VZCZCXRO8528
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHSW #0122/01 0671355
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 071355Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY BERN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4907
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 24 BERN 000122 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR G/TIP, INL, DRL, PRM, IWI, EUR/PGI, EUR/AGS 
DEPT PLEASE PASS USAID 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KCRM KWMN SMIG KFRD PREF ELAB SZ
SUBJECT: TIP - SWITZERLAND: ANNUAL ANTI-TRAFFICKING IN 
PERSONS REPORT 
 
------------------ 
TABLE OF CONTENTS: 
------------------ 
 
¶I.    SUMMARY OF NEW DEVELOPMENTS 
II.   OVERVIEW 
III.  PREVENTION 
IV.   INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION OF TRAFFICKERS 
¶V.    PROTECTION AND ASSISTANCE TO VICTIMS 
 
 
------------------------------ 
¶I. SUMMARY OF NEW DEVELOPMENTS 
------------------------------ 
 
Switzerland continued to make appreciable progress in its 
anti-trafficking-in-persons practices, investigating and 
prosecuting TIP cases vigorously.  In 2007, federal and 
cantonal (state) police led at least 28 investigations on 
trafficking or trafficking-related offenses.  With regard 
to prosecutions, provisional data for 2007 show that Swiss 
courts made at least 12 convictions for trafficking or 
trafficking-related offenses.  To improve the statistics 
on investigations and prosecutions and to gather national 
data, the National Conference of the Cantonal Justice 
Ministers decided in 2006 to harmonize cantonal recording 
practices and gather national policing statistics by 2010. 
In the meantime, the Human Trafficking/Migrant Smuggling 
Investigative Unit of the Federal Criminal Police has 
begun to keep records of ongoing investigations and 
prosecutions, which the cantons (states) report 
voluntarily.  The government cooperated with other 
governments in the investigation and prosecution of 
trafficking and trafficking-related offenses. 
 
On the legal front, a new article in the Penal Code that 
defines human trafficking more comprehensively entered 
into force on December 1, 2006.  Under the new article, 
anyone acting as the supplier, broker, or buyer in the 
trafficking of human beings for the purposes of sexual 
exploitation, labor exploitation, or to remove a body 
organ is liable to imprisonment.  The act of recruiting an 
individual for the purposes aforementioned also qualifies 
as trafficking and is liable to the same punishment.  On 
January 1, 2007, an amendment of the Penal Code entered 
into force that makes certain criminal infractions subject 
to universal prosecution.  Human trafficking, forced 
prostitution of minors, and child sexual abuse can thus be 
prosecuted in Switzerland regardless of where the crime 
was committed. 
 
In April 2007, the Swiss Police Academy held the first 
five-day training class in combating human trafficking for 
cantonal police and immigration officials and border 
guards, which was repeated in October to accommodate high 
demand.  (Police officers are trained at the cantonal 
level and the Swiss police academy serves as a national 
institute for cantonal police officers to undergo periodic 
specialized training).  The same class will be offered to 
French-speaking law enforcement and immigration officials 
during 2008.  At the operational level, the National 
Conference of the Cantonal Chiefs of Police has 
established a working group on trafficking in persons and 
migrant smuggling that began operations in the summer of 
¶2007.  The working group, which convenes 1-2 times per 
year, is tasked with establishing standardized 
investigation procedures and fostering cooperation and 
exchange of specialized know-how. 
 
Protection: The government enacted new protective measures 
for TIP victims.  The number of TIP victims receiving 
counseling services from professional assistance centers 
for victims of crime rose from 63 in 2005 to 80 in 2006. 
In 2007, cantonal immigration authorities offered 33 
trafficking victims 30-day stays of deportation 
proceedings designed to offer them a period of 
contemplation and recovery.  Six trafficking victims were 
offered short-term residency permits for the duration of 
legal/court proceedings against their traffickers, and 
four victims were granted long-term residency permits on 
grounds of personal hardship after the end of court 
proceedings.  The Zurich-based anti-TIP NGO FIZ also 
counseled more TIP victims in 2007 than the year before 
and continued to receive public money for its TIP-victim 
assistance services. 
 
BERN 00000122  002 OF 024 
 
 
 
Efforts to improve the legal protections of TIP victims 
continued.  On January 1, 2008, the new Federal Law on 
Foreigners entered into force.  The new law formalizes the 
process of granting TIP victims a stay of deportation 
proceedings to recover from their trauma and weigh 
participation in judicial proceedings.  The new law 
strengthens the legal status of TIP victims and witnesses, 
explicitly authorizing the government to waive normal 
immigration requirements and grant temporary or permanent 
residency permits for victims and witnesses of human 
trafficking.  The law further allows the federal 
government to logistically and financially assist 
trafficking victims and witnesses, for whom a return is 
acceptable, in the re-integration in their countries of 
origin.  In March 2007, Parliament adopted the revision of 
the Federal Victims Assistance Law that enhances crime 
victims' right to emergency protections and allows cantons 
to pool resources to establish regional victim assistance 
centers specializing in certain types of crime (e.g. TIP). 
In October 2007, Parliament adopted a new federal code of 
criminal trial proceedings that is to replace the 26 
existing cantonal codes and strengthen witness protection 
measures in court trial proceedings. 
 
Existing cantonal cooperation projects ("roundtables") to 
formalize referral procedures in TIP cases between 
immigration, police, and justice authorities and victim 
assistance bodies continued: following the example of 
Zurich, the canton which pioneered these efforts, four 
more cantons had formalized such a referral process in 
written memoranda of understanding by the end of 2006. 
Two more cantons adopted written referral agreements 
during the reporting period and efforts to establish a 
formal referral process continued or were newly begun in 
another three.  The total number of cantonal roundtables 
that have either adopted a referral agreement or are in 
the process of doing so has risen to ten.  As a direct 
result of the regulation to stay deportation proceedings 
and the better cooperation between NGOs and law 
enforcement officials, the number of TIP victims willing 
to testify against their traffickers has risen 
considerably; FIZ reports that during 2006 almost 50 
percent of victims being counseled testified against their 
traffickers, compared to fewer than ten percent a few 
years ago. 
 
Prevention: The government also expanded its prevention 
efforts.  Swiss embassies and consulates have increased 
their scrutiny of visa applications for nightclub 
performers, with a view toward ensuring that applicants 
receive valid contracts, are completely aware of their 
future conditions, and are informed how to seek help once 
in Switzerland.  The Federal Office for Migration also 
issued new regulations on official monitoring of the 
working conditions of cabaret dancers and the contractual 
obligations of the nightclub owners.  Swiss government 
agencies continued to fund several prevention and 
protection programs abroad, valued annually at over US$ 
1.5 million. 
 
In view of the upcoming European Soccer Cup, the 
government has appropriated $96,000 to kick-start public 
awareness campaigns.  The goal of the campaign is to raise 
awareness among the visitors of the EURO 08 and the 
general public of the extent and the consequences of women 
trafficking.  The campaign will also target the customers 
of commercial sexual services, calling on them to help 
potential victims of trafficking get access to aid 
organizations.  In February 2008, a Moldovan theatre 
group, hosted by IOM Switzerland and the Swiss Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs, toured Switzerland with its play "A 
saptea Kafana - the seventh Coffeehouse", which is meant 
to increase public awareness of human trafficking.  Three 
state-subsidized churches of the Canton of Basel- 
Landschaft, in cooperation with FIZ, developed an 
exhibition to raise awareness among the general public of 
the problem of trafficking in women.  The exhibit opened 
in Basel-Landschaft in September 2006 and was shown in a 
total of ten cantons in 2006/07. 
 
The Swiss tourism industry under the leadership of the NGO 
ECPAT has established a code of conduct to combat child 
sex tourism.  The Federal Criminal Police is cooperating 
with the framers of the code to establish a mechanism to 
allow travel agencies to tip off law enforcement bodies 
 
BERN 00000122  003 OF 024 
 
 
about child sex tourists.  Switzerland pursued a zero- 
tolerance policy regarding sexual exploitation by 
personnel serving in international peace-keeping missions. 
All civil and military persons serving in peace-keeping 
missions are subject to the Code of Conduct of the UN 
(and/or NATO-PfP respectively) and undergo specific 
awareness raising training before deployment. 
 
 
------------ 
II. OVERVIEW 
------------ 
 
¶A. Switzerland is primarily a country of destination for 
persons being trafficked, almost exclusively women, but 
transit also occurs.  Trafficking occurs both across 
borders and within the country.  Swiss officials estimate 
the number of trafficking victims at a few hundred per 
year. Several cantons (states), including Zurich, Geneva, 
Basel, Bern, Vaud, and Ticino, recorded an increase in the 
number of registered prostitutes and commercial sex 
establishments in 2006.  Federal Police assess that the 
total number of potential trafficking victims currently 
living in Switzerland is between 1,500 and 3,000.  How 
many trafficking victims were lured into Switzerland under 
false pretenses and how many were brought in fully aware 
that they were going to engage in prostitution in 
Switzerland is unclear, but the distinction is of 
secondary importance because under Swiss law both are 
punishable as human trafficking. 
 
¶B. Both Federal Police and NGO sources noted an increase 
in 2006/2007 in the number of young women being trafficked 
into Switzerland for sexual exploitation from Eastern 
Europe, particularly Romania. The second apparent trend is 
that police or NGOs more frequently identify TIP victims 
working in contact bars in more rural areas.  TIP victims 
typically come from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet 
Union (Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Czech 
Republic, Slovenia, Romania, Ukraine, Moldova), Latin 
America (Brazil, Dominican Republic), Asia (Thailand, 
Cambodia), and to a lesser extent from Africa (Nigeria, 
Cameroon).  The Zurich-based Information Center for Women 
from Africa, Latin America, and Eastern Europe (FIZ) 
previously reported that roughly 35 percent of the 133 TIP 
victims counseled in 2006 came from Latin America, another 
35 percent from Eastern Europe, about 20 percent from 
Asia, and the remaining 10 percent from Africa [Embassy 
comment: FIZ has not yet compiled its 2007 statistics but 
will have them soon].  Trafficking into the country is 
primarily performed by individuals and small groups 
related through ethnic, clan, or family ties, as well as, 
occasionally, organized criminals.  Federal Police have 
reported that traffickers are increasingly well organized 
with far-reaching international networks. 
 
The great majority of trafficking victims are forced into 
nude dancing and prostitution.  Trafficking for the 
purpose of labor exploitation as domestic servants also 
occurred but was very limited.  Federal Police note that 
there are also isolated cases of labor exploitation in 
agriculture, the construction business, and the tourism 
industry.  A study by the University of Neuchatel found 
that night club cabaret dancers who come for the first 
time to Switzerland are more at risk of falling pray to 
traffickers than dancers who have previously visited 
Switzerland.  Faced with excessive and illegal brokerage 
fees and due to the local high cost of living, such women 
find themselves in a state of dependency.  In some cases, 
victims are subjected to physical and sexual violence, 
threats to themselves or their families or both, drugs, 
withholding of documents, and incarceration.  Police 
estimates suggest that up to 50 percent of illegal 
prostitutes' gross income is paid to brothel owners and 
traffickers who organize the passage and entry to 
Switzerland. 
 
As best as police can determine, trafficking into 
Switzerland is primarily performed by individuals, or 
small groups related through ethnic, clan, or family ties, 
as well as organized criminals.  Often, the perpetrators 
and victims are from the same cities and regions.  In 
addition to men, women also play a role in the 
recruitment, intermediary, or exploitation process.  In 
2005, half of the convicted traffickers were women. 
 
 
BERN 00000122  004 OF 024 
 
 
¶C. The Federal Office of Police (BAP) is the federal 
government's primary actor in anti-trafficking efforts. 
The BAP's Federal Criminal Police handles international 
cooperation and investigations of organized crime; the 
Service for Analysis and Prevention, i.e. the domestic 
intelligence service, does strategic analysis of 
information.  The Federal Office of Police also hosts the 
Coordination Unit against the Trafficking of Persons and 
Smuggling of Migrants (KSMM), which is the federal 
government's interdepartmental body to coordinate and 
monitor anti-trafficking efforts.  The KSMM develops anti- 
TIP strategies and policies in consultation with its 
constituting ministries that retain final responsibility 
for their implementation. 
 
The prosecution of illegal prostitution (i.e. prostitution 
without a valid work permit) and trafficking of persons 
normally falls under the jurisdiction of cantonal police 
and judicial authorities.  However, cases linked to 
organized crime fall under the authority of the federal 
authorities to investigate and prosecute.  The Federal 
Office of Migration has the lead in easing the return of 
trafficking victims and assisting in their re-integration 
in their home societies (cf. section 4.F.). 
 
The following government agencies are represented on the 
Steering Committee of the KSMM, taking active part in the 
fight against human trafficking: 
 
Federal Level: 
 
-- Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
   - Political Division IV (Human Security) 
   - Directorate for International Law 
   - International Development Cooperation 
 
-- Finance Ministry 
   - Swiss Border Guards 
 
-- Ministry for Justice and Police 
   - Office of the Prosecutor General 
   - Federal Office for Migration 
   - Federal Office of Justice 
   - Federal Office of Police 
 
-- Economics Ministry 
   - Directorate of Labor 
 
Cantonal (i.e. state) Level: 
 
-- National Conference of Cantonal Chiefs of Police 
-- National Conference of Prosecuting Offices 
-- National Conference of Equal Opportunity Offices 
-- National Conference of Victims Assistance Centers 
-- National Conference of Cantonal Migration Offices 
 
NGOs/IOs: 
-- Information Center for Women from Africa, Latin 
America, and Eastern Europe (FIZ), Zurich 
-- International Organization for Migration, Bern 
-- Foundation Terre des Hommes, Lausanne 
 
¶D. In general, criminal cases against traffickers are not 
pursued (for lack of evidence) unless their victims are 
willing to testify.  Federal and cantonal police and 
immigration authorities follow a policy of granting 
potential TIP victims a stay of deportation proceedings to 
give them time to recover from their trauma and to let 
them freely decide whether to participate in judicial 
proceedings against their tormentors.  On January 1, 2008, 
the New Federal Law on Foreigners became effective, which 
gives special protection to TIP victims or witnesses who 
testify against their traffickers and regulates their stay 
during and after judicial proceedings (cf. section 4.A). 
 
A growing number (ten at the latest count)of major urban 
centers and suburban cantons have established written 
agreements on a referral process for TIP victims in the 
context of regular roundtable meetings between NGOs and 
cantonal justice, police, and immigration authorities.  As 
a direct result of the federal regulations to stay 
deportation proceedings and the better local cooperation 
between NGOs and law enforcement officials, the number of 
TIP victims willing to testify against their traffickers 
has risen considerably. 
 
 
BERN 00000122  005 OF 024 
 
 
¶E. The Federal Office of Police's Coordination Unit 
against the Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of 
Migrants (KSMM) is the federal government's main 
coordinating and monitoring body of its anti-trafficking 
efforts.  Through its coordinating role, the KSMM keeps 
abreast of anti-trafficking efforts on all fronts 
(prevention, victim protection, and prosecution) both at 
the federal and cantonal level.  In addition, its remit 
includes monitoring of parliamentary ratification of 
international conventions and offering expert advice on 
trafficking-relevant legislative reform. 
 
In December 2007, the KSMM published an extensive 
accountability report on the federal and cantonal 
governments' anti-TIP efforts.  The report lists the 
progress made over the last few years in the areas of 
trafficking prevention, victim protection, and prosecution 
and has been put on the Federal Office of Police's 
website.  The KSMM previously made available its 
assessment of Swiss anti-trafficking efforts to the 
Council of Europe, the OSCE, and the UN.  The Federal 
Police's Service for Analysis and Prevention, i.e. the 
government's domestic intelligence service, does strategic 
analysis of human trafficking in and throughout 
Switzerland and publishes its findings in the Federal 
Office of Police's annual report on homeland security. 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
III. INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION OF TRAFFICKERS 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶A. The Swiss Penal Code has two articles specifically 
prohibiting trafficking in persons: Article 182, effective 
since December 1, 2006, stipulates that anyone acting as 
the supplier, broker, or buyer in the trafficking of a 
human being for the purposes of sexual exploitation, labor 
exploitation, or to remove a body organ shall be liable to 
imprisonment or a fine, or both.  The act of recruiting an 
individual for the purposes aforementioned also qualifies 
as trafficking and is liable to the same punishment. 
 
If the trafficking victim is a minor under 18 years of age 
or if the perpetrator repeatedly engages in human 
trafficking, the minimum penalty is a prison sentence of 
one year. 
 
Article 182 applies universally; traffickers are subject 
to prosecution in Switzerland even if the act of 
trafficking was committed abroad, and regardless of 
whether trafficking is a crime in the foreign country 
where the act took place. 
 
Article 195 prohibits the promotion of prostitution and 
states that anyone inducing a person into prostitution by 
abusing a situation of dependency or promising pecuniary 
advantage, anyone impairing a prostitute's freedom of 
movement by checking on the activities in question or 
fixing the place, time or extent or any other 
circumstances of the prostitution, or anyone secluding a 
person for prostitution shall be liable to imprisonment. 
 
Other forms of trafficking or exploitation of human beings 
are implicitly covered by the Penal Code's provisions 
against threat, coercion, deprivation of personal liberty, 
and kidnapping (Articles 180, 181, 183).  The Immigration 
and Naturalization Law penalizes facilitating the illegal 
immigration of foreigners into Switzerland as well as the 
employment of foreigners without proper work permission. 
The Constitution implicitly bans forced or compulsory 
labor.  Article 27 provides for economic freedom and 
explicitly guarantees the right to choose freely one's 
profession as well as unrestrained access to and 
unencumbered exercise of a gainful occupation.  Forced or 
bonded labor by children is explicitly forbidden under 
Article 30 of the 1964 Labor Act. 
 
New Developments: 
----------------- 
 
The Penal Code Article 182, which supplanted Article 196, 
entered into force on December 1, 2006.  Article 182 
penalizes trafficking for the purposes of sexual 
exploitation, labor exploitation, or to remove a body 
organ.  The older Penal Code article 196 solely penalized 
trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation. 
 
BERN 00000122  006 OF 024 
 
 
 
On January 1, 2007, an amendment of the Penal Code entered 
into force.  Under the new Article 5 of the revised Penal 
Code certain criminal infractions, notably human 
trafficking (Article 182) and forced prostitution of 
minors under 18 years of age (Article 195), are subject to 
universal prosecution.  Traffickers are thus liable to 
prosecution in Switzerland, even if the act of trafficking 
was committed abroad, and regardless of whether the 
trafficking act is a crime in the foreign country where it 
took place. 
 
The amendment of the Penal Code also introduces a new 
system of fines based on a convict's relative income 
level.  Under the new system, fines can be levied instead 
of jail sentences of less than 6 months.  Suspended 
sentences remain possible.  The maximum financial penalty 
is 10,800 Swiss Francs, but the court sets the amount due 
according to the gravity of the criminal act and sets the 
value of the daily rate in accord with the convict's 
economic situation at the time of the verdict.  The 
maximum daily rate is 3,000 Swiss francs, up to 360 days. 
 
¶B. The maximum sentence for trafficking in persons for 
sexual exploitation is a prison term of twenty years 
(Penal Code Article 182).  Coercing someone into 
prostitution or restricting a prostitute's personal 
freedom (Penal Code Article 195) can carry a prison 
sentence of up to ten years. 
 
¶C. Under Penal Code Article 182 the penalties prescribed 
for trafficking for labor exploitation are the same as for 
trafficking for sexual exploitation.  The minimum penalty 
is a fine; if the victim was a minor under 18 years of 
age, the minimum penalty is a one-year prison sentence. 
Maximum penalty is 20 years in prison.  Article 182 
explicitly prohibits all acts related to labor trafficking 
- recruitment, supply, transfer, or the receipt of persons 
being trafficked.  Thus, both the labor recruiters in 
labor source countries and the employers or labor agents 
in labor destination countries are subject to prosecution 
in Switzerland.  Article 182 applies universally; labor 
recruiters are subject to prosecution in Switzerland, even 
if the act was committed in a foreign country where labor 
trafficking may not constitute a criminal offense. 
 
¶D. The Penal Code also punishes rape, forcible sexual 
assault, and other sex crimes.  Sexual activity with 
minors (Article 187) and sexual acts with dependent 
persons (Article 188) are punishable with up to five years 
imprisonment; sexual coercion (Article 189), rape (Article 
190), and sexual violations of mentally or physically 
incapacitated persons (Article 191) are liable to a 
maximum ten year prison sentence; sexual acts with 
detainees (Article 192) and taking advantage of a person's 
distress or dependency due to employment or any other 
condition to induce a sexual act or acceptance thereof 
(Article 193) carry a maximum penalty of imprisonment for 
up to three years. 
 
¶E. Prostitution is legal for Swiss citizens and foreign 
residents with valid work permits if the practitioners are 
registered with police and comply with taxation and other 
cantonal requirements.  Pimping has been decriminalized 
since 1992, and brothel owners may legally sublet room and 
negotiate the terms with the prostitutes.  However, 
Article 195 of the Penal Code penalizes abusing a state of 
dependency to induce someone into prostitution or 
restricting a prostitute's freedom with a prison term of 
up to ten years.  Clients are not liable before the law, 
unless they knowingly engage in sexual relations with a 
prostitute younger than the required minimum age of 18 
years. 
 
Some cantons (states) have adopted more stringent laws 
regulating the sex trade.  Effective September 1, 2004, 
the Canton of Vaud implemented a restrictive law on 
prostitution allowing police to close on-the-spot for a 
period of three months brothels that fail to register with 
police, make false declarations on the identity of those 
working on the premises, or do not meet minimum criteria 
regarding hygiene, security, or the respect of public 
order.  Police may permanently shut down a brothel in case 
of repeat violations of the types listed above, in case of 
gross violations against public order or hygiene, or in 
case of a felony.  Threats, coercion, or violence against 
 
BERN 00000122  007 OF 024 
 
 
prostitutes, employment of minors, or the abuse of any 
situation of distress will be punished in the same 
fashion.  The law provides for police inspection of the 
brothel premises, the persons staying there as well as 
their private accommodations.  Other cantons, such as 
Geneva and Ticino, have adopted new legislation regulating 
the sex trade and Neuchatel is in the process of doing so. 
 
¶F. The investigation and prosecution of forced 
prostitution and human trafficking as well as the 
protection of victims in Switzerland normally fall under 
the jurisdiction of the cantons, and national statistics 
lag by 6-18 months. 
 
Investigations & Prosecutions: 
------------------------------ 
 
Under Switzerland's federal structure, the cantons hold 
jurisdiction over most criminal infractions, and 
statistical records of reported crime and police 
investigations vary greatly from canton to canton.  At its 
spring meeting in April 2006, the National Conference of 
the Cantonal Justice Ministers decided to implement the 
project to harmonize cantonal recording practices and 
gather national policing statistics in coordination with 
the Federal Government.  The project (which aims to 
produce detailed figures for the first time in 2009) aims 
to provide much more detailed and reliable data than are 
available today.  It has been ascertained that both human 
trafficking and the smuggling in human beings will be 
recorded in the nascent data base.  A project management 
body was formed during 2006. 
 
In 2007, the inter-cantonal Working Group on Human 
Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling established a database 
on the ongoing investigations and prosecutions on 
suspicion of human trafficking or forced prostitution in 
the cantons. Cantonal authorities report ongoing 
investigations/prosecutions on a voluntary basis.  The 
data base is maintained by the Human Trafficking/Migrant 
Smuggling Investigative Unit of the Federal Criminal 
Police, which also coordinates inter-cantonal and 
international trafficking investigations.  The data base 
is still in the process of being established and hence 
does not yet include all ongoing 
investigations/prosecutions on trafficking and forced 
prostitution.  However, more information is available 
sooner than in previous years, representing an appreciable 
and continuing improvement in Swiss data management with 
regard to TIP. 
 
According to this developing database, there were at least 
20 police investigations or prosecutions during 2007 for 
human trafficking for the purposes of sexual or labor 
exploitation.  These investigations and prosecutions were 
led by cantonal law enforcement agencies in all but one 
case, which was handled by federal authorities. 
 
Adding up these numbers, police investigated at least 28 
trafficking cases in 2007 (i.e. 19 cantonal police + 1 
Federal Criminal Police + 8 investigations spanning 
several countries, in which the Federal Criminal Police 
adopted a coordinating role). 
 
CONVICTIONS: 
 
------------------------------------ 
Year  Art. 196/182  Art. 195   Total 
------------------------------------ 
1999       7          14          21 
2000       5          17          22 
2001       2          17          19 
2002       2          11          13 
2003       7           6          13 
2004       2          12          14 
2005      12          15          27 
2006*      5          14          19 
2007*      8           4          12 
 
* Provisional statistics as of end of February 2008; final 
numbers most likely to be higher after defendants exhaust 
possibilities of appeal (e.g. final numbers for 2005 and 
2006 are significantly higher than Embassy had reported 
previously). 
 
One criminal investigation in 2007 was opened under the 
 
BERN 00000122  008 OF 024 
 
 
new article 182 on suspicion of trafficking for labor 
exploitation.  Swiss law enforcement agents received tips 
from colleagues abroad relating to migrant smuggling. 
Meanwhile, the case has been transferred to a court.  At 
present, the priority lies on combating human trafficking 
for the purpose of sexual exploitation and police 
departments dedicate most of their resources to combating 
this form of exploitation.  As Article 182 of the Penal 
Code was enacted only in ecember 2006, legal issues 
regarding its application in cases of labor exploitation 
are still being worked out and cooperation mechanisms 
between law enforcement and victim protection bodies are 
being defined. 
 
More up-to-date statistics on the number of prosecutions, 
convictions and related sentences will be provided as 
these figures will become available later in the year. 
 
In 2002 the Federal Tribunal ruled that hiring women, even 
consenting women, from abroad to engage in prostitution 
qualified as human trafficking if her abusers exploited a 
situation of distress. 
 
SENTENCES: 
 
Comment: The conviction statistics for the years 2006 and 
2007 are provisional.  The Federal Office of Police 
gathers these preliminary statistics on the basis of the 
court records the office receives from cantonal courts. 
The final total number of convictions is most likely to be 
higher.  Final conviction statistics are compiled and 
released by another office, the Swiss Federal Statistical 
Office, but only after a delay of 18 months. 
 
2007 
 
Of the eight first-instance convictions for human 
trafficking recorded in 2007 four were for violation of 
the old Penal Code Article 196 and four for violation of 
the new Article 182 (effective since December 1, 2006). 
Penalties range between 6 months suspended prison 
sentences to 30 months unsuspended prison sentences; in 
addition the traffickers received fines ranging from $870 
(900 Swiss francs) to $2,310 (2,400 Swiss francs).  The 
courts also convicted traffickers to pay a maximum of 
$2,020 (2,100 Swiss francs) indemnities and a maximum $ 
14,420 (15,000 Swiss francs) in moral damages.  As of end 
of February 2008, Federal Police had recorded four first- 
instance convictions for forced prostitution during 2007. 
 
In 2007, appeals courts upheld the convictions from lower 
courts in the two biggest trafficking cases from the 
previous TIP reporting period. 
 
In Zurich, the cantonal appeals court in 2007 upheld the 
first-instance ruling in a trafficking case from 2006, in 
which the main culprit was sentenced to 27 months in 
prison. 
 
In 2007 the Federal Tribunal (Supreme Court) upheld the 
four year prison sentence against the main culprit in a 
trafficking case in the Canton of Bern from spring 2007. 
In April 2007, a Bern cantonal appeals court had lowered 
the first-instance court verdict of six years to four 
years behind bars.  The Federal Tribunal ruling is final. 
 
2003 
 
Art. 196 
 
Number of Sentences 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
Unsuspended prison sentence                       4 
Suspended prison sentences                        3 
 
Length of sentence          Min   Max   Average 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
Unsuspended                360   1650    990   days 
Suspended                                294   days 
 
Art. 195 
 
Number of Sentences 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
Unsuspended prison sentence                       4 
Suspended prison sentences                        2 
 
BERN 00000122  009 OF 024 
 
 
 
Length of sentence                     Average 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
Unsuspended                              913   days 
Suspended                                335   days 
 
2004 
 
Art. 196 
 
Number of Sentences 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
Unsuspended prison sentence                       0 
Suspended prison sentences                        2 
 
Length of sentence                     Average 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
Unsuspended                              n/a   days 
Suspended                                314   days 
 
Art. 195 
 
Number of Sentences 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
Unsuspended prison sentence                       5 
Suspended prison sentences                        7 
 
Length of sentence                     Average 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
Unsuspended                             1388   days 
Suspended                                134   days 
 
2005 
 
Art. 196 
 
Number of Sentences 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
Unsuspended prison sentence                       3 
Suspended prison sentences                        8 
 
Length of sentence                     Average 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
Unsuspended                              360   days 
Suspended                                254   days 
 
Art. 195 
 
Number of Sentences 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
Unsuspended prison sentence                       1 
Suspended prison sentences                       11 
 
Length of sentence                     Average 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
Unsuspended                              487   days 
Suspended                                146   days 
 
 
[Embassy comment: 2006 sentencing data is forthcoming] 
 
¶G. Investigators of the Federal Criminal Police receive 
specialized training in investigating incidences of 
organized crime, including human trafficking.  Under the 
2001 Efficiency Bill, the Federal Criminal Police obtained 
from the cantons the jurisdiction to investigate and 
prosecute more complex cases of human trafficking that 
span several cantons or are linked to organized crime. 
The Federal Criminal Police also handles international 
cooperation in the investigation of incidences of human 
trafficking. 
 
During 2007, the KSMM continued its specialized training 
programs for federal and cantonal officials. 
 
Training of migration and law enforcement officials: 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
April 16-20, 2007, the Swiss Police Academy in Neuchatel 
held its first training class in combating human 
trafficking for 25 cantonal police officers and 
immigration officials.  (As police officers are trained at 
the cantonal level, the Swiss police academy serves as a 
national institute for cantonal police officers to undergo 
periodic specialized training).  Due to the high demand, 
the class was repeated October 22-26, 2007, for 27 police 
 
BERN 00000122  010 OF 024 
 
 
officers, immigration officials and border guards.  The 
first two training classes were held in German; the same 
class will be offered to French-speaking law enforcement 
and immigration officials during 2008. 
 
The main teacher of the training course was the head of 
the investigative unit of the Zurich City Police, who was 
chosen to achieve maximum impact and acceptance among the 
Swiss Policing Community.  The head of the KSMM served as 
main assistant of the course.  The KSMM had finalized the 
course program and evaluated all instructors of the 
training module.  Some classes were taught by experts from 
the Zurich-based anti-TIP NGO FIZ. 
 
The training program covered the following topics: 
 
- National and international analysis regarding TIP, 
including prostitution, modes of operation, countries of 
origin and transit, financing, criminal organizations, and 
networks; 
- Identification of TIP victims; 
- Questioning of TIP victims; 
- Legal basis of prosecution; 
- Victims assistance, protection, and aid in returning; 
- Legal aspects of stays of TIP victims in Switzerland; 
- Multi-stakeholder approach and cooperation among 
justice, police, migration offices and victims assistance 
centers/NGOs; 
- Best police investigation practices; 
- Best law enforcement practices. 
 
Awareness raising seminar 
------------------------- 
 
In order to promote the upcoming training module among the 
Chiefs of the Criminal Division of the Cantonal Police 
Forces and Heads of Immigration Offices, the KSMM together 
with the Zurich City Police and the Bern Cantonal Police 
on December 7, 2006, hosted an awareness raising seminar 
on combating trafficking in persons.  The purpose was to 
show participants the various aspects of trafficking in 
persons and to illustrate best policing practices. 
 
National Working Group on Trafficking in Persons and 
Smuggling of Migrants 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
The National Conference of the Cantonal Chiefs of Police 
in 2006 decided to install an inter-cantonal police 
working group "Trafficking in Persons/Smuggling of 
Migrants".  The Working Group was established at the 
initiative of the KSMM and began operations in the summer 
of 2007.  It comprises representatives from the regional 
police concordats, the airport police, the Zurich and 
Ticino police forces, and the Federal Office of Police. 
The working group, which convenes 1-2 times per year, is 
tasked with establishing standardized investigation 
procedures for all of Switzerland and to foster 
cooperation and exchange of specialized know-how at the 
operational level.  The Working Group is chaired by the 
Head of the Investigative Unit of the Zurich City Police, 
who taught the first training class in combating human 
trafficking at the Swiss Police Academy in Neuchatel. 
 
¶H. The Swiss government readily cooperates with other 
governments in the investigation and prosecution of 
trafficking cases.  Police contacts disclosed to Embassy 
that the Federal Criminal Police in 2007 provided 
assistance in 602 instances in response to international 
inquiries relating to human trafficking, compared to 647 
during 2006 and 550 during 2005.  The Federal Criminal 
Police takes part in the expert working groups of both 
Europol and Interpol.  During 2007, there were eight 
investigations spanning several countries, in which the 
Federal Criminal Police adopted a coordinating role. 
(Comment: The Federal Criminal Police asks for the latter 
figure not to be published because its lead role 
automatically implies the investigation of organized 
crime.) One of the biggest police operations targeting the 
trafficking of mostly Romanian women for sexual 
exploitation was conducted in the cantons of Bern and 
Schwyz in February 2007, together with officials from 
Romania. 
 
Since 2004 Switzerland has had a bilateral cooperation 
accord between Europol and the Swiss Police, allowing the 
 
BERN 00000122  011 OF 024 
 
 
latter to tap into Europol's intelligence files on 
organized crime, drug trafficking and terrorism.  Under 
the terms of the agreement, Swiss Federal Police have 
assigned to The Hague a liaison officer whose role is to 
support and coordinate the cooperation between Switzerland 
and other EU countries.  There is also a Swiss Police 
liaison at the headquarters of Interpol. 
 
Since 1995 the Federal Office of Police has deployed 
police attachs abroad to support the Swiss police and 
judicial authorities in the fight against transnational 
crime.  At present Switzerland has a network of seven 
police attachs in six countries (two in the U.S. and one 
each in the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Thailand and 
in France at the General Secretariat of Interpol in Lyon). 
The police attach in the Czech Republic and Italy are 
also accredited in Slovakia and Slovenia, respectively. 
Switzerland has bilateral police cooperation agreements 
with Austria, France, Hungary, Latvia, and Albania. 
Switzerland has also signed but not yet ratified 
cooperation agreements with Romania, Macedonia, and 
Bosnia-Herzegovina. 
 
¶I. Extradition is permitted if the act in question is 
punishable under Swiss law and the law of the requesting 
state, liable to a term of imprisonment of at least one 
year, and no Swiss court is competent in the matter.  No 
Swiss national shall be extradited to a foreign country 
for penal prosecution or execution of a verdict without 
his or her written consent.  The person in question may 
revoke consent until the order for the extradition is 
issued.  A request for extradition is complied with only 
if the requesting country accords reciprocity.  Foreigners 
may be extradited to another state for offenses punishable 
under its laws or for serving a term of imprisonment if 
this state applies for extradition or accepts, upon 
request of the Swiss authorities, to prosecute the person 
in question or to execute a verdict cast by Swiss 
authorities.  Swiss Police statistics record extraditions 
only by country so no extraditions statistics are 
available for specific criminal offenses. There have been 
no changes to extradition law. 
 
¶J. Trafficking is not tolerated in Switzerland, and there 
are no indications or reports that government officials 
are involved. 
 
¶K. N/A 
 
¶L. There have been no indications or reports that Swiss 
military or civilian personnel deployed on international 
peace-keeping missions have engaged in or facilitated 
severe forms of trafficking or exploited victims of such 
trafficking.  Switzerland pursues a zero-tolerance policy 
regarding sexual exploitation by personnel participating 
in international peace-keeping missions (cf. section 
5.I.). 
 
¶M. The 2002 partial revision of the Penal Code providing 
for the extraterritorial coverage of Switzerland's child 
sexual abuse laws entered into force on January 1, 2007. 
Anybody violating Swiss child sexual abuse laws is subject 
to prosecution in Switzerland under the extraterritorial 
provisions of the Penal Code regardless of the legislation 
of the foreign country where the abuse took place. 
 
During 2007, Swiss law enforcement authorities handled the 
following child sex tourism cases: 
- A Swiss national was sentenced in Cambodia to eleven 
years in prison for child sexual abuse.  Swiss law 
enforcement authorities cooperated in the investigation 
with local authorities. 
- A criminal investigation against a Swiss national has 
been opened in Switzerland on suspicion of child sexual 
abuse abroad. 
- A Swiss national who had been sentenced in Switzerland 
for child sexual abuse and who had taken up residence in 
Haiti to escape punishment was extradited to Switzerland. 
 
 
---------------------------------------- 
IV. PROTECTION AND ASSISTANCE TO VICTIMS 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶A. The government does assist foreign victims of 
trafficking by granting relief from deportation and 
 
BERN 00000122  012 OF 024 
 
 
providing temporary to permanent residency status in cases 
of serious hardship.  Under the Federal Law on Foreigners, 
effective January 1, 2008, cantonal immigration 
authorities must grant TIP victims a minimum 30-day stay 
of deportation proceedings to let them recover from their 
trauma and weigh participation in judicial proceedings 
against their traffickers (cantonal immigration 
authorities have been granting temporary stays of 
deportation to TIP victims since 2004, in accord with 
federal guidelines).  Cantonal immigration authorities may 
admit TIP victims willing to cooperate with judicial 
authorities for up to three months or may issue short-term 
residency permits (with the consent of the federal 
authorities) if the criminal investigation takes longer. 
In 2007, cantonal immigration offices granted the 30-day 
stays of deportation proceedings to 33 trafficking victims 
(39 in 2006) and issued 6 short-term residency permits for 
the duration of legal/court proceedings against their 
traffickers (three in 2006). 
 
The new Federal Law on Foreigners further strengthens the 
legal status of TIP victims and witnesses, explicitly 
authorizing the government to waive normal immigration 
requirements and grant residency permits for victims of 
human trafficking as well as witnesses in human 
trafficking cases.  The Federal Office for Migration 
grants trafficking victims temporary admission in 
Switzerland if they are at risk of personal harm as 
witnesses in criminal proceedings or if a return to the 
country of origin is deemed unreasonable.  In 2007, four 
victims were granted such long-term residency permits on 
grounds of personal hardship after the end of court 
proceedings (three in 2006).  The law also allows the 
federal government to logistically and financially assist 
trafficking victims and witnesses for whom a return is 
acceptable in their re-integration in their countries of 
origin.  In April 2008, the Federal Office for Migration 
launches a two-year pilot project to assist trafficking 
victims and witnesses in their return to and re- 
integration in their home societies. 
 
¶B. Under the Swiss Victims Assistance Law (OHG), which 
came into force in 1993, TIP victims, regardless of their 
immigration status, are entitled to free and immediate 
material and medical aid as well as psychological, social, 
and legal assistance.  Local victims assistance centers 
have to provide TIP victims with a minimum of 14 days of 
emergency lodging, 14 days of living allowance, 4 hours of 
consultation with a lawyer and 5 sessions of 
psychotherapy, with all other expenses for medical 
treatment, transportation, personal safety, or translation 
services being covered by the government.  If recovery 
requires more time, the government is obligated to assume 
the additional cost of longer-term care.  The victims' 
assistance center may lodge a TIP victim in a shelter for 
battered women. 
 
Federal government statistics show that in 2006 (most 
recent figures available) a total of 80 victims of human 
trafficking or forced prostitution received help from 
government victims assistance centers, compared to 63 in 
2005 and 84 in 2004 (aggregate statistical records that 
are not broken down for the two separate infractions). 
The NGO FIZ Makasi, a victim assistance center counseling 
only TIP victims, assisted 133 trafficking victims in 
2006, compared to 116 in 2005 and 85 in 2004.  FIZ Makasi, 
which was launched in 2004 by the Zurich-based NGO FIZ, 
receives financial contributions from the federal 
government and several cantons for counseling services 
offered to TIP victims under their jurisdiction.  The 
Canton of Zurich in 2007 contracted out the counseling of 
TIP victims to FIZ Makasi and continues to supports the 
umbrella agency FIZ. 
 
On March 23, 2007, Parliament adopted a complete revision 
of the Victims Assistance Law (OHG), which obligates the 
cantonal victim assistance centers to take into account 
the special needs of different groups of victims of crime. 
Under the revised OHG, cantons can pay financial 
compensation to one another for counseling services 
provided to a victim of crime under their jurisdiction, 
which is meant to give urban centers an incentive to 
establish specialized victim counseling centers, e.g. a 
victims' assistance center supporting only TIP victims. 
The revised OHG will become effective at the beginning of 
¶2009. 
 
BERN 00000122  013 OF 024 
 
 
 
¶C. Federal and cantonal governments provide funding to 
NGOs and women shelters that provide services to TIP 
victims.  Under the 1993 OHG, all cantons are obligated to 
offer TIP victims the services listed above (cf. section 
4.B.).  Funding of the victims assistance centers is a 
matter of the cantons and no federal statistics are being 
reported.  In addition to the official victims assistance 
centers, other domestic NGOs receive public money.  For 
example, the Zurich-based Women's Information Center for 
Women from Africa, Latin America, and Eastern Europe (FIZ) 
receives roughly 30 percent of its $676,000 budget 
(710,000 Swiss francs) from federal, cantonal, and city 
government (These public contributions are independent of 
the compensation to FIZ by cantons for counseling services 
offered to individual victims of TIP).  Internationally, 
the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2007 channeled 
more than $1.44 (1.5 million Swiss francs) to 
International Organizations and NGOs providing services to 
TIP victims, two-thirds through its development aid arm 
SDC and the rest through its human rights and human 
security division. 
 
¶D. At the end of February 2008, ten cantons had 
established a formal referral process for TIP victims to 
improve their protection and security by regulating the 
procedures for identifying and referring TIP victims for 
assistance.  In Zurich, roundtable meetings between city 
and cantonal representatives of the police, the 
immigration office, the prosecutor's office, the equal 
opportunity office, and the NGO FIZ began in 2001 and led 
in 2004 to a "letter of intent" delineating areas of 
concerted action.  In 2006, the round tables in the three 
cantons of Luzern, St. Gallen, and Solothurn have each 
adopted a formal code of cooperation and referral process 
in TIP cases in written memoranda of understanding. 
During the reporting period, the cantons of Basel-Stadt 
and Fribourg have adopted written codes of cooperation, 
and efforts to establish a formal referral process for TIP 
victims continued in Basel-Landschaft, Bern, and newly 
Aargau.  The southern Canton of Ticino bordering on Italy 
has a working group which comprises representatives of the 
police, the social security and immigration departments, 
and NGOs.  The working group was established to oversee 
the implementation of the cantonal law on prostitution and 
has been operating since 2002. 
 
¶E. The co-operation mechanisms several cantons have 
established between law enforcement and migration 
authorities and NGOs have pushed combating trafficking in 
persons up on policing agendas.  Whereas in earlier days 
police raids of red light districts and commercial sex 
establishments led to the apprehension and expulsion of 
illegal immigrants, these checks are now carried out for 
the purpose of apprehending and prosecuting those who 
organize the trafficking in women and profit from illegal 
prostitution.  In some areas, notably the City of Bern, 
the police as a result of the exchange of information in 
the context of roundtable meetings has raised the number 
of police officers carrying out on-site checks of night 
clubs and sex establishments. 
 
¶F. Under the new Federal Law on Foreigners, effective 
January 1, 2008, cantonal migration authorities are to 
grant TIP victims a stay of deportation proceedings to 
recover from their trauma and weigh participation in 
judicial proceedings (cantonal immigration authorities 
have been granting temporary stays of deportation to TIP 
victims since 2004, in accord with guidelines sent out by 
the FOM).  The new law further strengthens the legal 
status of TIP victims and witnesses, explicitly 
authorizing the government to waive normal immigration 
requirements and, in cases of serious hardship, grant 
residency permits for victims of human trafficking as well 
as witnesses in human trafficking cases. 
 
The new Federal Law on Foreigners also allows the federal 
government logistically and financially to assist in the 
voluntary return to and re-integration of trafficking 
victims and witnesses in their countries of origin.  The 
Federal Office for Migration in April 2008 launches a two- 
year pilot project to assist primarily victims and 
witnesses of human trafficking and secondarily cabaret 
dancers in Switzerland who are in an exploitative 
situation.  The pilot project is being implemented in co- 
operation with cantonal bodies assisting returning 
 
BERN 00000122  014 OF 024 
 
 
migrants and the International Organization for Migration. 
Under the new Federal Law on Foreigners, the beneficiaries 
of the pilot program receive the same assistance and have 
access to the same counseling services as are offered to 
asylum seekers returning voluntarily.  This includes 
financial, material, and medical assistance in the return 
to the country of origin.  The pilot project takes into 
account the special needs of TIP victims (i.e. risk 
assessment, rehabilitation programs, etc.).  After the 
pilot phase, the project will be evaluated and potentially 
slightly modified.  It will then be turned into an 
indefinite TIP victim return assistance program. 
 
Already since 2005, IOM Switzerland has provided the 
cantons and other NGOs with specialized support for TIP 
victims returning voluntarily to their country of origin 
and their placement in a rehabilitation center or 
reintegration program.  However, until the enactment of 
the new Federal Law on Foreigners, the government could 
not provide financial assistance to individual TIP victims 
for their return because of a lack of appropriate 
legislation to assist non-asylum seekers.  Since the 
project began in 2005, IOM has made assessments of the 
situation in the country of origin for 55 individual TIP 
victims, 27 of whom have actually returned home. 
 
¶G. The Swiss Government encourages TIP victims to assist 
judicial authorities in trafficking investigations and 
prosecutions by granting them temporary residency and 
financial support, and admitting them to stay if a return 
to their country of origin posed a serious risk of 
personal harm.  The Swiss Victims Assistance Law (OHG) 
safeguards TIP victims' rights in criminal prosecutions 
with special rules for trial procedures and for 
compensation and redress.  The OHG covers all victims of 
crimes, including foreigners staying illegally in 
Switzerland.  The OHG provides for the special protection 
of witnesses' identity in criminal court proceedings: 
victims/witnesses may request the trial to take place 
behind closed doors and avoid confrontation with the 
defendant.  The OHG is a federal law and thus binding on 
all cantonal codes of criminal trial proceedings.  TIP 
victims may also file civil suits against their 
traffickers and seek financial compensation.  Under the 
new Federal Law on Foreigners, effective January 1, 2008, 
TIP victims temporarily admitted for the duration of court 
proceedings against their traffickers may be issued a work 
permit during their stay. 
 
Several major urban centers have established a referral 
process for TIP victims in the context of regular 
roundtable meetings between NGOs and cantonal justice, 
police and immigration authorities.  As a direct result of 
the regulation to stay deportation proceedings and the 
better cooperation between NGOs and law enforcement 
officials, the number of TIP victims willing to testify 
against their traffickers has risen considerably.  FIZ 
reports that of the 133 TIP victims being counseled during 
2006, 65 were testifying to law enforcement officials 
against their trafficker.  In 2005, 37 out of a total of 
116 TIP victims had cooperated with judicial authorities. 
In other words, the percentage of TIP victims willing to 
testify against their traffickers rose from less than 10 
percent to almost 50 percent in a matter of a few years 
[Embassy comment: FIZ has not yet released its figures for 
2007.]. 
 
¶H. Under the OHG, all TIP victims are entitled to help 
from government-funded victims assistance centers for 
abuse victims or women shelters and enjoy special 
safeguards during criminal proceedings, and cantonal 
authorities do provide these protections in practice (cf. 
section 4.B).  Switzerland does not have a comprehensive 
witness protection program providing victims of crime with 
new identities. 
 
Foreign juvenile victims of crime under 18 years of age 
have to be placed under the protection of the Cantonal 
Guardianship Office (Vormundschaftsbehoerde) during their 
stay in Switzerland.  In criminal court proceedings, the 
OHG provides special protective measures for juvenile 
victims of crime: Questioning by police or the 
investigative magistrate must occur soon and the testimony 
is being recorded on videotape.  Cross-examinations are 
not allowed.  The questioning has to be done by a 
recognized expert and no more than two sessions are 
 
BERN 00000122  015 OF 024 
 
 
allowed.  The law recognizes the special needs of juvenile 
victims of crime and they may only serve as witnesses of 
the prosecution if their testimony is indispensable for 
the conviction of a suspect. 
 
In case of the repatriation of a juvenile victim of crime 
(after the end of the stay-of-deportation proceedings or a 
criminal court procedure), the Federal Office for 
Migration and cantonal migration offices have to take into 
special account that the person in question is a minor 
under 18 years of age.  Under the law, a return to the 
country of origin is only permissible if the authorities 
have ascertained that the juvenile can be placed again in 
the care of the parents or a close relative, or if there 
is a satisfactory care structure in place in the country 
of origin. 
 
On October 5, 2007, Parliament adopted a new federal code 
of criminal trial proceedings that will supplant the 
existing 26 cantonal codes.  The new federal code 
strengthens the existing witness protection measures under 
the OHG in order to avoid a perpetrator in a TIP case 
learning the identity of a prosecution witness and it 
gives witnesses the right to call on an attorney and/or a 
confidante during court proceedings.  The government plans 
to put the new federal code into effect at the beginning 
of 2010.  Implementation requires several years because, 
even under the new federal code of criminal trial 
proceedings, law enforcement remains the dominion of the 
cantons.  Cantons need time to amend their legislation and 
adjust cantonal operating modes to the new federal 
regulations on court proceedings. 
 
The government has further strengthened protective 
measures of cabaret/night club dancers on temporary 
artistic visas, so called L-permits, often thought of as 
being at special risk of being exploited by their 
employers.  In 2003, the Economics Ministry, the Federal 
Office for Migration, the Association of Concert Halls, 
Cabarets, Nightclubs, and Discotheques (ASCO), and FIZ 
Zurich adopted a standard labor contract for the 
employment of cabaret dancers, effective beginning of 
¶2004.  The standard labor contract regulates the rights 
and responsibilities of both contracting parties, 
stipulates salary and the details of traveling costs, and 
contains labor law provisions on night shifts and rest 
periods.  According to the terms of the standard labor 
contract, cabaret dancers earn a gross income of 4,800 
Swiss francs for 23 working days per month.  After 
deduction of a source tax, rent, social security, and 
unemployment insurance contributions, the cabaret dancers 
earn a net income of 2,200 Swiss francs per month.  The 
Economics Ministry and the Cantonal Labor Inspectorates 
monitor implementation.  L-permit applicants have to sign 
a copy of their labor contract with the Swiss cabaret or 
nightclub in the presence of a Swiss consular official in 
their country of origin (cf. section 4.I). 
 
In February 2006, the Federal Office for Migration issued 
a new set of regulations regarding L-visa holders.  The 
regulations explicitly stipulate that the contractual 
salary of the cabaret dancer be transferred to a bank 
account in that person's name and that the nightclub 
employer bears responsibility for signing a health 
insurance contract on the cabaret dancer's behalf, which 
must be mentioned in the labor contract.  Both 
requirements are designed to facilitate the monitoring of 
working conditions by cantonal labor Inspectorates. 
 
FIZ in 2006 contracted an academic study on the living and 
working conditions of cabaret dancers in Switzerland.  The 
study, which was based on a rather small and heterogeneous 
sample of cabaret dancers and experts, concluded that the 
legal norms protecting L-permit holders are at times not 
upheld completely, and that L-permit holders are not 
always fully aware of their rights under the law.  The 
Federal Office for Migration has welcomed the study as 
helpful and evaluated its recommendations for possible 
improvements of the living situation of cabaret dancers. 
On briefing cabaret dancers on their rights and 
responsibilities, some cantons have introduced mandatory 
briefing session for all first-time visitors on L-permits. 
The FOM recognizes the vulnerable situation of cabaret 
dancers and urges cantonal authorities both with circular 
letters and through the regional working groups to conduct 
regular controls.  The FOM has received feedback from 
 
BERN 00000122  016 OF 024 
 
 
several cantons that night clubs and cabarets are 
inspected more frequently. 
 
Embassy contacts stress that statistics available indicate 
that persons on L-permits do not figure prominently among 
TIP victims.  Of the 133 TIP victims counseled by the 
anti-TIP NGO FIZ in 2006, only 15 had entered the country 
on a L-permit (Embassy Bern is awaiting the detailed 
analysis of the FIZ statistics for 2007).  Roughly half of 
the TIP victims crossed the border into Switzerland either 
without proper documentation or as tourists.  This 
observation that the great majority of TIP victims enter 
the country without any proper documentation is also 
confirmed by police and judicial authorities. 
 
¶I. The GOS provides extensive training for government 
officials in identifying trafficking victims and providing 
assistance.  The Swiss Police Institute in 2007 held 
specialized five-day anti-TIP workshops for migration and 
law enforcement officials and border guards (cf. section 
3.G.).  On November 23/24, 2007, the NGO ECPAT Switzerland 
organized an interdisciplinary workshop combating on child 
trafficking for members of cantonal and urban police 
departments, the Swiss border guards, 
prosecutors/investigative magistrates, and social security 
agencies.  The workshop provided background information 
and briefed participants on identifying and questioning 
child trafficking victims, legal aspects, investigative 
techniques, the needs for special assistance and existing 
protective institutions, and cooperation between the 
police and social institutions.  ECPAT also presented a 
new handbook "Child Trafficking: National Response to an 
International Problem", which the organization had adapted 
to Swiss circumstances in the context of ECPAT's European 
program to raise awareness of child trafficking. 
 
The Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs briefs experts and 
diplomatic personnel about the problem of trafficking in 
human beings prior to their postings abroad, and draws 
their attention to a code of conduct drafted by a joint 
working group on human trafficking.  According to these 
rules, diplomatic staff shall stay clear of any person who 
can reasonably be suspected of engaging in trafficking in 
human beings or those who are involved in other criminal 
activities under the laws of either the host country or of 
Swiss or international law.  The Department of Foreign 
Affairs also urges its embassies and consulates to develop 
ongoing relationships with NGOs assisting trafficking 
victims. 
 
The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs anti-TIP 
information and prevention program for visa applicants has 
been extended to all Swiss consulates worldwide by a 
circular letter of March 2005.  The program (that started 
as a pilot project at Embassies Moscow and Kiev) consists 
of the following elements: a personal interview with every 
first-time L-visa applicant; the signing of a standardized 
labor contract with a Swiss night club in the presence of 
a Swiss consular official; a briefing of the L-visa 
applicant on her or his legal and contractual rights; and 
an information brochure with the phone numbers and 
addresses of victim assistance hotlines or drop-in centers 
in Switzerland for persons in need. 
 
¶J. N/A 
 
¶K. The following is a list of IOs and NGOs operating in 
Switzerland that provide services to trafficking victims. 
The organizations provide information and counseling, and 
in some cases emergency assistance. 
 
Terre des Hommes, Switzerland; 
Ecpat Switzerland (end child prostitution, child 
pornography and trafficking of children for sexual 
purposes); 
International Organization for Migration; 
International Labor Organization; 
Women's Information Center for Women from Africa, Asia, 
Latin America and Eastern Europe (FIZ): counseling, 
publications/articles, symposiums/workshops, participation 
in round tables with aids-prevention and anti-violence 
groups, multi-lingual educational radio programs, and 
international contact building. 
 
In addition, a number of smaller NGOs counseling women in 
the sex trade as well as women shelters that exist in most 
 
BERN 00000122  017 OF 024 
 
 
urban centers, deal with the problem of human trafficking. 
A great number of these organizations are linked in the 
national network "Prostitution Collective Reflection" 
(ProKoRe).  The major counseling centers and primary 
points of contact of ProKoRe are FIZ in Zurich, Xenia in 
Bern, and ASPASIE in Geneva. 
 
The national organizations and domestic NGOs typically 
deal with TIP victims, prostitutes, and victims of 
domestic violence and offer victim counseling, crisis 
intervention and emergency lodging, legal and medical 
assistance, and assisted returns to the country of origin. 
Cooperation with local authorities is varied but typically 
includes regular meetings and institutionalized 
information exchange, cooperation in the context of 
working groups or roundtables, financial support by local 
communities and cantons, as well as public funding for 
specific projects. 
 
 
------------- 
¶V. PREVENTION 
------------- 
 
¶A. Government officials at the highest level acknowledge 
that trafficking is a problem.  On the occasion of the 
International Women's Day, March 8, 2006, Foreign Minister 
Micheline Calmy-Rey, together with several women Members 
of Parliament from the major parties, appealed to 
international organizations to combat trafficking in 
persons vigorously.  The appeal was open for the public to 
sign and over 2,000 signatures from all corners of 
Switzerland were spontaneously sent in.  The text of the 
declaration plus the signatures were sent with a letter of 
the Foreign Minister to the Secretary General of the UN, 
the Director General of the ILO, the Director General of 
the IOM, the President of the OSCE, and the Secretary 
General of the Council of Europe. 
 
¶B. Domestic campaigns 
 
With a view toward the upcoming European Soccer Cup (Euro 
08), which Switzerland is hosting together with Austria in 
June 2008, the federal government in January 2007 
appropriated $96,000 (100,000 Swiss francs) to NGOs to 
kick-start suitable public awareness campaigns against 
trafficking and forced prostitution.  The anti-TIP NGO FIZ 
has already begun preparations for the awareness-raising 
campaign during the Euro 08 in cooperation with partner 
organizations. 
 
The campaign will be kicked off on March 8, 2008, 
International Women's Day, with rallies in Basel, Bern, 
Geneva, and Zurich, i.e. the Swiss host cities of the Euro 
08, which marks the launch of a petition for the better 
protection of victims.  In the run up to and during the 
Euro 08, the campaign organizers plan to show TV spots in 
soccer stadiums and large-scale screens in public sites 
such as train stations. 
 
The goal of the FIZ campaign is to raise awareness among 
the visitors of the EURO 08 and the general public of the 
extent and the consequences of trafficking in women.  The 
FIZ campaign will also target the customers of commercial 
sexual services, calling on them to help potential victims 
of trafficking get access to aid organizations. 
 
On February 25-29, 2008, the Moldovan theatre group 
Centrul de Arte Coliseum from Chisinau toured Switzerland 
with its play "A saptea Kafana - the seventh Coffeehouse". 
The play, which is meant to increase public awareness of 
human trafficking, is based on true accounts of Moldovan 
TIP victims, who after returning to their home country 
describe and try to overcome their traumatic experiences. 
On its tour through Switzerland the group stopped in 
Zurich, Bern, Geneva, and Chiasso (in Ticino).  After each 
performance, a round-table panel discussion with Swiss and 
international trafficking experts and officials was held. 
The Centrul de Arte Coliseum was hosted by IOM Switzerland 
and the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which organized 
the tour through Switzerland as well as the follow-up 
panel discussions.  [Embassy Bern observed that the 
performance in Bern was attended by 150-200 people.] 
 
During 2007, the Swiss Foreign Ministry organized two 
working luncheons on the issue of human trafficking, open 
 
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to members of the federal administration and interested 
parties from external organizations.  The two guest 
speakers were Mrs. Bridget Lew, founder-president of the 
Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics 
(H.O.M.E.), a Singaporean NGO, and a representative of the 
international secretariat of the Global Alliance against 
Traffic in Women (GAATW) based in Bangkok.  Both events 
were attended by 50-75 people. 
 
The three official churches of the Canton of Basel- 
Landschaft - Roman Catholic, Old Catholic, and Protestant 
- in cooperation with FIZ, developed an exhibition 
"Without Glitz and Glamour - Trafficking in Women and 
Forced Prostitution," designed to raise awareness among 
the general public of the problem of trafficking in women 
and to stir public discussion.  The exhibit opened in 
Liestal in Basel-Landschaft in 2006 and was shown 
throughout 2007 in a total of ten cantons.  The exhibit 
highlights the background and motives of all stakeholders 
- women, traffickers, clients - and shows the ways and 
means of modern-day slavery with a special focus on 
Switzerland.  The KSMM took an active part in the opening 
ceremony of the exhibit. 
 
The Swiss Crime Prevention unit, a staff unit of the 
National Conference of the Cantonal Justice Ministers, in 
September 2005 launched a three-year information campaign 
against child pornography on the Internet.  During the 
first year, the "Stop Child Pornography on the Internet" 
campaign is meant to raise the public's awareness of the 
criminal nature of child pornography.  The campaign has an 
annual budget of 300,000 Swiss francs and conveys its 
message with brochures, flyers, stickers, and a website: 
http://www.stopp-kinderpornografie.ch/3/de/ 
 
The "stop child pornography on the internet" campaign is 
targeting the police, children and youth, their 
environment (parents, schools) as well as (potential) 
consumers and perpetrators. 
 
International campaigns: 
 
During 2007/08, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) 
and the DFA's Development and Cooperation Agency (SDC) 
sponsored the following anti-TIP campaigns.  (The list is 
not exhaustive but contains the major projects, many of 
which Switzerland co-sponsored in partnership with other 
countries or international organizations.)  In total DFA 
spends approximately 1 million Swiss francs on various 
projects/expert secondments (Comment: the exchange rate 
for 2007 averaged about 1.19 Swiss Francs to the U.S. 
dollar. End comment): 
 
- Mongolia, Combating Human Trafficking, Phase 1, 
February 2008 - January 2010, CHF 2,200,000 
 
- Mongolia, Promote and Strengthen Human Rights 
Protection of Trafficked Persons, Small Action, September 
- December 2007, CHF 50,000 
 
- East Asia, Consultancy on the situation of anti- 
trafficking initiatives in East Asia and proposal for 
Swiss participation, January-April 2008, CHF 40,000 
 
- Myanmar, Contribution to IOM for reintegration of 
trafficking victims, CHF 180,000 in 2008 (managed by the 
humanitarian aid) 
 
- Myanmar, Contribution to the Association Frangois- 
Xavier Bagnoud for HIV/AIDS and human trafficking 
prevention, CHF 100,000 CHF in 2008 (managed by the 
humanitarian aid) 
 
- Global, Support to the Global Alliance Against 
Trafficking in Women (based in Bangkok), CHF 200,000 in 
2008 (planned not yet signed) 
 
- Cambodia, Contribution to the Hagar women shelter, 
November 2007 to December 2008, CHF 200,000 (additional 
support was also given previously) 
 
- Serbia: NGO ASTRA Information office for women and 
girls, Prevention and Assistance, November 2005 - March 
2008 CHF 320,000 
 
- Moldova, Terre des hommes / Salvat Copii (NGO): 
 
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Contribution to the Fight Against Child Trafficking 
(FACT), CHF 200,000 (through program contribution to Tdh) 
 
- Russian Federation, Prevention, information (Hotline) 
and reintegration for victims of human trafficking, 
September 2007 - December 2008, CHF 350,000 (new phase) 
 
- Lebanon: Measures to prevent and combat trafficking 
in Human Beings, Contribution to UNODC (October 2005 - 
September 2007) CHF 407,000 
 
- Lebanon: Safe House Shelter Project: Urgent Funding 
to Caritas Lebanon Migration Center (CLMC): 200,000 CHF 
(PA IV und DEZA-HH) 
 
- Syria: Legislation to Combat Human trafficking, 
Contribution to IOM (August 2006 to January 2008), CHF 
195,000 
 
A regional Concept for the CIS region has been elaborated 
(including Ukraine, Moldova, Russian Federation, South 
Caucasus and Belarus), aiming at better coordinating SDC 
interventions in the region and to allow the replication 
of best practice.  On the basis of this concept, a 
regional program is being elaborated; it is planned to 
start in summer 2008 with a yearly budget of 1.5 million 
CHF. 
 
Additionally, anti-trafficking messages are included in 
other information and awareness raising activities 
supported by Switzerland, e.g. in the HIV-AIDS prevention 
program of the Red Cross Youth in Nepal (through street 
theatre); and Violence against Women (Tajikistan). 
 
The Foreign Ministry's Division on Human Security and 
Human Rights supports a majority of projects that seek to 
promote equal opportunity goals and to strengthen women's 
rights (de jure and de facto).  As part of the foreign 
policy promoting peace and human rights -- in accord with 
UNSCR 1325 on women, peace, and security -- these programs 
seek to reduce the vulnerability of women (in societies 
afflicted by armed conflicts). 
 
In 2006 the Swiss Development Agency reviewed its priority 
areas.  The upshot of this review has been to define 
migration, including the aspect of human trafficking, as 
one of the SDC's 10 priorities.  In Eastern Europe and the 
CIS, the importance of migration and human trafficking 
projects is set to increase.  The SDC is elaborating a 
policy paper setting the framework to expand its 
activities in the fight against human trafficking. 
 
In 2007the Swiss government also supported the following 
projects: 
 
- Mongolia, Combating Violence against Women, phase 1, 
December 2007 - December 2008, CHF 200,000 
 
- Vietnam, Contribution to UNFPA for the mainstreaming 
prevention of domestic violence, phase 2 October 2006- 
December 2010, 1,100,000 CHF 
 
- Vietnam, Support to the prevention of domestic 
violence in Ninh Binh and central level, phase 2, July 
2007 to May 2011, 960,000 CHF 
 
- Vietnam, Support to national legal aid system, phase 
1, July 2003 to June 2007, 3,450,000 CHF 
 
- Cambodia, Support to Hagar Soya: providing work to 
victims of trafficking (2002-2008, 1,277,5000 CHF) 
 
- Belarus, La Strada/Young Women Christian association: 
Countering Trafficking in Women, Prevention and 
Reintegration - (2004 - 2007), CHF 300,000 
 
- Belarus, IOM: Combating Trafficking in Human Beings: 
Protection and Reintegration assistance, Contribution to 
the establishment of a rehabilitation center in Minsk, CHF 
183,000 
 
- Ukraine, IOM: Migration management including 
combating human trafficking, assistance counseling, 
prevention, CHF 500,000 
 
- Georgia, "Protection and Assistance of trafficking 
 
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victims in Georgia" (training of social workers), CHF 
400,000 
 
- South East Europe (Regional project), Strengthening 
governments' capacities for fighting human trafficking 
(national plans, coordination at regional level, 
harmonization of database etc), CHF 310,000 
 
- Southeast Europe (Regional project), Contributions to 
the Organized Crime Training Network - OCTN for 
operational managers (police officers and organized crime 
investigation units) in SEE, CHF 400,000 
 
- Brazil: UNODC Project, Contribution to the 
implementation of the National Policy to Combat 
Trafficking in Persons and the design of a National Plan 
to Combat Trafficking in Persons.  Structuring Services 
for victims' assistance and working in the states of Sao 
Paulo, Goias, Rio de Janeiro and Ceara, CHF 50,000 
 
- Black Sea Region: UNODC Project.  The objective of 
this project is to take a significant step forward in 
strengthening the criminal justice response to trafficking 
in persons in the member states of the Organization for 
Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC).  The key strategy 
is to promote and guide bilateral and multilateral 
cooperation between the relevant governmental and non- 
governmental actors among the BSEC member states in the 
areas of investigating cases of trafficking, prosecuting 
and convicting traffickers as well as referring, 
supporting and protecting victims and witnesses of 
trafficking: 177,000 CHF. 
 
- Financial support of the Council of Europe's campaign 
"Tu n'es pas a vendre" [You are not for sale] to pay for 
the translation of the eponymous comic book into German 
and Italian (for its distribution in Switzerland) and into 
Ukrainian and Albanian: 12,000 CHF 
 
- Financial support to launch a roundtable on human 
trafficking in Spain: exchange of experiences/knowledge 
transfer on the issue of human trafficking hosted by the 
Swiss Embassy in Madrid with the participation of the 
Swiss Federal Government's anti-TIP coordination UNIT 
KSMM, the Swiss anti-TIP NGO FIZ, and concerned Spanish 
organizations and institutions. 
 
Additionally, SDC spreads anti-trafficking messages in the 
context of other projects not explicitly focused on human 
trafficking (e.g. Burma/Myanmar). 
 
¶C. According to Embassy contacts, the relationship between 
government authorities and NGOs is generally a cooperative 
and symbiotic one.  An increasing number of cantons and 
cities have institutionalized regular roundtable meetings 
on human trafficking to improve cooperation between NGOs 
and cantonal justice and police authorities.  At the 
latest count, ten cantons have adopted formalized codes of 
referral and cooperation in TIP cases or were in the 
process of doing so (cf. section 4.D.).  The head of the 
federal government's KSMM participates in most of these 
cantonal roundtable efforts, but - in accord with 
Switzerland's federal structure - only in the capacity of 
an observer and consultant. 
 
Cooperation among federal authorities and international 
and local NGOs has intensified.  The KSMM conducts 
consultations and invites NGOs and international 
organizations to its roundtables, including Terre des 
Hommes Switzerland, Ecpat Switzerland, the International 
Organization for Migration (IOM), Women's Information 
Center for Women from Africa, Asia, Latin America and 
Eastern Europe (FIZ), the "Prostitution Collective 
Reflection" (ProKoRe), and ASPASIE in Geneva.  KSMM has 
regularized these roundtables. 
 
FIZ experts also taught an integral part of the first two 
training classes in combating human trafficking for police 
officers and law enforcement officials, which were held at 
the Swiss Police Academy in Neuchatel in April and October 
2007, respectively (cf. section 3.G.). 
 
¶D. Switzerland's borders are adequately monitored and 
immigration regulations are stringent.  Switzerland's visa 
sections in countries of origin inform applicants of 
"artistic visa" or L-permits about their rights when 
 
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working in Switzerland (cf section 4.I.).  Information 
brochures are available in 16 languages.  Some embassies 
have also displayed respective information on their 
homepage.  Furthermore, Swiss Foreign Affairs Department 
officials have sensitized visa adjudicators to the problem 
and have invited NGOs to give training to embassy staff. 
Furthermore, the leadership of the Swiss Border Guards, 
the Federal Office for Refugees, and the Federal Office 
for Migration are all represented on the KSMM to assure 
the flow of information and the analysis of immigration 
patterns for evidence of trafficking. 
 
The Swiss Border Guards, an administrative unit of the 
Federal Department of Finance, cooperate closely with the 
Federal Office for Migration on issues of asylum and 
migration.  Combating irregular migration and the 
smuggling of migrants is a priority for the Swiss Border 
Guards.  Border Guard officials receive special training 
to heighten awareness of human trafficking as part of the 
normal training program.  Members of the Swiss Border 
Guards took part in the training classes in combating 
human trafficking held at the Swiss Police Academy in 
Neuchatel in April and October 2007.  Border guards report 
all suspicious activities to the cantonal police force of 
the area, which holds sole authority for further criminal 
investigations.  However, in practice it has proven 
difficult for border guard officials to spot victims of 
human trafficking because the latter often give only 
limited information about themselves and commonly do not 
denounce their traffickers out of fear of reprisals. 
 
The Foreign Ministry (DFA) constantly adjusts measures to 
combat visa abuse, ensuring that procedures are tailored 
to local conditions.  Since spring 2005 the DFA has taken 
the following measures: The DFA introduced systematic risk 
assessments and subjects Swiss missions to comprehensive 
inspections every four years.  Negative assessments or 
reports of suspicious activities trigger special 
inspections, as happened during 2006 at the Swiss mission 
in Islamabad.  On allegations of wrongdoing, DFA closely 
cooperates with the Office of the Attorney General.  The 
DFA has also taken specific organizational measures to 
reduce the risk of corruption by working through call- 
centers (e.g. Skopje, Moscow, and Bangkok) or by 
collecting visa fees through bank transfers to avoid the 
use of cash in visa sections (Moscow).  In some mission, 
the facilities have been redesigned to support visa 
processing and control systems (Tel Aviv, St. Petersburg, 
Pristina, Prague, and Kiev) or separate visa pavilions 
built (New Delhi and Colombo).  The DFA also puts special 
importance on raising awareness among visa clerks and 
their line managers and on their careful screening and 
preparation for the task in high-risk missions. 
 
¶E. The key office coordinating the anti-trafficking 
efforts of the various government agencies is the 
Coordination Unit against the Trafficking of Persons and 
Smuggling of Migrants (KSMM), which started operations at 
the beginning of 2003.  Formally a part of the Federal 
Office of Police, the KSMM processes and passes 
information and coordinates policy within the federal 
administration as well as between the federal agencies and 
the cantons (states).  It is also the primary point of 
contact for international inquiries on all issues linked 
to illegal migration and human trafficking. 
 
Internationally, Switzerland was one of the initiators of 
the OSCE Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings 
and has been supporting the OSCE Special Rapporteur since 
2000, both financially and with expert secondments. 
Switzerland has  actively participated in the negotiations 
for the Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking 
in Human Beings, which requests enhanced cooperation among 
stakeholders.  The federal government has launched a 
consultation process with the cantonal governments with a 
view to preparing the way for Switzerland to ratify the 
ratification the CoE convention.  (Under Switzerland's 
federalist structure the cantons hold authority over the 
far-reaching victim protection measures and thus have to 
give their consent). 
 
Switzerland also substantially contributed to the NATO 
Policy on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, which was 
adopted at the Istanbul summit.  Switzerland initiated the 
first seminar to develop a training curriculum for NATO- 
led forces in September 2004 at the Geneva Center for 
 
BERN 00000122  022 OF 024 
 
 
Security Policy in the framework of PfP.  On a bilateral 
basis, an information exchange was initiated in 2004 with 
Ukraine.  The Swiss government organized and financed the 
visit of an anti-trafficking delegation to Bern.  The 
delegation met with all main governmental and cantonal 
actors, including NGOs.  This visit provided an ideal 
opportunity to share information on victim protection and 
prosecution and identify possible areas of closer co- 
operation. 
 
At the operational level, Switzerland runs bilateral 
cooperation programs with various countries, and is member 
of Interpol.  Switzerland is active in Interpol's working 
group against human trafficking and cooperates with the 
European Police Office (EUROPOL) since September 2004. 
Parliament approved the ratification of the Swiss-EUROPOL 
bilateral agreement in 2005.  The scope of bilateral 
cooperation with EUROPOL will cover eight criminal areas, 
including human trafficking. 
 
¶F. The KSMM seeks to implement the national action plan 
that its interdepartmental steering committee first 
adopted in 2003.  In keeping with its decentralized 
structure, the steering committee is the KSMM's highest 
organ.  The steering committee consists of directorate- 
level representatives of the federal departments involved 
in combating human trafficking, delegates from cantonal 
conferences and associations, as well as representatives 
from three NGOs and international organizations with a 
consultative status.  The Steering Committee sets targets 
and the guidelines for the KSMM's activities and controls 
the drafting and implementation of measures.  The Steering 
Committee is chaired by the Federal Office of Police and 
has convened biannually from 2003 to 2006 and once in 
¶2007. 
 
Specific measures are developed and implemented either by 
working groups set up for that purpose or by individuals 
with special support from the KSMM Secretariat.  In 2004- 
2007, the Steering Committee has appointed the following 
working groups: 
- Guidelines "Co-operation Mechanisms against Human 
Trafficking" 
- Report on Measures against the Smuggling of Migrants 
(deferred in 2006) 
- Recommendations on the protection of night club/cabaret 
dancers 
- Assessing possible options to extend/finance specialized 
counseling of TIP victims 
- Development of specialized anti-TIP training and 
education measures 
- Development of measures to prevent and combat the 
trafficking in minors 
 
The KSMM working group on child trafficking under the 
leadership of the Foreign Ministry is drafting a policy 
paper on the prevention of trafficking in children.  The 
working group has so far evaluated measures to prevent 
child trafficking in the visa-issuance process and 
continues to evaluate measures for the protection of 
victims.  On the domestic front, the working group 
consulted with NGO/IOs specializing in the area of 
children's rights.  UNICEF Switzerland in October 2007 
published a report which concluded that child trafficking 
in Switzerland was limited to a few isolated cases, a fact 
corroborated by victims' assistance statistics of the 
Zurich NGO FIZ.  For the year 2006, FIZ documented 
approximately 10 cases of trafficking of minors under 18 
years of age. 
 
¶G. The government has taken multiple steps during the 
reporting period to inform and educate the public about 
the causes and consequences of severe forms of trafficking 
in persons.  In view of the upcoming European Soccer Cup, 
the government has appropriated $96,000 (100,000 Swiss 
francs) to kick-start public awareness campaigns against 
trafficking and forced prostitution.  The anti-TIP NGO FIZ 
is running the campaign in cooperation with partner 
organizations.  The goal of the FIZ campaign is to raise 
awareness among the visitors of the EURO 08 and the 
general public of the extent and the consequences of 
trafficking in women.  The FIZ campaign will also target 
the customers of commercial sexual services, calling on 
them to help potential victims of trafficking get access 
to aid organizations.  In February 2008, a Moldovan 
theatre group toured Switzerland with its play "A saptea 
 
BERN 00000122  023 OF 024 
 
 
Kafana - the seventh Coffeehouse", which is meant to 
increase public awareness of human trafficking.  The 
theatre group was hosted by IOM Switzerland and the Swiss 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 
 
As a country with legalized prostitution, authorities have 
intensified efforts to proactively identify TIP victims 
among workers in the legalized sex trade.  The roundtable 
co-operation mechanisms in cantons between law enforcement 
and migration authorities and NGOs have raised TIP 
awareness.  Police have intensified regular checks of 
commercial sex establishments for the purpose of 
identifying potential TIP victims and of apprehending and 
prosecuting those who organize trafficking in women and 
profit from illegal prostitution.  Some police departments 
have engaged additional police officers to perform more 
on-site inspections (cf. section 4.E.). 
 
The Swiss tourism industry under the leadership of the NGO 
ECPAT has established a code of conduct to combat child 
sex tourism.  The Federal Criminal Police is cooperating 
with the framers of the code to establish a mechanism to 
allow travel agents to tip off law enforcement bodies in 
order to apprehend and prosecute tourists who have sexual 
contacts with minors (cf. Section 5.H.)  Swiss domestic 
laws on sexual contact with minors apply universally and 
there have been prosecutions of individuals in Switzerland 
for child sexual abuse committed abroad (cf. Section 
3.M.). 
 
Switzerland pursues a zero-tolerance policy regarding 
sexual exploitation by personnel serving in international 
peace-keeping missions.  All civil and military persons 
serving in peace-keeping missions are subject to the Code 
of Conduct of the UN (and/or NATO-PfP respectively) and 
undergo specific awareness raising training before 
deployment.  Compliance is closely monitored and abuses 
punished (cf. section 5.I.). 
 
¶H. ECPAT Switzerland has elaborated a code of conduct to 
combat the sexual exploitation of children in tourism. 
The code of conduct commits travel agencies and other 
businesses in the tourism industry to corporate social 
responsibility and holds them publicly accountable.  The 
code of conduct stipulates the following commitments: 
 
- Adopt an ethical business policy to combat the 
commercial exploitation of children 
- Training of staff both in the country of origin as well 
as at the travel destinations 
- Introduce clauses in contracts with suppliers and 
partners that generally condemn the sexual exploitation of 
children 
- Raise awareness and provide information to travelers 
- Provide information to local "key personalities" at the 
travel destinations 
- Annual accountability reports and continuous monitoring 
by the local representative (ECPAT Switzerland) 
 
A number of Swiss travel agencies, including the two major 
players Globetrotter and Hotelplan, have signed on to the 
ECPAT code of conduct.  The plan is to set up mechanism to 
allow travel agents to tip off law enforcement bodies 
about suspicious activities.  The Federal Criminal Police 
is involved in the consultation process to establish such 
a mechanism. 
 
¶I. Switzerland pursues a zero-tolerance policy regarding 
sexual exploitation by personnel serving in international 
peace-keeping missions.  It lobbied multilateral bodies to 
adopt a zero-tolerance policy and has itself adopted this 
policy in its National Action Plan to implement UN 
Security Council Resolution 1325 (which the GOS adopted on 
January 31, 2007)  All civil and military persons serving 
in peace-keeping missions are subject to the Code of 
Conduct of the UN (and/or NATO-PfP respectively). 
Specific Swiss government training modules discuss the 
problem of human trafficking and the vulnerability of 
women to sexual abuse in armed conflicts - including also 
by international peacekeepers.  At the duty station, 
establishments associated with commercial sex are 
designated off-limits to staff deployed on peace-keeping 
missions.  Compliance with this regulation is monitored by 
Swiss military policing units on the ground and violations 
are punished.  There have been no reports of serious 
misconduct of Swiss civilian or military staff deployed on 
 
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international peace-keeping missions. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
End of draft TIP report for Switzerland. 
---------------------------------------- 
Coneway