VZCZCXRO0854
OO RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHLZ
DE RUEHRL #1094/01 1111550
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 211550Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2736
INFO RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BERLIN 001094 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/AGS, EUR/PGI, G/TIP, DRL/IL, INL/HSTC, AND PRM 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN KJUS SMIG ELAB PREL PGOV GM
SUBJECT: GERMAN TIP CONVICTION AND SENTENCING STATISTICS 
 
REF: A. BERLIN 601 
 
     ¶B. 05 STATE 229099 
     ¶C. FISHER/CONWAY EMAIL 4/20/2006 
 
¶1.  (U) This message is sensitive but unclassified.  Please 
handle accordingly. 
 
------- 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) German prosecutors seek maximum sentences for 
traffickers by whatever means they can, according to a recent 
Max Planck Criminological Institute study.  For TIP crimes, 
this means the Ministry of Justice's published trafficking 
statistics do not fully capture TIP sentences.  In some 
cases, prosecutors focus on the non-TIP related crimes of 
traffickers if they determine the chances of a successful 
prosecution are higher than proceeding with TIP charges. 
Moreover, MOJ statistics do not include cases where 
traffickers were convicted on multiple charges and one of the 
charges, such as rape or murder, carried a higher maximum 
penalty.  In cases that do fall in the "trafficking" category 
as the MOJ has it set up, statistics report only the sentence 
handed down for the trafficking violation and not the 
aggregate sentence for all convictions.  Therefore the 
published trafficking statistics under-represent the total 
number of traffickers sentenced and under-report the severity 
of sentences handed down.  The Max Planck study notes 
trafficking sentences were generally more severe than those 
handed down for similarly serious crimes.  The MOJ statistics 
also give the mistaken impression that a high percentage of 
traffickers receive suspended sentences.  However, the Max 
Planck study supports German prosecutors' claims that those 
who receive suspended sentences often played auxiliary roles 
in the overall trafficking operation, e.g., telephone 
operators, whereas TIP ringleaders received the harshest 
sentences.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶3. (U) A study released in March 2006 by the Max Planck 
Criminological Institute indicates statistics on trafficking 
convictions compiled by the German Ministry of Justice do not 
fully capture the extent to which Germany prosecutes 
traffickers or the severity of sentences handed down.  The 
study analyzed court documents from trafficking cases between 
1996 and 2002; conviction data for trafficking cases listed 
in the non-public Federal Central Register between 1996 and 
2000; 49 court files of trafficking investigations from ten 
different federal states in the period 1994-2002; responses 
gathered from written questionnaires completed by 550 police, 
prosecutors, and judges; and personal interviews with police, 
prosecutors, and judges. 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
Most Traffickers Charged with Non-TIP Crimes 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) According to the study, courts convicted individuals 
on charges of trafficking in only 21 percent of 
trafficking-related court cases between 1996 and 2002. 
However, in 72 percent of the trafficking-related cases (22 
percent pre-trial; 50 percent during the actual trial) 
prosecutors dropped the trafficking charge and, instead, 
charged suspected traffickers with human smuggling, tax 
evasion, or other crimes in order to improve the chances of 
successful prosecution.  The study also notes police reported 
shifting the focus of approximately one-quarter of 
trafficking investigations to human smuggling or other 
violations before the case was even assigned to a prosecutor. 
 According to Petra Leister, a senior prosecutor who has 
spent the past eight years prosecuting TIP cases in Berlin, 
prosecutors tend to focus on outcomes and, therefore, pursue 
charges which are easiest to prove and will result in jail 
time.  For instance, she said, human smuggling is much easier 
to prove than TIP.  Leister noted the frequent unfortunate 
lack of credible testimony from victims plays a key role in 
prosecutors' decisions to charge traffickers with other 
crimes. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The Max Planck study reached similar conclusions, 
stating successful prosecution of traffickers often hinges on 
victim testimony.  To prove a trafficking crime has been 
committed, prosecutors must convince the court the accused 
exploited or coerced the victim by violence or threat of 
violence.  A case can be made or broken, therefore, on a 
victim's willingness to testify or a victim's credibility on 
the witness stand, including under possibly unpleasant 
cross-examination.  Respondents cited psychological pressure 
and fear of retribution as key factors in victims' refusal to 
testify.  When victims do testify, Leister explained, their 
 
BERLIN 00001094  002 OF 002 
 
 
testimony is often inconsistent, sometimes contradicts 
testimony offered by other victims, and, as a result, is 
easily picked apart by defense attorneys.  (NOTE: Germany has 
well established victim protection programs to facilitate 
victim testimony )- these include access to court-appointed 
translators, temporary housing, and counseling services. 
That said, law enforcement and NGO representatives often 
state that the trauma TIP victims have suffered makes some of 
them unwilling or unable to testify despite all the support 
they receive.  END NOTE.) 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
Statistics Do Not Reflect Severity of Sentences 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶6. (SBU) According to Guntram Hahne, another senior Berlin 
prosecutor, the MOJ's methodology does not consider multiple 
convictions or tally aggregate sentences for multiple 
convictions.  As a result, MOJ statistics fail to capture the 
full scope of German efforts to bring traffickers to justice 
or the actual penalties handed down.  To address shortcomings 
in the MOJ's statistical analysis, the Max Planck study 
reviewed a second set of data published in the Federal 
Central Register (BZR), a non-public register compiled by the 
Federal Prosecutor General that lists legally binding 
criminal court convictions.  The BZR data revealed 87 percent 
of persons convicted of aggravated trafficking between 1996 
and 2000 were also convicted on other offenses.  According to 
Leister, prosecutors often charge traffickers with drug or 
weapons crimes, human smuggling, tax evasion, and forgery. 
As a result, the total prison sentence a trafficker receives 
is generally underreported because MOJ statistics only list 
the sentence handed down for the actual TIP conviction and 
not/not the aggregate sentence for multiple convictions. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Other MOJ statistical conventions also mask TIP 
convictions:  the MOJ statistics group cases involving 
multiple convictions under the conviction with the highest 
maximum penalty (not/not the highest sentence actually handed 
down) and, again, list only the sentence for that conviction, 
rather than the aggregate sentence.  For instance, if an 
individual is convicted of both TIP and rape, MOJ lists the 
conviction as rape, not TIP.  According to the BZR data used 
in the Max Planck study, 13 percent of persons convicted on 
trafficking charges were also convicted for rape.  However, 
these convictions are not listed among TIP convictions in MOJ 
statistics.  After factoring in the high number of multiple 
convictions, along with the high precedence of convictions on 
non-TIP charges, the Max Planck study concluded German 
efforts to prosecute traffickers are "relatively vigorous" 
and, in comparison to other similarly serious crimes, 
characterized the rate of non-suspended prison sentences for 
traffickers as being "strikingly" high. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
Number of Suspended Sentences Misleading 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) The Max Planck study supports what German 
prosecutors have long maintained:  suspended sentences are 
generally handed down to individuals, such as drivers and 
telephone operators, who played an auxiliary role in the 
crime.  The study's analysis of BZR data revealed MOJ 
statistics group together and do not differentiate between 
convictions for trafficking, aiding and abetting trafficking, 
and attempted trafficking.  Indeed, the study revealed 11 
percent of those the MOJ statistics refer to as "traffickers" 
were actually not traffickers, but auxiliary personnel 
convicted on charges of aiding and abetting and nine percent 
for attempted trafficking.  Of the remaining 80 percent, 
Leister explained, courts generally hand down suspended 
sentences to drivers, telephone operators, absentee property 
owners, and, less frequently, to individuals who confess and 
subsequently agree to testify against traffickers or who, 
prior to their arrest, provided some sort of assistance to 
TIP victims.  Leister said TIP ringleaders receive the 
harshest sentences or, in the absence of victim testimony, 
are charged with other crimes. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Leister confirmed it is standard German practice for 
judges to suspend prison sentences of two years or less for 
all crimes, not just TIP crimes.  She explained those who 
receive suspended sentences are generally required to perform 
community service, pay penalties, and/or meet regularly with 
a parole officer.  Furthermore, German authorities enter the 
names/fingerprint records of these individuals into law 
enforcement databases. 
 
TIMKEN JR