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

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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

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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

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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

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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