VZCZCXRO4159
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHSQ #0365/01 1341150
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 141150Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY SKOPJE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6043
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUESEN/SKOPJE BETA
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 3675

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SKOPJE 000365 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR G/TIP (SALLY NEUMANN), DOJ (JOE JONES), DOJ/OPDAT (CARL 
ALEXANDRE) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM MK
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: POLICE LAUNCH ANTI-TIP RAIDS IN WESTERN 
MACEDONIA 
 
REF: A. SKOPJE 132 
     ¶B. SKOPJE 317 
 
SUMMARY 
 
¶1. (U) Four recent government (GOM) anti-TIP raids in western 
Macedonia in April and May highlight the GOM's increased 
anti-TIP efforts at the operational level.  Ministry of 
Interior (MOI) officials acknowledge the initial raid was 
flawed, but have since provided better victim protection and 
evidence collection.  The four operations rescued 33 external 
and internal TIP victims --four of them minors-- and allowed 
police to bring six TIP-related charges against club owners 
and their accomplices. End summary. 
 
 
¶2. (SBU) In a May 4 meeting with Post's Department of Justice 
Senior Police Advisor and Post's TIP Officer, the MOI's new 
Head of the Sector to Combat TIP, Sande Kitanov, reviewed 
recent police raids that are part of GOM efforts to 
investigate TIP allegations in suspicious establishments in 
western Macedonia.  So far, with the active support of the 
Minister of Interior, the police have carried out four 
operations as part of a comprehensive on-going effort to 
combat TIP.  Despite initial operational shortcomings and 
lack of victim cooperation, the police have utilized lessons 
learned and are handling the cases more effectively.  As a 
result, the police have: 
 
- Established a system of centralized decision-making to 
identify TIP victims; 
- Centralized raid coordination to avoid leaks; 
- Included social workers and labor inspectors in the raids, 
and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in the 
victim interviewing process; 
- Taken advantage of recent changes in the law regarding plea 
bargaining to secure future convictions; 
- Provided a reflection period to vulnerable victims who have 
then decided to testify; and 
- Heightened efforts to finalize Standard Operational 
Procedures (SOP) for TIP cases by the end of May. 
 
 
April 22 Operation - 14 victims 
------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) On the night of April 22, Macedonian police raided 
seven clubs in the Tetovo area and seven in the Gostivar 
area.  The joint police, labor and public revenue inspector 
operation discovered fourteen external and internal female 
TIP victims.  Even though no TIP victims were discovered at 
one site, the Oriental Ace club near Tetovo, the public 
revenue inspector seized Euros 11,000 and closed down the 
establishment, which has a reputation for prostitution 
activities, for "business irregularities." 
 
¶4. (SBU) The MOI has launched an internal investigation into 
the case of three off-duty police officers who were present 
"as guests" in the Oriental Ace club at the time of the raid, 
and has seized two pistols from those officers.  All 14 TIP 
victims found at the other localities are at the MOI Transit 
Center, where IOM has conducted preliminary interviews, 
followed by interviews by female MOI officers.  So far, not 
one of the 14 victims, who have legal work documents to stay 
in Macedonia, has agreed to testify against the clubs' owners. 
 
 
April 24 Operation - 11 victims 
------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Convinced that the April 22 operation against the 
Oriental Ace club had been leaked in advance by an insider, 
the MOI decided to exclude the Tetovo police from a follow-up 
operation at the same club on April 24.  The club was found 
to be fully operational at the time of the raid, despite a 
Public Revenue Service (PRS) seal from the April 22 raid that 
should have closed the club down.  In the 15 minutes required 
for the police to enter the establishment, the club owners 
hid eight Bulgarian and two Serb women and one Macedonian 
(Roma) woman in a 2 square meter enclosure in the ceiling 
above the bar.  All the women were rescued, and after 
interviews by IOM and the MOI, the 10 foreigners were placed 
at the Transit Center and the Macedonian national at the Open 
Gate La Strada (OGLS) shelter. 
 
SKOPJE 00000365  002 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) Since none of the victims agreed to testify against 
the club owner, the Special Organized Crime Prosecutor, in 
consultation with the MOI and the investigative judge, 
decided that there was no solid evidence to build a TIP or a 
sexual exploitation case against the owner of Oriental Ace. 
However, the owner, Ali Arifi, has been charged with two 
criminal offenses - illegal deprivation of liberty (i.e. the 
placement of the women in the ceiling enclosure) and 
violation of an employee's rights (i.e. none of the women had 
health insurance or social security).  If convicted on these 
charges, Arifi could be sentenced up to three years on the 
first charge, and up to a year on the second. 
 
 
April 26 Operation - 4 victims 
------------------------------ 
 
¶7. (SBU) Frustrated with the lack of incriminating testimony 
in the two Oriental Ace raids, the MOI decided to concentrate 
its efforts on the post-raid interviewing of four TIP victims 
found at the "Redgo" club near Tetovo on April 26.  All four 
TIP victims are ethnic Albanian Macedonian nationals, two of 
them minors.  The victims were placed at the OGLS shelter, 
where they were assigned a support team consisting of a 
social worker and a psychologist (and a guardian for the 
minors). 
 
¶8. (SBU) For two days, the police allowed the victims to 
recuperate, and then interviewed them in the presence of 
their support teams.  On the basis of the minors' testimony, 
the Special Organized Crime Prosecutor has charged the owner 
of the bar, a driver and the subject guarding the victims 
with crimes under Art. 418a (2) for TIP under aggravated 
circumstances.  The prosecutor and police agreed to a plea 
bargain arrangement with a guard at the club, who is now 
cooperating in the case involving the two adult TIP victims. 
(Note: in Macedonia, cases involving minors are treated 
separately from cases that involve adults.)  If convicted, 
the two main suspects could be sentenced to a minimum of 
eight years in prison. 
 
 
May 2 Operation - 4 victims 
--------------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) In a May 2 operation, police rescued four TIP 
victims in a centrally located pizzeria in Tetovo.  All four 
are Macedonian nationals; two of them are minors.  One of the 
minors, the only ethnic Macedonian in the group, is a 
15-year-old girl from Kumanovo who was sold by her mother at 
the age of 12 and has been abused sexually ever since. Three 
of the victims are currently at the OGLS shelter, and one of 
the two minors is with her family.  The Kumanovo minor has 
cooperated with the Special Prosecutor and police.  The 
collected evidence has allowed them to build an Art. 418a (2) 
TIP case under aggravated circumstances against the 
ringleader, Jusuf Dauti, who is in 30-day detention, and a 
child neglect case against the girl's mother.  If convicted, 
Dauti could be sentenced to a minimum of eight years in 
prison. 
 
 
COMMENT 
 
 
¶10. (SBU) Following extensive political statements and public 
awareness campaigns on combating TIP in February and March 
(refs A and B), the GOM is showing its teeth by carrying out 
successful anti-TIP raids and post-raid victim protection. 
At the institutional level, the MOI's leadership has shown 
willingness to move away from its past refusal to acknowledge 
the extent of the TIP problem in Macedonia.  MOI officials 
now acknowledge the existence of internal TIP victims and 
have started treating trafficked minors as a special category 
of victims.  The new Head of the anti-TIP Sector, a long-time 
beneficiary of USG training, has been receptive to Post's 
suggestions on how to improve police operations, but he still 
faces challenges in coordinating operations with the local 
police.  Post continues to monitor the anti-TIP efforts of 
the GOM and believes that, once the TIP SOPs are drafted and 
implemented, Macedonia will be even better prepared to 
protect victims and secure evidence to effectively prosecute 
TIP cases. 
 
SKOPJE 00000365  003 OF 003 
 
 
MILOVANOVIC