Agency for the Prevention of TIP and for Monitoring the Protection
of TIP Victims.
The GOR has a specialized investigative and prosecutorial unit for
public corruption based on the task force model. The government
formed an inter-ministerial council at the end of 2005 that meets
regularly to coordinate the fight against corruption. The Minister
of Justice acts as the council's coordinator, and invites NGO
representatives and journalists to the council's meetings. This
council oversees implementation of the 2005-2007 National
Anticorruption Strategy, which aims to prosecute high-level
corruption, increase transparency in public administration, prevent
corrupt business practices, and increase the integrity of the
judiciary.


F. A five year National Action Plan for Combating Trafficking in
Human Beings was adopted in 2001. National agencies responsible for
the implementation of the Plan include: MAI-GDCOC, MOJ, MOF, MFA,
NACP, MLSS, MPA and MER. NGOs were consulted in the process of
adopting the decision, and are intended to act as partners during

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all phases of implementation. The National Action Plan was widely
disseminated through seminars and training sessions. In 2004, the
government adopted a separate National Action Plan on the Prevention
of Trafficking in Children. The Ministry of Administration and
Interior working in conjunction with UNICEF developed a draft anti-
trafficking strategy for 2006-2010 accompanied by a detailed action
plan for 2006-2008. A final form of the strategy and action plan
was endorsed by each ministry and then adopted by the government in
mid 2006.


G. Several of the awareness campaigns sponsored by the NAATIP
targeted reducing demand for commercial sex acts by emphasizing
respect for women and children. NGOs that are sponsored by the GOR
are also active in protecting womenQs rights.


H. As a relatively new EU member with a developing economy, Romania
has a comparatively small number of tourists traveling abroad.
Correspondingly, there have been no reports of Romanian citizens
traveling abroad to participate in child sex tourism. The GOR,
through NAATIP, has an awareness program on child rights that serves
to educate people on how to assist children in difficult
circumstances. Romanian laws regarding pedophilia have extra-
territoriality coverage for Romanian citizens.


I. The NAATIP was responsible for training all Romanian
peacekeepers on the realities of trafficking in persons prior to
their deployments. These training sections were conducted several
times by NAATIP officials during 2007.



5. (SBU) NOMINATION OF HEROES AND BEST PRACTICES
-------------- --------------


A. TIP Heroes: Post would like to nominate Ms. Gina Stoian,
President of the Association for Developing Alternative Practices
for Reintegration and Education (ADPARE),Romania as a TIP Hero

Gina StoianQs NGO ADPARE provides alternative social services for
the reintegration of victims of trafficking in persons and of young
people at risk. In 2007, 40 trafficking victims received crisis
assistance and over 100 victims received long-term assistance,
assistance in the family, and monitoring.

Originally part of an International Labour Organization initiative,
ADPARE evolved into a NGO and has been operating since 2002. The
objectives of ADPARE are to combat human trafficking and defend
human rights through prevention campaigns, victim assistance for
reintegration, and lobbying efforts.

ADPARE provides both crisis services and long-term support for
victims, including: psychotherapy, housing assistance, educational
assistance, and leisure activities. A collaboration with ADPARE
Holland created several campaigns such as QAdoptive Families for
VictimsQ and QProtected Housing.Q In collaboration with AidRom and
Caritas Bucharest, ADPARE launched an awareness campaign entitled
QBeware of QperfectQ opportunities.Q The MTV Exit Campaign honored
ADPARE with the 2006 QMTV Award for the Best Pro-Social Campaign
against trafficking in persons.Q ADPARE is currently expanding its
services to include juridical assistance in collaboration with the

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authorities, as well as medical assistance in emergency situations
and routine check-ups.



B. Best Practice: One area of serious improvement in 2007 on the
TIP fight in Romania has been the institutionalization of the TIP
National Database that was created by NAATIP. This database, which
was introduced in late-2006, is a tertiary IT system using a central
database and a web interface application. With this system, law
enforcement personnel are able to input data on TIP victims and all
of the information is de-conflicted and processed at the NAATIP
Headquarters in Bucharest. There are roughly 100 data fields to be
completed for each victim, which allows NAATIP to very rapidly
identify TIP trends. In one case regarding an increase in labor
trafficking to the Czech Republic, NAATIP officials, through use of
the National Database, rapidly identified this trend and was the
first GOR institution to bring this information to law enforcement
and policy leaders. Since Romania is a country of origin, this
database is customized to handle Romanian victims, but could be
useful in other countries that have a similar TIP phenomenon. With
this database, Post has much greater confidence in the TIP victim
data being presented, since problems such as QduplicatesQ and other
anomalies are much less likely with this new system.


6. (U) Embassy POC is Philip Knecht, at 011-40-21-200-3435, Fax
011-40-21-200-3442. The following Embassy personnel spent the
approximate time indicated in the preparation of this report: PolOff
Philip Knecht, grade, FS-04, 150 hours; POL Assistant, Rodica
Barlanescu, 6 hours; Political Chief, Theodore Tanoue, grade FS-02,
6 hours.


7. (U) Amembassy BucharestQs reporting telegrams are available on
the Bucharest SIPRNET Website: www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/bucharest.

TAUBMAN