VZCZCXRO2884
RR RUEHDBU RUEHLN RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHYE #0960/01 2000648
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 190648Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY YEREVAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3545
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHDE/AMCONSUL DUBAI 0044
RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI 0034
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 1081

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 YEREVAN 000960 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR G/TIP, DRL AND EUR/CARC 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KTIP KCRM HTSC AM
SUBJECT: ARMENIA DRAMATICALLY INCREASES PENALTIES FOR 
TIP RELATED CRIMES 
 
YEREVAN 00000960  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
Sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly. 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1. (SBU) Recent changes in Armenia's Criminal Code 
significantly increase penalties for trafficking in 
persons (TIP), making them commensurate with penalties 
for crimes such as rape.  The Prosecutor General 
initiated the amendments, which took effect July 16. 
The changes attempt to distinguish between trafficking 
and organizing prostitution, or pimping.  We hope the 
government's interagency Anti-TIP Commission will use 
this opportunity to increase public awareness of the 
strengthened penalties and TIP issues in general.  Anti- 
trafficking case data that recently appeared in 
Armenia's press tracks with preliminary data given to 
us by the Prosecutor General's Office.  Armenian law 
enforcement investigated 17 cases of trafficking and 
pimping during the first six months of 2006 (Note: This 
could represent an increase, as law enforcement 
investigated 30 new cases in all of 2005).  Two NGOs 
that work on anti-TIP reported they had assisted 12 
victims of trafficking between March 1 and July 1.  End 
Summary. 
 
--------------------------- 
TIP DEFINED MORE EXPLICITLY 
--------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) The changes to the Criminal Code were adopted 
June 1, but took effect July 16, after the president 
signed them.  In developing the amendments, the 
Prosecutor General's Office cooperated with the OSCE, 
particularly with ODIHR (Office for Democratic 
Institutions and Human Rights), which enthusiastically 
supported the changes.  Full text of the new statute is 
below at paragraph seven. 
 
¶3. (U) Before the changes, the Code contained one 
article on trafficking (132) and two articles related 
to prostitution (261 and 262).  In addition to amending 
those statutes, the Prosecutor General's Office added a 
new TIP statute, 132-1, which punishes human 
exploitation.  The revisions to Article 132 punish 
trafficking acts leading to that exploitation (i.e. 
recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or 
receipt of a person).  The prostitution statutes, 
Articles 261 and 262, deal only with those cases of 
recruitment of prostitutes and organization of 
prostitution, which do not contain the elements of 
Articles 132 and 132-1.  This differentiation is 
significant, representing an attempt to make the 
provisions more concrete, and limiting the potential 
for widely varying interpretations of the law. The full 
text of the amended trafficking articles is below in 
paragraph seven. 
 
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NEW PENALTIES EQUIVALENT TO THOSE FOR RAPE 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶4. (U) The amended articles remove correctional labor 
and fines from the list of possible penalties for those 
convicted of TIP crimes.  Under the new legislation, 
the applicable prison term ranges from three to 15 
years, depending on the aggravating circumstances. 
(Note: The penalty for rape is also three to 15 years, 
depending on the circumstances.  End Note.)  The 
increased penalties also have had the effect of bumping 
trafficking crimes up into the category of "grave" and 
"especially grave" crimes.  According to the Armenian 
Criminal Code, those convicted of "grave" and 
"especially grave" crimes must serve at least half of 
their sentence, rather than one-third of their 
sentences, as was the case prior to the amendments. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
UPDATED STATISTICS ON TIP VICTIMS AND CONVICTIONS 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶5. (SBU) According to the Armenian Prosecutor General's 
Office, Armenian law enforcement has investigated 17 
cases related to sexual exploitation in the first half 
 
YEREVAN 00000960  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
of 2006.  Five of those cases involved trafficking, and 
the other 12 involved pimping.  (Note: Because these 
cases were prosecuted before the statutes were revised, 
it is possible that some of the 12 cases prosecuted 
under the pimping statutes were actually instances of 
trafficking.  End Note.)  The cases involved 75 women 
victims, 24 of whom were involved in the trafficking 
convictions (four in Armenia, 16 in the UAE, and four 
in Turkey). The remaining 51 women were involved in the 
pimping cases (10 in Armenia, 39 in the UAE, and two in 
Turkey). 
 
¶6. (SBU) NGOs Hope and Help and the United Methodist 
Committee on Relief (UMCOR) reported that they have 
identified and helped 12 victims between March 1 and 
July 1.  Of these 12 victims, nine were trafficked to 
Turkey and three to the United Arab Emirates.  Armenian 
law enforcement bodies referred five of the 12 victims 
to the NGOs.  Two were referred by the Prosecutor 
General's office, and one each by the National Security 
Service (NSS), police, and border guards.  According to 
preliminary data provided by Senior Prosecutor Armen 
Boshnaghyan, between March 1 and July 1 there were two 
convictions under the trafficking statute resulting in 
two and four years of imprisonment; two more cases are 
currently pending in court. 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶7. (SBU) While the legal changes are encouraging, as 
always, it will be the GOAM's approach to 
implementation that will show how serious it is about 
punishing traffickers.  We hope the GOAM's interagency 
Anti-TIP Commission will take advantage of the 
opportunity to publicize the harsher penalties and 
increase public awareness of the trafficking issue. 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
FULL TEXT OF THE AMENDED TRAFFICKING ARTICLES 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (U) Below is the full text of the amended Article 
132 and the new Article 132-1 translated by post: 
 
Article 132: Recruitment, transportation, transfer, 
harboring or receipt of persons with the aim of 
exploitation. 
 
¶1. Recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or 
receipt of persons by means of threat or use of non- 
life- or health-threatening violence; or by means of 
other forms of coercion, abduction, deception, abuse of 
a position of vulnerability; or by giving or receiving 
payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person 
having control over the person with the aim of 
exploitation; shall be punished with imprisonment from 
three to six years. 
 
¶2. Recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or 
receipt of persons with the aim of exploitation 
committed against 1) a person under 18; 2) a person who 
does not completely or partially understand the nature 
and character of his/her act due to mental disorder, or 
who is deprived of the ability to control it; shall be 
punished with imprisonment from seven to 10 years. 
 
¶3. Acts stipulated under parts 1 or 2 of this Article 
committed 1) against two or more persons; 2) by a prior 
agreement between a group of people; 3) by the use of 
an official post; 4) by a threat or use of violence in 
peril of person's life or health; shall be punished 
with imprisonment from seven to 10 years. 
 
¶4. Acts stipulated under parts 1 or 2 of this Article 
1) that are committed by an organized group; or 2) that 
have caused death or other grave consequences by 
negligence, shall be punished with imprisonment from 10 
to 15 years. 
 
¶5. In this Article exploitation of persons shall be 
deemed: forcing others to engage in prostitution or 
other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or 
services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, and 
taking of organs or tissues of a person. 
 
YEREVAN 00000960  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
Article 132-1: Forcing (engaging or keeping) a person 
into prostitution or other forms of sexual 
exploitation, forced labor or services, or slavery or 
practices similar to slavery. 
 
¶1. Forced prostitution or other forms of sexual 
exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or 
practices similar to slavery, by means of threat or non- 
life- or health-threatening violence; or by other forms 
of coercion, abduction, deception, abuse of a position 
of vulnerability; or by giving or receiving payments or 
benefits to achieve the consent of a person having 
control over the person; shall be punished with 
imprisonment from five to 10 years. 
 
¶2. The same act committed 1) against a person under 18; 
2) against a person who does not completely or 
partially understand the nature and character of 
his/her act due to  mental disorder or is deprived of 
the ability to control it; 3) against two or more 
persons; 4) by a prior agreement between a group of 
people; 5) by the use of an official post; 
6) by life- or health-threatening violence; shall be 
punished with imprisonment from seven to 12 years. 
 
¶3. Acts stipulated under parts 1 or 2 of this Article 
1) that are committed by an organized group; or 2) that 
have caused death or other grave consequences by 
negligence, shall be punished with imprisonment from 12 
to 15 years. 
 
EVANS