SIX COUNTRIES AND USG UNITE TO FIGHT CHILD

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 MOSCOW 000945 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/ACE, INL/AAE-KIMMEL, EUR/RUS-WATSON, G/TIP-HALL AND BILLINGS, AND DRL/AE DOJ/OPDAT FOR LEHMANN AND ALEXANDRE, OIA FOR BURKE, CEOS ANDREW OOSTERBAAN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KCRM SMIG KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL OPRC RS MD SUBJECT: SIX COUNTRIES AND USG UNITE TO FIGHT CHILD SEXUAL EXPLOITATION SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED;NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION This cable was co-authored by Embassies Moscow and Chisinau. ¶1. (SBU) Summary: From March 10 to March 14, 2008, delegates from Georgia, Russia, Armenia, Ukraine, Moldova and Kazakhstan, accompanied by Department of Justice (DOJ) Resident Legal Advisors (RLA) and Embassy representatives met in Chisinau, Moldova, to participate in a DOJ sponsored regional conference on fighting child pornography and sexual exploitation. Participants discussed effective legislative tools to combat the sexual exploitation of children, and investigate and prosecute effectively this transnational crime. Child pornography and sexual exploitation remains a serious issue in the region, abetted by the growing use of the internet; this conference should spur needed legislative reform, and encourage closer law enforcement cooperation. A Regional Problem -------------- ¶2. (SBU) None of the Eurasian countries invited to this conference possesses comprehensive legislation which can be used to combat the sexual exploitation of children and child pornography (Note: such draft legislation is pending before the Georgian Parliament). We have evidence that countries in Eurasia, particularly Russia, are rapidly becoming havens for child pornography and sex tourism. The United States Department of Justice, working closely with INL and U.S. Embassies in these six countries organized this conference in Chisinau, Moldova, for police, prosecutors, NGOs, and parliamentary representatives to address this growing problem. Russia and Moldova sent the largest delegations to the conference with a total of 11 delegates each. The Russian delegation included a Duma Deputy, prosecutor representatives, including a member of the Investigational Committee, and a number of NGO and academic representatives. Georgia's delegation was the smallest consisting of a prosecutor and the RLA. Moldova graciously hosted the conference and sent a sizable delegation consisting of prosecutors, field investigators and the lead national prosecutor for the protection of children's rights. ¶3. (SBU) The U.S. Ambassador to Moldova, along with the Prosecutor General and the Minister of the Interior for the Republic of Moldova, opened the conference, warmly welcoming the delegates to Moldova and stressing the importance of the work of the conference. The conference focused initially upon necessary legislative tools to combat the sexual exploitation of children. The conference then addressed investigational, forensic and prosecutorial issues that arise in the investigation and prosecution of these cases, including the importance of using a child forensic expert to work with victims. Each country appointed a spokesperson to discuss the issue from his or her national perspective. Finally, representatives from the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) described a series of successful investigations completed with the assistance foreign law enforcement to highlight the importance of international cooperation. Myths Debunked, Legislation Models Provided -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Leila Ben Debba, an attorney with the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Brussels (ICMEC),outlined the need for legislation with a global review of national child pornography legislation in 186 Interpol Member countries: 95 countries have no legislation to address child pornography and of the remaining countries that do, 55 have no definition of child pornography; 41 countries do not criminalize the possession of child pornography regardless of intent to distribute; and only five countries possess the MOSCOW 00000945 002 OF 004 minimum legislation deemed necessary by experts. Critically, in the internet era, few countries with child pornography legislation outlaw computer offenses or regulate internet service providers, despite the fact that the internet is now the primary means for the distribution of child pornography. Child pornography generates more than three billion dollars in revenue annually, and is one of the fastest growing businesses on the internet. ¶5. (SBU) Ben Debba debunked several myths about child pornography that she encounters as she addresses the need for effective legislation, ranging from the claim that possession of child pornography is harmless (each picture represents the victimization of a child; with the internet, the pictures never disappear and the victimization of the child continues without end),to the claim that people who possess child pornography are harmless. ¶6. (SBU) Ben Debba then reviewed a series of international legal instruments which outlawed child pornography, ranging from UN Conventions and Protocols (UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Optional Protocol on the Rights of the Child, the Palermo Protocol, etc.) to Council of Europe Conventions and European Community Law. Her presentation, a copy of which was supplied to each delegate, contained a legislative tool kit which set forth definitions of child pornography, and model statutes that delegates could follow or simply adopt as they draft legislation to outlaw child pornography in their countries. ¶7. (SBU) The legislative portion of the conference concluded with joint presentations by Resident Legal Advisor Roger Keller from Georgia, a representative of the Georgian prosecutor's office, and Kerry Neal, an expert on child exploitation issues and legislative reform from UNICEF. They discussed their experiences working with the Presidential Administration and Ministry of the Interior in Georgia to draft comprehensive child pornography legislation. This completed package of amendments to the criminal code has just been submitted to the Georgian Parliament with the support of the Ministry of the Interior. Neal also stressed the obligations of each country under both UN and COE conventions. He indicated that none of the attending countries had met fully the obligations they had voluntarily agreed to by virtue of their signature to various instruments. In particular, Neal highlighted both the COE's Convention on Cybercrime, which set forth a variety of standards, as well as the Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, which was drafted in July 2007 and it currently open for signature. The latter Convention was created to harmonize the protection and treatment of juveniles among member states and sets forth detailed legislative standards. In the upcoming months, UNICEF, partnering with the World Bank, will launch an initiative to promote member country compliance. Neal indicated that the World Bank would be able to fund training as well as the purchase of equipment needed to help bring countries into compliance with their obligations. Investigational Issues: Cooperate, Cooperate -------------- ¶8. (SBU) The second portion of the conference addressed forensic, investigational and prosecutorial issues that arise in the course of a child pornography investigation. DOJ Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) lawyer Elizabeth Yusi and DOJ Forensic Expert Richard Kaplan jointly described how to build a child exploitation case for prosecution, dovetailing the technical issues that arise in seizing and searching computers with the legal and procedural issues that arise during the course of the criminal investigation and subsequent trial. They gave examples from significant cases that they had worked on, and emphasized that ? to be successful - prosecutors and investigators must work together at every stage of the investigation. Amy MOSCOW 00000945 003 OF 004 Allen, a Child Forensic Interview Specialist with CARE House in the US, discussed the importance of a victim-centered approach when investigating these cases and described effective forensic interviewing techniques. Allen's presentation generated significant interest and controversy among the delegations as in most Eurasian countries, child victims do not appear in court to testify against or to confront their exploiter. ¶9. (SBU) Representatives from both the FBI and DHS described criminal cases requiring close transnational cooperation which they successfully investigated with foreign counterparts. Audrey McNeill, the Acting Unit Chief of the FBI Innocent Images Task Force, outlined recent successes and asked the delegate countries to participate in the task force. Marshall Heeger, the ICE attach in Moscow, detailed a series of child sex tourism investigations in which he had participated in Eurasia, pointing out that, absent close cooperation between local and U.S. police, defendants who had committed serious crimes escaped without punishment. Two of the cases which Heeger worked on with police from Moldova and Russia involved notorious sex tourists who were well known to the delegates from those countries. Delegations Participate in Case Studies -------------- ¶10. (SBU) Each delegation spoke on the scope and nature of the child exploitation issue in its country, addressed the adequacy of legislation, and shared insights on transnational cooperation and best practices from their experience. Each delegation was given a hypothetical criminal case as a problem to discuss, and asked to describe potential areas of legislative inadequacy ranging from the absence of laws regulating internet service providers to questions about how effectively to pursue and conclude a criminal case involving solicitation of a minor over the internet. Closing Words from INL: A Long Way to Go -------------- ¶11. (SBU) Peter Prahar, Chief, Law Enforcement Section, Moscow, Transnational Crime Officer, INL, closed the conference. Noting that only 5 of 186 Interpol member countries possessed adequate legislation to address child pornography, he pointed out that the ability of criminals to manufacture and distribute child pornography far outstripped law enforcement's ability to address the problem. It is critical, he noted, to promulgate adequate legislation which defines child pornography, outlaws possession, regulates internet service providers, criminalizes computer facilitated offenses, and meaningfully criminalizes child pornography offenses. The issue is global, he noted, and countries which do not enact and enforce such legislation will become havens for child pornography. Comment: Multilateral Consensus on Law Reform -------------- - ¶12. (SBU) Comment: The conference was highly successful and there was a broad consensus among all delegations that there is a critical need for effective anti-child pornography legislation. As noted, Georgia is close to adopting a new law. The Moldovan delegation said that the GOM had already amended the criminal code to better address the issue, and further amendments are planned to bring Moldova into compliance with international standards. Delegates agreed that anti-child pornography legislation requires political will. Although the Russian delegation broadly supported the need for effective legislation, anti-child pornography legislation in Russia is deficient, but the Presidential Administration has stated that no additional legislation is necessary. Reforms introduced in the Russian Duma received no presidential backing and therefore failed. Only time will tell whether the delegates to the conference can motivate their governments to make necessary MOSCOW 00000945 004 OF 004 legislative reforms, and then use them to prevent exploitation, protect victims, and prosecute perpetrators. BURNS