POLAND--2009 TIP REPORT: PRESS GUIDANCE AND

UNCLAS STATE 060621 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ELAB KCRM KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG KPAO KTIP PL SUBJECT: POLAND--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 Poland 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 Poland 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 Poland 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 Poland's country narrative in the 2009 TIP Report: -------------- Poland (TIER 1) -------------- Poland is a source country for men and women trafficked to Italy, Austria, Germany, Belgium, France, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Israel for purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. It is also a transit and destination country for women trafficked from Moldova, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania, Belarus, Russia, Sudan, Senegal, Uganda, Kenya, Djibouti, China, and Vietnam for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. Women from Ukraine, Bulgaria, Mongolia, and Vietnam are trafficked to Poland for purposes of forced labor, forced begging, and debt bondage. The Government of Poland fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. The government increased its reflection period for foreign victims to 90 days. The government also significantly increased funding for victim assistance programs, by pledging additional support for the only specialized trafficking shelter in the country and expanded the capacity of non-specialized shelters and crisis intervention centers to provide assistance to trafficking victims. The government worked with NGOs and international organizations to raise awareness of trafficking in Poland and abroad, including a limited number of campaigns to reduce demand for commercial sex acts. Recommendations for Poland: Continue training for prosecutors and judges on the application of the existing trafficking law; ensure that a majority of trafficking offenders serve time in prison; expand sensitivity and awareness training for municipal and regional police and border guards; ensure that male trafficking victims are provided with adequate housing; continue to increase the shelter system's capacity to assist victims; and conduct additional awareness campaigns to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts. Prosecution -------------- The Government of Poland demonstrated progress in its overall law enforcement efforts during the reporting period. Poland prohibits all forms of trafficking through its criminal code. Article 203, Article 204, Sections 3 and 4, and Article 253 of the criminal code are used to prosecute sex trafficking cases. Article 253 and organized crime statutes are used to prosecute labor trafficking cases, though there are no provisions that specifically define and address trafficking for labor exploitation. Prosecutors rely on trafficking definitions in the 2000 UN TIP Protocol when pursuing cases against traffickers. Penalties prescribed under Article 253 range from 3 to 15 years' imprisonment, and Articles 203 and 204 prescribe from one to 10 years' imprisonment; these punishments are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for other grave crimes, such as rape. Law enforcement officials and NGOs continued to report that the lack of a clear legal definition of trafficking in Poland's criminal code limits effective prosecutions. Police investigated 119 alleged trafficking violations in 2008 under Articles 253, 203, and 204 (Sections 3 and 4),compared to 122 alleged trafficking violations in 2007. Authorities prosecuted 78 individuals in 2008, under Articles 253, 203, and 204 (Sections 3 and 4) an increase from 62 prosecutions in 2007. In 2008, 46 traffickers were convicted in Courts of First Instance under Articles 253 and 203, an increase from 43 convictions in 2007. Post-appeal sentences, which are considered final, are collected for Articles 253, 203, and 204 (Sections 3 and 4). In 2007, the most recent year for post-appeal sentencing data, 24 out of 42 convicted traffickers -- or 57 percent -- received suspended sentences; the remaining 18 convicted traffickers were given sentences ranging from one to five years' imprisonment. In 2006, 39 out of 86 -- or 45 percent -- of convicted traffickers were given suspended sentences. In 2008, the government continued to provide trafficking-related training to judges and prosecutors. There were also numerous training programs for law enforcement officials on victim identification. In March 2009, Poland's Central Anti-Trafficking Police Unit issued a new set of guidelines on identifying victims of forced begging to regional police units around the country. Protection -------------- The government demonstrated improved efforts to assist trafficking victims during the reporting period. Specifically, the government increased its direct assistance to the country's only specialized trafficking shelter by 40 percent (to $70,000) and in January 2009 pledged an additional $215,000 in emergency funding to keep the shelter open through December 2009. The promised grant was awarded in April 2009. In addition, the government expanded its network of specialized crisis intervention centers, which served both trafficking and domestic violence victims, from 33 in 2007 to 37 in 2008, and initiated a nationwide training program with the centers to improve provision of assistance to trafficking victims. The Law on Social Assistance provides that all foreign victims of trafficking are entitled to assistance. There are no specialized shelters for male victims of trafficking; as a result, male trafficking victims who require temporary housing are placed in facilities that provide social services and shelter for homeless people, as well as half-way houses for recently released prison inmates. Over the last year, 315 victims were identified by NGOs and authorities; most victims requested and received government-funded assistance. In October 2008, the government extended the reflection period for foreign victims from two to three months; two victims used the reflection period in 2008. There were reports that police encouraged victims to cooperate immediately with law enforcement and to forego the reflection period. In 2008, twenty-one victims assisted law enforcement with trafficking investigations. Prevention -------------- The government demonstrated adequate efforts to prevent trafficking through awareness-raising activities in 2008. For example, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) published a guidebook for Poles working abroad, warning them about the dangers of labor exploitation. A local government also conducted an awareness campaign through posters and leaflets targeting Polish labor migrants and provided information on methods of trafficking recruitment and offered practical advice on what to do if a person is trafficked. The MFA also distributed approximately 140,000 leaflets through Polish consulates in Eastern Europe and Central Asia for foreigners granted Polish work visas. The government carried out a limited number of law enforcement and public awareness campaigns to reduce demand for commercial sex acts over the year. The government provided anti-trafficking training for all military personnel and police being deployed abroad for international peacekeeping missions. -------------- ¶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 Poland given a ranking of Tier 1? A: The Government of Poland fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. Q2: What progress has Poland made in the last year? A: The government increased its reflection period for foreign victims to 90 days. The government also significantly increased funding for victim assistance programs, by pledging additional support for the only specialized trafficking shelter in the country and expanded the capacity of non-specialized shelters and crisis intervention centers to provide assistance to trafficking victims. The government worked with NGOs and international organizations to raise awareness of trafficking in Poland and abroad, including a limited number of campaigns to reduce demand for commercial sex acts. Q3: What can Poland do to improve its fight against trafficking in persons? A: To improve its anti-trafficking performance, the Polish government could: continue training for prosecutors and judges on the application of the existing trafficking law; ensure that a majority of trafficking offenders serve time in prison; expand sensitivity and awareness training for municipal and regional police and border guards; ensure that male trafficking victims are provided with adequate housing; continue to increase the shelter system's capacity to assist victims; and conduct additional awareness campaigns to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts. 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