Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09STATE97909
2009-09-21 20:16:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Secretary of State
Cable title:  

AZERBIAJAN: TIP TIER 2 WATCH LIST ACTION PLAN

Tags:  KCRM KWMN PHUM PREL SMIG KTIP AJ 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0005
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHC #7909 2642036
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 212016Z SEP 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO AMEMBASSY BAKU PRIORITY 0000
UNCLAS STATE 097909 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KCRM KWMN PHUM PREL SMIG KTIP AJ
SUBJECT: AZERBIAJAN: TIP TIER 2 WATCH LIST ACTION PLAN
(2009-2010)

REF: A. 2008 STATE 132759

B. 2007 STATE 150188

C. 2009 STATE 005577

D. 2009 STATE 62182

UNCLAS STATE 097909

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KCRM KWMN PHUM PREL SMIG KTIP AJ
SUBJECT: AZERBIAJAN: TIP TIER 2 WATCH LIST ACTION PLAN
(2009-2010)

REF: A. 2008 STATE 132759

B. 2007 STATE 150188

C. 2009 STATE 005577

D. 2009 STATE 62182


1. This is an action request (see paras 2-4).


2. Begin action request: Drawing from points in para 8,
Post is requested to approach appropriate host government
officials to highlight the United States' strong commitment
to continue to work with the Government of Azerbaijan to help
strengthen its efforts to combat and prevent trafficking in
persons (TIP) and to assist victims. Post is requested to
convey the recommendations in para 9 as a non-paper and draw
from the talking points in para 8 to explain to the host
government the need for prompt action on the first set of
recommendations for a positive review in the interim
assessment that the Department will release to Congress by
February 2010 and for movement out of the Tier 2 Watch List
in next year's Report. Additional recommendations are also
included in para 9 to aid the host government in making
progress in its overall anti-TIP efforts. The notes
indicated in brackets in the action plan are for post,s
background only and may be omitted from the non-paper. The
&Implementation Guidelines8 referenced in the action plan
notes are contained in reftel B. These guidelines provide
guidance to posts on how the Minimum Standards of the
Trafficking Victims Protection Act, as amended, (TVPA) are
implemented, and have been cleared by regional bureaus.


3. Action request continued: Post is further requested to
emphasize to the Government of Azerbaijan that the first set
of recommendations is designed to help remedy the specific
shortcomings identified in the 2009 TIP Report that resulted
in the placement of Azerbaijan on the Tier 2 Watch List.
These recommendations are often referred to as
"high-priority" items for Tier 2 Watch List removal. However,
sustained and significant anti-trafficking efforts by the
government throughout the year will remain the basis for
determining next year's tier placement. The interim
assessment for Special Watch List countries (to include Tier
2 Watch List countries) will provide a progress report
regarding the government's actions to address the short list
recommendations designed to address the concerns that

resulted in the country's placement on the Tier 2 Watch List
in the 2009 TIP Report (high-priority items),but there will
be no changes in tier ratings at that time. We will
reconsider the government's tier placement when we conduct
our annual full assessment for the March 2009-2010 reporting
period next spring.


4. Action request continued: The Department recognizes that
Post may choose to use this opportunity to provide additional
recommendations, beyond the recommendations for moving out of
the Tier 2 Watch List. In such a case, we request that Post
make clear to the government what are the "high-priority"
items to move off of the Tier 2 Watch List. The non-paper in
para 9 includes both "high-priority" recommendations for Tier
2 Watch List removal and further-reaching goals for
longer-term success in combating trafficking in persons in
all 3 P areas: Prosecution, Protection, and Prevention. (For
posts, background information: G/TIP will be asking for
posts to report on the country's progress in meeting these
recommendations by no later than November 15, 2009, in order
to compile narratives for the interim assessment.)


5. In preparation for the interim assessment and 2010 TIP
Report, the Department is asking posts to work with host
governments throughout the year to collect as many statistics
as possible on law enforcement actions and judicial
proceedings related to TIP crimes, specifically the
Department requests data on investigations, prosecutions,
convictions, and sentences (e.g., fines, probation, length of
prison sentences imposed, asset seizure information when
available). Whether a government collects and provides this
data consistent with the government's capacity to obtain such
data is considered in determining whether the government
qualifies for Tier 1. Law enforcement statistics, when
available, are a good way of highlighting how well a
government enforced its law and demonstrates strengths and
weaknesses in various approaches. Please note that host
governments and embassies must interpret data terms provided
by host governments such as indictments, charges, cases
disposed, cases submitted for prosecution, etc., to ensure
that they fit into one of the following categories:
investigations, prosecutions, convictions or sentences.

The Department cannot accept "trafficking-related" law
enforcement statistics (e.g, statistics on prostitution or
smuggling offenses) because their direct correlation to
trafficking crimes is not clear. The Department will accept
only law enforcement data that fall into the following
categories: (1) investigations, prosecutions, convictions,
and sentences for offenses that are explicitly defined as
trafficking; and (2) investigations, prosecutions,
convictions, and sentences for offenses that are not defined
explicitly as trafficking but in which the competent law
enforcement or judicial authority has specific evidence
indicating that the defendant was involved in trafficking.


6. The Department is also asking Posts to engage with host
governments on efforts to address amendments made by the 2008
Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA).
As indicated in reftel C, 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.


7. Please keep in mind the TIP Report measures host
government efforts. In order for anti-trafficking activities
financed or conducted principally by parties outside the
government to be considered for tier placement purposes, Post
needs to demonstrate a concrete role or tangible value-added
by a host government in such activities carried out by NGOs,
international organizations, or posts.


8. (U) Background Points:

Begin talking points:

-- The Obama Administration views the fight against human
trafficking, both at home and abroad, as a critical piece of
our foreign policy agenda. We are committed to making
progress on this issue in the months ahead by working closely
with partners in every country.

-- The U.S. Government's Trafficking Victims Protection Act
requires the State Department to submit an annual report to
Congress on the status of foreign governments, efforts to
combat trafficking in persons. Pursuant to the Trafficking
Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2003 (TVPRA),the
Department created a special category for Tier 2 countries
that do not show increasing efforts from the previous year,
have a very significant number of victims, or whose Tier 2
rating is based on commitments to take additional steps over
the next year.

-- Also as mandated by the TVPRA, by February 2010 the
Department will submit to Congress an interim assessment. At
the end of 2009 in preparation for that submission, the
Department will conduct an assessment of Tier 2 Watch List
countries' progress in responding to the specific issues of
concern that resulted in the Tier 2 Watch List rating.

-- Azerbaijan was placed on Tier 2 Watch List in this year's
Report because of a lack of evidence of increasing efforts to
combat severe forms of trafficking in persons from the
previous year.

-- We offer the following recommended actions (Action Plan
for the Short-term) to tackle specific shortcomings
highlighted in the 2009 TIP Report. We believe these to be
within the reasonable ability of your government to fulfill
in the near-term and encourage you to take prompt action for
a positive narrative in the interim assessment. New tier
evaluations will not occur at the interim assessment. We
will reconsider a government,s tier placement when we
conduct our annual full assessment for the 2009-2010
reporting period next spring. Prompt, appropriate, and
significant actions will lead to a more favorable tier
placement; conversely, failure to address the issues
mentioned above may lead to a Tier 3 placement.

-- We would welcome the Government of Azerbaijan,s comments
on these recommendations and any other ideas you might have
to advance our common struggle against trafficking in persons.

-- In addition to the short list of recommendations
corresponding to our concerns that resulted in your
government,s placement on the Tier 2 Watch List in the 2009
TIP Report, we offer additional suggestions of actions that
your government may choose to take (Action Plan for the Long
term). These further measures would be in addition to
Azerbaijan,s continuation of its current efforts to combat
trafficking in persons.

End talking points.


9. (SBU) Begin Action Plan:


A. Action Plan for the Short-Term: The following are
recommended measures for a positive interim assessment in
January 2010 and in the broader assessment of government
efforts during the reporting period:

--Implement the national victim referral mechanism adopted in
August 2009 and ensure that identified male, female, and
child victims of both sex and labor trafficking are referred
for assistance.

--Allocate sufficient funding to fully implement the national
trafficking action plan adopted in February 2009.

--Increase inter-agency coordination of anti-trafficking
efforts and identify points of contact within responsible
offices as designated in the national action plan.

--Improve victim assistance and protection for child victims
of trafficking through proactive identification of
trafficking victims among vulnerable populations -- such as
street children -- and increase the amount of time children
are permitted to stay at child homeless shelters and other
facilities.

--Increase efforts to investigate, prosecute, and convict
government officials complicit in trafficking and ensure, as
appropriate, that those convicted serve time in prison.


B. Other areas the government should consider for action to
boost its overall anti-trafficking efforts:

Prosecution:
--------------

--Increase law enforcement efforts to prosecute and convict
traffickers, and ensure, as appropriate, that a majority of
convicted traffickers serve some time in prison.

--Provide anti-trafficking victim identification and
investigative training for low-level law enforcement
officials.

--Conduct awareness and sensitivity training for law
enforcement and judges to improve victim treatment and to
prevent victims from being subjected to verbal abuse or
stigmatization by judges as a result of being trafficking
victims.

--Vet members of the anti-trafficking unit for human rights
abuses.

Protection:
--------------

--Consider longer-term strategies to address the unique
assistance needs of child trafficking victims, including
shelter, psychological and medical assistance, and
educational opportunities.

--Ensure that access to initial, emergency assistance for
victims of trafficking is provided without requiring them to
file a formal complaint with police.

--Ensure that individual police and other government
officials do not intimidate, threaten, or otherwise prevent
victims from filing criminal complaints against traffickers.

--Ensure foreign victims of trafficking are safely, humanely,
and to the extent possible, voluntarily repatriated to their
countries of origin. At a minimum, the government should
contact a competent governmental body, NGO, or international
organization in the relevant source country to ensure victims
are safely repatriated and provided with assistance and
support necessary to their wellbeing.

Prevention:
--------------

--Improve efforts to raise awareness about labor trafficking
among government officials as well as the general public.

--Make efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts.

End non-paper.


10. The Department thanks post for its continued efforts
to address trafficking in persons issues.
CLINTON