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

061532Z Mar 06

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 15 KIEV 000869 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN
SUBJECT: Ukraine: Submission for the 2006 TIP Report 
 
Ref: A) State 3836 B) Kiev 398 C) Kiev 521 
 
(U) Sensitive but unclassified, please handle accordingly. 
Not for internet distribution. 
 
¶1. (U) Embassy Kiev's responses to the 2006 TIP report 
questionnaire are presented below.  Answers are keyed to 
questions in ref A. 
 
Overview (Ref A Para 21) 
------------------------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) (21A) Ukraine is a country of origin for 
internationally trafficked men, women and children.  The 
primary destination countries according to the 
International Organization for Migration (IOM) are Turkey, 
Russia, and Poland.  Between 2004 and 2005, Russia moved 
from third place to second place on the list of destination 
points for Ukrainian victims trafficked for sexual and/or 
labor exploitation.  Russia also continued to serve as a 
transit country for trafficked Ukrainian victims to other 
destination points given the relative ease of moving people 
illegally across the porous Ukrainian-Russian border.  The 
number of countries serving as destination points for 
trafficked Ukrainians continued to grow, according to IOM 
statistics: in 2003 there were 41 countries, in 2004 there 
were 47, and in 2005 there were 49, with China and 
Lithuania becoming the latest two countries identified as 
destination points.  The countries with the highest numbers 
of reported Ukrainian victims in 2005 in descending order 
were Turkey, Russia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Italy, 
Israel, Greece, Serbia and Montenegro, the UK, Lithuania 
and Portugal. 
 
¶3. (SBU) (21A continued) Ukraine continued to be a transit 
country for internationally trafficked women from Moldova, 
Russia and other former Soviet republics.  There also were 
signs that Ukraine may be becoming a country of destination 
for trafficked victims.  In 2005 women were trafficked from 
Moldova to Ukraine for labor and sexual exploitation. 
There was also a report of a woman from Moldova who 
trafficked her own children to Ukraine so they could beg 
money on the streets.  These reports indicate the growing 
prosperity of Ukraine relative to some of the other former 
republics of the Soviet Union, compounded by the ease of 
travel between these countries, their shared second 
language (Russian) and historical family, social, and 
professional links. 
 
¶4. (SBU) (21A continued) In 2005, two-thirds of the Ukraine 
women who were trafficked suffered sexual exploitation (68 
percent of IOMs caseload), one-third suffered labor 
exploitation (30 percent of IOM's caseload) and a very 
small percentage suffering both or being forced to beg. 
There also were a small number of women who were trafficked 
to bear children for infertile couples.  Men were exploited 
primarily for labor purposes.  However, concrete data for 
trafficked men was hard to obtain because trafficked males 
generally did not recognize themselves as victims of 
trafficking, and thus rarely turned to law enforcement 
agencies and/or NGOs for assistance.  According to 
International Labor Organization (ILO) research on returned 
migrants in four eastern and southeastern European 
countries, including Ukraine, labor exploitation occurred 
primarily in the agriculture and construction  sectors.  A 
sample of 300 victims of forced labor showed that 23 
percent had been coerced into sex work, 21 percent into 
construction, and 13 percent into agriculture.  The 
remaining victims (43 percent) were coerced into a number 
of employment fields including domestic service and care 
work, small manufacturing, restaurant work and catering, 
and food processing. 
 
¶5. (SBU) (21A continued) According to local experts and the 
ILO, children trafficked across state borders were 
recruited primarily to serve as street-venders, domestic 
workers, agricultural workers, waiter/waitress, and sex 
workers.  However, upon arrival at their final destination, 
children usually ended up in the sex industry or were 
forced to beg.  Children trafficked within Ukraine also 
were initially recruited for work as cleaners, waiters, and 
vendors, but once again, in most cases were ultimately 
coerced into providing sexual services or begging. 
 
¶6. (SBU) (21A continued) The assessment report of the 
Ukrainian Adoption System by the International Reference 
Center for the Rights of Children Deprived of their Family 
and International Social Service did not find any evidence 
to suggest that trafficking of children through adoption 
for exploitation occurred in inter-country adoptions from 
Ukraine. 
 
¶7. (SBU) (21A continued) Trafficking in persons did occur 
within Ukraine's borders.  In 2005, IOM registered six 
people, including three minors, who were victims of 
internal trafficking.  They were trafficked from one region 
to another for the purpose of labor (agriculture and 
service industry), sexual exploitation (prostitution and 
pornography), and begging.  There were also reports from 
NGOs that women with underage children were trafficked 
within a region or a city and the children were forced to 
beg.  Moreover, some mothers pimped their own underage 
daughters or contracted them out to studios producing 
pornographic material. 
 
¶8. (SBU) (21A continued) There is no Ukrainian territory 
outside the control of the GOU. 
 
¶9. (SBU) (21A continued) Estimates vary regarding the 
number of trafficked Ukrainians, but IOM's polling data 
indicated that one in every 10 Ukrainians knew someone in 
their community who had been trafficked.  Ukraine has 
treaties permitting Ukrainian citizens to work abroad 
legally with only a few countries.  It is clear, therefore, 
that the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians who leave the 
country in search of work fall outside these treaties, seek 
work illegally, and are at risk of being trafficked and 
exploited.  Experts from GOUs Institute for Strategic 
Research estimated that at the end of 2004 more than seven 
million Ukrainians worked abroad, with only 500,000 doing 
so legally.  In 2005, IOM provided 720 victims with 
assistance and referred 242 of them to the rehabilitation 
center.  The Ministry of Interior (MOI) reported 446 
victims, including 39 minors, were victims in criminal 
cases last year. 
 
¶10. (SBU) (21A Continued) Figures for trafficking  were 
supplied primarily by international organizations, the MOI, 
the Ministry of Family, Youth and Sport (MFYS), the 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), and other relevant 
Ukrainian government agencies.  Statistics did not reflect 
the full scope of the problem as the numbers tabulated 
reflect only registered victims; i.e., those who had 
returned to Ukraine through the assistance of Ukraine's 
Embassies or international organizations or those who had 
appealed to international organizations or GOU agencies for 
help. 
 
¶11. (SBU) (21A Continued) According to IOM,  groups 
targeted for trafficking remained largely constant: 
females up to 30 years of age (for sexual exploitation) and 
older females (for labor exploitation), males of all ages, 
and children under the age of 16.  The majority of victims 
who received assistance from IOM had been employed at the 
time of their recruitment but with salaries on average of 
less than USD 50 a month, which is low by Ukrainian 
standards. 
 
¶12. (SBU) (21B) Since last year's TIP report the level of 
trafficking and the number of people who were vulnerable to 
being trafficked remained relatively constant.  However, 
the 2005 statistics collected by IOM recorded an increase 
in the number of minors trafficked to Russia for sexual 
exploitation.  Also a new sector for labor exploitation 
came to light in 2005 involving Ukrainians in Russia's 
fishing industry.  Twenty-five Ukrainian men were recruited 
by an employment agency in Mariupol, a city in eastern 
Ukraine, to work on a crabbing trawler in the Russian Far 
East.  The Ukrainians worked 20 hours a day with little 
food and water.  The trawler never came to port and food 
and water were transported to it by another ship.  The 
sailors effectively were imprisoned on the ship.  The 
district prosecutor in Russian's Sakhalin oblast instituted 
a criminal case regarding the labor exploitation of the 
Ukrainian fishermen.  A criminal case regarding human 
trafficking also was initiated in Ukraine against the 
company that recruited them.  Despite the higher numbers in 
2005 and this new area of labor exploitation, the general 
consensus among experts was that trafficking from Ukraine 
had not necessarily grown, but that cooperation had 
increased between international and local NGOs and law 
enforcement bodies, that reporting was improved and that 
awareness had increased overall among officials at all 
levels regarding the problems of trafficking. 
 
¶13. (SBU) (21B continued) The Ukrainian administration 
which came to power following the "Orange Revolution" has 
taken a more assertive stance on TIP relative to previous 
Ukrainian governments.  High-ranking officials, such as the 
Minister of Interior, and the Minister for Family, Youth 
and Sport and Ukraines First Lady have acknowledged 
publicly that TIP is a very serious problem in Ukraine; 
they have called on people to unite in the struggle against 
TIP and to end the narrow thinking that stigmatizes TIP 
victims as  willing participants in their own trafficking. 
In March 2005, the MOI created a Department for Combating 
TIP with over 500 officers assigned throughout Ukraine's 27 
regions dedicated exclusively to investigating TIP cases. 
Funding for MOI TIP efforts increased from UAH 3,440,200 
(USD 681,228) to UAH 9,422,100 (USD 1,865,762).  On January 
12, 2006, Parliament amended Ukraine's Criminal Code to 
harmonize it with the TIP provisions of the UN Palermo 
Convention and Protocol; the changes came into force on 
February 10, 2006.  In April 2006, the Supreme Court is 
scheduled to release guidance for the lower courts 
regarding the new amended Criminal Code as well as its 
assessments of how courts can improve the hearing of TIP 
cases, based on its review of court cases to date. 
 
¶14. (SBU) The one branch of Ukraine's law enforcement 
community that did not take an aggressive approach to 
prosecuting TIP was the General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) 
(Ref B and C).  In response to the Embassy's demarche in 
mid-2005, the GPO elevated TIP to its list of five priority 
crimes.  However, the GPO did not accept the Embassy's 
suggestion that a specialized GPO anti-TIP unit be created. 
The General Prosecutor took the position that Ukraine's 
court prosecutors do not specialize and that the low volume 
of TIP cases did not justify the resource commit necessary 
to create a specialized unit.  Regarding a TIP victim 
witness protection program, the situation in Ukraine 
remained unchanged.  The GOU's position continued to be 
that its limited budget prevented it from developing a 
witness protection program for any criminal offense beyond 
its current practice of providing a two-person protective 
detail for witnesses for the duration of trials, if deemed 
necessary. 
 
¶15. (SBU) (21B continued) Victims were usually trafficked 
into conditions of severe exploitation that include 
beatings, limited and low-quality food, no medical 
assistance, and long work hours.  For instance, the IOM 
reported that women trafficked to Turkey were forced to 
take antibiotics and contraceptives without medical 
oversight which resulted in serious, long-term health 
problems for the victims. 
 
¶16. (SBU) (21B continued) Children were reported to be an 
at-risk group for trafficking.  Street children or children 
from low-income homes or with drug/alcohol dependent 
parents were especially at risk as these children often 
were forced to sell themselves to survive or the parents 
sold their children to recruiters for pornographic 
exploitation or to be trafficked.  According to the network 
End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking 
of Children for Sexual Purposes, 18 percent of street 
children in Ukraine had been victims of sexual violence or 
exploitation.  Another vulnerable category was orphans.  By 
law these children must leave the orphanages at age 18, but 
are afforded only limited social support as they begin 
their independent lives.  Among women engaged in 
prostitution in Ukraine, 11 percent are girls aged 12 to 15 
and 20 percent are aged 16 to 17.  People in rural areas 
were deemed an at-risk group as they had less exposure to 
public information campaigns on the risks of being 
trafficked.  According to data gathered by a social 
research company for IOM, people in rural areas were less 
likely than their urban counterparts to believe they would 
become victims of trafficking and therefore did less due 
diligence on the offers they were made (legal or illegal) 
to work abroad. 
¶17. (SBU) (21B continued) All Ukrainians who went abroad 
illegally to work were at risk of being exploited. 
According to research by the ILO the lack of information on 
how to apply for legal employment abroad made most 
Ukrainians dependent on private intermediaries, who in many 
cases were conduits for trafficking.  The study showed that 
individuals who used trusted social connections or legal 
channels were, for the most part, employed safely abroad, 
whether legally or illegally.  In contrast, the majority of 
forced labor victims had fallen prey to unscrupulous 
intermediaries because they had insufficient knowledge how 
to get legal employment abroad, or how to return if abroad 
illegally but in need of help. 
 
¶18. (SBU) (21B continued) Some employment, travel, marriage 
and model agencies also served as recruitment mechanisms 
for TIP.  As of December 2005, there were 434 companies 
serving as intermediators or helping Ukrainians find jobs 
abroad.  Companies that engaged in trafficking tended to be 
affiliated with organized crime groups, had foreign 
partners, and bribed corrupt officials to facilitate the 
movement abroad of the victims.  The number of males and 
females among these recruitment companies was almost equal. 
Sometimes females served as success stories for potential 
victims by flaunting how much money they ostensibly earned 
abroad.  The majority of the recruiters were Ukrainians. 
It was  quite common for victims to receive offers to go 
abroad from their friends or a friend of a friend and even 
sometimes from relatives. 
 
¶19. (SBU) (21B continued) Traffickers used a variety of 
methods to recruit victims, including ads in newspapers, on 
local television channels, and on radio stations.  Jobs 
s 
advertised abroad offered high salaries relative to  the 
salaries for the same job in Ukraine.  Most often the 
positions advertised required limited qualifications such 
as jobs in the hospitality industry (waiters, bartenders, 
or hotel staff) or in factories.  Another approach was to 
offer fake marriage proposals.  Often traffickers presented 
themselves as friends of other friends, owners of a 
bar/cafe somewhere abroad or friends of such owners and 
deceived potential victims.  The traffickers often paid for 
the processing of passports and travel documents for the 
victims, thus placing them in debt bondage.  In some rare 
cases, traffickers simply kidnapped their victims.  In 
2005, there were several such cases involving minors who 
were trafficked to Russia for sexual exploitation. 
 
¶20. (SBU) (21B continued) In the majority of cases, victims 
traveled on their own passports.  However, false passports 
with false dates of birth were often produced for victims 
under the age of 18 so they would comply with age 
requirements for travel without adult supervision or 
parental consent.  In some cases corrupt border guards 
facilitated the movement of adults and minors across the 
border without any identity documents.  Given the very 
porous nature of Ukraine's border with Russia, undocumented 
travel across the border is relatively easy.  For example, 
law enforcement authorities in the Dnipropetrovsk region 
uncovered an organized crime ring that delivered underage 
virgins to a client in Moscow.  Girls without documents 
were moved across the Ukrainian-Russian border to the 
client in Russia and then returned home two to three days 
later.  A policeman from region's police unit for crimes 
against minors was a member of the ring.  The case is 
currently in court. 
 
¶21. (SBU) (21C) The GOUs ability to address TIP is limited 
by a variety of factors:  a lack of understanding of the 
problem by some government agencies, budget constraints, 
corruption, and the limited period the more progressive 
Ukrainian Government has been in office.  For example, the 
Ministry of Economics did not support the idea of a 
creating new Comprehensive Anti-TIP Program as it did not 
see TIP as a priority issue.  The General Prosecutors 
Office did not agree to establish a special anti-TIP unit 
since it did not believe the problem to be widespread. 
Other government agencies, however, did take the issue 
seriously and did cooperate with international 
organizations and local NGOs in conducting information 
campaigns, hosting seminars and roundtables, and supporting 
reintegration centers, but rarely did this cooperation 
entail substantial financial support as the GOU agencies 
claimed budgetary constraints.  Nevertheless, relative to 
previous years GOU financial contributions have improved, 
albeit incrementally.  The Ministry of Finance reported 
that it allocated in 2005 UAH 1,177,200 (USD 233,109) for 
implementation of the Comprehensive Anti-TIP Program, 
including UAH 145,000 (USD 28,713) from the state budget 
and UAH 1,032,200 (USD 204,396) from local budgets.  MOIs 
Department for Combating TIP and its 27 regional divisions 
received UAH 9,422,100 (USD 1,865,762). 
 
¶22. (SBU) (21C continued) The GOU enacted  positive 
legislative changes and structural changes in the law 
enforcement community.  The process involved extensive 
lobbying with bureaucrats and parliamentary deputies. 
Corruption remains endemic in Ukraine, a fact that the GOU 
has openly acknowledged, and continues to have a 
substantial corrosive effect on the efficiency and 
integrity of government services, including the judiciary 
and law enforcement.  The GOU is struggling to address the 
issue with a variety of new anti-corruption initiatives. 
In 2005, five regional anti-TIP officers within the MOI 
were charged for taking bribes related to TIP.  These cases 
are in the courts. 
 
¶23. (SBU) (21D) The MFYS monitored the implementation of 
the government's Comprehensive Anti-TIP Program for 2002- 
2005 and submitted annual reports as well as a threeyear 
review to the Cabinet of Ministers.  These reports, 
however, were not widely disseminated.  The MOI monitors 
and generates annual statistics on the number of TIP crimes 
committed as well as the number of cases it handled. 
 
Prevention (Ref A Para 22) 
-------------------------- 
 
¶24. (SBU) (22A) The GOU acknowledged that trafficking is a 
problem in Ukraine and increased efforts to fight it.  In 
March 2005, Yushchenko government placed greater emphasis 
on  TIP as an issue of concern for the government.  High- 
ranking GOUs officials, such as the Minister of Interior 
and the Minister for Family, Youth and Sport and Ukraines 
first Lady used the electronic media to educate the public 
on the seriousness and scope of the problem of TIP in 
Ukraine.  In particular, the Minister for Family, Youth, 
and Sport, who is also the GOU's Inter-Agency Coordination 
on 
Council Chairman, and the Minister of Interior spoke out 
publicly against TIP at frequent public events and 
underscored the need to de-stigmatize victims of TIP.  On 
March 30, 2005, MOI raised the status of its TIP unit, 
previously  subsumed within the Criminal Investigation 
Department and responsible for a broad range of issues, to 
a stand-alone Department focused solely on combating TIP. 
Over 500 officers were assigned to country's 27 regional 
administrative units with the sole purpose of investigating 
TIP.  The Ministry of Finance calculated the three-year 
cost of implementing the 2002-2005 Comprehensive Anti-TIP 
Program was UAH 2,466,800 (USD 488,475).  The MFA 
established centers in Ukraine to educate citizens on the 
risks of working abroad illegally.  In 2005, the MFA also 
held in Istanbul a specialized TIP training course for its 
consular officers stationed in the countries of the Black 
Sea region.  The Supreme Court informed the Embassy that it 
was finalizing its analysis of TIP cases and expected to 
circulate it to the country's lower courts in April 2006 in 
order to help judges avoid legal mistakes made in 
adjudicating previous TIP cases. 
 
¶25. (SBU) (22B) According to the GOUs Comprehensive Anti-TIP 
Program for 2002-2005, anti-trafficking responsibilities were 
allotted to the following government agencies:  MFYS, MOI, 
MFA, the Ministry for Education and Sciences, the Ministry of 
Justice, the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, the 
Ministry of Health, the State Security Service (SSU), the 
State Committee for Information, the State Border Guard 
Service (SBGS), the State Committee for Nationalities and 
Migration, and the State Tourism Administration.  The most 
prominent and active GOU agencies in this field in 2005 were 
the MOI, MFYS, and MFA.  The Inter-Agency Coordination 
Council, established in the spring of 2002, coordinated and 
monitored the government's response to TIP, with the 
objective of strengthening the capacity of relevant 
government authorities.  At the regional level, similar 
Coordination Commissions were established and met regularly. 
In 2005, the Council made a tentative recommendation, 
although not endorsed by all Council members, that a National 
Anti-TIP Coordinator be established within the context of the 
new Comprehensive Anti-TIP Program for 2006-2010. 
 
¶26. (SBU) (22C) No information or public education campaign 
in Ukraine in 2005 was exclusively funded or run by the 
government.  As a general rule, the GOU supported campaigns 
funded by bilateral or international donors by placing 
social advertisement on government TV and radio stations 
free of charge.  The Ministry for Education and Science in 
cooperation with the NGO Womens Consortium, the Red Cross, 
and IOM initiated a TIP information campaign to raise 
awareness among both pupils and teachers.  Several 
television stations broadcasted documentary films and 
informational programs highlighting the danger of human 
trafficking.  NGOs conducted general awareness campaigns 
throughout the country at the local level, often in 
cooperation with local government entities.  International 
organizations also enlisted Ukrainian celebrities to 
participate in TIP-prevention information campaigns. 
Ruslana, winner of the 2004 Eurovision contest, supported 
the OSCEs efforts and  Ukraine's most popular signer, 
Vakarchuk, lead vocalist for the pop group Okean Elzy, 
worked with IOM.  At nationally televised events, public 
officials urged their fellow citizens to be supportive of 
TIP victims and to avoid being trafficked. 
 
¶27. (SBU) (22D) MFYS continued to run a number of credit 
programs to support young people such as the "outreach to 
rural youth" and "mortgages for young families."  However, 
the programs' small budgets limited their impact.  The 
Ministry of Labor, along with the State Employment service 
and MFYS, supported a special program entitled "Rural 
Women" aimed at raising education levels of rural women. 
n. 
The State Employment Centers continued to encourage 
unemployed women to start their own small business by 
training them and providing them with a lump sum payment of 
unemployment benefits. 
 
¶28. (SBU) (22F) Good cooperation existed between the 
government and civil society, both at the national and 
local levels.  However, once again, due to the government's 
limited financial resources NGOs usually provided 
necessary assistance to victims, including medical, 
psychological, and legal services.  In some regions, active 
NGOs took the lead in coordinating TIP activities of local 
governmental agencies.  Local administrations included NGOs 
as partner organizations in their regional action plans. 
 
¶29. (SBU) (22G) The State Border Guards Service (SBGS) and 
the MOI are the primary agencies that monitor immigration 
and emigration patterns for evidence of trafficking.  SBGS 
reported that they analyze migration patterns on a monthly 
basis and send the information to MOI, GPO, and the SSU. 
In the fall of 2005, the MOI expanded the Department for 
Combating TIP to include illegal migration. 
 
¶30. (SBU) (22H) The Inter-Agency Coordination Council was 
established in 2002 under the Comprehensive Anti-TIP 
Program.  The Councils task was to coordinate the 
governmental response to TIP.  In December 2004, an 
advisory working group to the Inter-Agency Coordination 
Council was established, and included representatives of 
NGOs and international organizations.  At the regional 
level, similar Coordination Commissions were established. 
Within the law enforcement community, stovepiping of data 
management resulted in insufficient and slow dissemination 
of information.  Timely sharing of information among 
relevant GOU agencies was further hampered by limited 
digital communication capabilities.  Indeed, transfer of 
electronic data within an individual law enforcement agency 
among regions remained extremely limited, slow, and 
unreliable.  In February 2005, the Minster of Interior 
cited constraints on internal communications and corruption 
as the Ministry's two largest problems.  In the second half 
of 2005, MOI, SSU and SBGS agreed that senior officers 
would meet periodically to discuss ways to improve 
information flow and coordination between agencies.  The 
problem of  coordination and data sharing within and among 
Ministries hampered all law enforcement efforts in Ukraine, 
not just efforts to combat TIP. 
 
¶31. (SBU) (22H continued) The National Security and Defense 
Council oversaw the drafting of a concept paper and action 
plan for the creation of an umbrella mechanism for 
prosecuting corruption that drew on Europe's best practices 
and standards.  The paper laid out the principles for 
reforming Ukraine's law enforcement community to comport 
with European Union norms and standards.  The President was 
expected to approve the concept paper by the end of March 
¶2006. 
 
¶32. (SBU) (22J) GOU completed its Comprehensive Anti-TIP 
Program for 2002-2005.  At the end of 2005, the MFYS 
finalized the Concept Paper for the Comprehensive National 
Anti-TIP Program for 2006-2010.  In addition to input from 
government agencies the Concept Paper received input from 
IOM, La Strada, UNDP, ILO and Caritas, as well as local 
NGOs that deal with trafficking.  Once the Cabinet of 
Ministers approves the Concept Paper, a comprehensive 
program will be drafted. 
 
¶33. (SBU) (22J continued) The Comprehensive Anti-TIP 
Program for 2002-2005 was widely disseminated at seminars 
and roundtables organized by the GOU in cooperation with 
international donors; however, the annual assessment 
reports on progress toward implementation received limited 
circulation. 
 
Investigation and Prosecution (Ref A Para 23) 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶34. (SBU) (23A) On January 12, the Parliament passed the 
Law on Changes to the Criminal Code regarding trafficking 
in persons, thus harmonizing Articles 149 (trafficking in 
persons) and 303 (pimping or engaging a person in 
prostitution) with the UN Palermo Convention and its 
Protocol.  The legislation also provided for 
extraterritorial jurisdiction for serious crimes, including 
human trafficking.  On February 3 the law was signed by the 
President and on February 10 it entered into force.  The 
law specifically prohibits trafficking in persons for 
various purposes, including sexual and labor exploitation, 
both internal and transnational.  The new law covers 
recruitment of a person by means of deceit, blackmail, or 
the use of his/her vulnerable condition for the purpose of 
exploitation.  In 2005, trafficking cases were also 
prosecuted under the following articles of the Criminal 
Code of Ukraine:  Articles 150 (exploitation of children), 
190 (fraud), 301 (pornography), 302 (operating brothels and 
pandering) and 303 (pimping). 
 
Text of the new TIP statute follows: 
 
Article 149. Trafficking in human beings or other illegal 
agreement on person 
 
¶1. Trafficking in human beings or other illegal agreement 
with a person as an object, and also recruitment, transfer, 
receipt, transportation, harbouring of a person committed 
for the purpose of exploitation by means of deceit, 
blackmail, or the use of his/her vulnerable condition, 
shall be punishable by deprivation of liberty for a term of 
three to eight years. 
 
¶2. Any such actions as provided for by paragraphs one or 
two of this Article committed in respect to a minor (up to 
18 years of age) or perpetrated upon two or more persons, 
repeatedly or by a group of persons with prior conspiracy, 
or by an official through the abuse of authority, or by a 
person upon whom the victim was dependent materially or 
otherwise, or committed in combination with violence that 
is not endangering life or health of the victim or his/her 
close relatives, or in combination with threats of such 
violence shall be punishable by deprivation of liberty for 
a term of five to twelve years, with or without the 
forfeiture of property. 
 
¶3. Any such actions as provided for by paragraphs one, two 
or three of this Article, committed in respect to a minor 
(up to 14 years of age) or if committed in combination with 
violence that is endangering life or health of the victim 
or his/her close relatives, or in combination with threats 
of such violence or committed by an organized group, or if 
causing grave consequences, shall be punishable by 
deprivation of liberty for a term of eight to fifteen 
years, with or without the forfeiture of property. 
 
Note 1. Exploitation of a person shall be understood as: 
all forms of sexual exploitation, use in pornography 
business, forced labor or services; slavery or practices 
similar to slavery, servitude, involvement into debt 
bondage, extraction of organs, experimentation over a 
person without his/her consent, adoption for commercial 
purposes, forced pregnancy, involvement into the criminal 
activity, use in armed conflicts, etc. 
 
Note 2. Vulnerable condition in the Articles 149 and 303 of 
this Code shall be understood as: the status of a person, 
due to his/her physical or mental peculiarities or external 
conditions, that divests or abridges his/her ability to 
comprehend his/her commission or omission of an act or to 
manage his/her actions, to make his/her own decisions 
according to his/her will, to maintain adequate resistance 
to violent or other illegal actions. 
 
Note 3. Responsibility for recruitment, transfer, receipt, 
transportation, harboring of a minor (up to 14 or 18 years 
of age) according to this Article shall be fixed whether or 
not such actions were committed with use of deceit, 
blackmail, or the use of vulnerable condition of a minor, 
or use or threat of violence, through the abuse of 
authority or by a person upon whom the victim was dependent 
materially or otherwise. 
 
End of Text. 
 
¶35. (SBU) (23B) Article 149 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine 
stipulates that traffickers can be sentenced to three to 15 
years in prison.  There were no specific penalties 
stipulated for a particular method of exploitation. 
 
¶36. (SBU) (23C) Article 152 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine 
stipulates that a convicted rapist can receive a prison 
sentence of three to 10 years, and up to 15 years if the 
case involves a minor or if the rape resulted in 
particularly grave consequences for the victim.  Penalties 
for rape are comparable to the penalties for trafficking. 
 
¶37. (SBU) (23D) Prior to February 10, 2006, prostitution 
was criminalized under Article 303 of the Criminal Code of 
Ukraine.  Currently, prostitution is no longer 
criminalized, but it can be punished as an administrative 
offense and carries a fine of UAH85 (equivalent to USD17) 
to UAH 255 (equivalent to USD50).  The activities of 
brothel owners/operators remained criminalized under 
Article 302, but since it is also now addressed in the 
amended Article 303, most experts believe Article 302 will 
eventually be dropped.  Being a client of a prostitute in 
Ukraine is not a crime. 
 
Text of Article 303 follows: 
 
Article 303.  Pimping or engaging of a person into 
prostitution 
 
¶1. Engaging of a person into or coercion to prostitution 
with use of deceit, blackmail or his/her vulnerable 
condition, or use or threat of violence, or pimping, shall 
be punishable by deprivation of liberty for a term of three 
to eight years. 
 
¶2. Actions stipulated by paragraph one of this Article, 
perpetrated upon two or more persons, or committed 
repeatedly or by a group of persons with prior conspiracy, 
or if committed by an official through an abuse of 
authority, or by a person upon whom the victim was 
dependent materially or otherwise, shall be punishable by 
deprivation of liberty for a term of four to seven years. 
 
¶3. Actions stipulated by paragraphs one or two of this 
Article when committed in respect to a minor (up to 18 
years of age), or by organized group, shall be punishable 
by deprivation of liberty for a term of five to ten years, 
with or without the forfeiture of property. 
 
¶4. Actions provided for by paragraphs one, two, or three of 
this Article, if committed against a minor (up to 14 years 
of age) or when they caused grave consequences, shall be 
punishable by deprivation of liberty of eight to fifteen 
years, with or without the forfeiture of property. 
 
Note 1. Pimping in this article shall be understood as: 
actions of a person that ensure the prostitution of another 
person. 
 
Note 2. Responsibility for engaging or coercing a minor 
into prostitution according to this Article shall be fixed 
whether or not such actions were committed with use of 
deceit, blackmail, or use of vulnerable condition of a 
minor, or use or threat of violence, through the abuse of 
authority or by a person upon whom the victim was dependent 
materially or otherwise. 
 
End of Text. 
 
¶38. (SBU) (23E) The Government normally provides only 
general numbers on the status of criminal cases, e.g., 
whether cases are initiated, pending, or completed.  In 
2005, the MOI reported that it had detected 415 TIP crimes, 
initiated 185 cases, completed 72 criminal investigations, 
charged 138 persons, arrested 99 persons, and submitted 68 
cases to the courts.  Thirty-seven organized criminal 
groups, including 14 with international ties, were 
disrupted.  (Note: According to the Criminal Code, an 
organized criminal group is a group of three or more people 
who commit a premeditated crime with each of the 
individuals engaged in separate elements of the crime; 
e.g., one served as the stakeout, one drove the car, and 
one robbed the bank.  End note.)  In 2005, the courts heard 
95 TIP cases with prosecution obtaining 85 guilty verdicts 
under Article 149.  Of the 115 individuals who were 
convicted, 47 were sentenced to prison terms:  five for 
less than two years, four for two to three years, twenty 
three for three to five years, eleven for five to eight 
years, and four for eight to ten years.  At the time of the 
drafting of this report, 30 criminal cases under Article 
149 were still pending in the courts.  The SSU, in 
cooperation with foreign law enforcement agencies conducted 
a series of TIP investigations, which resulted in 78 
channels of human trafficking being shutdown and 124 
persons being arrested in Ukraine.  As of January 30, 2006, 
the GOU reported that 69 traffickers were currently 
incarcerated. 
 
¶39. (SBU) (23F) According to information provided by 
Ukrainian law enforcement agencies, organized crime groups 
with international connections controlled the trafficking 
routes, while local recruitment was often handled by 
employment, travel, marriage, and modeling agencies.  Small 
crime groups also existed and often looked like and 
operated as family businesses. 
 
¶40. (SBU) (23F continued) In 2005, the Ministry of Labor 
and Social Policy withdrew a limited number of domestic 
employment agencies' licenses because of their involvement 
in trafficking.  The GPO reported that in 2005 there was no 
evidence of government officials involvement in TIP. 
However, five regional anti-TIP officers with the MOI were 
charged with taking bribes related to TIP.  Their cases are 
currently in the courts. 
¶41. (SBU) (23F continued) The bulk of the illegal income 
generated by TIP activities associated with Ukrainian 
victims is accumulated abroad where the exploitation of the 
victim takes place.  Foreign traffickers often send money 
to their accomplices in Ukraine via wire transfers to cover 
the costs of recruitment, processing documents, and bribing 
governmental officials.  The GPO reported that they had no 
information indicating that income received from 
trafficking was being channeled to armed groups or 
terrorists. 
 
¶42. (SBU) (23G) MOI and SSU are the responsible law 
enforcement agencies for investigating TIP cases. 
Ukrainian law permits electronic surveillance, undercover 
operations, and mitigated punishment for suspects who 
cooperate.  Police participation in undercover operations 
is not prohibited by Ukrainian law; however, lack of 
financial resources and corruption hampered the effective 
use of these investigative techniques. 
 
¶43. (SBU) (23H) GOU-financed TIP training was limited to 
weekly professional training seminars for MOI's anti-TIP 
Department officers both in Kiev and in the regions.  Other 
government officials involved with combating TIP, however, 
did participate on a regular basis in training activities 
funded by foreign donors.  The U.S. Embassy launched a 
program with the GOU to develop TIP curricula for the 
Prosecutor's Academy and Judicial Academy.  IOM and OSCE 
also initiated programs to provide TIP training for 
prosecutors and judges.  All three donors closely 
coordinated their efforts to ensure local ownership and to 
avoid duplication. 
 
¶44. (SBU) (23I) The investigation and prosecution of 
trafficking cases in Ukraine requires cooperation with 
other governments, but the effectiveness of this 
cooperation remains limited due to a number of factors:  1) 
the complicated procedures under Mutual Legal Assistance 
Treaties (MLAT), 2) the lack of funding to translate 
documents and correspondence, 3) the legislative 
differences between countries, and 4) the lack of timely 
assistances from officials in some destination countries. 
The latter is a particular issue as under Ukrainian law 
police and prosecutors have two months to build a case once 
an individual is charged; extensions can be granted by the 
court on a case-by-case basis.  The GPO reported that 415 
TIP crimes were uncovered in 2005 and almost all of them 
were investigated in cooperation with other governments. 
 
¶45. (SBU) (23I continued) In 2005, the GPO took steps to 
simplify and accelerate the procedure for sharing evidence 
with its sister agencies in neighboring countries.  It 
negotiated an agreement with its Polish counterpart to 
allow regional prosecutors to convey Mutual Legal 
Assistance (MLA) requests directly to their regional 
counterparts in Poland and vice versa; i.e., not have to 
pass requests through their respective national 
headquarters.  The GPO initiated similar discussions in 
2005 with the Slovak Republic and Hungary, and was also 
engaged in negotiations with the GPOs of Romania and 
Moldova on a three-way compact to enhance cooperation on 
combating transnational organized crime, including TIP. 
 
¶46. (SBU) (23J) The Ukrainian Constitution prohibits the 
extradition of Ukrainian citizens.  The GOU, however, does 
extradite foreign nationals who are charged with 
trafficking in other countries.  In 2005, Vladimir 
Volodarsky, an Israeli citizen and an alleged leader of a 
criminal group, was charged in Israel with trafficking 35 
Ukrainian women for sexual exploitation.  He had been 
placed on an international watch list.  Volodarsky resided 
in Kiev where he engaged in real estate business, and 
allegedly owned a large section of the city's most 
luxurious shopping center.  In March 2005, Volodarsky was 
detained in Kiev; nine months later he was extradited to 
Israel.  Volodarsky fought his extradition claiming he had 
obtained Ukrainian citizenship and thus was exempt under 
Ukraine's Constitution from extradition.  He fought 
extradition because, at the time of his arrest, penalties 
for TIP were more severe in Israel than in Ukraine.  He 
appealed his case to the Supreme Court, but the GOU was 
able to prove that Volodarsky had obtained his Ukrainian 
citizenship illegally.  If convicted in Israel, Volodarsky 
will face a prison sentence of up to 16 years.  The MOI 
official who had assisted Volodarsky to obtain his 
"Ukrainian" citizenship was dismissed.  Interpol and the 
Israeli police took part in the police operation that led 
to his arrest.  According to MOI officials, Volodarsky 
offered a bribe of USD 150,000 to Ukrainian officials to 
release him, but to no effect. 
 
¶47. (SBU) (23J continued) While the Ukrainian Constitution 
prohibits the GOU from extraditing its own citizens. 
Ukrainian law does permit the GOU to extradite foreign 
nationals who are charged with trafficking in other 
countries when an extradition treaty exists between the two 
countries, when the crime was committed within the 
jurisdiction of the country making the request, and when 
trafficking is defined as a crime under the laws of the 
requesting country. 
 
¶48. (SBU) (23K) Post did not receive any official 
information suggesting government involvement in or 
tolerance of trafficking.  At the same time, a prosecutor 
from Chernivtsi shared with the Embassy his view that a TIP 
case was terminated due to high-level intervention.  The 
allegations were also reported in two media outlets, the 
newspaper Svoboda (Freedom) and the Internet news outlet 
Obozrevatel, although a subsequent article in Obozrevatel 
refuted the allegations.  The case involved six brothers 
who were charged with TIP.  They allegedly recruited men 
from Ukraine for employment in the U.S., and facilitated 
their illegal entry into the U.S.  Allegedly they brought 
t 
52 victims into U.S. where they were illegally employed and 
exploited.  From 1999-2003, the alleged criminals tried to 
legalize their income from trafficking.  They transmitted 
more than USD 500,000 abroad, which was later confirmed by 
law enforcement agencies in Poland and Germany.  They also 
bought four gasoline stations, a woodworking enterprise, 
three houses and two cars.  In late 2003, an investigation 
of the case with the assistance of Polish and German law 
enforcement bodies resulted in the arrest of the brothers 
and charges of TIP and money laundering.  Their defense 
attorneys portrayed them as honest businessmen who 
generously helped others get to the U.S. and earn money for 
their families.  The brothers allegedly acknowledged that 
they took part of the trafficked men's salaries but claimed 
it was payment for services rendered.  Their attorneys 
filed a complaint to the Presidents Secretariat claiming 
severe mistreatment of the defendants by SSU officers.  The 
court turned back the case for insufficient evidence, and 
it was sent to the SSU in the Ternopil oblast for further 
investigation where it was eventually closed.  Obozrevatel 
reported that the daughter of one of the defendants told 
their reporter that it was only through the high-level 
intervention at the national level that the brothers in 
2005 were released. 
 
¶49. (SBU) (23L) GPO reported that no government officials 
have been charged with trafficking. 
 
¶50. (SBU) (23M) GOU has not identified child sex tourism as 
a problem.  Information on how many pedophiles were 
prosecuted or deported/extradited to their country of 
origin is not available.  However, NGO experts who work 
with street children reported that there is one place in 
downtown Kiev where foreign pedophiles are known to look 
for children.  Street children know about it and go there 
to earn money. 
 
¶51. (SBU) (23M continued) Amendments to Ukraines Criminal 
Code came into force on February 10, 2006 which initiated 
extraterritorial coverage for serious crimes, including 
human trafficking and child sexual. 
 
¶52. (SBU) (23N) The Ukrainian government has signed and 
ratified the following international instruments: 
ILO Convention 182 concerning the prohibition and immediate 
action for the elimination of the worst forms of child 
labor - ratified, October 5, 2000; 
 
ILO Convention 29 on forced or compulsory labor - ratified 
August 8, 1957; 
ILO Convention 105 on forced or compulsory labor - ratified 
October 5, 2000. 
The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of 
the Child (CRC) on the sale of children, child 
prostitution, and child pornography - ratified April 3, 
¶2003. 
 
The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in 
Persons, especially Women and Children, supplementing the 
UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime - 
ratified February 4, 2004. 
 
Protection and Assistance to Victims (Ref A Para 24) 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶53. (SBU) (24A) Victims of trafficking received various 
types of assistance including medical, psychological, 
legal, job skills training, job placement, micro-credits 
and shelter.  Psychological assistance was widely available 
through state institutions, but medical assistance was 
available only from shelters funded by international 
organizations.  To strengthen the support infrastructure, 
USAID funded an anti-trafficking project implemented by IOM 
to support Ukrainian NGOs, civil society groups and faith- 
based organizations to provide medical and other services 
to TIP victims.  The IOM office in Kiev, in cooperation 
with its missions in destination countries, also provided 
return and reintegration assistance to victims.  State 
Employment Centers provided unemployed women, including TIP 
victims, with job placement and job skills training. 
 
¶54. (SBU) (24A continued) Ukraine has three kinds of victim 
care facilities:  a rehabilitation center (established by 
IOM in Kiev in 2002), six shelters (one run by Caritas in 
Ternopil, and five run by local NGOs with IOM assistance 
under European Commission (EC) funding in Odesa, Lutsk, 
Chernivtsi, Zhytomyr, and Kherson) and a transit shelter 
for non-Ukrainian victims (established in the Black Sea 
port of Odesa by IOM and managed by the local NGO Vira 
Nadia Lyubov).  The rehabilitation center is a medical 
facility that provides comprehensive medical, dental, 
psychological, and gynecological services under one roof. 
It is not intended to be a long-term facility for victims 
of trafficking.  Although lodging and security are 
provided, comprehensive and complex medical assistance is 
the main function of this facility.  The six shelters 
provide accommodations and a secure environment for medium 
to long-term stays while victims receive employment 
training before moving to apartments.  These facilities 
provide medical care, but usually not in-house.  The 
transit center is a short-term facility that provides 
accommodations for victims waiting to return home.  It 
provides emergency medical assistance and a secure 
environment while the victim waits for transportation to be 
arranged. 
 
¶55. (SBU) (24A continued) The MFA continued to assist 
victims in destination countries to return home.  In 2005, 
Ukrainian Consulates repatriated 498 Ukrainian TIP victims. 
The MFA opened six centers for the protection of Ukrainians 
going abroad in Kiev, Lviv, Simferopol, Uzhgorod, Odesa and 
Donetsk.  The centers provided free consultations to 
Ukrainian citizens regarding their rights abroad. 
 
¶56. (SBU) (24B) In 2005, MFYS worked with IOM to implement 
an EC-funded project to open shelters in Odesa, Lutsk, 
Chernivtsi, Kherson and Zhytomyr.  The buildings for  the 
centres were provided by the local administration for 
nominal rents and the NGOs used the EC funding with IOMs 
support to renovate the facilities.  In some cases, local 
administrations agreed to cover the expenses related to the 
hiring of a social worker for the shelter. 
¶57. (SBU) (24C) The SSU screened all persons repatriated or 
deported to the Black Sea port of Odesa; if a person was 
identified as a potential TIP victim, regardless of 
nationality, the SSU referred the victim to the appropriate 
shelter.  At the international airport in Kiev, the MOI's 
Department for Combating TIP fulfills this function. 
¶58. (SBU) (24C continued) MFA conducted regular refresher 
trainings for its diplomats on how to accelerate the 
process for confirming the identity and citizenship of a 
Ukrainian trafficking victim and how to provide them with 
appropriate travel documents to return to Ukraine. 
Ukrainian consular officers were also under instructions to 
maintain good working relations with IOM offices in their 
respective countries of duty.  The simplified procedures 
for facilitating returns were introduced in 2003 and are 
updated annually.  When a victim of trafficking approaches 
a Ukrainian Embassy or Consulate, the Ukrainian diplomat 
refers the victim to IOM to ensure the victim is safe from 
being re-trafficked.  Ukrainians victims are repatriated to 
Ukraine by commercial air.  An IOM staff member escorts the 
victim to the airport and accompanies the victim until s/he 
is seated on the airplane.  When they arrive in Ukraine, 
the victim is met at the airport and depending on his/her 
wish is escorted to the IOM's rehabilitation center.  The 
Ukrainian government has actively supported this procedure. 
 
¶59. (SBU) (24D) Up until February 10, 2006, under the old 
Article 303 of the Criminal Code, victims of trafficking 
could be prosecuted for prostitution.  The GOU, however, 
never exercised this option during the reporting period. 
TIP victims are also by law immune from prosecution for 
illegally crossing the state border.  The law reads that 
any person who is confirmed to have suffered a crime 
because of their illegal movement across the Ukrainian 
border shall be treated as a victim of the crime.  However, 
victims' rights are often abridged during court hearings in 
which female trafficking victims are still often 
characterized as prostitutes, a common tactic of defence 
lawyers, and thus victims are denied rights of 
confidentiality and respect for dignity.  An unsympathetic 
 
SIPDIS 
attitude towards TIP victims is also common among 
prosecutors and judges. 
 
¶60. (SBU) (24E) The GOU has legislation in place that 
should facilitate and encourage victims to assist in the 
investigation and prosecution of trafficking, but the lack 
of resources has hampered the effective utilization of this 
legislation.  According to the provisions of the Code of 
Criminal Procedure and the Law on Protection of Individuals 
Involved in Criminal Proceedings there are four ways in 
which concerns related to testifying may be addressed 
within the Ukrainian criminal justice system:  closed 
hearing, court hearing held via a camera, witness testimony 
given in the absence of the defendant, and witness being 
relieved of the obligation to report to a court hearing 
provided that they confirm their previous testimony in 
writing.  Article 52 of the Criminal Procedure Code of 
Ukraine also allows for victims who acted as witnesses in 
criminal proceedings to be represented by an attorney at 
the trial in order to ensure the protection of their 
rights.  Since most victims cannot afford their own legal 
representation IOM has assisted in this matter. 
 
¶61. (SBU) (24E continued) Ukraines Code of Criminal 
Procedure grants victims of crimes the right to claim civil 
compensation for material and/or moral damages suffered as 
a result of the crime.  A victims claim for civil 
compensation may be handled either as a part of the 
criminal proceedings against the accused or through a 
separate civil proceeding.  As a rule, criminal law judges 
did not allow civil suits to be handled simultaneously with 
the criminal case.  Victims had to initiate a separate 
civil procedure, thus reliving their trauma.  Nevertheless, 
, 
several victims pursued the civil suit route and received 
damage compensation in the amount of UAH 500-1000 
(equivalent to USD 100-200).  Since the GOU was not able to 
fund adequately the witness protection provisions mentioned 
above, the majority of victims of trafficking were not 
willing to come forward and report the crime they suffered. 
A poll of  victims cited as the main reasons for victims 
unwillingness to come forward:  1) belief that the judicial 
system was corrupt, 2) fear of retaliation from 
traffickers, 3) belief that it would be difficult to prove 
they had been trafficked, 4) drawn out court proceedings 
that would delay their ability to move forward with their 
lives, and 5) inadequate physical protection. 
 
¶62. (SBU) (24F) Despite the requirement established in the 
Comprehensive Anti-TIP Program for 2002-2005 that the GOU 
create efficient mechanisms for protecting victims in 
criminal court proceedings, the only forms of victim 
protection currently existing under Ukrainian law were 
those outlined above in the Law on the Protection of 
Individuals Involved in Criminal Proceedings.  Victims of 
trafficking were not singled out in terms of witness 
protection.  Few crime victims in general were provided 
protective measures. 
 
¶63. (SBU) (24F continued) The GOU did not fund any shelters 
directly, but did support a few by providing access to 
facilities or by providing in-kind logistical support.  For 
example, the premises for all six shelters are provided by 
local administrations at a nominal fee.  In some regions, 
local administrations have paid the expenses to hire a 
social worker for the center. 
 
¶64. (SBU) (24F continued) The GOU has 95 temporary shelters 
for homeless children; however, these shelters do not have 
any specialized programs or services for children who have 
been trafficked. 
 
¶65. (SBU) (24G) The GOU, in cooperation with international 
organizations, provided specialized training for 
investigators, prosecutors and judges on how to investigate 
and prosecute trafficking cases.  MOI held regular meetings 
and training sessions for its anti-trafficking units 
throughout the country.  The GOU also actively cooperated 
with foreign donors, international organizations, and NGOs 
on improving skill levels of law enforcement officers, 
including victim sensitivity training.  With the support of 
IOM, regional seminars were held in five cities of Ukraine 
for representatives of MOI, prosecutors, and judges. 
 
¶66. (SBU) (24G continued) The GOU addressed the special 
needs of trafficked children in the framework of a Project 
with ILO funded by the USG and the German Government. 
Thus, in January 2006, training for social workers and 
psychologists from state institutions on how to work with 
child victims of trafficking was conducted by the NGO 
Womens Consortium. 
 
¶67. (SBU) (24G continued) In 2005 the MFA distributed 
special instructions related to the protection and 
assistance of victims of trafficking to all Ukrainian 
consulates abroad.  In addition, consular officers were 
required to receive special training where TIP issues were 
addressed before assuming overseas assignments.  In 2005, 
the MFA also brought together all of its consular officials 
from its missions in the Black Sea region to Istanbul for 
specialized TIP training. 
 
¶68. (SBU) (24G continued) The MFA reported that consular 
officers in destination countries had developed good 
relations with IOM offices and local NGOs supporting 
victims of trafficking.  IOM has confirmed this to be true. 
 
¶69. (SBU) (24H) See answers to question A in section 21. 
 
¶70. (SBU) (24I) IOM, OSCE, Caritas and La Strada Ukraine 
have offices in Ukraine currently implementing anti-TIP 
projects.  IOM is implementing a two-year project funded by 
USAID aimed at strengthening local NGOs, civil society 
groups, and faith-based organizations that work with TIP 
victims.  La Strada-Ukraine supported 24-hour hotlines for 
victims of trafficking and domestic violence in almost all 
of the regions of Ukraine.  There were also a number of 
local NGOs that dealt exclusively with TIP, with the most 
active being Revival of the Nation (Ternopil), "Vira 
Nadia Lyubov" (Odesa) and "Women of Donbas" (Luhansk). 
They provided support to Ukrainian victims of trafficking 
and to individuals who were trafficked to Ukraine or were 
passing through Ukraine from a former Soviet republic. 
Between March 2004 and January 2006, the international NGO 
Caritas provided 27 victims of trafficking with 
reintegration assistance.  Another 130 women received 
reintegration assistance without staying at the Caritas run 
shelter.  Caritas also established a network of counseling 
centers which provide social services to trafficked women 
in Khmelnytsky, Ivano-Frankivsk, Sokal, and Drohobych. 
Between January 2004 and January 2006 these centers 
provided 1,937 consultations regarding the prevention of 
trafficking.  Another 31 smaller NGOs facilitated 
cooperation between victims, communities, and law 
w 
enforcement organizations in addressing trafficking issues. 
Local NGOs, drawing on their own resources, foreign donor 
assistance, and the support of local administrations 
continued to serve as key partners in preventing 
trafficking and supporting the special needs of TIP victims 
to reintegrate back into the life of their communities. 
NGOs also operated 18 regional hotlines for trafficking 
victims in different cities. 
 
¶71. (U) The Embassy point of contact for this report is the 
Head of the Law Enforcement Section, Michael Scanlan.  He 
may be reached by email (ScanlanMD@state.gov), telephone 
(+38-44-490-4396), fax (+38-44-490-4081) or IVG 
 
¶72. (U) The following personnel time was spent on this 
report: 
 
-INL officer  20 hours 
-INL Assistant  60 hours 
-Political Counselor - 1 hours 
-Executive Office - 3 hours 
 
This accounting does not include time spent working on 
posts interim assessment submission, the TIP component to 
the Human Right Report or TIP spot reporting or program 
rogram 
implementation and coordination. 
 
Herbst