DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER UPBEAT, ENGAGED ON FIGHTING TIP

UNCLAS YEREVAN 000555 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL KTIP KCRM HSTC AM SUBJECT: DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER UPBEAT, ENGAGED ON FIGHTING TIP (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Please protect accordingly. ¶1. (SBU) On July 4, Deputy Prime Minister Armen Gevorkian convoked his first meeting with the international community and NGOs in his capacity as chair of the new Ministerial Anti-Trafficking Council. He asserted that henceforth no one will doubt the seriousness of Armenian intentions on fighting trafficking. He informed the group that starting in 2009 anti-TIP expenditures will be a separate line-item in the government budget, and called for continuing cooperation with the international community and NGOs in this area. ¶2. (SBU) Gevorkian invited interested international organizations, embassies, and NGOs to attend the Ministerial Council meetings and promised regular meetings in this format (he and the anti-trafficking community: international organizations and local NGOs). Following the creation of the Ministerial Council in December 2007, the Council's first meeting, delayed by the internal political crises, took place only on June 26. (Note: The international community was first invited, then disinvited from attending this initial meeting, as the Council wanted to have its first introductory meeting in private. End note.) According to Gevorkian, the next meeting of the Council (set to take place in September) will focus on the activities of law-enforcement bodies in this area, as he acknowledged that most criticism has been directed against these agencies. ¶3. (SBU) Gevorgian said that the ministerial council discussed the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report at its first meeting, and expressed readiness to discuss other trafficking reports as well. During a brief side conversation with Emboffs, Gevorkian promised to look into the issue of escaped trafficker Anush Zakharyants, which we have repeatedly highlighted as an important bellwether of Armenian anti-TIP commitment. During the individual presentations of the NGOs and international organizations on their anti-trafficking programs, he expressed hope that these (including USG funded programs) will continue. ¶4. (SBU) COMMENT: Gevorkian gave every indication that he intends to engage himself regularly and substantively on the anti-trafficking issue, which we take as a very encouraging sign. There was always the risk that this new, high-level anti-TIP council we had urged upon the GOAM might prove in its execution to be an empty formality -- a formulaic sop to international pressure. While we have certainly had our differences with Gevorkian from time to time in the past, he may be just the right man for this job. Gevorkian is a powerful force behind the scenes. If he chooses to take on the anti-TIP fight as a personal priority, that could augur significant positive steps. PENNINGTON