DISPLEASED BY TIP RANKING, GOM BITES BACK

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PODGORICA 000166 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SCE, EUR/PGI, G/TIP, INL, DRL, AND IWI E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ELAB KCRM KPAO KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG MW SUBJECT: DISPLEASED BY TIP RANKING, GOM BITES BACK REF: STATE 58434 PODGORICA 00000166 001.2 OF 002 1.(SBU) SUMMARY: The downgrading of Montenegro to Tier 2 Watch List has been front page news here. Local media accurately reported the findings of the TIP report, and GoM officials expressed deep surprise in private while publicly criticizing the report's conclusions. Montenegro's National TIP Coordinator told us he was "very surprised" and "very disappointed" at the ranking, and later told the press he would lodge a formal complaint with the Ambassador over the issue. Foreign Minister Rocen told the Ambassador on June 6 that he was puzzled and disappointed, while the weekend press reported sarcastic comments by the Prime Minister and the TIP coordinator questioning the report's veracity. END SUMMARY. 2.(SBU) On June 3, per reftel, PolOff delivered the news of Montenegro's downgraded Tier 2 Watch List ranking to National TIP Coordinator Bojan Obrenovic. PolOff also informed the Coordinator that there would be an interim assessment for Montenegro and that we hoped to work closely with his office to ensure that Montenegro improved its anti-trafficking efforts. Obrenovic expressed surprise at the ranking and claimed there was no trafficking phenomenon in Montenegro. He also said there was no evidence of trafficking victims in the country. He did admit that Montenegro still had to adopt repatriation legislation, but said victims were encouraged to participate in prosecutions. Overall, he contended that Montenegro was a successful regional example and that Montenegro could be "nothing but proud" of the way victims were treated. He ended by stating that the ranking would neither motivate nor demotivate his office, as he and his staff had always done their very best. 3.(SBU) Foreign Minister Rocen told the Ambassador on June 6 that he was puzzled and disappointed by the ranking, which he suggested came as a big surprise. The Ambassador told him that Ambassador Lagon would be briefing Ambassador Vlahovic in more detail about the report in coming days. 4.(U) Major Montenegrin dailies ("Vijesti" and "Dan") reported factually about the report on June 4. Under the a large front-page headline, "Under U.S. Surveillance Again," Vijesti, the country's largest circulation newspaper, wrote that "Montenegro and Albania are the only states from the region that are not making enough efforts to combat TIP." The opposition paper "Dan," seeing a chance to attack the GoM, headlined its article, "Government Does Not Prevent Trafficking" and highlighted the report's conclusion that Montenegro does not comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, as the authorities had identified only one trafficking victim during 2007. ¶5. (U) Over the weekend, press reported that PM Djukanovic sarcastically commented that Montenegro's performance on TIP issues was "100 percent worse" in 2007 as compared to 2006, since TIP cases had gone from zero to one during the reporting period. Djukanovic also said "other countries would be lucky to have a TIP problem similar to Montenegro's." DPM Gordana Djurovic was quoted stating she had "some reservations about the veracity of the statistics in the report." She added that Montenegro would carefully analyze those assessments and compare them with their own statistics. (Note: Post requested statistics from the National Coordinator's office, the prosecutor's office and the police in preparing the 2008 TIP report and received three different sets of statistics related to prosecutions, investigations and convictions for trafficking in persons.) ¶6. (U) The press also reported that TIP Coordinator Obrenovic strongly criticized the as "sharp and unjust." He questioned information gained from local NGOs, stating that sources should be limited to "legitimate" state bodies. (Note: In preparing the report, post spoke with local NGOs, including the director of the government-sponsored anti-trafficking NGO, as well as the International Organization for Migration.) Comment -------------- PODGORICA 00000166 002.2 OF 002 ¶7. (SBU) As expected, the GoM reacted with surprise and indignation to Montenegro's downgrading, focusing on the small number of potential victims rather than the GoM's general efforts to combat trafficking. The National Coordinator was particularly defensive, despite the fact that we pointed out repeatedly to him that his office had called no inter-agency meetings during the reporting period, and that this period had witnessed a reduced number of prosecutions, a failure to address child begging, unclear statistics, and the disbanding of the special anti-trafficking police force. We will continue to stress to the GoM the importance of addressing trafficking more aggressively. In the meantime, we reiterate our earlier requests that G/TIP brief the Montenegrin Ambassador in Washington about the TIP report. MOORE