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