Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09DAMASCUS555
2009-08-06 11:56:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Damascus
Cable title:
TIER 3 REASSESSMENT NEEDED FOR SYRIA
how-toVZCZCXYZ0000 PP RUEHWEB DE RUEHDM #0555 2181156 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 061156Z AUG 09 FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6690 INFO RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 0664 RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 0627 RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0684 RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 0705
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)
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
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