VZCZCXRO6998
OO RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #3080/01 3281232
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 241232Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5546
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 003080 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/27/2018 
TAGS: PREL PGOV IZ TIP NEA RA
SUBJECT: EMBASSY BAGHDAD 2009 TIP INTERIM ASSESSMENT 
 
REF: A. BAGHDAD 2403 
     ¶B. BAGHDAD 2886 
 
Classified By: Political Counselor Yuri Kim for reason 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  SUMMARY:  Human trafficking for the purposes of 
labor and sexual exploitation continues to be a problem in 
Iraq according to senior GOI and judicial officials.  While 
the GOI has drafted legislation to prosecute and punish those 
who engage in trafficking, the draft law remains stalled in 
the Shura Council.  The GOI has made some progress in 
increasing public awareness about trafficking, but complex 
challenges persist with regard to training Iraqi police and 
security forces and developing a system for collecting and 
disseminating intelligence about trafficking.    END SUMMARY. 
 
 
GOI EFFORTS TO PASS ANTI-TRAFFICKING LEGISLATION 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶2. (C) In January 2009, an interministerial committee 
comprised of members from the Ministry of Human Rights, the 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Labor and 
Social Affairs spearheaded the development of 
anti-trafficking legislation that would establish criminal 
penalties for human trafficking.  The draft legislation, 
which would also mandate the formation of a permanent 
interagency anti-trafficking committee in Baghdad, is under 
review by a special committee within the Shura Council. 
(Note: The Shura Council, which operates under the Ministry 
of Justice, reviews draft legislation originating from the 
Council of Ministers to ensure compliance with the Iraqi 
constitution. End Note.) Until the Shura Council clears the 
draft and forwards it to the Council of Representatives (COR) 
for approval, the interim committee will continue to serve as 
a coordinating body on human trafficking issues with no 
special authority to implement its recommendations.  A copy 
of the draft legislation states that the law imposes fines 
exceeding 25 million dinars (USD 21,000) and life 
imprisonment on traffickers if their victim "is under 15, or 
a female, or has special needs".  The law allegedly imposes 
the same punishment for cases in which the trafficker is a 
relative of the victim's caretaker or spouse, or if the crime 
was committed by force. 
 
¶3. (C) GOI decisions regarding the development of Iraq's 
anti-trafficking strategy are decentralized and shared 
between several ministries, with no single organization 
bearing responsibility for tracking progress on the issue. 
Shatha al-Obosi, a member of the GOI's Human Rights 
Committee, related to Poloff on November 9 that political 
roadblocks to addressing trafficking in the COR persist 
because of resistance among some COR members, "to address the 
fact that trafficking is a problem in Iraq, or that it has a 
human rights and women's rights component."  Al-Obosi stated 
that while she and other GOI members hear periodic reports of 
domestic and cross-border trafficking for the purposes of 
labor and sexual exploitation, these reports remain largely 
unverified and uninvestigated due to a lack of evidence and 
because the GOI's information on trafficking is only 
accessible to a few authorized officials. 
 
LACK OF CAPACITY TO SUPPORT TRAFFICKING VICTIMS 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶4. (C) GOI efforts in August 2009 led to the successful 
repatriation of 14 women to Uganda after they were apparently 
trafficked into Iraq for the purposes of labor exploitation 
(ref A).  The GOI initiated both a criminal and a human 
rights investigation that resulted in the issuance of two 
arrest warrants.  While the case provided the GOI an 
opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to addressing 
Qopportunity to demonstrate its commitment to addressing 
trafficking, it also revealed a lack of capacity to provide 
temporary shelter to trafficking victims.  Notwithstanding 
the difficulties of preventing trafficking through Iraq's 
long land borders, the GOI has made limited progress in 
screening migrant workers to identify possible trafficking 
victims.  According to Judge Hadeel Najim Abdullah of the 
Baghdad Courthouse, some female foreign workers who are 
promised legitimate work elsewhere in the Middle East, are 
instead brought to Baghdad to be placed in the sex trade 
and/or serve as laborers (ref B).  Hadeel further claimed 
that some Iraqi employers contract with traffickers for 
business and residential workers, and that female foreign 
workers are often victims of sexual assault by their 
employers.  He also noted that abuses of foreign workers who 
are trafficked into Iraq under false pretenses are often not 
pursued by the police and/or courts. 
 
¶5. (C) A foreign woman may be detained until her country of 
origin assists her to obtain a new passport to return home. 
The GOI has made little progress in regulating recruitment 
practices and fees of foreign labor brokers to prevent 
 
BAGHDAD 00003080  002 OF 002 
 
 
practices that facilitate forced labor.  Embassy Baghdad's 
POL and ECON sections are working to obtain more information 
in this area and will report any new developments as 
information becomes available. 
 
¶6.  (C) Currently, the GOI does not have a formal mechanism 
for intervening in cases in which migrant workers learn upon 
arrival in Iraq that the jobs they were promised do not 
exist.  As with its treatment of internally displaced 
families and communities, the GOI continues to rely heavily 
on support provided by non-governmental institutions and 
civil society.  The difficulties of combating trafficking are 
compounded by a lack of data on the scale and severity of 
Iraq's trafficking problem.  As reported ref B,  Ministry of 
Human Rights Director General mentioned in an October 14 
meeting that the Ministry intends to create a database of 
trafficking information to help target its anti-trafficking 
efforts.  The Ministry of Human Rights, working in tandem 
with the Ministry of Youth and Sports, has initiated a public 
awareness campaign aimed at educating children at schools and 
youth centers across the country about trafficking, but the 
GOI has yet to create an effective mechanism to disseminate 
awareness information to those who are in the best position 
to identify and curb trafficking.  In a November 2 meeting 
with the leaders of seven human rights NGOs from all over 
Iraq, Taha Abdl Ghnei, Manager of the Anbar-based Al-Safa 
Society for Development and Friendship, observed that Iraqi 
police and security forces are not trained to notice subtle 
indications of abuse or fraud commonly seen among trafficking 
victims. 
 
¶7.  (C) COMMENT: Even with the GOI passage of 
anti-trafficking legislation, Iraq will continue to face 
several challenges in effectively responding to and 
preventing instances of human trafficking.  Embassy Baghdad's 
Rule of Law office is making a concerted effort to encourage 
the Ministry of Interior and the Higher Judicial Council to 
address trafficking in Iraq and will work with them to 
provide training and education.  Additionally, the Embassy's 
International Narcotics and Law Enforcement office plans to 
incorporate anti-trafficking components into future programs. 
END COMMENT 
HILL