LATVIA: 2009 TIP INTERIM ASSESSMENT

UNCLAS RIGA 000552 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SIPDIS DEPT FOR G/TIP Megan Hall DEPT ALSO FOR EUR/PGI E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM ELAB KTIP KCRM KWMN SMIG LG SUBJECT: LATVIA: 2009 TIP INTERIM ASSESSMENT REF: A) STATE 109948; B) RIGA 503; C) RIGA 529; D) RIGA 531; E) RIGA 472; F) RIGA 452; G) RIGA 90; H) RIGA 366; ¶1. (U) In response to reftel A, post provides the following responses keyed to the specific questions and format provided therein. ¶2. (SBU) Latvia is experiencing EuropeQs worst economic crisis, with more than a twenty percent drop in GDP over the last two years. The resulting loss of revenue has caused a shortage of government funding for a broad range of social spending needs, including assistance for trafficking victims. As detailed in reftel B, GOL-funded rehabilitation is provided through a local NGO, Shelter Association Safe Home (Safe Home),which reported that 12 individuals have received state-funded assistance this year. Initial FY2009 funding for trafficking victims was supplemented twice, providing rehabilitation support for more than twice as many victims as originally budgeted. The percent of eligible victims assisted rose from 43% in 2008 to 71% in 2009. While the GOL was unable to expand victim services outside of Riga this year, the director of Safe Home maintains that the groupQs current network of partners (e.g. local crisis centers, hospitals and a refugee facility) throughout Latvia is sufficient to locate and provide services for victims in areas outside Riga. It is encouraging that the GOL is still allocating some of its scarce resources to expand victim assistance efforts, but it is clear that funding limitations continue to undermine the current scale of Latvian anti-trafficking and victim assistance efforts (see reftel C). ¶3. (SBU) Despite resource limitations, GOL sources reported a broad spectrum of government efforts to identify victims of trafficking among vulnerable populations and to increase public awareness about TIP. For example, law enforcement officials initiated 19 new anti-trafficking investigations this year (a 12% rise from 17 investigations in 2008). Latvian State Police conducted an increased number of street surveys and spot-checks among prostitutes (governmental sources claim that 26 pimps were detained, twice as many as in 2008). State Border Guard officials also performed periodic anti-trafficking spot-checks. GOL efforts to increase awareness about human trafficking were largely focused on educating the public about brokered marriages and fraudulent overseas employment offers (see reftels D and E). Given rising domestic unemployment rates, the Latvian State Employment Agency disseminated a timely anti-TIP warning for those considering employment abroad. MFAQs Consular Department used its web page and a travelersQ hotline to educate Latvians about available assistance in different countries and the potential pitfalls of overseas employment. According to GOL sources, MFA and State Police officials regularly visit Latvian schools to educate students about the dangers of illegal employment and brokered marriages. ¶4. (SBU) Due to funding shortages, efforts to provide law enforcement officials, border guards and labor inspectors with labor trafficking training have been significantly delayed or curtailed. Some funds originally budgeted to provide training were reallocated to fund assistance for trafficking victims (see reftel C). Nonetheless, GOL sources indicate that the Latvian Police Academy developed and implemented a new anti-TIP training program including instruction on labor trafficking - for its students. More generally, MFA provides annual anti-TIP training to its consular staff (see reftel G) and GOLQs Office of the Prosecutor General sent a representative to Belgium earlier this year, for a meeting of EC experts on anti-trafficking issues. ¶5. (SBU) According to GOL sources, Latvian anti-trafficking and trafficking-related statutes provide for severe penalties for offenders. As reported in reftel H, a number of the laws were amended this year. For example, a TIP-related section of the Criminal law (Section 165-1) was expanded to prohibit moving, transiting, or establishing residence for another person for the purpose of sexual exploitation, regardless of whether the exploited individual is acting voluntarily. The revisions to the existing statute broaden the definition of acts banned under the law and allow prosecutors more flexibility to pursue cases in which the victimQs volition is more difficult to establish. Penalties under this statute were strengthened as well. GOL sources reported that additional anti-TIP training for judges and prosecutors will help ensure that a majority of convicted traffickers serve some time in prison. Unfortunately, this training Q which will be performed by the Latvian Judicial Training Center - has been delayed due to funding constraints until 2010. According to figures provided by GOL contacts, nine individuals were convicted of trafficking or trafficking-related crimes in the first ten months of 2009. Of this total, four were given sentences ranging up to ten years imprisonment (2 were given a term of up to 3 years, one was given 3-5 years, and the fourth was given 5-10 years imprisonment). The percent of convictions resulting in prison sentences rose from 27% in 2008 to 44% in 2009. ¶6. (SBU) A number of other significant TIP-related developments have occurred this year, including approval of a new national action plan which provides an integrated GOL anti-TIP strategy for the future (see reftel F). Effective implementation of this blueprint will ultimately depend upon funding. Four trafficking victims requested governmental compensation, becoming the first applicants under a new GOL program. The Ministry of Welfare also proposed a change in Latvian law, which would allow trafficking victims from other EU countries to receive GOL-funded assistance. Finally, the Ministry of Welfare indicated that it plans to give Safe Home more flexibility when using GOLQs funds for rehabilitation or other TIP-related purposes (i.e. training and outreach). These changes would provide the NGO with greater discretion in determining the length of rehabilitation and in reusing funds obligated for one victim to provide services for another. GARBER