Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08PRISTINA128
2008-03-12 16:16:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Pristina
Cable title:  

KOSOVO: TIP REPORT SUBMISSION PART ONE OF TWO

Tags:  PGOV KJUS KCRM EAID KDEM UNMIK KV PHUM ELAB 
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RUEHCH/AMEMBASSY CHISINAU PRIORITY 0073
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RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 1439
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 09 PRISTINA 000128 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EG/TIP, EUR, EUR/SCE, DRL, AND INL, NSC FOR BRAUN,
USUN FOR DREW SCHUFLETOWSKI, USOSCE FOR STEVE STEGER, OPDAT
FOR ACKER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KJUS KCRM EAID KDEM UNMIK KV PHUM ELAB
KFRD, PREF
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: TIP REPORT SUBMISSION PART ONE OF TWO

REF: STATE 2731

PRISTINA 00000128 001.2 OF 009


UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 09 PRISTINA 000128

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EG/TIP, EUR, EUR/SCE, DRL, AND INL, NSC FOR BRAUN,
USUN FOR DREW SCHUFLETOWSKI, USOSCE FOR STEVE STEGER, OPDAT
FOR ACKER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KJUS KCRM EAID KDEM UNMIK KV PHUM ELAB
KFRD, PREF
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: TIP REPORT SUBMISSION PART ONE OF TWO

REF: STATE 2731

PRISTINA 00000128 001.2 OF 009



1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Post's submission for the Eighth Annual
Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report follows. (Note: On
February 17, 2008 the Kosovo Assembly declared Kosovo to be
an independent state. On February 18, 2008 the United States
recognized and formally established diplomatic relations with
Kosovo. Kosovo, since 1999, has been administered by the
United Nations Interim Administrative Mission in Kosovo
(UNMIK). End Note.) For the first time, the Kosovo
government led Kosovo,s counter-trafficking efforts during
the entire reporting period. The Kosovo government has
gotten off to a promising start despite limited resources,
and it has demonstrated a political will to address
trafficking. Two of Kosovo,s main counter-trafficking
actors, the Kosovo Police Service (KPS) Trafficking in Human
Beings Section (THBS) and the Kosovo Special Prosecutor,s
Office (KSPO),are cooperating closely and taking a more
strategic approach to counter-trafficking. Police and
prosecutors in Kosovo traditionally focused mostly on
shutting down bars and cafes employing trafficking victims,
but the KPS THBS and KSPO have begun to do more
investigations targeting the larger trafficking rings. END
SUMMARY.

Overview of Kosovo's activities to eliminate trafficking in
persons


2. (SBU) Question 27 (A): Kosovo is a source, transit point
and destination for trafficked persons, and internal
trafficking is a concern. As in previous years, the
identified victims were women and girls trafficked for the
purpose of sexual exploitation.


3. (SBU) Detailed, reliable statistics are difficult to
collect and often misleading because organizations active in

counter-trafficking efforts rely on different definitions of
trafficking, employ uneven statistical analyses and overlap
in data collection. Moreover, the statistics that are
available are of victims who have been identified by the
police or, in rarer cases, gone directly to the authorities
or NGOs. Many victims are never identified due to the hidden
nature of the crime. Finally, there is a dearth of
statistics for Kosovo Serb victims.


4. (SBU) Notwithstanding the challenges of collecting
accurate statistics, especially for Kosovo Serb areas, KPS
THBS, Ministry of Justice Victims Advocacy and Assistance
Unit (VAAU),and International Organization of Migration
(IOM) statistics do illustrate the magnitude of the problem
in Kosovo and capture important trends.


5. (SBU) For April 1, 2007 through January 21, 2008, the KPS
THBS reported 32 trafficking victims, 17 of whom were Kosovo
Albanians and one of whom was a Kosovo Serb. The majority of
the remaining 14 victims were from Albania.


6. (SBU) The Ministry of Justice's Victims' Advocacy and
Assistance Unit (VAAU) reported assisting 33 victims of
trafficking in 2007, about 14 of whom were internally
trafficked.


7. (SBU) IOM reported that it has assisted 569 mainly
international victims of trafficking since 1999. Moldovans
accounted for 51 percent of the victims, followed by 19.5
percent from Romania, 13 percent from Ukraine, and the rest
from Bulgaria, Albania, Russia, Serbia, Montenegro, Slovakia
and Nigeria. The majority of these victims were between the

PRISTINA 00000128 002.2 OF 009


ages of 18 and 24 years. IOM reported that almost 82 percent
of the Kosovar victims were internally trafficked, while
approximately eight percent were trafficked to Macedonia and
4.5 percent each to Italy and Albania.


8. (SBU) KPS THBS, IOM and others involved in
counter-trafficking work in Kosovo believe that most victims
are from families with a high level of poverty, unemployment
and illiteracy and that trafficked minors tend to be Kosovars
from dysfunctional, abusive families. IOM statistics for
2007 indicate that 10 percent of local victims were not
enrolled in school; 35 percent had only finished primary
school (fifth grade); 45 percent had finished elementary
school (ninth grade); eight percent had completed secondary
education (high school); and less than one percent had
attended university. Twelve and a half percent of the
foreign victims were not enrolled in school; 12.5 percent had
only finished primary school (fifth grade); 25 percent had
completed secondary education (high school); and 50 percent
had received vocational training.


9. (SBU) Question 27(B): Victims trafficked to Kosovo
continue to be almost exclusively women and adolescent girls
from Eastern Europe, the Balkans and the former Soviet Union.
Statistics indicate that most Kosovar victims are minors,
while most foreign victims are young women. Numbers of
identified trafficking victims declined during the reporting
period and there were more internally trafficked than foreign
victims. In 2007, KPS THBS identified 32 victims: 18
Kosovars (17 Kosovo Albanians and one Kosovo Serb),nine
Albanians, three Moldovans, one Ukrainian and one Macedonian,
while in 2006, they identified 64 victims, 20 of whom were
Kosovars. KPS THBS attributes the decline in identified
victims to traffickers becoming more sophisticated, border
police becoming more efficient and turning back potential
victims, and a joint KPS THBS and Kosovo Special
Prosecutor,s Office (KSPO) effort to do more thorough
investigations in order to crack the trafficking rings
instead of merely temporarily closing individual trafficking
bars. (Note: In the past, police and prosecutors tended to
go after individual bars rather than try to break the
trafficking networks. While the investigations were quicker,
the bars would often open up again a few months later with
the same women. End Note.)


10. (SBU) The Kosovo government and UNMIK are aware of the
human trafficking problem and have demonstrated the political
will to address it. They named a national anti-trafficking
coordinator and adopted a Kosovo Action Plan (KAP) in
cooperation with many NGOs and international organizations.
(Note: The KAP expired in December 2006, after having been
extended for seven months. Discussions are currently
underway for a follow-on plan for 2008 through 2010. End
Note.) The government and UNMIK also created a secretariat
in the Prime Minister's Advisory Office for Good Governance
(AOGG) to support the national anti-trafficking coordinator
and an inter-ministerial working group on trafficking in
persons, as well as four other working groups to tackle
prevention, protection, prosecution, and trafficking in
children. They have also launched numerous anti-trafficking
campaigns and training sessions under the auspices of the KAP
and with the support of NGOs, international organizations and
liaison offices.


11. (SBU) Data on traffickers is unreliable, but most people
working in the counter-trafficking field in Kosovo believe
organized crime elements are involved. KPS THBS believes
most traffickers work in small groups and recruit through

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personal contacts. They also believe some traffickers are
former trafficking victims who have returned to their
countries of origin to recruit new victims. IOM and the KSPO
report that most traffickers are local men.


12. (SBU) As in previous years, the majority of trafficking
victims report that someone they know recruited them with a
false job offer or a false promise of marriage. IOM reports
that of the 569 mainly international victims it assisted
between 1999 and December 2007, 74 percent fell prey to
traffickers after accepting a bogus job offer abroad, four
percent claim to have been kidnapped, and four percent were
promised marriage. In 83 percent of cases, recruiting was
through personal contacts; the recruiter was an acquaintance
of the victim in 29 percent of the cases, and a family friend
in approximately 16 percent. Recruiters were most often
female.


13. (SBU) Evidence obtained by the KPS THBS and
counter-trafficking service providers indicates that
traffickers target primarily poorly educated and economically
disadvantaged women. Foreign targets tend to be 18 to 24
years old, while local targets are generally 16 to 18 years
old. IOM paints a very similar picture based on the
information it has collected from victims in Kosovo. Its
records indicate that traffickers most often recruit poor
women and girls from rural villages where economic
opportunities are limited. According to IOM, traffickers
particularly target those who have sick family members or are
from abusive families. The KSPO prosecutor specializing in
trafficking says that the traffickers appear to target mostly
Moldovan women and to bring them to Kosovo on commercial
flights via Istanbul or Budapest.


14. (SBU) While there are still reports of trafficking
victims being subjected to beatings, rape, denial of access
to health care and confiscation of travel and identity
documents, KPS THBS, KSPO, IOM and Catholic Relief Services
(CRS) report that traffickers are increasingly less brutal
towards their victims. They say traffickers are allowing some
freedom of movement and improved living conditions. KSPO
reports that victims they have seen are often living in
apartments near or adjacent to the clubs where they work and
are allowed to make supervised trips into town. KPS THBS
says it even sees evidence of wire transfers from foreign
victims to their families back home. Nevertheless, IOM
reports that most trafficking victims share small motel rooms
and that many have limited or no freedom of movement.


15. (SBU) KPS THBS reports that few trafficking victims enter
illegally or use false documents. Most trafficking victims
possess valid passports and valid employment permits for work
as waitresses and dancers. The contracts are registered by
Kosovo law firms and stamped by municipal authorities.
According to KPS THBS, some victims receive pay only for
performing sexual services, and not for the work stated in
their employment contracts. IOM also says most victims have
their documents in order, but they still find some cases of
victims coming to Kosovo on false documents.


16. (SBU) As in past years, the majority of victims are found
working in bars and restaurants, but some counter-trafficking
organizations report that traffickers are increasingly
shifting the commercial sex trade into private homes and
escort services to avoid detection, a result of KPS THBS's
increasingly frequent bar and restaurant checks. KPS THBS
reports that bar owners are increasingly sending the victims
and clients to nearby motels to help avoid detection and are

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asking that clients pay the women directly so it looks more
like prostitution than trafficking if they are caught.


17. (SBU) Question 27 (C): The national coordinator for
counter-trafficking in the Prime Minister's Advisory office
on Good Government (AOGG) has the lead on anti-trafficking
work and is supported by a small secretariat. Other agencies
involved in counter-trafficking work include the Ministries
of Education, Science and Technology; Culture, Youth and
Sports; Interior; Justice; Labor and Social Welfare; Health;
Public Services; Local Government; Finance; Trade and
Industry; and Communities and Returns. International
organizations and NGOs also play a very active role in
counter-trafficking efforts in Kosovo.


18. (SBU) Kosovo has an inter-ministerial working group on
trafficking issues, which was tasked with designing,
implementing and monitoring the recently expired Kosovo
Action Plan (KAP) and will now work on developing a new KAP.
It includes members of the Kosovo government, UNMIK,
international organizations and NGOs. In 2006, the
Inter-Ministerial Working Group established sub-working
groups on prevention, protection, prosecution, and
trafficking in children. Their work continued during the
reporting period.


19. (SBU) Question 27 (D): The hidden nature of the problem,
reluctance of witnesses to come forward, lack of resources,
poor cooperation and information sharing within the
counter-trafficking community, and inadequate training of
judges and prosecutors limit the government's ability to
address the trafficking problem. Given the low salaries
local law enforcement officials receive and the overall
weakness of the rule of law, susceptibility to corruption is
a concern.


20. (SBU) The government established the Kosovo
Anti-corruption Agency and the Police Inspectorate of Kosovo
(PIK) in July 2006, and the Kosovo Special Prosecutors'
Office (KSPO) in September 2006. The Kosovo Anti-corruption
Agency began its operations in February 2007; according to
its head, Hasan Preteni, it had submitted 37 corruption cases
to prosecutors by September 2007. The PIK is designed to
promote police efficiency and effectiveness, hold police
accountable for their actions and investigate and punish
misconduct. During calendar year 2007, it received 122
complaints from citizens and initiated 128 investigations
itself. As of February 2008, the PIK still had not
established a disciplinary committee and therefore could not
undertake any punitive measures. The KSPO is currently
working under the tutelage of international prosecutors, but
it will eventually take full responsibility for sensitive
cases, including corruption, organized crime and trafficking.
There are currently five special prosecutors on staff with
plans to add four more. The KSPO also has 10 legal
officers.


21. (SBU) KPS THBS reports many obstacles to fighting
trafficking. Traffickers are growing more sophisticated and
are getting better at making trafficking look like
prostitution (see paragraph 16). Officers complain of women
or girls whom they suspect of being trafficking victims
denying that they are victims, and they suspect fear of the
traffickers is to blame. Witness intimidation is a serious
problem in Kosovo. One of the trafficking shelters, the
Center for Protection and Prevention of Victims of
Trafficking in Human Beings (PVPT),shut down briefly in
2007, partly in response to threats it received when its

PRISTINA 00000128 005.2 OF 009


location was compromised.


22. (SBU) Lack of funding and resources are general problems
for law enforcement in Kosovo and negatively impacted
undercover operations during the reporting period. KPS THBS
operations also suffered from a lack of equipment, however,
it was somewhat alleviated by donations from the
international community during the reporting period.


23. (SBU) KPS THBS also complains of a lack of human
resources. Its ceiling is 34 officers, but it currently has
only 27 officers, including eight in its Pristina
headquarters. KPS THBS currently has female officers in
every region except Gjilan, and is poised to hire three more
in its Pristina headquarters in early 2008. KPS THBS
recently published a vacancy announcement, and their review
panel met and recommended qualified applicants from the
candidate pool.


24. (SBU) Another human resources problem is the lack of
Kosovo Serb officers in the anti-trafficking unit. This
problem is likely to be exacerbated in the aftermath of
Kosovo,s declaration of independence, since Kosovo Serb
police officers have generally refused to continue working
with Kosovo Albanian colleagues in the Kosovo Police
structure.


25. (SBU) Resources to assist trafficking victims are scarce.
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) noted that the Kosovo Action
Plan (KAP) was drafted with the expectation of a donor
conference being organized to fund the different activities
together with the government. The conference was not
organized last year but is expected to take place in June

2008. A lack of funds prevented some of the
protection-related projects from advancing before the KAP
expired.


26. (SBU) With the exception of the Ministry of Justice-run
and Kosovo government-funded Interim Security Facility (ISF),
which provides shelter for trafficking victims who are at a
high risk for retribution from their traffickers, funding
shortfalls also significantly impacted shelters. While the
government provided some funding for private shelters that
accept domestic trafficking victims, it was reportedly not
sufficient to meet all of their needs and one closed its
doors during the reporting period. Nevertheless, it is
important to note that no comprehensive assessment of
shelters has been conducted to determine whether the private
shelters are efficient and whether they are all necessary.


27. During calendar year 2007, the Ministry of Labor and
Social Welfare (MLSW) gave Hope and Homes for Children (HHC),
which operates a safe house for minors and a semi-independent
living center, about 191,970 euros (282,030 dollars),
approximately 28,750 euros (42,240 dollars) of which was
during the reporting period. The MLSW gave about 135,000
euros (198,315 dollars) of that money for the provision of
services to abused children in HHC,s Prizren and Pristina
shelters. The Prizren funds were later reprogrammed to cover
the Pristina shelter, resulting in full funding for the
Pristina shelter through June 2008 and the closure of the
Prizren shelter on December 31, 2007. The remainder of the
MLSW,s funding for anti-trafficking shelters was 60,374
euros disbursed among six other shelters for minors.


28. (SBU) The largest shelter for foreign victims of
trafficking, PVPT, currently receives no government funding,
and its future is precarious. To date, most of its funding

PRISTINA 00000128 006.2 OF 009


has come from IOM, OSCE and the UK government. It closed
briefly in early 2007 because of insufficient funds to cover
its rent and the fact that its location was compromised and
staff and residents received threats. It closed again in
mid-December 2007, and remained closed as of early-February

2008. According to CRS, PVPT was unable to qualify for
Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (MLSW) funding in the
last round because the procurement was only open to shelters
assisting victims of domestic violence. It may be able to
qualify for the next round since the MLSW has pledged to open
it up to shelters serving only victims of trafficking.


29. (SBU) Question 29 (E): The government tries to
systematically monitor its anti-trafficking efforts and is
willing to make information on its efforts available publicly
or privately. Government offices have been responsive to
requests for information, providing it in a timely manner and
granting requests for meetings on trafficking-related issues.
The National Coordinator for Counter-trafficking in the
Prime Minister's Advisory Office for Good Governance (AOGG)
is responsible for coordinating and reporting on
counter-trafficking efforts. His secretariat issues periodic
reports on anti TIP activities but does not offer assessments
of the implementation of the KAP.


30. (SBU) Another effort at monitoring anti-trafficking
efforts is the KPS THBS yearly report, which was issued for
the first time in 2006 after the KPS THBS gained full
competency for anti-trafficking work from UNMIK Police. The
report analyzes trends and gives a good snapshot of the
trafficking situation, but the KPS does not attempt to assess
its own efforts.

Investigation and Prosecution of Traffickers


31. (SBU) Question 28 (A): The Provisional Criminal Code of
Kosovo (PCCK) or UNMIK/REG/2003/25, which came into effect on
April 6, 2004, covers internal and external trafficking, as
well as myriad activities related to trafficking. Its
provisions include Article 137 on slavery and forced labor,
Article 138 on smuggling of migrants, Article 139 on
trafficking in persons, Article 140 on withholding identity
papers of trafficking victims, Article 201 on facilitating
prostitution, Article 183 on violating employment rights,
Article 193 on rape, Article 195 on sexual assault, Article
196 on degradation of sexual integrity, Article 197 on sexual
abuse of persons with mental or emotional disorders or
disabilities, Article 198 on sexual abuse of persons under
the age of 16, Article 236 on misuse of economic
authorizations, Article 274 on organized crime, Article 303
on failure to report preparation of criminal offenses,
Article 304 on failure to report criminal offenses or
perpetrators of criminal offenses, Article 305 on providing
assistance to perpetrators after the commission of criminal
offenses, and Article 310 on intimidation during criminal
proceedings for organized crime.


32. (SBU) The PCCK contains some sophisticated provisions on
trafficking and adequately covers trafficking and
trafficking-related crimes. The KPS THBS says some
prosecutors still lack awareness of the use of the
instruments now available during investigative and trial
phases. At times, the KPS THBS reports that it has had to
insist on the application of such measures.


33. (SBU) Question 28 (B): PCCK Article 139 on trafficking in
persons provides for two to 12 years imprisonment for
engaging in trafficking in persons (three to 15 years if the

PRISTINA 00000128 007.2 OF 009


victim is a minor),seven to 20 years plus a fine of up to
500,000 euros for organizing a group to commit the offense,
six months to five years for negligently facilitating
trafficking in persons, three months to five years for
procuring sexual services of a known trafficking victim (two
to 10 years if the victim is under the age of 18). These
sentences are greater if committed by an official. Under
Article 139, an official would receive five to 15 years in
prison for engaging in trafficking, at least ten years for
organizing a group to commit the offense, and two to seven
years for negligently facilitating trafficking in persons or
procuring sexual services of a trafficking victim (five to 12
years if the victim was a minor).


34. (SBU) In calendar year 2007, 31 cases were filed for
trafficking in persons for sexual exploitation. Twenty-one
cases were resolved during the year, resulting in twenty-four
convictions. Twenty-two of the convicts received prison
sentences; the sentences ranged from one year to 20 years.
One person was fined, and one person received a sentence of
semi-liberty (parole). This marked an increase from calendar
year 2006, when the Kosovo Judicial Council (KJC) reported
that 12 cases resulted in convictions. A weak witness
protection system, inadequate training of prosecutors, a lack
of technical equipment for undercover operations, victims
returning to their homes without testifying against their
traffickers, and victims refusing to testify against their
traffickers affected conviction rates. The fact that in 2007
the Kosovo Special Prosecutors Office (KSPO),wanting to get
at the source of the problem, began concentrating on building
strong cases against trafficking networks instead of going
after individual bars also affected the number of trafficking
convictions. Before 2007, prosecutors tended to go after
bars, only to see them reopen again a few months later with
the same trafficked women.


35. (SBU) Question 28 (C): PCCK Article 137 on establishing
slavery, slavery-like conditions and forced labor provides
for imprisonment of two to 10 years plus a fine for general
cases, three to 10 years if the perpetrator has a domestic
relationship with the victim, three to 15 years if the victim
is a child, and five to 12 years if the perpetrator is an
official (five to 20 years if the victim is a child).


36. (SBU) PCCK Article 140 provides for punishment of one to
five years imprisonment for withholding identification
documents of victims of trafficking. If the perpetrator is
an official in the exercise of his or her duties, the
punishment is three to seven years imprisonment.


37. (SBU) Trafficking in persons for other than sexual
exploitation is rare in Kosovo, and USOP was unable to obtain
statistics on imposed punishments for forced labor and
involuntary servitude. USOP prosecutorial and judicial
contacts did not recall such cases ever being tried in Kosovo.


38. (SBU) Question 28 (D): PCCK Article 193 covers rape and
forcible sexual assault. It provides for prison sentences
of: two to 10 years imprisonment for rape (five to 20 years
if the victim is under 16); three to 10 years if the victim
is unprotected or his or her security is in danger; five to
15 years if the victim is tortured or injured or if a
dangerous weapon is used, if the perpetrator has caused the
victim to become intoxicated, if the offense is committed by
more than one person, or if the perpetrator knows the victim
is vulnerable because of age, a handicap, illness or
pregnancy, or if the perpetrator has a domestic relationship
with a victim between the ages of 16 and 18; and five to 20

PRISTINA 00000128 008.2 OF 009


years if the perpetrator has a domestic relationship with a
victim under the age of 16. If the victim dies, the minimum
sentence is 10 years in prison and the maximum sentence is 40.


39. (SBU) Question 28 (E): Voluntary prostitution is a minor
offense under the Kosovo Law on Public Peace and Order
Article 18(6),and the law punishes the prostitute, but not
the client. The prostitute may receive up to 60 days in jail
and, if foreign, face deportation.


40. (SBU) Under PCCK Article 201, providing the premises for
prostitution or recruiting, organizing or assisting a person
with the crime of prostitution is punishable by a fine or
imprisonment of up to three years. If prostitution is
practiced within a 350-meter radius of a school or other
locality used by children, the facilitator may receive six
months to five years in prison. Facilitating prostitution
for someone between the ages of 16 and 18 in punishable by
one to 10 years imprisonment, and doing so for someone under
the age of 16 is punishable by one to 12 years imprisonment.


41. (SBU) Question 28(F): In 2007, the Kosovo judiciary
worked on thirty-one trafficking in persons-related cases.
Twenty-one cases were resolved during the year, resulting in
twenty-four convictions. Twenty-two of the convicts received
prison sentences; the sentences ranged from one year to 20
years. One person was fined, and one person received a
sentence of semi-liberty (parole). This marked an increase
from calendar year 2006, when the Kosovo Judicial Council
(KJC) reported that 12 cases resulted in convictions.


42. (SBU) A weak witness protection system, inadequate
training of prosecutors and a lack of technical equipment for
undercover operations contributed to the low rate of
prosecution. Victims returning to their homes without
testifying against their traffickers or refusing to testify
against their traffickers further weakened prosecutions.
However, the biggest contributing factor may have been the
fact that the Kosovo Special Prosecutors Office (KSPO),
wanting to get at the source of the problem, began
concentrating on building strong cases against trafficking
networks instead of going after individual bars. In the
past, prosecutors tended to go after bars, only to see them
reopen again a few months later with the same trafficked
women.


43. (SBU) There is no evidence to suggest that Kosovo is a
source or destination for forced laborers. KPS THBS reports
that no forced labor cases came to their attention during the
reporting period.


44. (SBU) Question 28 (G): The government provides training
on recognizing and investigating trafficking in persons. KPS
THBS officers provide specialized and Balkans-specific
training to recruits at the Kosovo Center for Public and
Safety Education and Development (KCPSED),Border and
Boundary Police officers, and organized crime investigators.
They also give more comprehensive courses to KPS officers
attending the basic and advanced techniques courses at the
Kosovo Police Service School (KPSS). During the reporting
period, KPS THBS officers gave five training sessions at the
KPSS to police recruits and officers attending investigations
techniques courses. They also did one training for Border
and Boundary Police trainers, and four trainings for
investigators of other units, three of which were on the
standard operating procedures for victim assistance.


45. (SBU) A number of international and national training

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organizations also provide comprehensive training programs on
trafficking in persons to Kosovo judges and prosecutors. The
Kosovo Judicial Institute (KJI),the primary national
training organization, dedicates a significant portion of its
induction training to trafficking in persons. The United
States Department of Justice, Council of Europe, OSCE and
other international organizations provide specialized
training programs for judges and prosecutors on different
aspects of trafficking in persons.


46. (SBU) Question 28(H): Kosovo,s cooperation with other
governments on counter-trafficking has declined since KPS
THBS transitioned in 2006, largely due to Kosovo's unique
status preventing it from joining international organizations
such as Interpol, Europol and the Southeast European
Cooperative Initiative (SECI). That situation may change due
to Kosovo,s declaration of independence in February 2008 and
subsequent recognitions. When they were still under UNMIK,
KPS THBS had bi-monthly meetings with the Serbian Ministry of
Interior, as well as good coordination and contact with
neighboring countries, Interpol and Europol. KPS THBS
reports that it continues to provide requested information to
international organizations and foreign governments, but says
it does not see a two-way flow of information. KPS THBS
reported no official cooperative international investigations
of trafficking cases during the reporting period, but said
that KPS THBS officers had good cooperation with their
Albanian counterparts through the Albanian Liaison Office, as
well as with their Montenegrin counterparts. They said the
Albanians and Montenegrins helped them with specific
information on trafficking cases in Kosovo.


47. (SBU) The national counter-trafficking coordinator
reports good cooperation with national counter-trafficking
coordinators from neighboring countries. He also reports
that he participated in International Center for Migration
Policy Development (ICMPD) and USAID-sponsored regional
seminars on establishing transnational referral mechanisms
for trafficked persons in Southeastern Europe in Sofia,
Bulgaria in April 2007 and in Sarajevo, Bosnia in November

2007.

KAIDANOW