MONTENEGRO--2009 TIP REPORT: PRESS GUIDANCE AND

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 STATE 061091

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB KCRM KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG KPAO KTIP MW
SUBJECT: MONTENEGRO--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 Montenegro 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 Montenegro 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 Montenegro 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 Montenegro's country narrative in the
2009 TIP Report:

--------------
Montenegro (TIER 2 Watch List)
--------------

Montenegro is primarily a transit country for the trafficking
of women and girls from Ukraine, Moldova, Serbia, Albania,
and Kosovo to Western Europe for the purpose of commercial
sexual exploitation. There have been reported cases of
forced labor in the construction industry. There is
anecdotal evidence that foreign children, mainly Roma, are
also trafficked through Montenegro for the purpose of forced
begging. In 2008, there were no reports of Montenegrins

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being trafficked to other countries. Groups that are
vulnerable to trafficking include women in prostitution,
unaccompanied foreign minors, ethnic Roma, and foreign
construction workers. Refugees and displaced persons also
are vulnerable, as their lack of legal status in Montenegro
limits their access to legal employment and social rights. )

The Government of Montenegro does not fully comply with the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Despite
these overall significant efforts, the government did not
provide adequate evidence of progress in punishing convicted
traffickers or proactively identifying trafficking victims
among vulnerable groups; therefore, Montenegro is placed on
Tier 2 Watch List. In a positive development late in the
reporting period, the new anti-trafficking coordinator has
made it a priority to create a mechanism that accurately
tracks anti-trafficking law enforcement statistics, conduct
outreach to the judicial branch to address concerns about
trafficking prosecutions, and raise awareness about human
trafficking within Montenegro. It is expected that these
positive steps should portend tangible results in the coming
year.

Recommendations for Montenegro: Continue to vigorously
investigate and prosecute trafficking offenses, and convict
and sentence trafficking offenders, including any public
officials complicit in trafficking; ensure that convicted
trafficking offenders receive adequate punishment; improve
tracking of human trafficking law enforcement data; increase
efforts to identify victims among vulnerable groups, such as
women arrested for prostitution violations, undocumented
migrants, and child beggars, and refer them to the government
shelter or trafficking NGOs; provide protection for potential
child victims of trafficking; continue the recently launched
anti-trafficking public awareness campaign; and continue
vigorous efforts to coordinate all anti-trafficking entities
within Montenegro.

Prosecution
--------------
The Government of Montenegro did not demonstrate vigorous
anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts in 2008. Montenegro
prohibits sex and labor trafficking through Article 444 of
its criminal code, which prescribes penalties that are
sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those prescribed
for rape. Precise trafficking-related statistics for 2008
were unavailable, but the new coordinator is working on
establishing a mechanism that would address this concern as
well as improving overall prosecution efforts. According to
information provided by the government and media reports, the
government initiated 18 trafficking prosecutions and secured
the convictions of eight trafficking offenders during the
reporting period. Sentences ranged from two years to six
years' and 10 months' imprisonment. The government reported
that four of the eight convicted traffickers are currently in
serving time in jail. The government also confirmed that
three convicted trafficking offenders sentenced each to five
years' imprisonment in 2007 were not serving their sentences
in jail. Although corruption is a significant problem in
Montenegro, during the reporting period, neither civil
society, nor media outlets, nor government agencies reported
specific allegations of official complicity in trafficking in
persons crimes.

Protection
--------------
The Montenegrin government continued efforts to protect
trafficking victims over the last year, although results were
mixed. The government funded all expenses for a trafficking
victim shelter and provided medical and legal assistance as
well as vocational training for victims. The government
reported it used a formal mechanism to guide police in
referring potential trafficking victims to the government
shelter, but authorities reported identification of just
three victims, two of whom were referred to the shelter in

2008. Also during the reporting period, at least 75 minors
were apprehended for begging; police determined they were not
trafficking cases and did not refer any of the children to
the government's trafficking shelter, which can accommodate
potential child victims. Police conducted raids on
nightclubs and illegal construction sites but reported no
additional referrals. According to official policy, the
government encouraged victims to participate in the
investigations or prosecution of trafficking offenders;
lengthy court proceedings lead to prolonged shelter stays and
delayed repatriation for victims while they waited to
participate in prosecutions. In practice, few victims have
participated in the prosecution of their traffickers beyond
giving statements to the police due to fear of reprisals; as
noted previously, many convicted traffickers have not been
sentenced to prison. The government reported that
trafficking victims have not been penalized for unlawful acts

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committed as a direct result of their being trafficked.
Under Montenegrin law, the government can provide temporary
or permanent residency status to foreign victims, depending
on the circumstances of the case.

Prevention
--------------
The government acknowledged that human trafficking was a
regional problem, but has not specifically acknowledged that
there is a problem occurring in Montenegro. During the
reporting period, the government funded six workshops for
various ministries involved in combating trafficking and
performed an awareness raising campaign in schools. The
government also signed a memorandum of understanding with
NGOs to facilitate cooperation on combating human
trafficking. The government adopted a new action plan in
December 2008 valid through 2009. The government did not
fund Montenegro's hotline for trafficking victims but pledged
to do so in the future. The new coordinator has brought
renewed focus to the government's efforts to combat
trafficking in persons, reinstating regular meetings of the
anti-trafficking working group. There were no awareness
efforts aimed at reducing the demand for sex or labor
trafficking during the reporting period.


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

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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 Montenegro again given a rank of Tier 2 Watch
List?

A: The Government of Montenegro is placed on the Tier 2 Watch
List for the second consecutive year because it did not
provide adequate evidence during the reporting period of
progress in punishing convicted traffickers or proactively
identifying trafficking victims among vulnerable groups.
In a positive development late in the reporting period, the
new anti-trafficking coordinator has made it a priority to
create a mechanism that accurately tracks anti-trafficking
law enforcement statistics, conduct outreach to the judicial
branch to address concerns about trafficking prosecutions,
and raise awareness about human trafficking within
Montenegro. These positive steps in critical areas should
provide a foundation to help Montenegro demonstrate better
results over the next reporting period.

Q2: What can Montenegro do to improve its fight against
trafficking in persons?

A: To improve its anti-trafficking performance, the
Montenegrin government could: continue to vigorously
investigate and prosecute trafficking offenses, and convict
and sentence trafficking offenders, including any public
officials complicit in trafficking; ensure that convicted
trafficking offenders receive adequate punishment; improve

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tracking of human trafficking law enforcement data; increase
efforts to identify victims among vulnerable groups, such as
women arrested for prostitution, migrants, and child beggars,
and refer them to the government shelter or anti-trafficking
NGOs; provide protection for potential child victims of
trafficking; continue the recently launched anti-trafficking
public awareness campaign; and continue vigorous efforts to
coordinate anti-trafficking entities within Montenegro.

Q3: What is the scope of Montenegro's human trafficking
problem?

A: Montenegro is primarily a transit country for the
trafficking of women and girls from Ukraine, Moldova, Serbia,
Albania, and Kosovo to Western Europe for commercial sexual
exploitation. There have been cases of forced labor in the
construction industry. There is anecdotal evidence that Roma
children are trafficked through Montenegro for forced
begging.

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