MALTA -- 2009 TIP REPORT: PRESS GUIDANCE AND

UNCLAS STATE 061206

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KTIP ELAB KCRM KPAO KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG MT
SUBJECT: MALTA -- 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 Malta 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 Malta
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 Malta 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 Malta,s country narrative in the 2009
TIP Report:

--------------
Malta (TIER 2)
Malta is a destination country for women from Russia,
Ukraine, Romania, and other European countries trafficked for
the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. In addition,
irregular migrants from African countries arrive in Malta en
route to Italy and elsewhere and may be vulnerable to human
trafficking.
The Government of Malta does not fully comply with the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Malta
demonstrated strong political will to combat human
trafficking through several executive branch initiatives,
including the development of victim assistance services,
training of government officials, and expanded public
awareness. There was limited visible progress on prosecution
of cases and punishment of convicted trafficking offenders.
Progress in the area of convictions and punishment of
trafficking offenders during the next reporting period is
necessary to fully comply with the minimum standards.
Recommendations for Malta: Vigorously prosecute and convict
trafficking offenders; ensure convicted trafficking
offenders, including officials complicit in trafficking,
receive adequate punishment; continue to develop and
implement procedures for identifying and caring for victims,
including possible child victims, among migrants and other
vulnerable population; continue to develop procedures, in
consultation with international organizations or NGOs as
appropriate, in relevant source countries to ensure safe,
voluntary repatriation for victims; and consider raising
awareness to deter the possibility of child sex tourism.
Prosecution
--------------
Malta demonstrated inadequate efforts to prosecute
trafficking in persons offenses during the reporting period.
Malta,s criminal code prohibits trafficking for commercial
sexual exploitation and involuntary servitude and prescribes
punishments of two to nine years, imprisonment. These
prescribed penalties are sufficiently stringent and
commensurate with those prescribed for other grave crimes.
In a 2004 case that came to trial in 2008, a Maltese woman
was convicted of trafficking Russian women into forced
prostitution in Malta and given a two-year suspended
sentence. The ongoing cases cited in the 2008 Report,
including the case of the police officer convicted in 2005
who remained out of jail pending an appeal, were slowly
working their way through the Maltese legal system. In
January 2009, the police trained 60 police officers in
identifying and assisting trafficking victims.

Protection
--------------
Malta improved efforts to protect victims of trafficking
during the reporting period. In February 2009, the Social
Welfare Services Agency (Appogg) conducted a training session
on victim assistance for government social workers, including
those who work with the irregular migrant population. There
are no NGOs in Malta specializing in assisting human
trafficking victims; the government assists foreign victims
through government-funded shelters that are used primarily
for victims of domestic violence. An NGO assisting irregular
migrants identified four potential trafficking victims in a
migrant detention center. The government determined they
were not trafficking victims and did not offer
trafficking-specific services to them, though it released
them from detention. On a case-by-case basis the government
can offer legal alternatives to the removal of identified
foreign trafficking victims to countries where they may face
hardship or retribution. There is no evidence that
authorities punished victims of trafficking for unlawful acts
committed as a direct result of their being trafficked. The
government developed a formal system for referring all women
in prostitution apprehended by police to government social
workers, and began proactively seeking to identify victims
among asylum seekers, though it did not identify any victims
during the reporting period. Malta encourages victims to
assist in the investigation and prosecution of trafficking
crimes. In 2008, the one victim referred to Maltese police
by a foreign embassy was allowed to provide testimony against
her trafficker through video conferencing.

Prevention
--------------
The government boosted prevention activities over the last
year. Appogg produced detailed brochures to raise awareness
about human trafficking that included information about
identifying potential victims and outlets for assistance and
distributed them at health clinics, community centers, and
churches. In addition, Appogg distributed these brochures in
entertainment areas to target potential clients of the sex
trade. Malta,s government Employment and Training
Corporation conducted informational sessions within migrant
detention centers to inform migrants about their rights and
the process by which to attain work permits and proper
employment if they are granted asylum and released. The
assistant commissioner of police raised awareness of human
trafficking through a television appearance on a top rated
talk show in 2008. The government did not report any
specific actions to reduce the possible participation of
Maltese nationals in child sex tourism abroad.
--------------



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 Malta given a ranking of Tier 2?
A: The Government of Malta does not fully comply with the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so.
Q2: What progress has Malta made in the last year?
A: Malta demonstrated strong political will to combat human
trafficking through several executive branch initiatives,
including the development of victim assistance services,
training of government officials, and expanded public
awareness. There was limited visible progress on prosecution
of cases and punishment of convicted trafficking offenders.
Progress in the area of convictions and punishment of
trafficking offenders during the next reporting period is
necessary to fully comply with the minimum standards.
Q3: What can Malta do to improve its fight against
trafficking in persons?

A: To improve its anti-trafficking performance, the Maltese
government could: vigorously prosecute and convict
trafficking offenders; ensure convicted trafficking
offenders, including officials complicit in trafficking,
receive adequate punishment; continue to develop and
implement procedures for identifying and caring for victims,
including possible child victims, among migrants and other
vulnerable population; continue to develop procedures, in
consultation with international organizations or NGOs as
appropriate, in relevant source countries to ensure safe,
voluntary repatriation for victims; and consider raising
awareness to deter the possibility of child sex tourism.

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