EMBASSY BAGHDAD 2009 TIP INTERIM ASSESSMENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 003080

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/27/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV IZ TIP NEA RA
SUBJECT: EMBASSY BAGHDAD 2009 TIP INTERIM ASSESSMENT

REF: A. BAGHDAD 2403

B. BAGHDAD 2886

Classified By: Political Counselor Yuri Kim for reason 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Human trafficking for the purposes of
labor and sexual exploitation continues to be a problem in
Iraq according to senior GOI and judicial officials. While
the GOI has drafted legislation to prosecute and punish those
who engage in trafficking, the draft law remains stalled in
the Shura Council. The GOI has made some progress in
increasing public awareness about trafficking, but complex
challenges persist with regard to training Iraqi police and
security forces and developing a system for collecting and
disseminating intelligence about trafficking. END SUMMARY.


GOI EFFORTS TO PASS ANTI-TRAFFICKING LEGISLATION
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2. (C) In January 2009, an interministerial committee
comprised of members from the Ministry of Human Rights, the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Labor and
Social Affairs spearheaded the development of
anti-trafficking legislation that would establish criminal
penalties for human trafficking. The draft legislation,
which would also mandate the formation of a permanent
interagency anti-trafficking committee in Baghdad, is under
review by a special committee within the Shura Council.
(Note: The Shura Council, which operates under the Ministry
of Justice, reviews draft legislation originating from the
Council of Ministers to ensure compliance with the Iraqi
constitution. End Note.) Until the Shura Council clears the
draft and forwards it to the Council of Representatives (COR)
for approval, the interim committee will continue to serve as
a coordinating body on human trafficking issues with no
special authority to implement its recommendations. A copy
of the draft legislation states that the law imposes fines
exceeding 25 million dinars (USD 21,000) and life
imprisonment on traffickers if their victim "is under 15, or
a female, or has special needs". The law allegedly imposes
the same punishment for cases in which the trafficker is a
relative of the victim's caretaker or spouse, or if the crime
was committed by force.


3. (C) GOI decisions regarding the development of Iraq's
anti-trafficking strategy are decentralized and shared
between several ministries, with no single organization
bearing responsibility for tracking progress on the issue.
Shatha al-Obosi, a member of the GOI's Human Rights
Committee, related to Poloff on November 9 that political
roadblocks to addressing trafficking in the COR persist
because of resistance among some COR members, "to address the
fact that trafficking is a problem in Iraq, or that it has a
human rights and women's rights component." Al-Obosi stated
that while she and other GOI members hear periodic reports of
domestic and cross-border trafficking for the purposes of
labor and sexual exploitation, these reports remain largely
unverified and uninvestigated due to a lack of evidence and
because the GOI's information on trafficking is only
accessible to a few authorized officials.

LACK OF CAPACITY TO SUPPORT TRAFFICKING VICTIMS
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4. (C) GOI efforts in August 2009 led to the successful
repatriation of 14 women to Uganda after they were apparently
trafficked into Iraq for the purposes of labor exploitation
(ref A). The GOI initiated both a criminal and a human
rights investigation that resulted in the issuance of two
arrest warrants. While the case provided the GOI an
opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to addressing
Qopportunity to demonstrate its commitment to addressing
trafficking, it also revealed a lack of capacity to provide
temporary shelter to trafficking victims. Notwithstanding
the difficulties of preventing trafficking through Iraq's
long land borders, the GOI has made limited progress in
screening migrant workers to identify possible trafficking
victims. According to Judge Hadeel Najim Abdullah of the
Baghdad Courthouse, some female foreign workers who are
promised legitimate work elsewhere in the Middle East, are
instead brought to Baghdad to be placed in the sex trade
and/or serve as laborers (ref B). Hadeel further claimed
that some Iraqi employers contract with traffickers for
business and residential workers, and that female foreign
workers are often victims of sexual assault by their
employers. He also noted that abuses of foreign workers who
are trafficked into Iraq under false pretenses are often not
pursued by the police and/or courts.


5. (C) A foreign woman may be detained until her country of
origin assists her to obtain a new passport to return home.
The GOI has made little progress in regulating recruitment
practices and fees of foreign labor brokers to prevent

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practices that facilitate forced labor. Embassy Baghdad's
POL and ECON sections are working to obtain more information
in this area and will report any new developments as
information becomes available.


6. (C) Currently, the GOI does not have a formal mechanism
for intervening in cases in which migrant workers learn upon
arrival in Iraq that the jobs they were promised do not
exist. As with its treatment of internally displaced
families and communities, the GOI continues to rely heavily
on support provided by non-governmental institutions and
civil society. The difficulties of combating trafficking are
compounded by a lack of data on the scale and severity of
Iraq's trafficking problem. As reported ref B, Ministry of
Human Rights Director General mentioned in an October 14
meeting that the Ministry intends to create a database of
trafficking information to help target its anti-trafficking
efforts. The Ministry of Human Rights, working in tandem
with the Ministry of Youth and Sports, has initiated a public
awareness campaign aimed at educating children at schools and
youth centers across the country about trafficking, but the
GOI has yet to create an effective mechanism to disseminate
awareness information to those who are in the best position
to identify and curb trafficking. In a November 2 meeting
with the leaders of seven human rights NGOs from all over
Iraq, Taha Abdl Ghnei, Manager of the Anbar-based Al-Safa
Society for Development and Friendship, observed that Iraqi
police and security forces are not trained to notice subtle
indications of abuse or fraud commonly seen among trafficking
victims.


7. (C) COMMENT: Even with the GOI passage of
anti-trafficking legislation, Iraq will continue to face
several challenges in effectively responding to and
preventing instances of human trafficking. Embassy Baghdad's
Rule of Law office is making a concerted effort to encourage
the Ministry of Interior and the Higher Judicial Council to
address trafficking in Iraq and will work with them to
provide training and education. Additionally, the Embassy's
International Narcotics and Law Enforcement office plans to
incorporate anti-trafficking components into future programs.
END COMMENT
HILL