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