POSITIVE SIGNS ON TIP FROM CAMBODIA'S MINISTRY OF

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PHNOM PENH 000449 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS, EAP/RSP, G/TIP, DRL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PREL KWMN KTIP SOCI CB SUBJECT: POSITIVE SIGNS ON TIP FROM CAMBODIA'S MINISTRY OF JUSTICE REF: PHNOM PENH 419 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Ambassador Rodley met with Minister of Justice Ang Vong Vathana to review the 2009 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report and discuss the next steps in Cambodia's efforts to combat human trafficking. The Ambassador emphasized the Ministry of Justice's (MOJ) direct responsibility for action on some of the Report's recommendations, in particular the need for increased prosecutions and convictions under the Royal Government of Cambodia's (RGC) anti-TIP law and improved efforts to identify, prosecute, and convict public officials complicit in TIP. The Minister was receptive during the discussion, and while very careful in his responses, gave some positive signs of increasing involvement from the MOJ on TIP issues. END SUMMARY. -------------- Positive Signs from the MOJ -------------- ¶2. (SBU) During the June 30 meeting with the Ambassador, Minister of Justice Ang Vong Vathana revealed some new RGC initiatives in combating TIP issues. The Minister indicated he had spoken directly with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior (DPM) Sar Kheng about the TIP Report a number of times since the release of the 2009 Report. He said the MOJ was working to respond to the DPM's request for a report on the status of cases sent by police for prosecution. Ang Vong Vathana also acknowledged problems with prosecutors and judges misinterpreting the 2008 anti-TIP law, noted that the MOJ provided recent training to a group of judicial officials on interpretation of the law, and said such training would continue. ¶3. (SBU) The Minister also mentioned his recent letter to all provincial and municipal courts instructing them to focus firmly on TIP cases. The letter, dated May 18, instructs the Presidents and Prosecutors of all provincial and municipal courts to file statistics on TIP cases promptly, to increase prosecution and investigation of TIP cases as quickly as possible, and to increase the number of TIP-related trials to the maximum capacity. The letter notes concerns raised by the Ministry of Interior that police arrested 132 TIP perpetrators in 98 cases in calendar year 2008, but there were only 32 trials in the same period. -------------- Complicit Public Officials -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Ambassador Rodley repeatedly brought up the issue of potentially corrupt public officials, mentioning the 2009 Report recommendations, reports received from NGOs about brothels owned or protected by police, and concerns about weak charges or sentences applied in some cases by judges and prosecutors. The Ambassador pointed out that the concentration of convictions in Phnom Penh, while known hot-spots such as Sihanoukville and Siem Reap did not have any, opened up the RGC to significant criticism regarding complicity. (NOTE: 11 of the 12 confirmed convictions reported in the 2009 TIP report were from the Phnom Penh Municipal Court. END NOTE.) ¶5. (SBU) The Minister was very careful in his response to these points, stating a number of times that he did not want to accuse anyone of improper action, or to imply that certain actions were done deliberately rather than out of misunderstanding of the anti-TIP law. He asked the Ambassador to let him know about concerns when the Embassy hears of them. He avoided mentioning the controversy around former President of the Appeals Court Ly Vouch Leng, which was a major topic of conversation during the Ambassador's June 16 discussion with DPM Sar Kheng (Reftel). -------------- Justice Documentation Project -------------- ¶6. (SBU) The TIP conversation took place on the heels of a launch ceremony for a new USAID-funded Justice Documentation Project. The Project includes new computers, development of a new software program for tracking statistics for the MOJ, and a 4-month training program for MOJ officials that began the same day. Both the Ambassador and the Minister noted in their TIP dialogue that the new system could be useful in helping the MOJ engage more fully on TIP issues. The PHNOM PENH 00000449 002 OF 002 Minister expressed the hope that the system will help resolve discrepancies between statistics provided by the Ministry of Interior and those kept by the MOJ. The MOJ will eventually be able to log all incoming court cases into the new system and easily learn the status of a given case. ¶7. (SBU) The Minister also said that easier access to information would allow him to follow-up on cases with police, and even initiate cases with police when information on offenders comes directly to the MOJ from NGOs (which he said sometimes happens). Earlier involvement in a case would allow the MOJ to assist police in gathering information to build stronger cases for prosecution. He indicated that courts dismissed as many as 30 cases last year due to incomplete or weak evidence. The Minister suggested this may also be a cause of lax charging and sentencing, in that case evidence could not support the additional charges or maximum sentences available to prosecutors and judges. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶8. (SBU) The positive signs from the Minister of Justice signified the potential for increased leadership and action by the MOJ on TIP issues. The indications that the Minister has been cooperating with and seriously discussing TIP issues with the DPM Sar Kheng is an improvement over the past. Additionally, his recent letter of instruction is also a sign that the Minister is taking greater interest in TIP cases. The caution displayed about complicit officials, however, signifies an unwillingness to tackle issues of corruption publicly. The TIP Report, while providing impetus for the RGC to focus more effort and resources to combat TIP, may not have as strong an effect on corruption in Cambodia. It will take the passage of the Penal Code, a law on anti-corruption, and strong government will to address fully the issue of complicity by public officials in TIP. RODLEY