VZCZCXRO9016
PP RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHLH RUEHPW
DE RUEHCI #0039/01 0370940
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 060940Z FEB 07
FM AMCONSUL KOLKATA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1381
INFO RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 0535
RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI 0541
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 1275
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 0334
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 0333
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0024
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0030
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 0262
RUEHPW/AMCONSUL PESHAWAR 0078
RUEHKP/AMCONSUL KARACHI 0101
RUEHLH/AMCONSUL LAHORE 0104
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 0141
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 1704

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KOLKATA 000039 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR G/TIP, DRL, SCA/INS 
DEPT OF LABOR FOR ILAB 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SOCI PINR IN
SUBJECT: USG SUPPORT FOR ANTI-TRAFFICKING EFFORTS STRONG, 
PROSECUTIONS REMAIN ELUSIVE 
 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary:  On January 18, DCM visited anti-trafficking 
non-governmental organization (NGO) Apne Aap's shelter at 
Topsia, located in a Muslim neighborhood that is one of 
Kolkata's poorest slums.  DCM interacted with Apne Aap leaders 
and spoke with Deputy Public Prosecutor Taj Mohammed about the 
establishment of a new legal cell at the Topsia shelter.  The 
creation of the legal cell, which will function both as a legal 
clinic and as a repository of information related to 
trafficking, violence against women, and child labor, 
demonstrates that there is ongoing and increasing cooperation 
between the Government of West Bengal (GOWB) and NGOs.  The 
visit of the G/TIP program officer and the INL Director provided 
a follow-on opportunity to discuss law enforcement related 
trafficking in persons (TIP) issues.  Difficulties in building 
cases under the Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act (ITPA) remain 
an obstacle to real progress, as stakeholders search for a 
solution to get around legal uncertainty, institutional 
corruption, and limited resources.  End Summary. 
 
-------------------------- 
DCM Highlights USG Efforts 
-------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) On January 18 DCM visited a shelter run by national NGO 
Apne Aap for women and children victims of trafficking and 
violence.  The shelter, located in one of Kolkata's poorest 
Muslim neighborhoods, recently established a legal cell - a 
place for women to receive legal support, victim's assistance, 
and information about their legal rights.  Apne App's Executive 
Director, Ruchira Gupta, flew from New Delhi to give the DCM a 
tour of the shelter, where he interacted with children attending 
classes in reading and writing.  (Note:  Gupta won an Emmy for 
investigative journalism for the documentary on trafficking in 
persons "The Selling of Innocents" and has testified about human 
trafficking before the U.S. Senate.  End Note.)  Deputy Director 
of Prosecution in Kolkata Taj Mohammed provided DCM an overview 
of the new legal cell, which is being staffed by volunteer 
attorneys and law students from the National University of 
Juridical Sciences.  At a press conference from the rooftop of 
the shelter (which was covered by four television channels, 
including Doordarshan with an estimated total viewership of 5 
million), DCM emphasized the commitment of the multi-agency USG 
effort to combat sex trafficking, underlined the need for Indian 
institutions to tackle this menace, and highlighted the USG 
supported projects in India, including the USD 363,486 grant to 
Apne Aap, and the USG-funded USD 2.5 million UNODC 
anti-trafficking project that began in 2006. 
 
---------------------------------- 
Cases Languishing Because of Laws? 
---------------------------------- 
¶3.  (U) On the heels of the DCM's visit to Apne Aap, G/TIP 
Program Officer Gayatri Patel and Embassy INL Director Duke 
Lokka visited Kolkata from January 30-31 to assess progress on 
anti-trafficking initiatives.  The majority of meetings in 
Kolkata focused on aspects of law enforcement efforts relating 
to TIP and child labor.  Patel, Lokka and Poloff met first with 
the International Justice Mission (IJM) Director Donald Hughes 
and his staff.  In April and May of 2006, IJM had worked two 
sting operations that netted 14 suspected traffickers, and 
rescued 9 minor girls.  Prosecution of the suspects continues, 
with no indication of an immediate verdict.  When we asked about 
the use of ITPA vis-a-vis the IPC, Hughes stressed that the 
primary benefit of the ITPA is that the offenses under it are 
non-bailable and that the suspects cannot flee to avoid 
prosecution.  In addition, the burden of proof shifts to the 
accused for some elements of the crime.  IJM offered some 
suggestions to improve TIP law enforcement: 
 
        -- Suspects need to remain incarcerated to "push" cases 
forward; 
 
        -- Police failure to file charge sheets within the 60-day 
window results in defendants being released on bail and 
 
KOLKATA 00000039  002 OF 003 
 
 
"disappearing;" 
 
Hughes commented that Kolkata Police are only willing to bring 
cases involving minor children.  He believed the police are 
unwilling to tackle brothel owners or facilitators of 
prostitution. 
 
 
¶4.  (U) Poloff and Lokka later met with Deputy Commissioner of 
the Detective Department Gyanwant Singh.  Singh's office is in 
charge of anti-TIP efforts in Kolkata.  Singh painted a positive 
picture of the TIP situation, claiming that NGO activism, media 
coverage, and awareness campaigns were having a positive effect 
because "more individuals from rural areas are coming forward." 
(Note: We have not yet been able to substantiate this claim, as 
data is unavailable even when requested.  End note.) 
 
¶5.  (U) Singh was less sanguine about the judicial process, 
however.  The reality, he said, is that there won't be any 
"custody trials" -- cases where a defendant is incarcerated at 
the time of his trail -- because all defendants will get bail in 
trafficking cases.  When asked why cases were not being brought 
under the ITPA, he bluntly noted that ITPA's requirement of an 
inspector-level officer to investigate a case brought under that 
law made charges under ITPA unlikely.  In some large swaths of 
West Bengal, for example, there is only one inspector-level 
officer.  Given police resources and staffing, Singh felt that 
charges under the Indian Penal Code were the only real 
alternative.  (Note: In a previous meeting with Poloff at an 
official function, Singh also said that local judges were not 
really familiar with ITPA cases, and that cases progressed 
faster when charges such as rape and kidnapping were utilized. 
End Note.) 
 
¶6.  (U) Patel, Lokka and Poloff also had an opportunity to 
interact with local judges.  Justice Samaresh Banerjee, who is 
now on the state human rights commission, put the number of 
women trafficked in India between 50,000-200,000.  While 
commending the UNODC project in W. Bengal to train prosecutors 
in conjunction with the National University of Juridical 
Sciences, Banerjee felt that negative public perceptions 
remained an impediment, and that the police need proper training 
in interrogations.  Banerjee also felt that ITPA was generally 
ineffective.  (Note:  Banerjee is actively involved in the 
eastern region planning group that is preparing recommendations 
for the national action plan on trafficking in persons.  Poloff 
recently attended their two-day meeting and will report on this 
subject Septel.  End note.)  Banerjee, like Gyanwant Singh, 
stressed that sub-inspectors needed to have the authority to 
investigate ITPA cases.  In his view, this would merge ITPA and 
IPC more effectively.  Banerjee further wished for separation 
between the investigating agency and the law enforcement agency 
handling a case. 
 
¶7.  (U) Advocates at the Daywalka Foundation explained the 
judicial bottleneck and the "fast-track" court process.  Judges 
segregate some cases, mostly serious cases involving murder, 
rape, and grievous bodily hurt, into the fast-track courts. 
Trafficking cases, if brought under the IPC, can be put into the 
fast-track court in this manner.  Labor cases, including child 
labor cases, are heard before the labor court. 
 
--------------------------- 
Getting the Girls Back Home 
--------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (U) A visit to Sanlaap offered a view of the difficulties in 
repatriating trafficked victims from other countries.  Referring 
to six girls who were to be repatriated to Bangladesh the 
following day, Sanlaap Founder and Director Indrani Sinha said 
it had taken 18 months to get the necessary paperwork and 
permission from the GOB.  Sanlaap and other NGOs that conduct 
repatriation work with partner NGOs in Bangladesh to locate 
family, obtain a power of attorney and coordinate with the 
 
KOLKATA 00000039  003 OF 003 
 
 
Bangladeshi Rifles, the GOB counterpart to India's Border 
Security Force.  The repatriations are usually emotional, drawn 
out affairs, as some girls find it difficult to leave.  UNICEF 
program officer Francisco d'Ovidio advised that UNICEF is 
working on a bilateral agreement between India and Bangladesh on 
repatriation.  A meeting between the Ministry for Women and 
Child Development and Ministry of Labor and their Bangldeshi 
counterparts is tentatively scheduled for March.  Regarding the 
police, it was Sinha's belief that officers below the level of 
Inspector had the capacity to do good work in the field, but 
were limited by the higher level officers. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶9.  (U) Years of sensitivity and awareness training has put TIP 
onto the West Bengal government agenda, and the government seems 
to recognize the important role that civil society groups play 
in combating TIP.  Legal issues appear to be creating obstacles 
for successful prosecution of traffickers, however.  Law 
enforcement and the judiciary are finding ITPA and its 
amendments difficult to work with.  In particular, ITPA sets 
investigative responsibility of trafficking cases at a 
high-level within the police hierarchy.  In areas outside the 
major metropolitan zones, the manpower and resources often do 
not exist for such senior-level investigations.  As a result, 
authorities continue to rely on the IPC to bring trafficking 
cases.  Institutional corruption, a lengthy judicial process, 
and a fledgling victim's assistance/witness protection regime 
compound the difficulties in actually securing convictions.  In 
addition, it remains very difficult to obtain non-hearsay data 
about arrests, charges, and convictions, and the information 
provided does not differentiate between cases under the ITPA and 
the IPC.  Special courts for trafficking cases and expanded 
police power to investigate cases may help address these 
resource and conflict of laws problems. The GOI's stepped-up 
anti-TIP efforts over the past year reflect a heightened 
awareness of the need to combat trafficking. 
 
¶10.  G/TIP Program Officer Gayatri Patel did not clear on this 
cable. 
JARDINE