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08PRISTINA129
2008-03-12 16:16:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Pristina
Cable title:  

KOSOVO: TIP REPORT SUBMISSION PART TWO OF TWO

Tags:  PGOV KJUS KCRM EAID KDEM UNMIK KV PHUM SMIG 
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TAGS: PGOV KJUS KCRM EAID KDEM UNMIK KV PHUM SMIG
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SUBJECT: KOSOVO: TIP REPORT SUBMISSION PART TWO OF TWO

REF: STATE 2731

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48. (SBU) Part Two of Post's submission for the Eighth Annual
Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report follows.


49. (SBU) Question 28(I): Kosovo has been unable to enter
into formal extradition treaties because it lacked status as
a sovereign state, but that may change with its new
independent status. Nevertheless, UNMIK has been able to
enter into international agreements to transfer Kosovars to
other countries on a case-by-case basis, and is able to
extradite foreign nationals under UN Security Council
Resolution 1244. According to UNMIK, there have been nine
cases of extradition to foreign countries, involving 12
people, since the end of the conflict in 1999.


50. (SBU) Question 28(J): Post is unaware of any evidence of
government involvement in or tolerance of trafficking on a
local or institutional level. Nevertheless, KPS THBS has
reported that foreign trafficking victims often arrive in
Kosovo with valid documents and employment contracts
registered by local attorneys and stamped by municipal
authorities. They believe the attorneys and local
authorities may be aware that these victims are being
trafficked into Kosovo to work as prostitutes, despite the
fact that the traffickers are asking them to draft and
register employment contracts stating they will work as
waitresses or dancers.


51. (SBU) Question 28(K): Post has found no evidence of
government officials being involved in trafficking during
this reporting period. Nevertheless, the government is aware
that susceptibility to corruption is a problem in Kosovo due
in particular to the low salaries local law enforcement
officials receive. In 2006, the government established three

bodies whose mandates include anti-corruption work: the
Police Inspectorate of Kosovo (PIK),the Kosovo Special
Prosecutors' Office (KSPO) and the Kosovo Anti-Corruption
Agency. (See paragraph 20.) They are fledgling
institutions, and it is too early to assess their efficacy.


52. (SBU) Question 28(L): Kosovo does not contribute troops
to international peacekeeping operations.


53. (SBU) Question 28(M): Post has not found any evidence,
anecdotal or otherwise, of a child sex tourism problem in
Kosovo.

Protection and Assistance to Victims


54. (SBU) Question 29(A): Protection and assistance to
trafficking victims are governed by the Standard Operating
Procedures (SOPs) that the Kosovo government, UNMIK,
international organizations and NGOs developed for foreign
and local victims in 2004 and 2006, respectively. Under the
SOPs for foreign victims, when police or social workers
suspect that someone is a trafficking victim, a KPS THBS
officer must fill out a basic data form and call a victims,
advocate from the Ministry of Justice Victims' Assistance and
Advocacy Unit (VAAU). Victims' advocates assist all
trafficking victims with legal advice and support from
identification through reintegration. Victims, advocates
also give victims information on medical and psychosocial
support services available to them. In the case of minors,
social workers from the MLSW's Center for Social Work (CSW)
must be present for any questioning of the victim. They
assist from identification through reintegration. If police
determine that the person is a victim of trafficking and the

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victim agrees, they will place him or her in the MOJ-run
Interim Security Facility (ISF). If the victim is a minor,
police must seek agreement from a representative of the
Center for Social Work (CSW). On the second or third day,
IOM discusses repatriation options with the victim. At that
point, unless police have determined that the victim is at
high risk for physical harm from his or her traffickers, he
or she will normally go to a local NGO shelter to await
repatriation or social reintegration within Kosovo.


55. (SBU) All trafficking victims are accorded shelter and
access to legal, medical and psychological services. Most
medical and psychological services are provided through the
shelters. Foreign victims who wish to return to their
countries of origin also have a right to IOM repatriation
assistance.


56. (SBU) Question 29(B): Foreign victims have the same
access to care as domestic trafficking victims. The only
government-run facility dedicated to trafficking victims is
the Ministry of Justice (MOJ),s Interim Security Facility
(ISF),which is funded by Kosovo's central budget and
supervised by Ministry of Justice Victims, Assistance and
Advocacy Unit (VAAU) staff. It provides temporary shelter,
medical care, clothing, pocket money, counseling, educational
assistance, recreational activities, and other services to
victims while they consider whether to be repatriated or wait
to testify against traffickers in criminal proceedings. The
average stay in the ISF is three nights and only those
victims that the KPS THBS believes are at high risk for
retaliation by their traffickers would normally stay longer.
Victims are generally not permitted to stay in the ISF for
more than six months. The MOJ reports that 30 victims stayed
there, including 16 foreigners. The MOJ reported that it
spent 25,000 euros (38,000 dollars) on the ISF in 2007.


57. (SBU) Aside from the ISF, the government relies on NGOs
to operate shelters and provide services to trafficking
victims. These facilities provide the same basic services as
the ISF, but they do not provide the same high level of
security. Hope and Homes for Children (HHC),which receives
some government funding, operates one shelter and an assisted
living project for trafficking victims, while the Center for
Protection and Prevention of Victims of Trafficking in Human
Beings (PVPT),which currently receives no government
funding, struggles to operate one shelter that assists
foreign victims of trafficking (see paragraphs 26-28).
Although it is not desirable because of the special needs of
trafficking victims, domestic violence shelters also
occasionally accept trafficking victims on an emergency
basis. These shelters usually assist victims for no more
than six months. There are no long-term, medium security
shelters dedicated to trafficking victims.


58. (SBU) The long-term future of the private shelters is in
doubt. PVPT was forced to close its doors during the
reporting period due to funding shortfalls, and HHC
experienced similar problems, resulting in its Pristina
shelter closing temporarily during the reporting period and
its Prizren shelter closing permanently. PVPT,s funding
comes from foreign donors, while HHC used to rely partly on
its British parent by the same name, but has since spun-off
and lost that funding. HHC is now heavily reliant on the
Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (MLSW),which gave it
191,970 euros (282,030 dollars) in 2007. 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.

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59. (SBU) During calendar year 2007, PVPT assisted 16
trafficking victims, Hope and Homes for Children, eight, and
the MOJ-run ISF, 30. For the same period, CRS reported that
Women Wellness Center in Peja assisted three victims, Liria
in Gjilan, four, Center for Protection of Women and Children,
three, and Safe House Gjakova, eight. However, CRS notes
that some victims stay in more than one shelter, which means
that simply adding up the aforementioned numbers will not
result in an accurate count of the total number of victims
who received shelter in Kosovo in 2007. Although data
collection is improving, these figures should not be
considered authoritative.


60. (SBU) Question 29(C): In addition to limited funding for
Hope and Homes (see paragraphs 57 and 58),the MLSW funds, in
part, shelters focusing on domestic trafficking victims. In
calendar year 2007, it donated 60,374 euros (89,565 dollars)
to six shelters for minors that housed victims of
trafficking. In several cities, the municipalities provide
rent-free space to house shelters. The Ministry of Justice
has funded NGOs providing assistance to trafficking victims
in the past, but it did not do so during the reporting
period.


61. (SBU) Question 29(D): Law enforcement officers and social
services personnel in Kosovo receive training on identifying
possible victims of trafficking. As soon as they encounter a
possible victim of trafficking, they follow Kosovo,s
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs),which the Kosovo
government, UNMIK, international organizations and NGOs
developed for foreign and local victims in 2004 and 2006,
respectively. Unless the potential victim is an adult and
does not wish to speak to police, KPS THBS interviews him or
her and fills out a basic data form, which is designed to
capture relevant information one time to prevent the victim
from being re-victimized by numerous interrogations. KPS
THBS then calls a victims, advocate from the Ministry of
Justice Victims' Assistance and Advocacy Unit (VAAU) to
assists the victims with legal advice and support. The
victims, advocate remains with the victim from
identification through reintegration. In the case of a minor
victim, KPS THBS also calls a social worker from them Center
for Social Work (CSW). If the victim consents, he or she
goes to the MOJ-run Interim Security Facility (ISF). If the
victim is a minor, police must obtain the consent of a
representative of the Center for Social Work (CSW) to place
him or her in the ISF. On the second or third day, CSW
discusses reintegration options with the victim. At that
point, if police have not determined that the victim is at a
high risk for physical harm by her traffickers, he or she may
return home or go to a local NGO shelter. CSW assists him or
her with social reintegration services. If an adult does not
wish to speak to police, a CSW social worker will fill out
the basic data form and coordinate his or her reintegration
services. See paragraph 54 for information on the SOPs for
foreign victims of trafficking, which differ slightly form
those for internal victims.


62. (SBU) In calendar year 2007, KPS referred 28 victims for
assistance and the CSW referred 17 internal victims and one
international victim. All of the victims the CSW referred
were minors.


63. (SBU) Question 29(E): Kosovo does not have legalized
prostitution.


64. (SBU) Question 29(F): According to IOM and others

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involved in counter-trafficking work in Kosovo, victims,
rights are generally respected. Nevertheless, some problems
have been reported. IOM says that some victims are jailed or
deported. According to IOM, the jail terms depend on the
penal code but may be one month or more. Post believes these
incidents are the result of women refusing to admit to KPS
THBS that they are trafficking victims. Since prostitution
is illegal and constitutes grounds for deportation, KPS THBS
say they have little choice when victims are caught for
prostitution and vehemently deny being victims.


65. (SBU) The Prime Minister,s Advisory Office for Good
Governance (AOGG) reported in July 2007 that the United
Nations Development Fund (UNDP) Women,s Safety and Security
Initiative (WSSI),in cooperation with KPS THBS, created
private interview rooms in police stations in Pristina, Peja,
Prizren, Gjilan, Ferizaj and Mitrovica. This was a direct
response to the problems reported of victims who wished to
remain anonymous coming into contact with their traffickers
in courts due to lax security procedures and victims not
being permitted to give statements in private due to the lack
of private interview rooms in police stations.


66. (SBU) Question 29(G): The VAAU reports that victims are
not pressured to assist in investigation and prosecution of
traffickers, but that systems are in place to allow them to
make recorded statements with their faces hidden and voices
disguised. Victims, advocates are with them from
identification through reintegration and explain their rights
every step of the way. Between April 1 and December 31,
2007, one victim gave grudging assistance in the
investigation and prosecution of her traffickers, while
another gave testimony that was false, apparently because she
was a recruiter.


67. (SBU) Victims, as injured parties, may seek damages in
criminal trials and may pursue their claims in civil
litigation. In addition, under Kosovo law, if the court
orders confiscation of material benefit in a criminal case,
injured parties may be entitled to seek compensation from the
confiscated property. According to IOM, no one impedes
victims, rights to such legal redress. Victims who are
material witnesses in court cases against former employers
are permitted to obtain other employment or leave the country
provided they share their contact details with the court.


68. (SBU) Question 29(H): The government is able to provide
24-hour protection of limited duration to victims and to
allow them to give anonymous testimony if they decide to
become witnesses in cases against their traffickers through
video conferencing technology that allows for visual and
voice alteration. KPS THBS officers do risk assessments of
all trafficking victims. They refer the high-risk victims to
the Ministry of Justice-run Interim Security Facility (ISF),
a high security shelter that offers 24-hour protection but
does not allow victims to come and go as they please. They
refer the low- and medium-risk victims to private shelters,
which allow some freedom of movement and are generally more
conducive to longer stays and reintegration. ISF reported
that 30 victims received shelter services in their facility
during the reporting period, while PVPT said it assisted 16
victims and Hopes and Homes for Children said it assisted
eight. CRS said the Women Wellness Center in Peja assisted
three victims, Liria in Gjilan, four, Center for Protection
of Women and Children, three, and Safe House Gjakova, eight.


69. (SBU) Minors may be sent to the ISF or a shelter for
minors depending on their risk level, reintegrated with their

PRISTINA 00000129 005.2 OF 008


families, or placed in foster-care if they come from abusive
families. Local Centers for Social Work (CSW) handle the
minors, cases, and report directly to the Ministry of Labor
and Social Welfare. While the foster care option exists,
UNICEF complained that it is mainly used for young children
and not for adolescents and victims of trafficking.


70. (SBU) The government provides some reintegration
assistance, primarily through the Ministry of Labor and
Social Welfare or in cooperation with international
organizations and NGOs. However, these services are limited
and are mostly offered through the shelters. They include
health care, counseling, education, clothing, pocket money
and employment assistance. The MLSW assisted 18 local child
victims of trafficking and two international victims in
calendar year 2007. See paragraphs 59 and 68 for the
approximate number of victims assisted through shelters.


71. (SBU) Question 29(I): The government trains officials and
anti-trafficking partners on recognizing trafficking and
providing assistance to victims, including minors, mostly in
cooperation with its anti-trafficking partners in the NGO and
international organization communities. Examples of such
trainings during the reporting period include a course on the
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for 33 people from the
KPS, Centers for Social Work, MOJ Victims Advocacy and
Assistance Unit (VAAU) and local NGOs, and a MEST-organized
training on general training on trafficking for teachers
Kosovo-wide. See paragraphs 44 and 45 for information on KPS
and Kosovo Judicial Institute training.


72. (SBU) Kosovo was not a sovereign state during most of the
reporting period, and therefore did not have embassies and
consulates. (Note: As discussed above, Kosovo declared its
independence on February 17, 2008, a move that was recognized
by the United States.)


73. (SBU) Question 29(J): The VAAU reports that the
government does provide assistance to repatriated Kosovars
who are trafficking victims. If they are placed in a
shelter, they benefit from the same services available to
victims identified in Kosovo. IOM reports that there is,
however, no other support for victims once they leave the
shelter. In the case of minors, social workers are involved
with family mediation and school re-insertion and may point
victims in the direction of other assistance.


74. (SBU) Question 29(K): While many international
organizations and NGOs work on the trafficking issue, IOM is
the only one working directly with victims. Hope and Homes
for Children and PVPT were originally international NGOs, but
have since spun off and become local NGOs.


75. (SBU) For foreign victims, IOM provides: case screening
and management, psycho-social counseling inside shelters or
referrals for outside psychiatric and psychological
assistance, medical assistance, in-depth needs assessments,
travel arrangements, travel documents for victims whose
passports have been confiscated by traffickers, travel
supplies and reinstallation grants, organization of safe
transportation to departure points (in cooperation with UNMIK
and based on medical and security concerns),medical and
accompanied minor escorts when necessary, and coordination
with receiving IOM mission. For local victims, it provides:
short- and medium-term sheltering in preparation for family
reunification or independent living, family mediation (in
cooperation with social workers when victims are minors),
psychological counseling and psychiatric assistance,

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reintegration or emergency grants, material support for
victims and/or families, housing and rental support, access
to education, education-related expenses, vocational
training, job placement (including for family members),
awareness-raising and self-improvement activities,
facilitation of relocation out of Kosovo for witnesses and
their families, and monitoring and follow-up.


76. (SBU) IOM reports good cooperation with the government,
but it did not receive any financial assistance from
government sources for its work with trafficking victims
during the reporting period.

Prevention


77. (SBU) Question 30(A): The government and UNMIK
acknowledge that trafficking in persons is a problem in
Kosovo, and they are working to address the issue.


78. (SBU) Question 30(B): In July 2007, the Prime Minister
approved an initiative declaring October to be the month of
an awareness campaign against human trafficking. The Prime
Minister,s Advisory Office for Good Governance (AOGG) took
the lead in organizing this initiative, and several
governmental components contributed to it. Members of the
KPS THBS participated in several roundtables and panel
discussions devoted to this subject. In addition, the
Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) took
part in a regional project, &Safe Environment for
Children,8 to help parents prevent their children from
falling victim to human trafficking. The Ministry of Culture
sponsored five regional discussions aimed at preventing
trafficking, and held five concerts and a conference on the
topic of the role of education in preventing trafficking.
Other organizations also sponsored events and media campaigns
aimed at prevention. This initiative and many of the
programs conducted throughout the month received extensive
media coverage.


79. (SBU) Notwithstanding the anti-trafficking month, most
anti-trafficking information and education campaigns during
the reporting period were run by international organizations
and NGOs with the government's support and under the auspices
of the Kosovo Action Plan (KAP). Examples include
OSCE-sponsored television debates aimed at raising awareness
of internal trafficking, mechanisms for reporting it and
assistance available to victims; the MEST,s inclusion of an
anti-trafficking module in an elective subject called
&Skills for Life8 in Kosovo,s public schools; a
Partnership against Trafficking in Human Beings Project
(PATH),s awards contest for journalists, best stories on
trafficking issues; and a Save the Children research report
entitled &Children Speak Out,8 which provided information
on the environment in which highly vulnerable children are
raised and which should help counter-trafficking officials
tailor future messages to them. Although the PATH Project is
currently finalizing a progress report on the activities
envisaged in the KAP, no assessments have been conducted on
the information and education campaigns, success or the size
of the audiences they reached.


80. (SBU) Question 30(C): There is good cooperation on the
trafficking issue among government officials, NGOs,
international organizations and other elements of civil
society in Kosovo. They regularly consult on developing and
implementing trafficking-related protocols, such as the
Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for dealing with victims
of trafficking. They also cooperate very closely on

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providing assistance to victims. Aside from the Interim
Security Facility (ISF) for high-risk trafficking victims,
all shelters are managed by local NGOs and partially funded
by the MLSW. Moreover, NGOs and international organizations
are participating in drafting of the new KAP and serve on the
Inter-Ministerial Working Group on Trafficking Issues, which
is responsible for designing, implementing and monitoring the
new KAP.


81. (SBU) Question 30(D): KPS monitors immigration patterns
for evidence of trafficking. Foreigners staying in Kosovo
more than 90 days are required to register with the Office of
Foreign Registration (OFR) unless they are employees of KFOR,
international organizations or foreign liaison offices. KPS
THBS coordinates closely with the OFR to identify potential
trafficking victims and subsequently interview them. When
they do bar/restaurant checks, KPS THBS officers particularly
look for women and girls that have been classified as at-risk
through OFR records checks.


82. (SBU) KPS Border/Boundary Police officers also report
that they routinely look for potential victims of trafficking
entering Kosovo's border and boundary gates and the Pristina
Airport. When they suspect a woman or girl may be a victim
or potential victim of trafficking, they separate her from
others with whom she is traveling in order to question her,
warn her of the risks of trafficking and give her information
on what to do if she becomes a victim of trafficking. Border
police cooperate closely with KPS THBS.


83. (SBU) KPS THBS says it is also monitoring emigration
patterns to try to understand possible criminal networks
trafficking women and girls from Kosovo to other European
countries. It works closely with Border/Boundary Police on
this.


84. (SBU) Question 30(E): The national coordinator for
counter-trafficking in the Prime Minister's Advisory Office
for Good Governance (AOGG) coordinates communication among
counter-trafficking actors in Kosovo, including the relevant
ministries, NGOs and international organizations. The
national counter-trafficking coordinator has a secretariat
and chairs an inter-ministerial working group on
counter-trafficking, which will design, implement and monitor
the new Kosovo Action Plan (KAP) on trafficking. There are
also sub-working groups on prevention, protection,
prosecution and trafficking in children.


85. (SBU) The government does not have a public corruption
task force, but it 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 (see paragraphs 20 and 51). Since they are
fledgling institutions, it is too soon to assess their
efficacy.


86. (SBU) Question 30(F): The Kosovo Action Plan to Combat
Trafficking in Persons (KAP),which was adopted in May 2005
and widely disseminated and publicized, expired in December

2007. Plans are underway for a successor KAP. All relevant
ministries, international organizations, NGOs and civil
society representatives will participate in the process.

87. (SBU) Question 30(G): Between April 1, 2007 and January
21, 2008, the Kosovo Police Service (KPS) arrested 13 people
for prostitution and four for facilitating prostitution.
They also conducted 928 searches of premises suspected of
prostitution and/or trafficking in persons, 45 of which were
closed as a result. In January 2008, the KPS THBS and the

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Kosovo Special Prosecutors Office (KSPO) also worked together
to gather evidence to file the first ever indictment charging
a client, sending a powerful signal to other would-be clients
that they may be next.


88. (SBU) In January 2007, the national counter-trafficking
coordinator sent a memorandum to the prime minister on bars
suspected of trafficking in persons, prostitution and other
criminal activities and suggested that these bars be off
limits to senior officials working in Kosovo government
institutions. The KPS THBS compiled this list and
distributed it to government offices every month during the
reporting period. UNMIK distributes a similar list of
off-limits bars for its officials. Most international
liaison officers and KFOR report that they require their
employees to abide by the list.


89. (SBU) In January 2008, a Kosovo Special Prosecutors
Office (KSPO) prosecutor who focuses on trafficking in
persons filed a groundbreaking indictment charging three
Kosovar Albanian men, including one client, and three
Moldovan women for human trafficking, facilitating
prostitution and money laundering. It was the first
indictment ever in Kosovo to charge a client, to charge
Moldovan women as recruiters and to include money laundering
in a human trafficking case. The KSPO hopes it will serve as
a model for future indictments and that, if successful, will
send a powerful message to clients that they are not beyond
the reach of the law.


90. (SBU) Question 30(H): N/A.


91. (SBU) Question 30(I): N/A


92. (SBU) Post's point of contact on TIP matters is POLOFF
Tracey Thornton, 381-38-5959-3110, 377-44-502-107 (mobile),
ThorntonTR@state.gov.
KAIDANOW