GERMANY -- 2009 TIP REPORT: PRESS GUIDANCE AND

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 STATE 061065 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KTIP ELAB KCRM KPAO KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG GM SUBJECT: GERMANY -- 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. ¶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 Germany 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 Germany 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 Germany 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 Germany,s country narrative in the 2009 TIP Report: -------------- Germany (TIER 1) Germany is a transit and destination country for men and women trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. Victims were trafficked to Germany from other parts of Europe, Africa (primarily Nigeria),Asia, and the Western Hemisphere. Approximately one-quarter of sex trafficking victims were German nationals trafficked within the country. In 2007, the latest year for STATE 00061065 002 OF 005 available trafficking statistics, declines in the number of Czech, Romanian, and Polish victims were observed as well as increases in the number of Bulgarian, Hungarian, and Nigerian victims. Twelve percent of trafficking victims were younger than 18 years old. The majority of identified sex trafficking victims were exploited in bars and brothels. Reported incidents of forced labor occurred mainly in restaurants, catering, and the domestic work and agriculture sectors. The Government of Germany fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. Germany increased identification of forced labor victims and labor trafficking investigations during the reporting period. Sex trafficking investigations also increased, but available statistics indicate that just 30 percent of trafficking offenders sentenced to prison did not receive suspended sentences. Statistics indicate that, in 2007, three labor trafficking offenders received suspended prison sentences, and five others convicted for labor trafficking received fines or other administrative punishments. However, in cases where perpetrators were convicted on multiple charges, statistics only include convictions under the charge which has the highest possible maximum sentence. Therefore, available statistics do not capture the full extent of trafficking convictions and sentences in Germany. Recommendations for Germany: Explore ways, within the parameters of the German judicial system, to increase the number of convicted traffickers who are required to serve time in prison; continue to improve efforts to identify and combat labor trafficking; ensure forced labor and child victims, access to appropriate assistance and protection; standardize victim assistance measures and government-civil society cooperation across the 16 federal states; and strengthen awareness campaigns targeting beneficiaries of forced labor and clients of the sex trade, particularly in the most frequented red light districts. Prosecution -------------- The German government demonstrated adequate law enforcement efforts during the reporting period. Germany prohibits all forms of trafficking; trafficking for sexual exploitation is criminalized in Section 232 of its Penal Code, and forced labor is criminalized under Section 233. Prescribed punishments range from six months, to 10 years, imprisonment and are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with penalties prescribed for other grave crimes. It is common practice for judges to suspend prison sentences of two years or less for all crimes, including trafficking. Judges often give suspended sentences to first-time trafficking offenders. German authorities completed 454 sex trafficking investigations in 2007, a 29 percent increase from 2006, and initiated 92 labor trafficking investigations, an 18 percent increase from 2006. In 2007, the most recent year for which data were available, authorities prosecuted 155 persons under Section 232 and 13 under Section 233 ) for a total of 168, compared to a total of 193 prosecutions in 2006. The government reported 133 trafficking convictions, a slight decrease from 150 in 2006. In those cases where trafficking offences carried the most severe sentences, only 30 percent of those sentenced to prison did not receive a suspended sentence, compared with 38 percent in 2006. None of the eight trafficking offenders convicted under the labor trafficking statute in 2007 was required to serve jail time*five received fines or administrative punishments, and three received suspended prison sentences. In 2008, two German men were convicted in a Lower Saxony court of kidnapping, hostage taking, rape, and trafficking and sentenced to 12.5 and 14 years in prison, respectively, for crimes committed against two German women and a Bulgarian student. Separately, a Polish couple was convicted of and sentenced to five and a half years and three years and three months, imprisonment, respectively, for persuading, under false pretenses, young Polish women to travel to Germany where they were forced into prostitution. Police and NGOs jointly organized specialized seminars for investigating officers, victim protection officials, and prosecutors as well as workshops in source and transit countries during the reporting period. Protection -------------- The German government sustained its victim assistance efforts over the last year. State governments funded dozens of NGOs that provided shelter, assistance, and facilitated protection for victims of trafficking. The Federal Family Ministry fully funds the umbrella organization representing 36 NGOs and counseling centers that assist trafficking victims. The STATE 00061065 003 OF 005 vast majority of these NGOs focused on adult, female victims. Formal victim referral mechanisms existed in 12 out of 16 German states. Authorities identified 689 sex trafficking victims in 2007, compared with 775 in 2006, and 101 victims of forced labor in 2007, an increase from 83 in 2006. Despite government encouragement of victims to cooperate in anti-trafficking investigations, many victims stated that their willingness to cooperate with authorities was negatively impacted due to threats or influence from traffickers. Victims are given a 30-day reflection period. The government provided legal alternatives to victims, removal to countries where they may face hardship or retribution. These measures included temporary residence permits for the duration of trial proceedings as well as long-term residence permits to victims in certain circumstances, such as when the victim faced severe threats in the country of origin. Prosecutors have the right to order protective measures, such as police protection, for the duration of trials. State governments also provided additional assistance to victims; for example, the Baden-Wurttemberg government provided approximately $126,000 in 2008 to victims of forced prostitution. In early 2009, the federal police published a guidance brochure for police, judges, prosecutors, and other officials on providing professional assistance for sex trafficking victims. Prevention -------------- The government continued efforts to prevent human trafficking during the year. The government sustained funding for NGO-produced public awareness campaigns in Germany and abroad including websites, postcards, telephone hotlines, pamphlets, and flyers. A Berlin NGO, funded largely by the Berlin Senate, operated awareness websites directed at clients of the sex trade. There were no known public awareness campaigns specifically targeting the potential clients in some of Germany,s best known red light districts, such as the one in Hamburg. In 2008, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs began development of a pilot project to train professional groups to help combat forced labor. The German government produced a public report on human trafficking in Germany including detailed statistics from 2007 on victims and investigations. A Kiel court in July 2008 sentenced a German citizen arrested in Cambodia on charges of sexual abuse of children to six and a half years, imprisonment. Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and the Philippines are the primary destination for German child sex tourists. The government provided trafficking awareness training to commanders of German military units deployed to international peacekeeping missions on how to sensitize subordinates to human trafficking. -------------- ¶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 STATE 00061065 004 OF 005 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 STATE 00061065 005 OF 005 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 Germany given a ranking of Tier 1? A: The Government of Germany fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. Q2: What progress has Germany made in the past year? A: Germany increased identification of forced labor victims and labor trafficking investigations during the reporting period. The number of sex trafficking investigations during the reporting period also increased. Q3. What can Germany do to improve its fight against trafficking in persons? A: To improve its anti-trafficking performance, the Government of Germany could: explore ways, within the parameters of the German judicial system, to increase the number of convicted traffickers who are required to serve time in prison; continue to improve efforts to identify and combat labor trafficking; ensure forced labor and child victims, access to appropriate assistance and protection; standardize victim assistance measures and government-civil society cooperation across the 16 federal states; and strengthen awareness campaigns targeting beneficiaries of forced labor and clients of the sex trade, particularly in the most frequented red light districts. ¶12. The Department appreciates posts, assistance with the preceding action requests. CLINTON