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Leza L Olson  09/01/2006 08:42:00 AM  From  DB/Inbox:  Leza L Olson

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UNCLAS        TEL AVIV 03482

SIPDIS
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    ACTION: POL
    INFO:   IPSC PD IMO RES ECON DCM DAO AMB AID ADM RSO
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APPROVED: AMB:JONES
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INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 003482 
 
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PLEASE PASS TO NEA/IPA AND G/TIP. 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM IS
SUBJECT: KNESSET SPEAKER ITZIK DETAILS GOI ANTI TRAFFICKING 
EFFORTS 
 
REF: TEL AVIV 2784 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  SUMMARY  In follow-up to their July 12 meeting, 
Speaker of the Knesset Dalia Itzik sent Ambassador Jones a 
letter detailing Knesset anti-trafficking actions, including 
two new laws that strengthen enforcement and provide 
trafficking victims the right to legal aid provided by the 
state.  Itzik also wrote about amendments to the Israeli 
Criminal Code that, if passed as anticipated, will broaden 
the definition of trafficking in people to include labor 
trafficking, involuntary servitude and trafficking in body 
parts, and sent the Ambassador an English translation of a 
Parliamentary report on trafficking in women.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  Itzik described two laws related to trafficking 
that were passed during the 16th Knesset.  The first was an 
amended 2003 Law against Trafficking in People that applies 
the Israeli criminal code to crimes committed by Israelis in 
countries where trafficking in people is not considered a 
crime; imposes minimum four-year sentences for trafficking in 
people, with increases up to 16 years if the victim is a 
minor; accelerates the court process to take early testimony 
from victims in order to allow -- not require -- their 
repatriation as soon as possible; and gives trafficking 
victims the right to legal aid provided by the state.  The 
second law enables law enforcement authorities to shut down 
brothels. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  Itzik's letter also discussed two amendments 
prohibiting trafficking in people in ways other than for 
prostitution.  The bills, which passed on first reading in 
November and December 2005, would criminalize forced labor, 
baby trafficking, and organ trafficking; establish maximum 
sentences up to 20 years; add additional measures, such as 
confiscating property and using the proceeds to finance 
enforcement efforts and protection of victims; authorize 
special conditions for hearings, such as proceedings in 
camera; and establish assistance programs for victims of 
trafficking, such as enabling the Minister of the Interior to 
allow a trafficking victim to remain legally in Israel for 
humanitarian reasons.  Itzik wrote that discussion of the 
combined bill has been given priority by the Knesset 
Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, and that the 
committee chairman has stated his intention of completing the 
legislation process on human trafficking by the end of the 
summer recess.  The bill was passed by committee August 23, 
although an objection on expanding legal aid to all 
trafficking victims -- due according to GOI sources to budget 
issues -- has been raised.  Once the legal aid question is 
resolved, the bill will be put in plenary for first reading, 
probably in October. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Emphasizing that the Knesset takes a "very serious" 
approach to eliminating human trafficking, Itzik asserted 
that the parliamentary inquiry committee on trafficking in 
women established in 2000 -- which became a parliamentary 
sub-committee in 2005 -- has greatly reduced trafficking in 
women.  In conclusion, Itzik wrote that the committee is now 
expanding its scope to include the other forms of trafficking 
described earlier, and reiterated that -- along with 
enforcement -- protection of victims is a priority. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Itzik also sent an English translation of the 
January 2006 report of the Knesset Sub-Committee on 
Trafficking in Women chaired by Zehava Galon.  The "Report on 
Implementation of the Recommendations of the Parliamentary 
Inquiry Committee on Traffic in Women 2000-2004" details 
responsibilities of various agencies in combating 
trafficking, and highlights recent GOI accomplishments in 
combating trafficking, some of which were included in Itzik's 
letter and already noted. 
 
-- The GOI appointed an inter-ministerial coordinator for 
government efforts to combat trafficking. 
 
-- The Legal Aid Department of the Ministry of Justice 
expanded legal aid to include all trafficking victims, 
including women being held in Immigration Authority Detention 
Centers or Prisons. 
 
-- The estimated number of women smuggled into Israel for 
prostitution declined from 3,000 to "a few hundred." 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The report also offered a number of 
recommendations. 
 
-- The GOI must take the next step and make the coordinator 
position permanent.  (This has been done since the report was 
written.) 
 
-- Reduce the number of plea bargains and increase the length 
of sentences and the amount and number of compensation awards. 
 
-- The police should "work at wiping out the attitude that 
prostitution and pimping are necessary evils, since this 
approach often prevents law enforcement." 
 
-- All victims of trafficking should be sent to a shelter, 
whether they testify or not, and authority to determine which 
women will be sent to a shelter should be removed from the 
police. 
 
¶7.  (U)  The government agencies responsible for various 
elements of GOI anti-trafficking efforts also offered 
responses to the recommendations and brief summaries of their 
actions. 
 
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JONES