TIER 3 REASSESSMENT NEEDED FOR SYRIA

C O N F I D E N T I A L DAMASCUS 000555 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ELA, DRL/NESCA, G-ACBLANK, G/TIP LONDON FOR LORD, PARIS FOR MILLER E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/06/2019 TAGS: PHUM PGOV KWMN KTIP SCOI SCUL SY SUBJECT: TIER 3 REASSESSMENT NEEDED FOR SYRIA REF: A. STATE 081476 ¶B. DAMASCUS 00554 ¶C. DAMASCUS 00471 ¶D. DAMASCUS 00062 Classified By: Raymond Maxwell for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (U) This a response to State 081476 action cable. ¶2. (U) The SARG has demonstrated a commitment to tackling trafficking in persons (TIP) crimes at the highest levels. Per reftels, this commitment has resulted in (1) a draft TIP law; (2) ministerial-level cooperation with NGOs working on TIP issues; (3) support for victims of trafficking (VOT) shelters (ref C & D); (4) developing an informal and increasingly functional referral policy for VOTs to enter shelters; (5) initial steps toward direct engagement with U.S. Embassy interlocutors on trafficking issues; and (6) the April 8, 2009 ratification of anti-TIP U.N. conventions and protocols. For these reasons, Post recommends that sanctions under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) not/not be imposed on Syria. ¶3. (C) For the past three years, the Parliament, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA),Ministry of Justice (MoJ),the Ministry of the Interior (MoI),the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MoSAL),and the Prime Minister's office have worked on a law that would provide a legal foundation for the identifying, pursuing, and prosecuting human traffickers. This law would supplement Penal Code statues that already permit law enforcement officials to arrest and prosecute individuals for TIP-related crimes. According to the MFA's Chief of International Organizations, Mr. Milad Attiyeh, who met with Emboffs on August 5 to discuss TIP (ref B),the draft legislation now sits in the Prime Minister's office and will next be sent to the Parliament for endorsement and publication into law. ¶4. (U) Trafficking, especially the sexual crime element, is an extremely sensitive subject in Muslim societies, and Syria, despite the regime's secular hue, is no exeception. The government, nevertheless, has closely coordinated with the International Orgainzation for Migration in organizing workshops aimed at consciousness raising and training. The length of time involved in producing the draft TIP law is partly a product of the rounds of workshops that were required to educate government officials on the nature of the crimes and why they required a unique piece of legislation. Since 2005 when SARG and IOM collaboration began, the two sides have held approximately 23 joint workshops/conferences around the country. ¶5. (U) While the draft law is an important by-product of the IOM/SARG efforts, a more immediate result of their teamwork has been the opening of a VOT shelter in Damascus and the authorization of a second shelter (building currently under refurbishment) to open in Aleppo. Both buildings were donated by the SARG. In both cases, IOM has engaged a local NGO to serve as the implementer, thereby building capacity with local populations to manage and combat these issues on their own. An informal referral policy has succeeded in transfering VOTs from criminal detention facilities to the shelter. On April 8, 2009, the SARG ratified the U.N. Convention against Transnational Organized Crime as well as the supplemental Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons. On August 5, 2009, the MFA's Chief of International Organizations engaged Emboffs in a rare working-level discussion of the TIP report, Syria's efforts to combat TIP, and ways for U.S. and SARG officials to stay engaged on the issue in the future. ¶6. (C) In sum, the Syrian government has taken clear steps to indicate its recognition of the TIP-related issues that face the country. Post's assessment is that we should exploit the SARG's willingness to engage on this subject by pursuing a G/TIP visit. Implementing sanctions now would have a chilling effect on our efforts to improve bilateral relations and constructively discuss additional positive steps we would like to take. MAXWELL