VZCZCXYZ0002
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHRL #1504/01 1531607
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 021607Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3418
INFO RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L BERLIN 001504 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/AGS, EUR/PGI, G/TIP, DRL/IL, INL/HSTC, AND PRM 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 6/1/16 
TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN KJUS SMIG ELAB PREL PGOV GM
SUBJECT: GERMAN PARLIAMENT TO CONSIDER LEGISLATION 
CRIMINALIZING CLIENTS OF TIP VICTIMS 
 
REF: A. MUNICH 113 
     ¶B. 05 BERLIN 4080 
     ¶C. GOODRICH/CONWAY EMAIL 06/01/06 
 
Classified By: EMIN Robert F. Cekuta for reasons 1.4 
(b) and (d). 
 
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Summary 
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¶1. (SBU) A German Government opinion welcomed the objectives 
of a Bundesrat bill to criminalize clients who knowingly or 
recklessly patronize victims of trafficking in persons (TIP). 
 As a Justice Ministry official pointed out, the Merkel 
Government's November 2005 Coalition Agreement supports 
implementing measures to compel clients of TIP victims to 
come forward.  Some NGOs, however, argue the initiative will 
actually discourage clients of TIP victims from notifying 
police.  The Bundesrat bill also calls for the repeal of 2002 
amendments to the German penal code that decriminalized the 
promotion of prostitution.  Proponents of the Bundesrat bill 
argue the 2002 measures stripped police of the authority to 
conduct snap inspection of brothels.  Others argue police 
continue to use other legal grounds to monitor, inspect, and 
raid brothels.  The Government opinion said it would wait for 
the results of a study commissioned by the Family Ministry to 
analyze the effects of the penal code amendments and other 
provisions of 2002 legislation that regularized prostitution. 
 The measure will now be referred to the Bundestag for 
further consideration, most likely after the release of the 
Family Ministry study, expected in late 2006.  End Summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
Government Supports Criminalizing Clients of TIP Victims 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
¶2. (C) The German government issued an opinion April 26 
supporting the objectives of a bill passed by the Bundesrat 
-- the upper house of the German parliament -- to criminalize 
clients who knowingly or recklessly patronize trafficking 
victims.  The legislation was tabled by the Bavarian 
delegation and had long been a priority for the Bavarian 
Justice Ministry (ref A).  Federal Justice Ministry Criminal 
Law Desk Officer Perdita Kroeger told us the Merkel 
Government, since its inception, had supported measures to 
compel clients of TIP victims to come forward.  She noted the 
November 2005 Coalition Agreement called for legislation 
criminalizing clients who knowingly or recklessly purchase 
the sexual services of TIP victims.  As reported ref B, the 
Ministry of Justice has been considering measures to require 
clients of a prostitute to notify the authorities if they had 
reason to believe the prostitute was being forced to engage 
in the activity in late 2005. 
 
¶3. (SBU) According to Christian Democratic Union/Christian 
Social Union of Bavaria (CDU/CSU) parliamentary staffer Joerg 
Boehl, a new penal code provision punishing clients of TIP 
victims is not strictly necessary, but would give prosecutors 
an additional tool to fight TIP.  He noted clients of TIP 
victims could already be prosecuted for rape, kidnapping, 
aiding or abetting trafficking or abduction, or under German 
laws requiring individuals to assist others in need.  Some 
NGOs have opposed criminalizing clients of victims. 
According to Nivedita Prassad of Ban Ying, a Berlin-based NGO 
that provides counseling and assistance to TIP victims, 
criminalizing clients of TIP victims would reduce the number 
of clients willing to come forward to help TIP victims. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
Parliament to Consider Merits of 2002 Penal Code Amendments 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
¶4. (C) The Bundesrat bill also calls for repealing amendments 
to the German penal code that decriminalized the promotion of 
prostitution.  The amendments were included in 2002 
legislation regulating prostitution (see para 6).  According 
to Boehl, the CDU/CSU supports restoring penal code 
provisions criminalizing the promotion of prostitution, but 
opposes any sort of ban on the purchase of commercial sex. 
He said the purpose of the bill was to strengthen police 
authority to conduct snap inspections of brothels without 
advance notice.  Boehl noted some police officials held the 
2002 amendments decriminalizing the promotion of prostitution 
effectively stripped police of that authority.  Others, 
including Federal Family Ministry and Federal Interior 
Ministry officials, argue police post-2002 have used other 
grounds, such as noise violations, reports of theft or 
violence, or suspicions of under-age prostitutes, illegal 
migrants, or TIP victims present in the brothel to monitor, 
 
search, and raid brothels.  Federal Interior Ministry Desk 
Officer for Organized Crime and TIP Gernot Achsnich said 
local health and trade authorities in most German cities, as 
well as immigration officials, also monitor brothels and 
share concerns about illegal activity with local police and 
criminal investigators.  He said many police investigations 
are launched on the basis of tips from the general public. 
 
¶5. (U) The Government opinion noted the Federal Family 
Ministry had commissioned a study to evaluate the effects of 
the 2002 legislation and said the government would use the 
results of that study to guide future action, including 
possible additional steps to regulate brothels.  The Family 
Ministry expects to release the study later this year.  Green 
party Member of Parliament Irmingard Schewe-Gerik, in a press 
release issued June 2, argued it was premature to consider 
repealing the 2002 amendments to the penal code and urged the 
Family Ministry to expedite the release of its study. 
 
--------------------------------- 
What Did the 2002 Legislation Do? 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (C) Before 2002, Section 180(a) of the German penal code 
criminalized the actions of persons who (informal Embassy 
translation) "professionally maintain or manage an operation 
in which persons engage in prostitution and in which: (1) 
those persons are held in personal or financial dependency; 
or (2) the exercise of prostitution is promoted by measures 
which go beyond merely furnishing a dwelling, a place to say, 
or a residence and the additional services normally 
associated therewith."  The 2002 legislation eliminated the 
second subsection so that Section 180(a), as amended, 
criminalizes only the exploitation of prostitutes, 
specifically the actions of those who "professionally 
maintain or manage an operation in which persons engage in 
prostitution and in which those persons are held in personal 
or financial dependency."  As Justice Ministry rep Kroeger 
explained, before 2002 it was not only unlawful to exploit a 
prostitute, but also to promote prostitution by operating a 
brothel or even ensuring hygienic working conditions. 
 
¶7. (U) The 2002 law also narrowed the criminal offense of 
pimping -- Section 181(a) -- to "impairing the personal or 
economic independence of another person by facilitating that 
person's engagement in prostitution."  The 2002 legislation 
also gave prostitutes the legal right to enforce contracts 
for sexual services and access to health insurance, social 
security benefits, and, in rare cases, unemployment benefits. 
 (NOTE: The 2002 legislation did not legalize prostitution in 
Germany.  Prostitution has been legal throughout Germany 
since the nineteenth century.  END NOTE) 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
Family Ministry Previews Study Evaluating 2002 Law 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶8. (C) According to Federal Family Ministry Deputy Director 
General for Women's Issues Renate Augstein, independent 
researchers interviewed NGO representatives, law enforcement 
officials, prosecutors, local authorities, and prostitutes. 
She said the study's preliminary conclusions indicated the 
2002 legislation had not had a significant effect on 
regulation of prostitution in Germany or improved working 
conditions for prostitutes.  She said the legislation should 
be viewed as only the first step in a long-term effort to 
"bring prostitution out of the shadows."  She explained the 
law was a political compromise and, therefore, only a 
"half-step." 
 
¶9. (C) Because the legislation did not explicitly label 
prostitution as moral or immoral, Augstein said, it had done 
little to address the ambiguity with which some local 
government authorities view prostitution.  She asserted most 
cities had not changed the ways they regulate prostitution 
and therefore prostitution remains largely underground.  In a 
small number of cities, such as Frankfurt and Dortmund, 
Augstein said, police and local authorities formed 
"round-table" working groups with NGOs and even brothel 
owners to discuss improving working conditions and combating 
TIP.  In cities that have instituted these round-tables, she 
said, conditions for prostitutes have improved.  Brothel 
owners have agreed to provide better working conditions, and 
prostitutes and NGOs feel more comfortable working with 
police.  Augstein said the study would probably recommend 
that Germany change its trade laws to require brothels to 
obtain special licenses that will require demonstrated and 
sustained compliance with not only TIP laws but also 
regulations on working conditions and benefits. 
 
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Next Steps 
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¶10. (SBU) According to parliamentary staffer Sabine Sprywald, 
the draft bill will now move to the Bundestag -- parliament's 
lower house -- for consideration.  After a first reading, the 
bill will be referred to the body's Judiciary Committee. 
Sprywald did not expect the Committee would turn its 
attention to the measure until after the Family Ministry 
study is released later this year. 
 
BAUMAN