This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 CAIRO 001634 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/ELA, G/TIP (GPATEL), AND DRL/CRA (RCASTEEL) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM PHUM SMIG KFRD ELAB PREF EG IS KWN
SUBJECT: EMBASSY CAIRO SUBMISSION FOR SIXTH ANNUAL 
TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT 
 
REF: STATE 03836 
 
Sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect accordingly.  Not 
for Internet distribution. 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  This message responds to reftel.  Embassy POC is 
poloff Roger Kenna, phone  20-2-797-2749, fax  20-2-797-2181, 
kennart2@state.gov.  Poloff spent approximately 16 hours in 
the preparation of the TIP report.  Conoff spent 
approximately 24 hours; ECPO Minister Counselor spent two 
hours; DCM spent two hours.  The GOE does not have a POC for 
TIP.  Information in this report was gleaned from bilateral 
meetings, other diplomatic contacts, and press reporting. 
The following input is keyed to the questions in reftel paras 
21-24. 
 
------------ 
¶I.  Overview 
------------ 
 
¶A.  Egypt is neither a country of origin or destination for a 
significant number of trafficking victims.  However, an 
unknown number of trafficking victims probably transit Egypt 
en route to other destinations, notably Israel and Europe. 
There are currently no reliable estimates available in Egypt 
for the magnitude of the problem. 
 
¶B.  The trafficking scenario most commonly cited involves 
young women from Eastern Europe arriving in Egypt by air, 
especially in the Red Sea resorts of Sharm el-Sheikh and 
Hurghada, who are then ferried overland across the border 
into Israel, where they are presumed to be forcibly employed 
in that country's sex industry.  There were no documented 
cases of such trafficking in Egypt in 2005 by the GOE or by 
Egyptian media sources.  A significant number of illegal 
migrants transit the Suez Canal en route to Europe.  Some of 
these migrants could be trafficking victims.  We are not 
aware of any surveys or research on the extent or nature of 
trafficking in Egypt.  The Italian Embassy in Cairo reported 
that Italy is the destination for significant numbers of 
illegal migrant Egyptians who seek to cross the 
Mediterranean, often with the help of smugglers.  Reliable 
contacts report that an unspecified number of voluntary 
Egyptian migrants to Italy become trafficking victims when 
they are unable to pay back loans extended to them by the 
smugglers. 
 
¶C.  Embassy Cairo has repeatedly raised the issue of 
Trafficking in Persons with the Government of Egypt at both 
the Ministerial and working levels.  In all of our 
discussions, GOE officials have expressed determination to 
fight the problem, to the extent that it exists in Egypt, and 
have sought from the U.S. any available information that 
could help identify extant trafficking networks inside the 
country.  In January 2006, First Lady Suzanne Mubarak 
addressed an international meeting in Athens on TIP and said 
that her NGO, the Suzanne Mubarak Women's International Peace 
Movement (SMWIPM), is committed to fighting TIP of women and 
children.  (Note:  Post has contacted the SMWIPM to seek 
details on its plan of action and to seek possible 
cooperation.  Post has shared anti-TIP information supplied 
by G/TIP with SMWIPM.  End note.)  The GOE devotes 
significant resources toward patrolling and policing its 
borders.  Geography and resource limitations preclude total 
success.  During a January 2005 visit, Embassy officials and 
visiting G/TIP staff met with Egyptian security officials in 
the Sinai who asserted that trafficking of Eastern European 
women, while never a major issue of concern for the 
Government, had been minimal in recent months.  According to 
Israeli press reporting, based on "police data," 2005 
witnessed a significant drop in the number of foreign women 
working as prostitutes in Israel, from 3000 in 2001 to 
"several hundred" in 2005.  This development, if true, may in 
turn correlate to positive trends in the decrease of TIP via 
Egypt. 
 
¶D.  There is no evidence to suggest involvement of any kind 
of either Governmental authorities or individual members of 
Government forces in facilitating or condoning trafficking. 
Due to lack of training and resource limitations, individual 
Government officials may not necessarily be equipped to 
identify and prevent instances of trafficking.  Egyptian law 
prohibits prostitution as well as the solicitation and 
facilitation of commercial sex.  The "sale of child brides" 
has not been documented, per se, although the payment of 
dowries and marriage at relatively young ages are in keeping 
with cultural traditions.  Girls marrying below the age of 18 
require parental permission.  Girls below the age of 16 may 
not marry.  Infringements of these laws are thought to be 
common, particularly in rural areas. 
--------------- 
II.  Prevention 
--------------- 
 
A-B.  The Government acknowledges that some trafficking 
victims may transit Egypt.  The Government reports that it is 
not currently aware of information that suggests a flow of 
such persons.  Government agencies that would be involved in 
combating trafficking are the border police, immigration, and 
customs inspectors, overseen by State Security Investigations 
Service, and ultimately the Ministry of Interior.  Officials 
responsible for consular affairs or tourism could also 
potentially become involved in responding to suspected 
trafficking cases. 
¶C.  There are currently no anti-trafficking information or 
education campaigns being conducted in Egypt.  We are not 
aware of any Egyptian NGOs which systematically monitor or 
document trafficking in persons cases.  Egyptian human rights 
and women's NGOs tell us they are not aware of a significant 
trafficking problem in Egypt. 
 
¶D.  The Government devotes significant resources to 
patrolling and policing its borders, particularly the Sinai 
desert border with Israel.  The Government does not currently 
have a specific program to monitor migration and travel 
patterns for evidence of trafficking although it exerts 
robust efforts to combat illegal migration and alien 
smuggling.  In particular, in the aftermath of the October 7, 
2004 terror bombings in Sinai, which killed 34 people, the 
Government has made a concerted effort to increase security 
in Sinai, especially with regard to alleged illegal 
activities by the Sinai Bedouin tribes.  Press reports note 
that the Government has engaged in a wide-ranging crackdown 
on suspected criminals in the Sinai.  In addition, press 
reports in early 2005 detailed the Government's signing of a 
"pledge document" with tribal leaders, which committed the 
tribal leadership to reporting illegal activities, apparently 
including TIP.  In February 2005, press reports noted that 
irregular Bedouin militia cooperated with Government security 
forces during a search for terrorism suspects, which led to a 
gun battle near Ras Sadr, which in turn left several terror 
suspects dead or captured. 
 
¶F.  Egyptian civil society is not focused on TIP.  On human 
rights and related matters, Egyptian civil society has a 
sometimes contentious relationship with the GOE. 
 
¶G.  Anecdotal information supplied by GOE border security 
personnel suggests that the GOE does not have comprehensive 
program to monitor immigration/emigration for evidence of 
trafficking. 
 
H-J.  The Government has interagency working groups which 
coordinate on law enforcement issues, although none are 
specifically devoted to anti-TIP efforts.  The Government has 
a special office for investigating and prosecuting public 
corruption cases.  The Government prosecutes persons found to 
be involved in alien smuggling.  Egyptian Government 
officials participate in international fora convened to 
combat TIP.  There are no specific Government anti-TIP action 
plans or anti-trafficking programs. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
III.  Investigation and Prosecution of Traffickers 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
A-C.  Egyptian law does not specifically prohibit trafficking 
in persons.  However, other parts of the criminal code, such 
as laws against rape, abduction, prostitution, and forced 
labor, may be used to prosecute traffickers.  Slavery is 
illegal.  The maximum penalty for rape is life imprisonment. 
Egyptian Ministry of Justice officials told G/TIP and Embassy 
officials during a December 2004 meeting in Cairo that the 
Government is developing new legislation that will probably 
incorporate specific language on trafficking in persons. 
Embassy Cairo passed to the Ministry of Justice "legal 
building blocks" for anti-trafficking legislation developed 
by G/TIP.  This legislation has not yet been presented to the 
Parliament for ratification. 
 
¶D.  Prostitution is illegal and the activities of prostitutes 
are criminalized. 
 
¶E.  In December 2003, an Egyptian court convicted Moataz 
Attiya Mohammad Hassan, a.k.a. Abu Qusay, of manslaughter and 
aiding illegal immigration for his role in the deaths of 353 
persons trying to reach Australia when their boat sank.  Abu 
Qusay was sentenced to seven-years in prison, although the 
sentence was reduced on appeal to three years.  In February 
2005, a criminal court in South Sinai convicted Talal Soliman 
of attempting to smuggle 5 Russian (and/or Moldovan) women to 
Israel.  Soliman was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison. 
According to press accounts, Sinai police in July 2003 had 
sought to detain Soliman when he was transporting the Eastern 
European women from south Sinai to Israel.  Soliman opened 
fire on the police and wounded one of them before he was 
detained. 
 
According to a Cairo-based Russian diplomatic source, in 
September 2002, three Moldovan women were abducted from a 
hotel in Sharm el-Sheikh by Bedouin who raped them and 
apparently tried to transport them to Israel.  One of the 
victims escaped and informed Egyptian police, who 
successfully rescued the other two victims and arrested the 
perpetrators.  According to the Russian, the perpetrators 
were eventually convicted and received 25-year sentences. 
The Russian diplomat said no trafficking cases have come to 
his attention since that time. 
 
¶F.  Egyptian law enforcement contacts generally identify 
Sinai Bedouin as engaging in the smuggling of contraband, 
possibly including humans, from Egypt into Israel.  In 
October 2004, an Associated Press story reported that a gun 
battle between Bedouin smugglers and police in September had 
left an unspecified number of policemen wounded and 13 
people, mainly Eastern European women, in Egyptian police 
custody.  Embassy Cairo officials were unable to confirm the 
details of the AP account with Egyptian police contacts. 
 
G-H.  The Government does not currently provide specialized 
training in how to recognize, investigate, or prosecute 
instances of trafficking.  The Government advises that 
instances of trafficking rarely come to its attention, but 
has explicitly requested from the U.S. any information that 
could identify such instances in Egypt.  The Government is 
not currently known to be involved in any international 
investigations of trafficking cases. 
 
I-M.  The Government is not known to have ever extradited 
persons charged with trafficking to face prosecution in other 
countries.  However, in the Abu Qusay case, the Government 
requested the defendant's extradition from Indonesia, which 
was granted.  There is no evidence of Government involvement 
in or tolerance for trafficking nor is there evidence of a 
child sex tourism problem. 
 
¶N.  Egypt is a signatory of ILO convention 182 concerning 
prohibition of the worst forms of child labor. Egypt is also 
a party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (with a 
reservation regarding adoption) ILO Convention 29, and ILO 
Convention 105.  Egypt is also a signatory to the Protocol to 
Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons 
supplementing the UN Convention Against Transnational 
Organized Crime. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
IV.  Protection and Assistance to Victims 
----------------------------------------- 
 
A-I.  The Government reports that its consular and 
immigration officials, at home and abroad, have been 
instructed to be on the alert for possible instances of 
illegal migration and fraudulent travel, which would include 
trafficking.  However, the Government does not currently have 
any programs for victim assistance or specialized training 
for personnel in identifying trafficking victims.  The 
Government does not currently make special provisions for 
victims' participation in prosecutions or for protection for 
victims as witnesses nor does it provide specialized training 
in TIP to government officials.  There are currently no NGOs 
in Egypt focused on providing services to trafficking victims. 
 
RICCIARDONE