VZCZCXRO1168
PP RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK RUEHMOS
DE RUEHGB #0734/01 0661924
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 071924Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3138
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 000734 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PLEASE PASS TO G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, PRM, IWI, NEA/RA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM PHUMPTER KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF
SUBJECT: IRAQ: ANNUAL TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT 
 
REF: 06 STATE 00003836 
 
¶1. (U) The following is post's submission to the annual 
trafficking in persons report.  Embassy point of contact 
is PolOff Lourdes Lamela, US phone 914-822-2901 and at 
email Lamelalm @ state.gov.  This report reflects 
approximately 26 hours of preparation. 
 
-------- 
OVERVIEW 
-------- 
 
¶2. (U) Country Overview: The political, social, and 
economic landscape in Iraq is changing as Iraq moves to 
its first democratically elected government under its new 
constitution. Historic elections and the first step in 
the formation of the Iraqi Transitional Government took 
place on January 30, 2005.  In two subsequent polls, 
voters adopted a constitution on October 15, 2005 and 
elected a new parliament under that constitution on 
December 15, 2005.  The elections and referendum were 
regarded as free and fair, and were critical steps in 
Iraq's democratic process. 
 
¶3. (U) Civil society, political figures, and the NGO 
community view Trafficking in Persons (TIP) as a 
potential, albeit rarely documented, problem in Iraq that 
will grow larger if law enforcement does not check major 
criminal activity.  Anecdotal reports indicate that TIP 
was a bigger problem during the Saddam regime because the 
Ba'ath party was involved in trafficking schemes and 
because of the lack of employment opportunities locally. 
The past reporting year has been characterized by 
significant insurgent activity against both civil and 
government targets which has resulted in trafficking 
cases being relegated to non-priority status. 
 
------------------- 
THE LEGAL LANDSCAPE 
-------------------- 
 
¶4. (U) During the reporting period, the operative 
constitutive law was the Law of Administration for the 
State of Iraq for the Transitional Period (TAL). Article 
13(G) of the TAL states that slavery, the slave trade, 
forced labor, and involuntary servitude with or without 
pay is forbidden.  The new Constitution, which was 
approved October 15, 2005 by national referendum and will 
come into force upon the seating of the new government 
reinforces these tenets and specifically addresses 
trafficking in women and children.  The third section of 
Article 37 in the new Constitution states: "Forced labor, 
slavery, slave trade, trafficking in women or children, 
and sex trade shall be prohibited". 
 
¶5. (U) Iraqi law prohibits rape as well as prostitution. 
Other laws in force include CPA Order 89 which amends the 
Labor Code of 1987 to limit working hours for those under 
18 years of age and prohibits their employment in 
dangerous occupations. Order 89 also prohibits employment 
for those under the age of 15 years, and specifically 
bans all forms of trafficking in children including 
slavery, prostitution, and debt bondage. 
 
-------------------- 
TRACKING TRAFFICKING 
-------------------- 
 
¶6. (U) The Ministry of Interior (MOI) has responsibility 
for trafficking-related issues. However, it does not keep 
statistics on Trafficking in Persons cases, nor does it 
have a unit designated to investigate trafficking cases. 
Given the current security situation and high rate of 
insurgent related incidents against civilians - including 
bomb attacks, kidnapping, murder, and related violent 
crimes - the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and Iraqi Police 
Service (IPS) make their priority the prevention and 
suppression of these crimes. The likelihood of 
accountability for trafficking crimes in the current 
security climate is considered low. 
 
¶7. (U) The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (MOLSA) 
Labor Directorate has jurisdiction over the labor code, 
child labor, wages, occupational safety and health 
issues, and labor relations.  In MOLSA, the Children's 
Welfare Commission works closely with the Ministry of 
Education in a broad range of child protection issues. 
In addition, MOLSA-run vocational centers have offered 
training to youth in careers that offer a chance for 
 
BAGHDAD 00000734  002 OF 003 
 
 
productive employment. The exercise of labor rights does 
continue to remain limited, however, due in part to 
insurgent violence and high unemployment. 
 
-------------------------- 
ANECDOTAL TRAFFICKING INFO 
-------------------------- 
 
¶8. (U) Though no specific data exists, anecdotal reports 
suggest that Iraq could be considered a country of origin 
for trafficking.  Informal reports indicate that Iraqi 
women and children are taken to Turkey, Iran, Qatar, 
United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Jordan, Syria, and other 
Gulf states for employment in prostitution and domestic 
labor.  Sources believe that the targeted population 
appears to be poor, uneducated women and children from 
rural areas within Iraq, particularly in Kurdistan (due 
to its close proximity to Turkey).  There is no evidence 
currently that would suggest that Iraq is a TIP 
destination point. 
 
¶9. (U) Although prostitution in Iraq is illegal, it 
continues to exist.  Anecdotally, prostitution in Iraq is 
not conducted through a second party, but rather is an 
individual and word of mouth enterprise. The extent of 
prostitution and its forms are still not well documented. 
 
¶10. (U) "Child marriage" and forced marriages are 
practices that continue to occur in Iraq, although 
discouraged in larger, modern cities.  The Iraq Legal 
Development Project in its July 2005 assessment reported 
on instances in which women were used as bargaining tools 
or as gifts between tribes.  This practice is illegal in 
Iraq and has been criminalized under Article 9(2) of the 
Iraqi Personal Status Code.  It is suggestive of a 
chattel system where the woman is regarded simply as 
human property. 
 
----------- 
CHILD LABOR 
----------- 
 
¶11. (U) Despite the various laws and regulations, 
children were routinely used as an additional source of 
labor or income among the 1 million families subsisting 
on a per capita daily income of less than $1 (1,500 
dinars). This work often took the form of seasonal manual 
labor in rural areas. In cities it often meant begging or 
peddling a variety of products, as well as working in 
sometimes hazardous automobile shops or on construction 
sites. 
 
¶12. (U) Additionally, news reports indicated that 
families also used minors in insurgent activities.  For 
example, the UN Global Policy Forum in its March 15 
report indicated that more than 20 Baghdad children 
received daily lessons to become insurgents and 
participated in diversion tactics to distract troops. 
 
¶13. (U) Projects to combat child labor were few, and 
those that existed affected a few hundred children. The 
government's actions were supported by the UN Children's 
Fund (UNICEF) or NGOs. For example, the Italian branch of 
the international NGO Terre des Hommes and UNICEF 
operated a rehabilitation and counseling center for a 
small number of working street children in Baghdad. 
Kurdish authorities supported several small-scale 
projects to eliminate child labor in the KRG area. UNICEF 
has helped fund centers for working children in Irbil and 
Baghdad that was run by the Children's Welfare Commission 
at MOLSA. 
 
---------- 
CONCLUSION 
---------- 
 
¶14. (U) Iraqis report that TIP was more of a problem 
during Saddam's regime than this past year.  Many Iraqis 
report that they designed coping strategies after years 
of kidnappings under Saddam including keeping women and 
children close to home and not allowing them out 
unsupervised.  Despite this alleged improvement, Iraq has 
a long way to go before it has the capacity, funding, and 
security situation to focus on TIP issues.  Iraq has a 
basic legal framework that would seem to discourage 
instances of TIP, but it does not yet have the ability to 
even track these issues, nor follow up on them. 
 
 
 
BAGHDAD 00000734  003 OF 003 
 
 
KHALILZAD