Ninth Annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report - Czech

UNCLAS PRAGUE 000089

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TAGS: KTIP KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB
SUBJECT: Ninth Annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report - Czech
Republic

Ref: 08 STATE 132759


1. (U) Sensitive But Unclassified entire text; not for internet
distribution.


2. (SBU) SUMMARY: The Czech Republic is meeting the Minimum
Standards for the elimination of trafficking in persons as set forth
in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2005, in that:

a) The government provides a comprehensive anti-trafficking legal
framework by which it prosecutes trafficking in all its forms.
Punishments are of similar severity as sentences for other serious
crimes such as rape. Thus, trafficking sentences are of sufficient
severity to act as a general deterrent;

b) The government is combating trafficking by investigating and
prosecuting trafficking cases, as well as convicting and sentencing
guilty parties. The government also regularly provided NGOs and
the USG, consistent with its ability to do so, data regarding
investigations, prosecutions, convictions, and sentences;

c) The government demonstrated serious and sustained efforts to
protect victims of trafficking through its National Strategy against
Trafficking and through its Program of Support for Victims. The
government also encouraged victim assistance in the investigation
and prosecution of traffickers; and

d) The government demonstrated serious and sustained efforts to
implement measures to prevent trafficking, such as informing the
public about the causes and consequences of trafficking; taking
steps to reduce demand for commercial sex acts; ensuring that its
nationals deployed abroad as peacekeepers have been trained to
detect, prevent, and punish violations of severe trafficking; and by
fighting forced labor and child labor that violates international
standards.


3. (SBU) Post responses are keyed to questions posed reftel.

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THE COUNTRY'S TIP SITUATION: (ref Para 23 08 STATE 132759)
--------------


A. Czech Republic's official sources of information on trafficking
include: the Ministries of Interior, Justice, Labor and Social
Affairs, Health, and Education; the Government Council for
Minorities, the Government Council for Human Rights, the State
Police, as well as the NGOs La Strada, Caritas (formerly known as
Catholic Czech Charities),White Circle of Safety, and Pleasure
without Risk (which supports health campaigns for sex workers; and
is also sometimes known as "Bliss without Risk"). The International
Organization for Migration (IOM) also plays a major role in
voluntary victim returns to their country of origin. In August 2008
an Interministerial Coordination Group (ICG) was established to
bring these institutions together in order to make the system of
coordination of activities and data collection pertaining to
trafficking in people more effective. The ICG meets twice a year to
coordinate activities, analyze and evaluate data on trafficking, and
to plan strategy for combating trafficking. The Ministry of Interior
and its Section of Crime Prevention provide day-to-day coordination
of TIP activities and also administer the annual special funding
program for NGOs, called "Prevention of Trafficking in People and
Assistance to Victims of Trafficking."


B. The Czech Republic is a transit and destination country and, to a
lesser degree, a source country for trafficking in persons (TIP)
mainly for the purposes of sexual exploitation, but also for
purposes of forced labor. Some victims are trafficked internally
from areas of high unemployment to Prague and to border regions with
Germany and Austria, where there is a higher demand for commercial
sex services. Czech women are primarily trafficked to the
Netherlands, Denmark, Great Britain, and Switzerland for work as
prostitutes. Foreign and Czech women are also trafficked within the
country, and are at times sold from one organized trafficking ring
to another. Long-term trends have demonstrated cooperation between
international criminal gangs operating within the Czech Republic and
gangs operating in their home countries.

Since entry into the European Union in 2004, NGOs estimate that
nearly all trafficking victims have entered the Czech Republic
legally with valid tourist visas. This holds true for both forced
labor and sex trafficking. (Note: Schengen rules permit entry into
the Czech Republic without a visa from other Schengen countries,
thereby facilitating movement of victims.)


C. Under promise of good jobs the traffickers lure women in their

home countries to the Czech Republic where they place them in erotic
night clubs and force them to prostitution in order to pay back for
their visa, travel, etc.
A Constitutional Court ruling from 2007 which allows municipalities
to ban prostitution in their own jurisdictions has led some
observers to suspect that prostitution is being pushed out of the
public view and into private clubs, residences, and businesses,
where it is harder to monitor.


D. Czech women between the ages of 18-29 with secondary or lower
educations from regions of high unemployment are at the greatest
risk of falling victim to sex traffickers. Women who have previously
worked as prostitutes are particularly vulnerable to exploitation.
Roma women are at the highest risk of being trafficked internally in
the Czech Republic, and are at the highest risk among all Czech
women of being trafficked outside the country. According to IOM
research for the Czech government, foreign labor trafficking victims
in the Czech Republic are relatively evenly divided between men and
women and come from a variety of source countries, such as the
former Soviet Union, especially Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan,
Belarus, but also Romania, China, Vietnam, and Mongolia. They also
tend to have relatively low education and to be drawn from
high-unemployment regions of their countries. However, unlike sex
trafficked-persons, individuals trafficked for purposes of labor
show a much more widely dispersed range of ages. The Czech Republic
is also a transit country for labor trafficking victims to other
European Union member states.


E. Most trafficked women for sexual exploitation and organized
prostitution come from Slovakia, Ukraine, Russia, and other
countries of the former Soviet Union, and also from Vietnam,
Romania, Mongolia, and Brazil. Trafficking is mainly organized by
Russian-speaking organized criminal groups that are active
throughout the country but mainly focused in Northern and Western
Bohemia, Southern Moravia and Prague. Trafficking in Vietnamese and
Chinese individuals is organized by Chinese and Vietnamese nationals
and members of those communities in the Czech Republic. The language
and cultural barriers with these victims has complicated police
investigations; however, there were several major police operations
targeting Asian traffickers during the reporting period.

In January 2007, in compliance with UN Security Council Resolution
1718, the government ended the practice of issuing visas to North
Korean workers. According to the director of the Foreign Police,
all laborers have since departed the country.

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SETTING THE SCENE FOR THE GOVERNMENT'S ANTI-TIP EFFORTS: (ref Para
24 08 STATE 132759)
--------------


A. The Czech government acknowledges that trafficking for both
sexual exploitation and forced labor continues to be a problem in
the country.


B. The lead coordinator of combating trafficking is the Ministry of
Interior and its Section of Crime Prevention in particular. Other
government bodies concerned with the fight against trafficking in
persons are the Ministries of Justice, Labor and Social Affairs,
Health, and Education, as well as the State Police. These bodies
form an inter-ministerial committee, parts of which interact with
anti-trafficking units of multi-lateral bodies, such as the UN, EU,
and the OSCE. Additionally, the government works closely and, in
many cases, funds major anti-trafficking-related projects of several
NGOs, including Caritas, La Strada, and Pleasure without Risk. The
government has a strong relationship with the international
organization, IOM, and its volunteer return program, which aids
trafficking victims wishing to return to their country of origin.
In 2006, the country established a specialized police unit to
combat forced labor, the first of its kind in the region. In its
first two years in operation, the unit made several noteworthy raids
and trafficking arrests.


C. The Czech Government provides significant funding to its agencies
and NGO partners to implement and monitor the country's
anti-trafficking campaign and aid victims. In 2008 the Czech
government provided funding to its agencies and NGO partners worth
almost 9,000,000 crowns ($450,000). Through the national budget, the
budget of the Ministry of Interior, and program funds from the
Ministries of Health, as well as Labor and Social Affairs, the
government is a major source of funds for NGO trafficking
monitoring, prevention, and rehabilitation programs. In many cases,
the state is the single largest contributor to a particular
anti-trafficking program, such as Caritas' MAGDALA program, and to
IOM's voluntary victim return program.


According to heads of the main human rights NGOs in the Czech
Republic, the government's anti-trafficking efforts are on par with
Western European countries that are generally considered to have
effective official anti-trafficking programs, such as Germany and
the Netherlands. Embassy Prague has also consistently used the
International Visitor Program to train both government and NGO staff
working in this area.

As strong as the government's efforts have been, NGOs and some state
officials have recommended additional steps the government can take
to bolster its anti-trafficking efforts. Of these recommendations,
the one most generally cited is the need to establish a national,
integrated, and fully searchable database containing all information
on trafficking cases from official and NGO sources
In January 2008, the government accepted this and other
recommendations as part of its overall 2008-2011 National Strategy
plan, which envisages preparing an annual report on combating
trafficking and making it public. The first annual report is due
March 2009. Post was able to obtain an early draft of the report,
which tracks many of the issues and data covered by the requirements
of the U.S. TVPA.

Other factors may also potentially affect the government's ability
to fight trafficking. In December 2007, the country entered the
EU's Schengen zone, which removed land border controls from around
the country. (Border checks, however, remain in place at airports
inside the Czech Republic.) As the country is now surrounded on all
sides by other Schengen states, the area inside the zone has no
inter-state border checks. Consequently, monitoring trafficking
activity into the country has become more difficult. However, there
are two anti-trafficking coordination efforts with other Schengen
zone countries: AGELAUS, a regional police effort that monitors
trafficking trends on a country by country basis; and FRONTEX, which
seeks ways to boost trafficking detection in an era without external
national borders.

In Cheb, a city near the German border, the government continued to
support activities of its specialized police team, "Eger,"
throughout the reporting period. Police also continued to work
closely with Roma police assistants to combat trafficking in the
Roma communities. (Roma women continue to be the main victims of
domestic trafficking in persons in the Czech Republic.)

The Czech Republic also has one of the highest police to citizen
ratios in Europe, but still faces a shortage of officers.
Therefore, the government is still looking for new police recruits.
Under the well-known American policing slogan "To Protect and to
Serve," the government has launched a nationwide hiring campaign for
new police officers. Some of the former border police may also be
available to fill vacant police positions.

Though it exists, corruption in the Czech Republic has not been a
known factor in undermining police anti-trafficking efforts. Nor is
Post aware of any instances where anti-trafficking program funds
have been siphoned off for illegitimate use by NGOs.


D. The government regularly scrutinizes and periodically updates its
anti-trafficking campaign. On January 23, 2008, the government
approved the 2008-2011 version of the "National Strategy for the
Fight against Trafficking in Human Beings." (The Czech Interior
Ministry works closely with other government ministries, such as
Justice, Education, Health, Labor and Social Affairs; NGOs, such as
La Strada, Caritas; the international organization IOM; multilateral
bodies and foreign police departments and regional government
partners to improve its anti-trafficking efforts. The government
also conducts twice-annual inter-ministerial meetings to coordinate
the government's anti-trafficking policies. The government
routinely publishes extensive information relating to aspects of its
anti-trafficking efforts and shares this information with relevant
NGOs and regional partners.

Throughout the reporting period, Czech authorities have been highly
cooperative and transparent in their interactions with Post on the
government's anti-trafficking campaign. They have provided Post
with up-to-date law enforcement data, information on their financial
support to NGOs, work with international and regional actors, and
their assessments on the overall progress of the anti-trafficking
campaign. NGO directors in the Czech Republic have generally
praised the government's anti-trafficking efforts.

In 2008 the Ministry of Interior of the Czech Republic joined a
project submitted by Portugal and the International Center for
Migration Policies Development called "Data Collection and
Harmonized Information Systems." The aim of the project is to create

joint criteria for data collection and a unified data base on
trafficking in people. The project that was launched in May 2008 and
will be finished in September 2009 was also joined by Poland,
Slovakia, and Germany.

--------------
INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION OF TRAFFICKERS (ref Para 25 08 STATE
132759)
--------------


A. The country's comprehensive anti-trafficking law is Section
232(a) of the general criminal code (2004). Known as the "Criminal
Law against Trafficking in Persons," the law greatly expanded the
country's original trafficking law which covered only trafficking
for sexual purposes. The 2004 law covers all forms of trafficking
and forced labor.

Section 232(a) states:

1) Whoever induces, engages, hires, lures, transports, hides,
detains or delivers a person under 18 years of age to be used
A) for sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual molestation or
exploitation,
B) for slavery or servitude, or
C) for forced labour or other forms of exploitation, shall be
punished to imprisonment for two to ten years.

2) In the same manner will be punished whoever by means of the use
of force, threat of force, deception or abuse of his mistake, stress
or dependence induces, engages, hires, lures, transports, hides,
detains or delivers another to be used
A) for sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual molestation or
exploitation,
B) for slavery or servitude, or
C) for forced labour or other forms of exploitation.

3) Offender shall be punished by imprisonment of five to twelve
years,
A) if he commits the crime stated in Article 1 or 2 as a member of
an organised group,
B) if he exposes another by such act to danger of an aggravated
bodily harm or death,
C) if he commits such act with the intent of obtaining a substantial
gain, or
D) if he commits such act with the intent of using another for
prostitution.

4) Offender shall be punished by imprisonment of eight to fifteen
years,
A) if he causes by the crime stated in Article 1 or 2 an aggravated
bodily harm, death or another particularly grave consequence,
B) if he commits such act with the intent of obtaining a gain of
large scope, or if he commits such act in connection with an
organised group operating in more countries.

Based on the sufficiency of resources and the availability of
witnesses, law enforcement authorities may also use other statutes
to prosecute trafficking-related offenses. The majority of these
trafficking-related cases are brought under the nation's
anti-pimping statute, as it demands lower evidentiary burdens and
provides speedier trials than using the trafficking statute.

Section 204 of the criminal code states:

(1) A person who engages, forces or corrupts somebody else to
prostitute oneself or a person who exploits the fact that someone
has sexual relations against payment, shall be sentenced to
imprisonment for at most three years.

(2) A person who commits the offence mentioned in paragraph 1 by
using violence, threat of violence or threat of other serious
detriment or by misuse of straits or dependence of the other person
shall be sentenced to imprisonment for at least one and at most five
years.

(3) A sentence to imprisonment for at least two years and at most
eight years shall be imposed if a person:
A) gains a great profit by committing the offence mentioned in
paragraph 1 or 2 ; or
B) commits such an offence as a member of an organised group ; or
C) commits such an offence against a person under eighteen (18)
years of age.

(4) A sentence to imprisonment for at least five years and at most
twelve years shall be imposed if a person commits the offence

mentioned in paragraph 2 against a person under fifteen (15) years
of age.

The government also criminalized the possession of child pornography
in November 2007. The amendment, Section 205 of the criminal code,
provides sentences of up to eight years in prison for violators.
The move was in response to calls for further protection for child
victims of sexual exploitation, and was aimed at stopping the spread
of child commercial sexual activity across the border.

In January 2009 President Klaus signed into law a new criminal code,
which sets even stricter sentences for trafficking in persons and
which will come into force as of January 2010.


B. Per Section 232(a)(4),Czech law punishes trafficking in persons
for sexual exploitation (or any other purpose) with sentences of up
to 15 years in prison. In 2008, 29 cases were brought under the
anti-trafficking statute. The statistics did not indicate how many
people were involved. Ten of the cases involved trafficking in
persons for the purposes of forced labor, and 19 cases involved
trafficking for sexual exploitation. By year's end, three
defendants were convicted under the statute, and received prison
sentences of between 1-15 years. The three defendants were not
necessarily part of these 29 cases; they may be part of cases from
previous years as trafficking cases in the Czech Republic can take
up to two or more years to complete.

During the reporting period, 88 persons were charged under Section
204 (2) with pimping. In the same period, 60 persons were convicted
under the pimping statute, and 14 of those convicted received prison
sentences of between 1-5 years. The others received suspended
sentences or were fined. MOI contacts said they did not keep tabs
on any of the specific fines imposed. As the underlying offenses
are usually trafficking-related, Czech officials maintain that these
pimping cases should be considered as part of their anti-trafficking
efforts.


C. The country's anti-trafficking law, Section 232 of the criminal
code, does not draw a distinction between penalties for trafficking
in persons for sexual exploitation and trafficking in persons for
other purposes, such as labor. Accordingly, the sentences for such
offenses are identical - up to 15 years in prison. The government
can also fine employers who violate work contracts or confiscate
workers travel documents. Fines can be as high as 500,000 crowns
($25,000) per occurrence. If employers use abuse, or physical or
sexual assault against employees to coerce their labor they can be
charged with a host of crimes, ranging from denial of personal
liberty, rape, assault, sexual harassment, pimping and trafficking
in persons.


D. The maximum sentence for trafficking is similar to the sentence
for other serious crimes against the person, such as rape, which
also carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison; thus, the
maximum penalty for trafficking is sufficient to act as a general
deterrent.


E. The Czech government does not disaggregate the reported
statistics, so we cannot distinguish between labor versus sex
related cases or cases involving children. See subsections B and C
of this paragraph, above.


F. The Czech government showed continued dedication to training
police, prosecutors, judges and military officers on the
significance of the social harm created by trafficking in persons.
Under the government program "Prevention of Trafficking in Persons
and Assistance to Victims to trafficking", the Ministry of Interior
organized and led training and educational activities in cooperation
with state institutions and leading human rights organizations. The
training in many cases was based on major U.S. and EU trafficking
case studies. During the reporting period, anti-trafficking courses
were, for example, required for new judges at the country's Judicial
Academy in Kromeriz.

Anti-trafficking courses were also part of continuing education
requirements for more senior judges, prosecutors, and police
officers. The Judicial Academy's courses focus on legal aspects of
trafficking in persons as well as on the consequences of trafficking
for victims. The first such course attended by 55 prosecutors and
judges was held in January 2008. Lecturers included experts from the
Ministry of Interior, the Organized Crime Unit of the Czech police,
and the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. Another seminar,
dealing with crimes against children through the Internet, and yet
another course dealing with juvenile immigrants and trafficking of
children were held for 52 prosecutors and judges in the spring.

In May 2008 the Ministry of Interior organized an international
course entitled "Trafficking in Human Beings - Forced Labor and Sex

Industry" in Prague. Speakers were Czech and foreign experts, and
the audience included Czech government officials and their
colleagues from 19 countries. The course focused on combating
organized crime, especially in trafficking in human beings, and
international cooperation in this area.

During 2008 the Ministry of Interior established cooperation with
the Military University in Brno where it organized a series of
seminars for the Czech military on the problem of trafficking in
persons.

Since 2005, the MOI and the Organized Crime Unit of the police
(UOOZ) have been providing several one-day trafficking seminars at
secondary police schools. During these seminars, police
investigators teach academy students specifics of detecting and
investigating trafficking cases, cooperating with NGOs, and
providing information on assistance to victims of trafficking.

Human rights NGOs were in full agreement that the Czech police have
over the last several years greatly enhanced their ability to
identify victims of trafficking due to greater training and overall
sensitivity to the phenomenon; they mainly credit the Ministry of
Interior for making combating trafficking a cornerstone of the basic
police curriculum. As most victims are currently identified by the
police, NGOs place a great deal of importance on initial encounters
with victims. Overall, NGO representatives stated that police
effectiveness in dealing with victims in the initial contact phase
was excellent and much better when compared to their efforts from
just a few years ago.

The government continued to work hand-in-hand with three main
non-governmental organizations: Caritas (formerly known as Czech
Catholic Charities),La Strada, and Pleasure without Risk (Rozkos
Bez Rizika). Caritas works in schools, as well as asylum and migrant
centers, to conduct awareness campaigns among potential victims of
trafficking. They also publicize the risks of trafficking and the
strategies used by traffickers to entrap and coerce victims. La
Strada focuses on advocacy, victim assistance, and prevention
programs. Although both La Strada and Caritas provide short-term
crisis intervention, Caritas, which receives subsidies from the
Catholic Church, tends to focus more on providing longer-term care
and support, while La Strada specializes on immediate crisis
intervention. Pleasure without Risk works primarily in the field of
health care advocacy for sex workers.

All of these organizations, but especially IOM and La Strada, play
key roles in the government's "Program of Support and Protection of
the Victims of Trafficking in Persons," which is the main government
effort aimed at helping victims of trafficking.


G. The government cooperated closely with police forces,
multilateral bodies, and NGOs from neighboring countries. Under UN
auspices, the national police have hosted a number of experts on
crime and migration from Slovakia and Ukraine. These meetings have
focused on monitoring the connection between organized crime and the
movement of migrants across state borders. The Czech government also
plans to address TIP during its Presidency of the European Union
from January to June 2009. The Ministry of Interior is preparing two
major international conferences on this topic. The first conference
entitled "Joint Analysis, Joint Action - Conference of EU National
Rapporteurs on Trafficking in Human Beings," supported by the
European Commission and the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will be held in Prague in March. The
second conference, also being prepared by the Ministry of Interior
will deal with sexual exploitation and sex business and how
different European countries tackle these problems.

The government also joined a 2008-2009 international project
entitled "Supranational Reference Mechanism for Victims of
Trafficking in Persons in Source and Destination Countries" which is
coordinated by the International Center for Migration Policy
Development (ICMPD). The aim of the project is to interlink the
existing national coordination mechanisms for protection and
assistance to victims of trafficking in persons, unification of
standards of services for victims of trafficking, and fostering
international and bilateral cooperation in repatriation and
reintegration of victims of trafficking. Participating countries
include Portugal, Bulgaria, Romania, Albania, Hungary, Macedonia,
and many NGOs.

The Ministry of Interior continued bilateral cooperation with
Ukraine in the "Project ZERO," which was launched in 2007 in support
of exchange of information and preparation of joint actions by both

countries' police units. The project is coordinated by IOM Kiev, and
it is financed by the Swedish government.

The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs worked with the Romanian
national agency against trafficking in persons on prevention of
trafficking and exploiting Romanian citizens working in the Czech
Republic. Similar bilateral efforts were conducted with officials
from Moldova, Mongolia, Slovakia, Sweden, and Poland.

The International Organization of Migration conducted two projects
in the Caucasus and Central Asia on the prevention of trafficking in
persons ("Support of Migration Management in Georgia and Moldova -
2008" and "Support of Migration Management in Central Asia - 2008").
These projects were focused on exchanging experiences between Czech
experts and partners in Georgia, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan,
and Tajikistan in the area of border control, as well as fighting
illegal migration and organized crime.

The Interior Ministry continued its three-year program (2007-2009)
of training higher police management in West Balkan countries,
especially Macedonia and Bosnia Herzegovina, in the area of
combating organized crime (terrorism, drugs, financial crime, and
trafficking in persons). The program consists of sending missions of
experts to those countries and a follow-up training of those
countries' experts in the Czech Republic.

During the reporting period, the Ministry of Interior continued to
fund a program between Caritas in the Czech Republic and Ukraine.
The program's aim is to reduce illegal migration to the Czech
Republic from Ukraine, a leading source country of trafficked
persons to the Czech Republic. Through the "Prevention of Illegal
Migration from Ukraine" program, Caritas operates information
centers throughout Ukraine, at which they distribute free
information pamphlets and job advice to would-be migrants. The
program aims to increase the number of legal temporary and long-term
stays from Ukraine, while reducing the number of illegal migrants.
Another goal of the project is to eliminate the need for
intermediaries and brokers that frequently resort to illegal and
extortive practices.

The Foreign Ministry continued its anti-trafficking outreach
programs with both foreign embassies in Prague and Czech consulates
and embassies abroad. The ministry provided the foreign embassies
in Prague with anti-trafficking pamphlets, prepared in their own
languages, including Serbian, Polish, and Ukrainian. These cards
provided emergency contact information for trafficking victims and
names and contact information for NGOs, such as La Strada and
Caritas, concerned with helping victims. The pamphlets were also
distributed by Czech NGOs within the Czech Republic and by the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs at its embassies and consulates abroad.
A smaller version of the card can be placed into the passports of
visa applicants applying at Czech missions located in high-risk
source countries. In 2007, the ministry added the Romanian embassy
in Prague to its list of those receiving the pamphlets. The problem
of trafficking in persons was included in training consular officers
before departure to missions, especially in Russia, Ukraine,
Belarus, Moldova, Serbia, Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia Herzegovina,
Romania, Bulgaria, and Vietnam.


H. Although the Czech government has adopted the European Arrest
Warrant (EAW),current interpretation of the Czech Constitution
forbids extradition of Czech nationals charged in foreign courts. As
such, no Czechs have been extradited under the EAW. However, the
government does extradite foreign nationals facing trafficking
charges in other jurisdictions. This happened, for example, in 2006
when the government extradited three Israeli nationals wanted in
Israel for trafficking Ukrainian women.


I. There was no evidence of government involvement in or tolerance
of trafficking on either a local or institutional level during the
reporting period.


J. There were no credible allegations during the reporting period
that members of the government engaged in or facilitated trafficking
in persons.


K. Activities of the prostitute are not currently criminalized under
the Czech criminal code. Pimping is, however, illegal under Section
204 of the Czech criminal code. As there are no legal provisions
covering prostitution on the national level, there are no national
regulations governing the activities of sex workers or brothel
owners.

In March 2007, the Czech Constitutional Court ruled that cities and
towns have the authority to ban "continuous breaches of public


order" and fine violators up to 30,000 crowns ($1,500) per
violation. Several municipalities, such as Dubi and Usti nad Labem
near the German border, and Prague (as of January 2008),have used
the injunction to ban prostitution within their jurisdictions, or to
restrict it to a limited number of "permissible zones" outside of
populated areas. In January 2009 Chomutov, another town near the
German border, installed cameras monitoring prostitutes and their
clients in downtown streets popular with sex tourists to reduce or
eliminate sex tourism in the city. Chomutov authorities also plan to
place billboards warning sex tourists of contagious diseases they
could contract from prostitutes. While these injunctions may reduce
prostitution, NGOs state that it may also force the activity into
more private surroundings that are more difficult to monitor, or
simply move it to nearby towns.

A person reaches full legal capacity in the Czech Republic at the
age of 18. The age of consent to have sex, however, is 15. NGOs
have noted that this discrepancy creates a murky area where children
as young as 15 can be drawn into prostitution. If they engage in
sex for money and are directed to do so by someone else (such as a
pimp),they can be pressured by that person or their own financial
desperation to tell investigators that they entered into the act of
their own free will. For that reason, Caritas has requested that
the government raise the age of consent to have sex from 15 to 18.
However, the new criminal code that will come into force in January
2010 did not make this change. On the contrary it envisages lowering
the age of consent to have sex to 14.

L) In April 2007, the government began mandating anti-trafficking
courses for senior military officers participating in international
peacekeeping efforts. In April 2008, 65 senior military officers
took part in a four-month anti-trafficking course at the Defense
University in Brno. As part of the new 2008-2011 National Strategy,
the government made plans to expand these programs to cover
additional peacekeeping forces that will serve under UN and EU
commands.

M) In a significant move, the government criminalized the
possession of child pornography in November 2007. Section 205 of
the general criminal code now provides sentences of up to eight
years in prison for violators. The move was in response to calls
for further protections for child victims of sexual exploitation,
and is aimed at stopping the spread of commercial child sex across
the border. In the first nine months of 2008, 38 minors were
detained and released for soliciting sex in public for money. Most
of the children were between the ages of 15-18 and said they had
prostituted themselves voluntarily. (In 2007, there were 35 such
cases.)

-------------- -
PROTECTION AND ASSISTANCE TO VICTIMS (ref Para 26 08 STATE 132759
-------------- --


A. The primary vehicle by which the government assists trafficking
victims is its "Program of Support and Protection of Victims of
Trafficking in Human Beings" (hereinafter referred to as the
"Program of Support"). The Program of Support was established in
2003 as a pilot program, but has since become a permanent
government-funded program and part of Czech law. The Program of
Support is open to both foreign and Czech victims of cross-border or
internal trafficking, and involves close cooperation between the
government, NGOs, and the police. The Program of Support was
originally designed for sex trafficking victims, but since 2004 it
has been expanded to include victims of forced labor and other
trafficking.

Victims in the Program of Support are granted benefits regardless of
country of origin or citizenship. The government provides medical,
psychological, and crisis counseling to Program participants. While
the government funds most of the Program costs from its general
budget and MOI and MOH budgets, the actual day-to-day services are
provided by NGOs, such as Caritas and La Strada.

The program consists of three stages. In stage 1, the victim is
given basic crisis intervention, psychological assistance, and is
accommodated by an NGO in a shelter for an initial "reflection
period." During this time, victims receive full care and decide
whether they would like to cooperate with police investigating their
traffickers. Under the law, the victim cannot be deported during
this stage and cannot be arrested or fined for underlying offenses
that were committed as part of being trafficked, such as previous
illegal stays in the country, current overstays, false documents,
etc.

In stage 2, if the victim agrees to cooperate with the police and is


accepted into the long-term program, the victim receives a visa for
the duration of the criminal proceedings against the traffickers.
During this time, s/he has legal status in the Czech Republic and
may work. Victims in the Program of Support are housed in shelters
and given financial support, counseling by social workers,
psychological and legal counseling, employment coaching, and health
care.

The third stage starts upon completion of the criminal proceedings
against the traffickers, and victims are offered either an assisted
voluntary return to his/her country of origin or the opportunity to
apply for permanent residence in the Czech Republic for humanitarian
reasons.

Several revisions to the Program expand the social services and
legal protections granted Program participants. The most
significant change came into force in December 2007 and expanded the
initial "reflection period" of participants from 30 to 60 days.

Additionally, whereas the previous version of the law gave the
Deputy Minister of the Interior the authority to approve admission
into the long-term Program, the 2007 changes give that power to the
director of the MOI's Crime Prevention Department. This change is
intended to speed up the process of getting applicants into the
Program and expanding the number of people receiving Program
benefits.

A 2008 provision relaxes the previous requirement that victims must
testify against their traffickers as a condition of joining the
long-term Program. Victims now do not have to "cooperate" with
police in order to participate in the Program.

Participants who have cooperated with police may receive permanent
residency at the end of their cases. In 2008, 24 persons (17 women
and seven men) participated in the program, four of whom were from
the Czech Republic; seven from Ukraine; six from Romania; three from
Brazil; one each from Slovakia, Russia, Kirgizstan, and Uzbekistan.


Victims may choose to voluntarily withdraw from the Program of
Support at any time. Victims may also apply for asylum under the
normal Czech asylum process. For victims who choose not to
participate in the Program of Support, NGOs such as La Strada and
Caritas operate victim shelter and care facilities and ensure
victims receive proper medical attention, including optional
screening for HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. All
of the major NGOs dealing with trafficking victims received
government funding.


B. In 2008, La Strada provided comprehensive services, including
shelter and care, to approximately 50 victims. They had direct
contact with potential victims through their hotline and in visits
to sex clubs and to at-risk areas. Caritas provided comprehensive
services, including shelter and counseling, to 26 victims (18 women,
four men, and four children). In June 2008 Caritas opened another
center that offers emergency shelter for victims, including for
minors. Of the total victims helped by the two NGOs, 24 were
enrolled in the Program of Support. La Strada and Caritas assisted
an additional several hundred victims through outreach programs in
sex clubs and on the streets.

In 2008 the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs provided funding to
La Strada and Caritas for providing social services to victims of
trafficking in the amount of 5,670,000 crowns ($283,500). Another
source of funding of these facilities and services is the European
Social Fund. The government also funds the return activities of the
Czech branch of IOM. Since 2003 IOM mediated 41 voluntary returns to
the victims' countries of origin, including ten victims who could
return to the Czech Republic. In 2008, ten voluntary returns were
realized: four victims returned to Romania; three to Brazil; and
one each to Ukraine and Slovakia. One person also returned from
Denmark to the Czech Republic. IOM participates in public awareness
campaigns, and sponsors critical research programs used in the
implementation of anti-trafficking policies.


C. As part of the detection and screening effort, the Ministry of
Health also produced a 90-page book for health care practitioners on
trafficking in persons. The book defines trafficking, its causes,
and manifestations. It also informs health care practitioners on how
to determine whether patients are victims of trafficking, as well as
outlines specific ways trafficking can damage a victim's physical
and psychological health. The book also explains the Czech
trafficking statute and outlines steps to take when approaching
victims. Doctors and NGOs praise the publication and program for
raising awareness among the medical community on how to approach and

care for trafficking victims.


D. Some victims attempt to use the asylum process to continue their
residence in the country. EU membership has, however, entailed
changes to asylum laws which require potential applicants to apply
for asylum in the first EU country they enter. Since the Czech
Republic is completely surrounded by fellow EU member states, this
creates a less conducive application process for those who enter the
country by land.

Police frequently provided short-term protection to potential
witnesses. The protection may include physical protection, use of
safehouses, and/or security monitoring. This protection may be
provided for up to 60 days and may be extended with approval of the
regional police director.

A witness protection law that took effect in 2002 allows the
government to conceal the identity of a witness, provide a new
identity and/or residence, assist the witness in finding employment,
and assign bodyguards if necessary to a witness whose safety is
endangered by their testimony. To date, though, these provisions
have been used only rarely in connection with trafficking cases.


E. The Ministry of Interior's Refugee Facility Administration has
implemented a system by which victims and potential victims of
trafficking, as well as other at-risk groups, are housed in guarded
facilities to prevent unwanted contact with traffickers and provided
with counseling and psychological assistance. If a potential victim
is in immediate danger, the facility will refer the victim, in
cooperation with the Organized Crime police unit (UOOZ),to a
shelter or safehouse operated by La Strada or Caritas.


F. The Program of Support also establishes a formal police screening
and referral process for victims. In cooperation with NGOs, the
government created eight questions for police to ask victims to
determine if detained persons could be potential victims of
trafficking. Police units receive training from NGOs in identifying
victims of trafficking, and are instructed to refer victims to
organizations such as La Strada or Caritas. The individual
responsibilities of police, NGOs, and the government are set out in
formal contracts under the Program of Support.


G. see subsection B, this paragraph, above.


H. The government does not have a direct screening process for
prostitutes per se. However, it supports such screening through its
cooperative network of NGOs. Through government-funded programs
such as Caritas' MAGDALA Program and Pleasure without Risk's health
campaign for sex workers, prostitutes are screened for signs of
trafficking. Furthermore, the government has written and published
manuals for use by doctors and hospitals on identifying victims of
trafficking. Many NGOs have independent outreach programs in the
prostitute communities and are thus able to screen for signs of
trafficking. Police officers are also trained to ask detained
persons targeted questions designed to reveal circumstances of
trafficking. Once a trafficking victim is identified, s/he is
informed of the available resources in the NGO and government
spheres, and can choose to either enter the Program of Support or
work with the NGO missions privately.


I. The Czech Republic protects and respects the rights of victims
under the Program of Support and Protection of Victims of
Trafficking in Persons. Victims are given an initial 60-day
reflection period in which to decide if they would like to
participate in the broader Program of Support and cooperate with law
enforcement authorities. During this time, they are given crisis
care by an NGO, including food, clothing, shelter, and medical and
psychological counseling. IOM assists victims with repatriation and,
in some cases, reintegration (depending on the country) for victims
who choose voluntary return. Trafficking victims who enter the
Program of Support cannot be prosecuted for crimes (illegal entry
into the country, visa violations, etc.) that they committed in the
course of being trafficked. According to NGO contacts, trafficked
persons who choose not to enter the Program still receive the
initial care services from NGOs, and often choose to return to their
home country on their own.


J. Under the Program of Support, victims are encouraged to
cooperate with Czech authorities investigating their traffickers.
Whereas the previous by-laws of the Program of Support required a
participant's testimony at court against the trafficker, 2007
changes relaxed this requirement. Now the victims' cooperation with
police is no longer required.

Victims who are granted temporary residence are automatically given

permission to work legally in the country. Victims are eligible to
seek compensation from their traffickers either as a part of the
criminal sentence or through recourse to civil suits. In order to
seek civil damages, however, Czech law requires a finding of
criminal conduct on the part of the defendant. In practice, claims
for criminal or civil damages against the traffickers are rare, but
they have been granted in the past. Although there has been some
discussion of government compensation for trafficking victims, there
is no Czech equivalent to the Victim-Witness Assistance Program
found in some U.S. jurisdictions.

At the end of their cooperation with law enforcement, victims may
qualify for permanent residency. Ultimately, a majority of victims,
both inside and outside the Program, choose to return to their
country of origin.


K. The Czech government has a serious and sustained program to
educate its police officers, military personnel serving abroad, and
other officials on trafficking in persons. Police training has been
extensively revised to include trafficking education at all levels
of the police force. Both the Police Secondary Schools and the
Police Academy have revised their curricula to include trafficking
investigation and the identification of potential victims.
Teachers at Police Secondary Schools are also provided regular
specialized training on how to investigate perpetrators of sexual
exploitation of children. Several multimedia educational programs,
including manuals, for teachers were created (e.g. on rape and
sexual assault, domestic violence, sexual exploitation of children,
police work in cooperation with public and dealing with victims).

The Interior Ministry also provides a manual for police enforcement
in the field of Trafficking in Persons. The manual is designed for
non-specialized patrol officers to improve the investigation of
trafficking cases and aid in the identification of victims. Regular
round table workshops, seminars, and training programs continued
with mid and upper echelon regional police officials, NGOs, and
other state and municipal officials. Police have child psychologists
who assist in cases involving children.

NGOs are in agreement that Czech police have greatly enhanced their
ability to identify victims of trafficking due to better training
and coordination with NGOs. NGOs credit the MOI for reinforcing the
importance of combating trafficking in the basic police curriculum.
As most victims are initially identified by the police, police
sensitivity and effectiveness in dealing with victims is critical to
getting the victims help. According to NGOs, police interaction
with victims in the initial contact phase is generally considered
excellent and better than even a few years ago. They especially
praised their direct and constant cooperation from the Organized
Crime Unit and its two trafficking sections for sexual exploitation
and forced labor.

The Ministry of Labor, local inspectors as well as representatives
of Work Registration Offices received expanded training to assist in
cases of labor trafficking.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs produced new leaflets and an
anti-trafficking manual for use by its Consular Officers serving in
high-risk source and transit countries. The goal is to use the visa
process as a tool to combat trafficking in persons. Literature is
also translated into local languages and provided to foreign
embassies in Prague. In 2007, the MOI and MFA began closely
cooperating with the Romanian embassy in Prague, in an effort to
combat the growing number of trafficking victims from Romania.

In order to assist Czech consular officials in identifying victims
of trafficking, the Ministry of Interior has assigned officers with
specialized experience to Czech Embassies in six countries of
concern (China, Belarus, Egypt, Mongolia, Ukraine and Vietnam).
These six countries were also chosen due to the high number of
individuals from them claiming asylum upon arrival in the Czech
Republic. Due to the growing number of visa applicants in Ukraine,
the Czech government opened a new consulate focused primarily on
visa adjudication of Ukrainians.


L. Repatriated Czech victims of trafficking are eligible upon
return to the Czech Republic to apply for benefits through the
Program of Support.


M. The Government's NGO partners remain unchanged from the 2007
Report. These NGOs provide intervention, counseling, and other
assistance, and participate in the Program of Support. NGOs include:


-- La Strada. La Strada is the primary NGO providing services and
awareness campaigns for young girls and women who may become, or who

have already become, victims of trafficking. Originally established
with aid from the Netherlands, La Strada now obtains funding from a
variety of sources, including Czech government ministries. La Strada
is an NGO participant in the Program of Support. La Strada helps
returning Czech women obtain new identity documents, find shelter,
get legal and psychological counseling, arrange medical treatment,
and gives them a limited amount of financial support. Foreign
trafficking victims referred to La Strada receive the same services
and are put in contact with their local embassies to obtain new
passports and other documentation. La Strada also runs a hotline for
victims of trafficking and parents in search of their trafficked
children, with Russian-speaking volunteers once a week. Over the
past year, La Strada has more than doubled its employees and is now
also focusing on the forced labor issue. One of La Strada's
full-time employees is dedicated to working with local migrant
communities that are at high-risk for labor trafficking. The
individual visits local work sites and informs laborers of their
rights under Czech law.

-- Caritas. One of the most important Czech NGOs in the field of
health and social care, Caritas (formerly known as Czech Catholic
Charities) has established a coordination center for helping victims
of trafficking in persons. Caritas is an NGO participant in the
Program of Support. Caritas has a network of anonymous shelters,
apartments, and other facilities throughout the country, and also
refers victims to other organizations when appropriate. Caritas is
the only NGO equipped to assist victims with children. Social
workers assist foreign victims in obtaining medical and
psychological care, as well as obtaining travel documents and
arranging transportation to the victim's home country. Caritas also
operates a nationwide helpline for victims of domestic violence and
trafficking in persons. In 2004, Caritas also began street work with
prostitutes and visits to brothels and clubs in South Moravia, along
the Austrian border and Northern Bohemia, along the German border.

-- International Organization for Migration (IOM). IOM conducts
public awareness campaigns focused on trafficking issues and helps
women and girls to avoid falling victim to common trafficking
schemes. IOM also assists in repatriating victims of trafficking;
particularly those whose asylum claims have been refused. IOM has
contributed significant research to the anti-trafficking effort. IOM
is a participant in the Program of Support.

-- Rozkos bez Rizika (Pleasure without Risk) is a Czech NGO with an
emphasis on providing health care to prostitutes. RR participates in
the Program of Support and distributes literature, offers health and
disease checks (including for STDs and HIV/AIDS),and provides
vaccinations. The organization has an extensive street work network
both in Prague and throughout the country. Though primarily a health
care organization, Pleasure without Risk questions clients to try to
identify trafficking victims, and works closely with Caritas and La
Strada to refer victims.

--Bily Kruh Bezpeci (White Circle of Safety). Though not a formal
participant in the Program of Support, this is a Czech NGO that
provides crisis support and counseling for victims of abuse,
including trafficking victims.

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PREVENTION (ref Para 27 08 STATE 132759
--------------


A. During the reporting period, the government continued funding
for an extensive demand-reduction campaign. Called the "Say it for
her" campaign, the MOI and NGOs worked together to blanket 15 major
metropolitan areas throughout the country with advertisements,
billboards, leaflets, and signs featuring a woman bound with tape
over her mouth, unable to speak. Above the woman's face, the phrase
"Together against Trafficking in People" appears; the tape across
her mouth reads: "Do not be afraid to say it for her!" To reach the
broadest audience, the campaign also utilized an anonymous tip
hotline to report possible cases of trafficking and to serve as a
helpline for victims. Additionally, the campaign publicizes its
website (www.rekni-to.cz, "Rekni to" means "Say it" in Czech.)
Mirror websites are also available in English and German. The
campaign is mainly targeted at Germans and Austrians, as they
frequent border regions of the country, and British and American
tourists, who mainly visit Prague on holiday. The "Say it for her"
campaign materials were also placed in public transportation
stations, at Prague airport, at border crossings with Germany and
Austria, in night clubs and restaurants in cities throughout the
Czech Republic. There were visual campaigns printed in tourist maps
and erotic publications. Based on public feedback, both the
government and NGOs believe the campaign has been effective.

The Prague city government also distributed anti-trafficking
pamphlets to major hotels in the city.

The Refugee Center Administration of the Ministry of Interior
continued an awareness campaign among female applicants seeking
political asylum. The program informed them of the risk of
trafficking and sexual exploitation. The admission centers employ
social workers specializing in at-risk groups to counsel women.


B. The government carefully monitors migration policies and
statistics for evidence of trafficking, and it works with
international organizations and NGOs to gather information on
immigration and trafficking patterns.


C. The government maintains an inter-ministerial working group on
trafficking that meets every six months. The Czech Interior
Ministry, which takes the lead on the trafficking campaign, works
closely with other government ministries, such as Justice,
Education, Health, Labor and Social Affairs, NGOs, multilateral
bodies, and foreign police and government partners to improve its
efforts.

The government, through its annual budget as well as through the
program budgets of various ministries, is the primary funder of
human rights NGOs in the Czech Republic dealing with trafficking
issues. Relations between the government and these organizations are
excellent, and the NGOs have a very strong working relationship
among themselves. Most of the staff from one organization know and
work closely with those from another. NGOs generally praise
governmental efforts to provide consistent and close coordination
with them on trafficking issues. NGOs, police and government
officials regularly meet to exchange best practices that help
improve and implement anti-trafficking campaigns and criminal
investigations. Lead representatives from these NGOs tell Post that
the Czech government takes the fight against trafficking seriously,
and is doing an excellent job.


D. In January 2008, the government unveiled its 2008-2011 National
Strategy for the Fight against Trafficking in Human Beings
("National Strategy"). This is the third such national plan, which
is the government's blue-print for anti-trafficking policy and
coordination efforts with NGOs. The government has been using such
plans since 2003. Directors of the major human rights NGOs in the
Czech Republic, Caritas and La Strada, have told Post that the
government regularly seeks their input on the changes for upcoming
versions of the National Strategy and has incorporated many of their
recommendations into the final versions of the documents.


E. See subsection A, this paragraph, above.


F. Protection of minors has been a government trafficking-related
priority since 2003, when the first National Strategy was released.
Since then, the government has worked closely with 1) NGOs to
provide shelters, food, clothing and medical and psychological
counseling to trafficked minors; and with 2) police and prosecutors
to more vigorously prosecute their traffickers. Throughout the
reporting period, the government also continued to implement its
"National Plan in the Fight against Child Exploitation."

In April 2007 the "Our Child Foundation" NGO launched an Internet
hotline fighting spreading child pornography on the Internet.
Hundreds of e-mails, web pages with dangerous and inappropriate
contents have been announced on this hotline since its launch. Our
Child Foundation has submitted all relevant cases for further police
investigation.

In a significant move, the government criminalized the possession of
child pornography in November 2007. Violators face sentences of up
to eight years in prison. The move was in response to calls for
further protections for child victims of sexual exploitation, and is
aimed at stopping the spread of child-based commercial sex activity.


In January 2008, the International Organization for Missing and
Exploited Children held a four-day conference in Prague focusing on
crimes committed against children on the Internet. The conference,
co-sponsored by Microsoft, Interpol, and the Czech Ministry of
Interior, was attended by judges, prosecutors, and police. More than
100 experts spoke on various hi-tech methods used by criminals to
lure children into dangerous encounters on the Internet.

Throughout the reporting period, the MOI and Ministry of Education
continued to fund and provide educational material for teachers to
use in lesson plans focused on trafficking in persons. Teachers may
download the material free of charge from the ministries' websites

and can freely reproduce and adapt the material for their students'
use.


G. The government began mandating anti-trafficking courses for
senior military officers participating in international peacekeeping
efforts. In November 2008, an anti-trafficking seminar for senior
military officers was held at the Defense University in Brno. In
January 2009, another anti-trafficking seminar was organized at the
Defense University in Brno for a group of senior military officers
and other peacekeeping forces prior to their departure to UN and EU
peace-keeping missions.

--------------
CONTACT
--------------

The embassy point of contact for trafficking issues is Helena
Markusova, Political-Economic Section, tel: 420-257-022-372, fax
420-257-022-817, email: MarkusovaH@state.gov. Post estimates Mrs.
Markusova (FSN-10) spent 110 hours researching and preparing the
2009 TIP report (time does not include non-report related TIP
activity throughout the course of the year). Other embassy staff
spent approximately 10 hours preparing the report.

THOMPSON-JONES