2009 TAJIKISTAN INTERIM TIP ASSESSMENT

UNCLAS DUSHANBE 001263

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA/RA AND G/TIP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KCRM KTIP KWMN PGOV PHUM SMIG TI
SUBJECT: 2009 TAJIKISTAN INTERIM TIP ASSESSMENT


1. (SBU) This is in response to Reftel request.




2. (SBU) The government of Tajikistan prosecuted 22 people for
crimes related to TIP in the first half of 2009, according to a
report released by the Government of Tajikistan's Inter-Agency
Commission on TIP. The Inter-Agency Commission coordinates
anti-trafficking efforts within the government and includes the
Deputy of the State Committee on National Security. It has met
intermittently to discuss TIP issues, but has been without a
Chairman since January 2009. The government flatly denies that
trafficking victims have been assaulted by government officials,
as has been alleged. The government has not provided
information regarding its mechanism for investigating such
allegations. The government provided anti-Tip information to
travelers and advised labor migrants on their rights while
working abroad. Two NGO-operated shelters continue to work in
Dushanbe and Khujand.




3. (SBU) In January 2009 the government prosecuted three
officials in Sarband, Shahrituz, and Kubodiyon regions for
employing forced child labor in the 2008 harvest. The courts
fined one official, while two cases remain open. In an address
to parliament in April 2009, President Rahmon ordered local
officials to cease the employment of forced child labor. During
the 2009 harvest, officials did not cancel school or organize
and deploy children to harvest the cotton fields as was the case
in 2008. However, young children continued to be employed in
the cotton harvest outside of school hours. In Sugd Oblast,
government employees, including doctors and teachers, have been
ordered to pick cotton for up to 15 days in lieu of their
regular duties. In November, the government approved an IOM
proposal to monitor the cotton harvest, but it was not funded
since the cotton harvest season ends in early December. The
government did not monitor the cotton harvest or check school
attendance as part of a larger anti-TIP effort.




4. (SBU) Tajikistan has increased its diplomatic staff in Dubai
and Russia to assist trafficking victims and to coordinate with
local immigration officials in TIP cases. The Inter-Agency
Commission reports that, in coordination with international
organizations, the government has facilitated the return of 24
victims of TIP to Tajikistan from July 2008 to June 2009. Six
government officials travelled to Serbia and Macedonia on a
study tour to develop a referral mechanism for victims of TIP.
Instructors who teach a course on TIP identification and
interdiction at the Ministry of Internal Affairs Police Academy
participated in a one-week curriculum development course
facilitated by the OSCE. The Council of Justice has created a
database on human trafficking crimes and relevant actions the
government took in response to those crimes.

GROSS