ESTONIA--2009 TIP REPORT: PRESS GUIDANCE AND

UNCLAS STATE 060580 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ELAB KCRM KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG KPAO KTIP EN SUBJECT: ESTONIA--2009 TIP REPORT: PRESS GUIDANCE AND DEMARCHE REF: A. 2009 STATE 59732 ¶B. 2009 STATE 5577 ¶1. This is an action cable; see paras 5 through 7 and 10. ¶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 Estonia 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 Estonia 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 Estonia 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 Estonia's country narrative in the 2009 TIP Report: -------------- Estonia (TIER 2) -------------- Estonia is a source country for the trafficking of women to Norway, the United Kingdom, and Finland for the purpose of forced prostitution. Estonian men were trafficked within the country for forced labor, specifically forced criminal acts and to Ukraine for forced labor in the construction industry. The Government of Estonia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. During the reporting period, Estonia took steps to improve victim assistance by approving a new victim identification model in January 2009 and demonstrated good coordination with regional counterparts on victim identification and repatriation. The government again increased its anti-trafficking budget ) from $181,000 to $200,000 ) and focused 75 percent of this funding on victim assistance. Although the Ministry of Justice reviewed the present criminal code and trafficking definition the government did not amend the present criminal code to prohibit all forms of trafficking. Recommendations for Estonia: Draft a trafficking-specific criminal statute that incorporates a definition of trafficking in persons in conformity with the UN TIP Protocol; implement the approved plan to establish formal procedures for identifying victims among vulnerable populations; and maintain efforts to train police to identify potential victims and refer them for assistance. Prosecution -------------- The Government of Estonia demonstrated adequate law enforcement efforts during the reporting period. Estonian law does not prohibit all forms of trafficking, though the criminal code does prohibit enslavement, abduction, procurement for prostitution, labor fraud, and a number of other trafficking-related crimes. The penalties prescribed for such acts range from 5 to 15 years' imprisonment, which are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with penalties prescribed for other grave crimes, such as sexual assault. During the reporting period, authorities conducted two trafficking investigations, compared to two investigations in ¶2007. Both traffickers convicted in 2008 were sentenced to time in prison; one for 18 months and one for 12 months, compared to sentences ranging from one to three years' imprisonment for the traffickers convicted in 2007. Over the year, the government extradited three Estonian nationals charged with human trafficking to Finland and law enforcement officials regularly exchanged information with counterparts from Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, the United Kingdom, and Poland. In 2008, Estonian law enforcement officials also formed an information and best practice exchange network with Bulgaria, Sweden, and Romania. Protection -------------- Estonia continued to improve its victim assistance efforts during the reporting period. In 2008, the government provided approximately $150,000 in funding for trafficking victim assistance ) an increase from $135,750 allocated in 2007 ) including some funding for three trafficking-specific NGO-run shelters that provided assistance to 55 victims of trafficking in 2008. Three victims were repatriated during the reporting period compared to six in 2007; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) paid for the repatriation cost for one victim in 2008 and provided all three victims of trafficking in Estonia with information about services and assistance available to victims of trafficking within Estonia. The Ministry of Social Affairs contributed $5,000 to IOM for a victim assistance handbook for medical workers and others responsible for victim care. Foreign victims are eligible to apply for temporary residency for the duration of criminal investigations and legal proceedings; no victims applied for residency in 2008. Estonian authorities did not penalize victims for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of their being trafficked. Estonia encourages trafficking victims to participate in trafficking investigations and prosecutions. In January 2009, Estonian authorities approved a plan to establish formal procedures for identifying victims among vulnerable populations, such as women arrested for prostitution violations; however, the plan had not yet been implemented at the time of this report. Prevention -------------- The Government of Estonia sustained trafficking prevention efforts in 2008. At least 21 police officers received trafficking prevention and victim assistance training provided by several government ministries and NGOs; however, no border guard officials received trafficking training in ¶2008. The government funded trafficking awareness seminars for approximately 441 schoolchildren from 39 schools and 129 adults and children from 10 orphanages. The MFA disseminated trafficking-related materials to participants at Estonia's annual tourism fair, attended by more than 23,000 people. The government did not conduct a public awareness campaign to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts. -------------- ¶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 Estonia given a rank of Tier 2? A: The Government of Estonia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Q2: What progress has Estonia made in the past year? A: During the reporting period, Estonia took steps to improve victim assistance by approving a new victim identification model in January 2009 and demonstrated good coordination with regional counterparts on victim identification and repatriation. The government again increased its anti-trafficking budget ) from $181,000 to $200,000 ) and focused 75 percent of this funding on victim assistance. Although the Ministry of Justice reviewed the present criminal code and trafficking definition the government did not amend the present criminal code to prohibit all forms of trafficking. Q3: What can Estonia do to improve its fight against trafficking in persons? A: To improve its anti-trafficking performance, the government could: draft a trafficking-specific criminal statute that incorporates a definition of trafficking in persons in conformity with the UN TIP Protocol; implement the approved plan to establish formal procedures for identifying victims among vulnerable populations; and maintain efforts to train police to identify potential victims and refer them for assistance. Q4: What sources does the State Department use for information? A: The Department of State prepared this Report using information from U.S. embassies, foreign government officials, NGOs and international organizations, published reports, research trips to every region, and information submitted to tipreport@state.gov. ¶12. The Department appreciates posts' assistance with the preceding action requests. CLINTON