ALBANIA -- 2009 TIP REPORT: PRESS GUIDANCE AND

UNCLAS STATE 060435 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KTIP ELAB KCRM KPAO KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG AL SUBJECT: ALBANIA -- 2009 TIP REPORT: PRESS GUIDANCE AND DEMARCHE REF: A. (A) STATE 59732 ¶B. (B) STATE 005577 ¶1. This is an action cable; see paras 5 through 7 and 10 through 12. ¶2. On June 16, 2009, at 10:00 a.m. EDT, the Secretary will release the 2009 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report at a press conference in the Department's press briefing room. This release will receive substantial coverage in domestic and foreign news outlets. Until the time of the Secretary's June 16 press conference, any public release of the Report or country narratives contained therein is prohibited. ¶3. The Department is hereby providing Post with advance press guidance to be used on June 16 or thereafter. Also provided is demarche language to be used in informing the Government of Albania of its tier ranking and the TIP Report's imminent release. The text of the TIP Report country narrative is provided, both for use in informing the Government of Albania and in any local media release by Post's public affairs section on June 16 or thereafter. Drawing on information provided below in paras 8 and 9, Post may provide the host government with the text of the TIP Report narrative no earlier than 1200 noon local time Monday June 15 for WHA, AF, EUR, and NEA countries and OOB local time Tuesday June 16 for SCA and EAP posts. Please note, however, that any public release of the Report's information should not/not precede the Secretary's release at 10:00 am EDT on June 16. ¶4. The entire TIP Report will be available on-line at www.state.gov/g/tip shortly after the Secretary's June 16 release. Hard copies of the Report will be pouched to posts in all countries appearing on the Report. The Secretary's statement at the June 16 press event, and the statement of and fielding of media questions by G/TIP,s Director and Senior Advisor to the Secretary, Ambassador-at-Large Luis CdeBaca, will be available on the Department's website shortly after the June 16 event. Ambassador de Baca will also hold a general briefing for officials of foreign embassies in Washington DC on June 17 at 3:30 pm EDT. ¶5. Action Request: No earlier than 12 noon local time on Monday June 15 for WHA, AF, EUR, and NEA posts and OOB local time on Tuesday June 16 for SCA and EAP posts, please inform the appropriate official in the Government of Albania of the June 16 release of the 2009 TIP Report, drawing on the points in para 9 (at Post's discretion) and including the text of the country narrative provided in para 8. For countries where the State Department has lowered the tier ranking, it is particularly important to advise governments prior to the Report being released in Washington on June 16. ¶6. Action Request continued: Please note that, for those countries which will not receive an "action plan" with specific recommendations for improvement, posts should draw host governments' attention to the areas for improvement identified in the 2009 Report, especially highlighted in the "Recommendations" section of the second paragraph of the narrative text. This engagement is important to establishing the framework in which the government's performance will be judged for the 2010 Report. If posts have questions about which governments will receive an action plan, or how they may follow up on the recommendations in the 2009 Report, please contact G/TIP and the appropriate regional bureau. ¶7. Action Request continued: On June 16, please be prepared to answer media inquiries on the Report's release using the press guidance provided in para 11. If Post wishes, a local press statement may be released on or after 10:30 am EDT June 16, drawing on the press guidance and the text of the TIP Report's country narrative provided in para 8. ¶8. Begin Final Text of Albania,s country narrative in the 2009 TIP Report: -------------- ALBANIA (Tier 2) Albania is a source country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor, including forced begging. Albanian victims are trafficked primarily to Greece, and also to Italy, Macedonia, Kosovo, Spain, France, the U.K. and other Western European countries, as well as within Albania. Available data indicate that more than half the victims of trafficking are under the age of 18. Most sex trafficking victims are women and girls between the ages of 15 and 25, and 90 percent are ethnic Albanian. Ethnic Roma children are most at risk for forced begging. There is evidence that Albanian men have been trafficked for forced labor to the agricultural sector of Greece and other neighboring countries. The Government of Albania does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated increased political will to combat human trafficking over the last year, particularly through progress made in its efforts to identify victims of trafficking. Concerns remained regarding whether the government vigorously prosecuted labor trafficking offenders and public officials who participated in or facilitated human trafficking. Recommendations for Albania: Vigorously investigate and prosecute law enforcement officials, complicity in trafficking; vigorously prosecute labor trafficking offenders; continue to work with NGOs and civil society to ensure full implementation of the national mechanism for referring victims to service providers; continue funding victim assistance and protection services, including shelters; and improve existing prevention programs in collaboration with NGOs, including joint activities targeted at reducing the demand for human trafficking. Prosecution -------------- The Government of Albania made some progress in its anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts during 2008. Albania criminally prohibits sex and labor trafficking through its penal code, which prescribes penalties of five to 15 years, imprisonment. These penalties are sufficiently stringent and exceed those prescribed for rape. In 2008, Albania prosecuted 22 trafficking cases, compared with 49 in 2007, and convicted 26 trafficking offenders, compared with seven in 2007. All of the prosecutions and convictions involved sex trafficking of women or children. In 2008, sentences for convicted trafficking offenders ranged from two to 25 years, imprisonment. The government instituted routine anti-trafficking training for police recruits and current police officers, and organized additional training for judges and social service providers. In an outreach effort to potential female victims, in 2008 the government assigned approximately 20 female anti-trafficking police officers to organized crime police units throughout the country. Pervasive corruption at all levels and sectors of Albanian society remained an obstacle to reducing human trafficking in Albania. The government reported that the cases of official complicity referenced in the 2008 Report were determined to have involved smuggling, not human trafficking. Protection -------------- The Government of Albania boosted efforts to provide victims of trafficking with protection and assistance in 2008. Officials improved the functioning of the national victim referral mechanism and, as a result, identified 108 victims of trafficking in 2008, a five-fold increase from the previous year. The government provided approximately $262,000 in funding to the government-operated victim care shelter, an increase of 16 percent over the previous year; it also provided occasional in-kind assistance, such as use of government buildings and land, to four additional NGO-managed shelters. The government encouraged victims to participate in investigations and prosecutions of trafficking offenders; however, victims often refused to testify, or they changed their testimony as a result of intimidation from traffickers or fear of intimidation. Victims were not penalized in Albania for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of their being trafficked. Albanian law provides for legal alternatives to the removal of foreign victims to countries where they may face hardship or retribution. Prevention -------------- The Government of Albania implemented several anti-trafficking prevention activities during the reporting period. International organizations fund the majority of prevention campaigns, but the Ministry of Interior has funded the national toll-free, 24-hour hotline for victims and potential victims of trafficking since November 2007. The Ministry of Education includes in its high school curriculum awareness-raising of the dangers of trafficking. Senior government officials spoke out against human trafficking, and the government provided tax breaks to businesses that employ people at-risk for trafficking. In 2008, the government approved a new national action plan on combating trafficking, which specifically addressed issues related to child trafficking. The Ministry of Tourism took the lead in monitoring a code of conduct for the prevention of child sex tourism that 24 tourist agencies and hotels signed. There was no evidence that the government undertook prevention activities specifically targeted at reducing the demand for commercial sex acts or forced labor. -------------- ¶9. Post may wish to deliver the following points, which offer technical and legal background on the TIP Report process, to the host government as a non-paper with the above TIP Report country narrative: (begin non-paper) -- The U.S. Congress, through its passage of the 2000 Trafficking Victims Protection Act, as amended (TVPA), requires the Secretary of State to submit an annual Report to Congress. The goal of this Report is to stimulate action and create partnerships around the world in the fight against modern-day slavery. The USG approach to combating human trafficking follows the TVPA and the standards set forth in the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (commonly known as the "Palermo Protocol"). The TVPA and the Palermo Protocol recognize that this is a crime in which the victims, labor or services (including in the "sex industry") are obtained or maintained through force, fraud, or coercion, whether overt or through psychological manipulation. While much attention has focused on international flows, both the TVPA and the Palermo Protocol focus on the exploitation of the victim, and do not require a showing that the victim was moved. -- Recent amendments to the TVPA removed the requirement that only countries with a "significant number" of trafficking victims be included in the Report. Beginning with the 2009 TIP Report, countries determined to be a country of origin, transit, or destination for victims of severe forms of trafficking are included in the Report and assigned to one of three tiers. Countries assessed as meeting the "minimum standards for the elimination of severe forms of trafficking" set forth in the TVPA are classified as Tier 1. Countries assessed as not fully complying with the minimum standards, but making significant efforts to meet those minimum standards are classified as Tier 2. Countries assessed as neither complying with the minimum standards nor making significant efforts to do so are classified as Tier 3. -- The TVPA also requires the Secretary of State to provide a "Special Watch List" to Congress later in the year. Anti-trafficking efforts of the countries on this list are to be evaluated again in an Interim Assessment that the Secretary of State must provide to Congress by February 1 of each year. Countries are included on the "Special Watch List" if they move up in "tier" rankings in the annual TIP Report -- from 3 to 2 or from 2 to 1 ) or if they have been placed on the Tier 2 Watch List. -- Tier 2 Watch List consists of Tier 2 countries determined: (1) not to have made "increasing efforts" to combat human trafficking over the past year; (2) to be making significant efforts based on commitments of anti-trafficking reforms over the next year, or (3) to have a very significant number of trafficking victims or a significantly increasing victim population. As indicated in reftel B, the TVPRA of 2008 contains a provision requiring that a country that has been included on Tier 2 Watch List for two consecutive years after the date of enactment of the TVPRA of 2008 be ranked as Tier ¶3. Thus, any automatic downgrade to Tier 3 pursuant to this provision would take place, at the earliest, in the 2011 TIP Report (i.e., a country would have to be ranked Tier 2 Watch List in the 2009 and 2010 Reports before being subject to Tier 3 in the 2011 Report). The new law allows for a waiver of this provision for up to two additional years upon a determination by the President that the country has developed and devoted sufficient resources to a written plan to make significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with the minimum standards. -- Countries classified as Tier 3 may be subject to statutory restrictions for the subsequent fiscal year on non-humanitarian and non-trade-related foreign assistance and, in some circumstances, withholding of funding for participation by government officials or employees in educational and cultural exchange programs. In addition, the President could instruct the U.S. executive directors to international financial institutions to oppose loans or other utilization of funds (other than for humanitarian, trade-related or certain types of development assistance) with respect to countries on Tier 3. Countries classified as Tier 3 that take strong action within 90 days of the Report's release to show significant efforts against trafficking in persons, and thereby warrant a reassessment of their Tier classification, would avoid such sanctions. Guidelines for such actions are in the DOS-crafted action plans to be shared by Posts with host governments. -- The 2009 TIP Report, issuing as it does in the midst of the global financial crisis, highlights high levels of trafficking for forced labor in many parts of the world and systemic contributing factors to this phenomenon: fraudulent recruitment practices and excessive recruiting fees in workers, home countries; the lack of adequate labor protections in both sending and receiving countries; and the flawed design of some destination countries, "sponsorship systems" that do not give foreign workers adequate legal recourse when faced with conditions of forced labor. As the May 2009 ILO Global Report on Forced Labor concluded, forced labor victims suffer approximately $20 billion in losses, and traffickers, profits are estimated at $31 billion. The current global financial crisis threatens to increase the number of victims of forced labor and increase the associated "cost of coercion." -- The text of the TVPA and amendments can be found on website www.state.gov/g/tip. -- On June 16, 2009, the Secretary of State will release the ninth annual TIP Report in a public event at the State Department. We are providing you an advance copy of your country's narrative in that report. Please keep this information embargoed until 10:00 am Washington DC time June ¶16. The State Department will also hold a general briefing for officials of foreign embassies in Washington DC on June 17 at 3:30 pm EDT. (end non-paper) ¶10. Posts should make sure that the relevant country narrative is readily available on or though the Mission's web page in English and appropriate local language(s) as soon as possible after the TIP Report is released. Funding for translation costs will be handled as it was for the Human Rights Report. Posts needing financial assistance for translation costs should contact their regional bureau,s EX office. ¶11. The following is press guidance provided for Post to use with local media. -------------- Q1: Why was Albania upgraded to Tier 2 in 2009? A: The government demonstrated increased political will to combat human trafficking over the last year, particularly through progress made in its efforts to identify victims of trafficking. Officials improved the functioning of the national victim referral mechanism and, as a result, identified 108 victims of trafficking in 2008, a five-fold increase from the previous year. The government provided approximately $262,000 in funding to the government-operated victim care shelter, an increase of 16 percent over the previous year; it also provided occasional in-kind assistance, such as use of government buildings and land, to four additional NGO-managed shelters. Q2: What are some issues that Albania still needs to address? A: Concerns remained regarding whether the government vigorously prosecuted labor trafficking offenders and public officials who participated in or facilitated human trafficking. Q3: What can Albania do to further the fight against trafficking in persons in the coming year? A: To improve its anti-trafficking performance, the Government of Albania could: vigorously investigate and prosecute law enforcement officials, complicity in trafficking; vigorously prosecute labor trafficking offenders; continue to work with NGOs and civil society to ensure full implementation of the national mechanism for referring victims to service providers; continue funding victim assistance and protection services, including shelters; improve existing prevention programs in collaboration with NGOs, including joint activities targeted at reducing the demand for human trafficking. -------------- ¶12. Post may want to highlight the work of Vera Lesko, one of Heroes in the Global Effort to Combat Trafficking in Persons honored by the Secretary of State in her 2009 TIP Report, in its engagement of local media. -------------- Albania -------------- Vera Lesko was one of the first people in Albania to recognize the problem of human trafficking. Since 1997, she has risked danger to herself and her family to protect trafficking victims and prevent young women from falling prey to traffickers. In 2001, Ms. Lesko,s organization, The Hearth Psycho-Social Center, opened the first shelter in the country for trafficked Albanian women and girls. Along with a safe place to stay, the shelter offers returned victims legal and medical counseling, educational training, employment assistance, and family mediation services. As a result of her work, Ms. Lesko has been beaten in public several times and felt it necessary to send her daughter to live with relatives in Italy because of threats to her safety. Despite these regular attacks and her recent battle with breast cancer, Ms. Lesko continues her commitment to protect women and combat human trafficking. -------------- ¶13. The Department appreciates posts, assistance with the preceding action requests. CLINTON