G/TIP VISITOR SEES FIRST-HAND CYPRIOT EFFORTS

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C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (ADDED SENSITIVE CAPTION)

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DEPT FOR G/TIP, EUR/SE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL TIP KCRM KWMN CY
SUBJECT: G/TIP VISITOR SEES FIRST-HAND CYPRIOT EFFORTS
AGAINST TRAFFICKING

REF: NICOSIA 881

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1. (SBU) SUMMARY: G/TIP Official Jennifer Donnelly visited
Cyprus January 31 - February 2 to evaluate RoC efforts to
combat trafficking in persons (TIP) on the island. In her
meetings, Donnelly acknowledged government successes, such as
the recent passage of comprehensive anti-TIP legislation and
the opening of a government-run victims' shelter. At the
same time, she noted RoC slowness in implementing a
demand-reduction public awareness campaign and the decline in
TIP-related prosecutions, and questioned why the government
still utilized the "artiste" work permit category.
Summarizing, she considered the Cypriot government's
anti-trafficking effort a mixed bag. END SUMMARY


Government Making Slow Progress, Urges "Carrot" Approach



2. (SBU) G/TIP officer Jennifer Donnelly came to Cyprus to
assess the trafficking situation here, gauge the government's
political will to fight TIP, and tour the newly-opened
government shelter. She began the visit at the Ministry of
Interior (MoI),which coordinates the RoC's anti-trafficking
efforts but is also responsible for processing artiste permit
requests. MoI Permanent Secretary Lazaros Savvides surprised
Donnelly by unveiling a change to the permit regime that the
Council of Ministers soon would consider. Although hesitant
to reveal details prior to the Council meeting, Savvides
claimed the changes were inspired by procedures currently
used in Greece. In a break from current practice, artiste
work permits would be granted to groups of women, not
individuals. He side-stepped Donnelly's question whether the
proposed changes would result in a major reduction in the
number of permits issued, and provided no justification why
group (vice individual) issuance represented an improvement.
Turning to demand reduction, Savvides revealed that MoI has
allocated 41,000 euros to fund an awareness campaign, to be
launched in March/April after Cypriot elections. Savvides
was not clear on the details of the campaign, nor on the
extent it would specifically address the domestic demand for
trafficked women in Cyprus.


3. (SBU) Donnelly next met with Social Welfare Officer Maria
Kyratzi and toured the government's newly-opened victims'
shelter. Kyratzi noted that the MFA and International
Organization for Migration (IOM)-Greece would be
collaborating later in the year to offer a seminar for
training government officials on trafficking. She explained
how, under Cyprus's new trafficking law, police must notify
Social Welfare immediately if they suspected a trafficking
situation, and discussed the financial, psychological, and
medical services they provided to victims. Kyratzi also said
that Social Welfare would welcome the establishment of an IOM
office in Cyprus, currently under discussion. She clarified
that the shelter run by NGO STIGMA did not receive additional
government assistance because it did not meet unspecified
eligibility criteria in 2006. At the shelter, Donnelly took
positive note of security measures in place, but was
concerned the building lacked sufficient bathroom facilities
were it ever to fill to capacity (15 individuals). Shelter
staff informed her that seven trafficking victims were
currently housed there.


4. (SBU) Donnelly next called on Foreign Ministry officials.
Multilateral Affairs chief George Kasoulides revealed that
the government and OSCE would collaborate on a May 2008
seminar on combating TIP. It was vital to convince
rank-and-file Cypriots of the severity of the TIP problem, he
emphasized. Abroad, too, the RoC had a responsibility to
fight trafficking, and some Cypriot embassies now were
displaying anti-TIP posters and dispensing pamphlets to
prospective visa seekers. Kasoulides admitted, however, that
he was unaware of specific TIP training for Cypriot embassy
staff or standardized procedures for interviewing "artiste"
applicants. Regarding an IOM office in Cyprus, Kasoulides
promised MFA support should the government decide to invite
the organization or if IOM decides or requests to open here.
"We're making progress," he contended, "though perhaps not as
much as you'd like, or as fast. But we are moving in the
right direction." Kasoulides worried the next TIP report
would criticize the government over the situation in the
north, where it did not exercise effective control. He also
encouraged the USG to favor the "carrot" approach over the
"stick" in seeking additional anti-trafficking progress from
the Cypriot government.


5. (SBU) Rita Superman, Director of the Cypriot Police TIP

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unit, briefed Donnelly on recent operations. Police had
conducted 34 raids on suspect establishments within the last
year, and performed detailed checks of over 100 others. The
TIP unit continues to be understaffed with only Superman and
two other junior officers assigned to the unit. Superman
noted the alarming trend of pimps and traffickers moving
operations out of the cabarets and into private apartments,
which complicated Police efforts to build cases. She also
discussed the criteria for identifying trafficking victims
and admitted there still was no SOP for handling trafficking
victims. To illustrate, of 54 trafficking cases her unit had
processed, some involving multiple victims, 20 women had
"self-identified" themselves as TIP victims. On
prosecutions, of 78 persons originally charged with
trafficking offenses, nine were convicted under
prostitution-related charges, since finding them guilty under
the new, tougher law was proving far more difficult. (Note:
Some NGOs, specifically STOP International, allege that there
has been a decline in law enforcement raids on cabarets, and
that many cabaret owners are tipped off about law enforcement
operations in advance. Also, STOP argues that prosecutors
are not well-trained and that cases are hastily put together,
making it easy for judges to dismiss them or find that them
"full of holes." End note.)


Cabaret Owners Deny Trafficking, Claim Their Rights Are
Violated



6. (SBU) Donnelly received a rare look into the supply side
of the trafficking business, meeting three members of the
Cyprus Cabaret Owners' Association. The businessmen
discussed their operations and complained that their rights
constantly were being violated, noting how 40 cabarets had
been shut down because of overly-stringent government
regulation. The owners detailed the process of how women
were recruited legally into the cabarets, and explained how
each received a guaranteed daily salary (from 25 - 45 USD),a
10 percent commission on drink sales, plus free housing,
local taxis, and airplane tickets to and from her homeland.
Salaries and other income were deposited directly into
artistes checking accounts. Alarmingly, the impresarios
admitted to de facto debt bondage by acknowledging the
existence of oral contracts stipulating that artistes had to
repay their agents for these "free" airplane tickets.


Civil Society Is Strengthening, Church Decides it Must "Say
Something"



7. (SBU) To assess civil society anti-TIP activities,
Donnelly engaged the local office of STOP International as
well as a number of Greek- and Turkish Cypriot organizations.
Two local NGOs briefed her on their own (vice the
government's) anti-trafficking awareness campaigns, noting
how the public seemed increasingly knowledgeable about the
topic. Funding remained problematic, however; despite active
lobbying of Cyprus's private sector, they had received just
500 USD in pledges from two island banks. NGO relations with
the government remained spotty. Representatives claimed the
government had viewed their anti-trafficking involvement with
suspicion and, in some cases, overt hostility. And those
organizations which had conducted the awareness campaign
feared retribution from the government in the form of reduced
appropriations for other operations.


8. (SBU) Donnelly ended her visit by meeting two Church of
Cyprus officials new to the TIP fight, Metropolitan Vasilios
and Bishop Porfyrios. The Church officials attributed their
newfound interest in combating trafficking to a recent
funding appeal from NGO Stigma, their TIP-related interaction
with Embassy staff, and a belief that the Church "must say
something." Both men expressed interest in collaborating
with the Embassy and asked for materials to educate
themselves and other Church officials on TIP. They are
planning to lead an inter-denominational conference on
trafficking in Cyprus sometime in the future.


Comment



9. (SBU) Donnelly's observation that Cyprus's TIP record
remains a mixed bag generally matches ours. Real progress
occurred during the last twelve months, from the passage of
comprehensive anti-TIP legislation to the opening of the

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long-awaited victims' shelter. Yet police and prosecutors
have not secured convictions with the new law, and stories
abound of operational snafus at the shelter. Overall,
however, we continue to see the glass half-full and rising.
Increasing pressure from media, civil society, the
international community, and now the Church is pushing the
government to make slow and steady progress to combat TIP.
Of key concern now is the new artiste work permit regime,
which, according to high-level Embassy contacts, the Council
of Ministers approved February 13 (we are seeking a copy, and
will forward its gist to G/TIP). If it proves only
window-dressing, the government will have lost the
opportunity to fulfill a key component of its National Action
Plan against trafficking. But if it results in a significant
reduction of women issued permits, it would represent a real
step forward for Cyprus. End comment.


10. (U) The Embassy has coordinated transmission of this
message with Ms. Donnelly.
SCHLICHER