SLOVAK REPUBLIC--2009 TIP REPORT: PRESS GUIDANCE

UNCLAS STATE 060628

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB KCRM KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG KPAO KTIP LO
SUBJECT: SLOVAK REPUBLIC--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 the Slovak Republic 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 the Slovak Republic 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 the Slovak
Republic 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 the Slovak Republic's country
narrative in the 2009 TIP Report:

--------------
Slovak Republic (TIER 2)
--------------

The Slovak Republic is a source, transit, and limited
destination country for women and girls from Moldova,
Ukraine, Bulgaria, the Baltics, the Balkans, and China
trafficked to the Czech Republic, Germany, Austria,
Switzerland, Sweden, Italy, the Netherlands, the United
Kingdom, Spain, Croatia, and Slovenia for the purpose of
commercial sexual exploitation. Roma women and girls are
trafficked internally for sexual exploitation and Roma
children are trafficked to Austria, Italy, and Germany for
the purpose of forced begging.

The Government of the Slovak Republic does not fully comply
with the minimum standards for the elimination of
trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do
so. The government allocated $400,000 for all
anti-trafficking efforts in 2008, a significant increase from
$91,000 allocated in 2007; more than half of this funding
went toward victim assistance. In December 2008, the
Ministry of Interior adopted a National Referral Mechanism
for use by law enforcement across the country in referring
identified victims to necessary services. Despite these
significant efforts, including sustained law enforcement
measures, it failed to identify or assist any foreign victims
of trafficking during the reporting period.

Recommendations for the Slovak Republic: Ensure that a
majority of convicted traffickers serve some time in prison;
provide additional training on victim identification and
victim treatment for border police, prosecutors, judges, and
Roma community social workers in Eastern Slovakia; continue
to increase the number of victims assisted by
government-funded NGO programs; ensure that foreign victims
are identified and provided access to government-funded
assistance; continue collaboration with NGOs in identifying
victims among persons in police detention centers and
immigration facilities; and conduct a public awareness
campaign to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts.

Prosecution
--------------

The Government of the Slovak Republic sustained its law
enforcement efforts during the reporting period. The Slovak
Republic prohibits all forms of trafficking through Sections
179-181 of its criminal code, which prescribe penalties
ranging from 4 to 25 years' imprisonment. These penalties
are sufficiently stringent and are commensurate with those
prescribed for other grave crimes, such as rape. Police
conducted 18 trafficking investigations in 2008, including
one labor trafficking investigation, an increase from 14
investigations conducted in 2007. The government prosecuted
three individuals in 2008, a significant decrease from 16
individuals prosecuted in 2007. Eleven trafficking offenders
were convicted during the reporting period, an increase from
seven in 2007; some traffickers convicted in 2008 were
prosecuted and investigated during the previous reporting
period. In 2008, seven out of 11 convicted traffickers were
given suspended sentences and thus served no time in jail.
There were no official cases of high-level government
officials involved in trafficking during the reporting
period. The government funded victim identification training
for 160 police officers in 2008.

Protection
--------------

The government demonstrated mixed efforts to assist and
protect victims in 2008. The government provided $220,000 to
five anti-trafficking NGOs to implement a victim assistance
program; it again failed to identify and assist any foreign
victims. Seventeen victims received government-funded
shelter and assistance in 2008, a significant increase from
four victims in 2007. An additional 20 victims were assisted
by nongovernment-funded programs. Police identified and
referred 16 victims to NGOs for assistance, compared to 15 in

2007. The government claimed to offer foreign victims, upon
their identification, an initial 40-day reflection period to
receive assistance and shelter and to consider whether to
assist law enforcement; however, no foreign victims were
granted the reflection period in 2008. During the reporting
period, 17 victims participated in trafficking investigations
and prosecutions. Foreign victims who cooperate with law
enforcement are permitted to remain in Slovakia and work for
the duration of the investigation or trial; however, the
government did not identify any foreign victims during the
reporting period. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs funded the
repatriation of three trafficking victims in 2008. The
government did not penalize victims for unlawful acts
committed as a direct result of being trafficked.

Prevention
--------------

Slovakia demonstrated some efforts to prevent trafficking
during the reporting period. The government partially funded
an IOM-run trafficking hotline that opened in June 2008 and
provided information to persons vulnerable to trafficking and
assisted trafficking victims; in 2008, hotline staff
identified three victims. The government paid for posters,
leaflets, and radio and television public awareness
commercials advertising the existence of the hotline. During
the reporting period, the government provided trafficking
awareness training for Slovak troops before they were
deployed to 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 the Slovak Republic given a ranking of Tier 2?

A: The Government of the Slovak Republic does not fully
comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of
trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do
so. Despite these significant efforts, including sustained
law enforcement measures, it failed to identify or assist any
foreign victims of trafficking during the reporting period
and a majority of convicted traffickers were given suspended
sentences and thus served no time in jail.

Q2: What progress has the Slovak Republic made in the past
year?

A: The government allocated $400,000 for all anti-trafficking
efforts in 2008, a significant increase from $91,000
allocated in 2007; more than half of this funding went toward
victim assistance. In December 2008, the Ministry of
Interior adopted a National Referral Mechanism for use by law
enforcement across the country in referring identified
victims to necessary services.

Q3: What can the Slovak Republic do to improve its fight
against trafficking in persons?

A: To improve its anti-trafficking performance, the Slovak
government could: ensure that a majority of convicted
traffickers serve some time in prison; provide additional
training for victim identification and victim treatment for
border police, prosecutors, judges, and Roma community social
workers in Eastern Slovakia; continue to increase the number
of victims assisted by government-funded NGO programs; ensure
that foreign victims are identified and provided access to
government-funded assistance; continue collaboration with
NGOs in identifying victims among persons in police detention
centers and immigration facilities; and conduct a public
awareness campaign to reduce the demand for commercial sex
acts.


12. The Department appreciates posts' assistance with the
preceding action requests.
CLINTON