TUNISIAN MFA PIQUED AT SOURCING OF TIP REPORT, BUT

C O N F I D E N T I A L TUNIS 000775 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP AND NEA/MAG E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/19/2019 TAGS: PHUM KTIP KWMN AORC TS SUBJECT: TUNISIAN MFA PIQUED AT SOURCING OF TIP REPORT, BUT READY TO TALK REF: A. TUNIS 758 ¶B. STATE 104684 Classified by Ambassador Gordon Gray for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) During an otherwise cordial courtesy call on October 13, Saida Chtoui, Secretary of State for Asia and the Americas (one of two deputies to Foreign Minister Abdallah ) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, complained to the Ambassador about Tunisia's placement on the Trafficking in Persons Report's Tier II Watchlist. "We do not like reports that are not right," she exclaimed. Chtoui asserted that a GOT ad hoc interagency committee working in 2008 had provided the USG with a cache of data and facts that had been "completely ignored" in the Department's final product. Chtoui charged that allegations printed in the report were undocumented, such as a story about the trafficking of a seven year old sourced to a journalist based in the Netherlands. (Note: Our subsequent review of the report found no such reference. End note.) ¶2. (C) Responding, the Ambassador underlined the need for a substantive bilateral dialogue that would allow both sides to clear up misunderstandings and put the USG and Tunisia squarely on the same page in the global fight against human trafficking. If the Tunisian government is regularly prosecuting traffickers and making systematic efforts to identify and assist victims, we want to convey the details to Washington and make sure the authors of the report are fully briefed. Establishing a substantive dialogue is the key, the Ambassador repeated. ¶3. (C) Chtoui again emphasized the GOT's disappointment with the report's "totally unfair" findings. "Our record of caring for our children, for our women, for the elderly, can be compared to that of the world's most developed countries," she underlined. "We know we are not perfect," but Tunisia has a higher awareness and makes greater efforts than any of its neighbors in this regard, Chtoui maintained. ¶4. (C) Referencing his October 5 discussion with the Minister of Justice (ref A),the Ambassador said the Embassy would be seeking a meeting with a senior MOJ official named as a POC on the TIP issue and hoped the MFA would support and collaborate in a new round of dialogue. "If we have an understanding that we are working together without preconceived ideas and judgments," then the MFA will support more dialogue, Chtoui allowed. GRAY