VZCZCXRO9119
OO RUEHDE RUEHDIR
DE RUEHMK #0745/01 2141111
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 021111Z AUG 07
FM AMEMBASSY MANAMA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7116
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHBVAKS/COMUSNAVCENT  PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MANAMA 000745 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
FOR G/TIP AND NEA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM KWMN ELAB PHUM PREL PGOV SMIG HUMRIT BA
SUBJECT: BAHRAIN:  PROGRESS ON TIP SHORT-TERM ACTION PLAN 
 
REF: A. MANAMA 696 
     ¶B. MANAMA 548 
     ¶C. STATE 81216 
 
Sensitive but unclassified; please protect accordingly.  Not 
for Internet distribution. 
 
------------ 
Introduction 
------------ 
 
¶1.  (SBU) The following describes actions by the GOB since 
the end of the reporting period for the 2007 TIP Report, 
including the 60-day period of the Short-Term Action Plan 
following Bahrain's placement on Tier 3.  In addition to 
activities initiated entirely by the GOB, International 
Organization for Migration (IOM) representatives met with 
government officials May 27-30 and conducted a needs 
assessment, leading to strengthened cooperation in several 
areas to combat trafficking.  Over the next 9-12 months, 
there are several activities planned through this extensive 
GOB/IOM collaboration with the goal of reaching and training 
over 200 GOB officials and representatives from civil 
society.  The discussion below has been organized by topic as 
outlined in the Short-Term Action Plan (ref C), and nearly 
all references to IOM relate to the USG-funded IOM program 
that will be conducted in coming months. 
 
--------------------- 
Criminal Prosecutions 
--------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Until the passage of the comprehensive 
anti-trafficking law (see para 6), Post expects to see the 
GOB continue to prosecute traffickers under laws against 
forced prostitution, facilitating prostitution or managing an 
establishment which facilitates prostitution, and forced 
labor.  Limitations in the judicial case management system 
make specific identification of trafficking cases difficult. 
However, the Ministry of Justice is in the process of 
automating the system, thereby making identification easier 
in the future.  The GOB/IOM collaboration includes deploying 
an informational technology (IT) expert on 
counter-trafficking database design and management.  The 
expert will conduct an assessment of the data 
collection/management process currently in place.  The expert 
will then work with IT employees within the Ministry of 
Justice and the Public Prosecution Office to design and 
implement a database to monitor and report on prosecutions of 
traffickers with the ultimate goal of producing monthly 
reports for interministerial task force members. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) In mid-July, two Eastern European women (from 
Ukraine and Belarus) escaped from an exploitative work 
situation, in which they were allegedly forced into 
prostitution, and reported their situation to the Bahraini 
police.  The women had reportedly been working as waitresses 
in a three-star hotel restaurant and were also forced to 
perform sexual favors for clients.  According to the women, 
they, along with approximately 20 other Eastern European 
women, were transported to and from their place of work each 
day under the watchful eyes of security guards and locked in 
their accommodations when not working.  After taking their 
information and identifying them as victims of trafficking, 
the police took them to the government shelter for 
protection.  IOM assisted with their repatriation and within 
a few days the women had left Bahrain.  PolOff followed up 
with the Public Prosecution on the case and found that the 
Public Prosecution investigation was ongoing and that arrest 
warrants had been issued for two Bahraini men, including a 
brother of the hotel owner.  Although the two men had 
departed the country before the arrest warrants had been 
issued, the Public Prosecution generated an Interpol note, 
and there is hope the men will be caught and brought to 
justice.  The Public Prosecution also passed information to 
the vice squad so that they could look into the hotel's 
activities. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) In early July, a Bahraini hotel owner was arrested 
in a sting operation along with six foreign women who were 
alleged to have been prostitutes.  One of the women was 
identified to be in her early teens and was taken to the 
shelter as a victim of forced prostitution.  She was cared 
for at the shelter and then traveled home.  The other women 
were questioned and were determined to have been working of 
their own accord.  The hotel owner was arrested, charged with 
the felony of facilitating the rape of a minor, among other 
prostitution-related charges, and is due to appear in court. 
 
MANAMA 00000745  002 OF 003 
 
 
 
----------------------- 
Identification Protocol 
----------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) IOM will bring in a high-level expert consultant to 
help the interministerial task force better understand the 
entire victim identification process to address shortcomings 
in victim identification in Bahrain.  The expert will 
strengthen the task force by developing an effective work 
plan and a monitoring/reporting system using database 
statistics on court decisions and sentences, in addition to 
working with the group to develop procedures for the assisted 
voluntary return of victims.  IOM will also offer two 
training programs for 50 people selected from the government 
shelter staff, community center staff, and civil society to 
include topics such as TIP identification and awareness, 
shelter referral procedures, psycho-social counseling, and 
center management, among others. 
 
------------------------------------ 
Anti-Trafficking Legislation, Policy 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Comprehensive anti-trafficking draft legislation 
has been completed and fully approved by the Cabinet.  It was 
forwarded to the Council of Representatives (COR) in May for 
further action.  The COR adjourned May 31, beginning its 
summer recess.  The COR will take up discussion of the 
legislation when it reconvenes, likely in October. 
 
¶7.  (U) The GOB granted a comprehensive amnesty August 1 (ref 
A) to illegal expatriates, permitting them to regularize 
their status with their employer and the GOB or return home 
without having to pay any overstay penalty fines. 
Significantly, the amnesty includes expatriates who entered 
the country and searched for work on tourist "visit" visas, 
one population most vulnerable to exploitation and 
trafficking.  The government seems not only very keen to 
clean up the labor market and regularize all illegal expats, 
but also to crack down on abuses by influential Bahrainis, 
who have allegedly been allowed to bring in hundreds of 
individuals on tourist visas only to turn them loose to look 
for work in order to pay off debts from money paid to 
recruiters or middlemen. 
 
------------------------- 
Government Shelter Access 
------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) The shelter referral policy was somewhat stringent 
when the shelter first opened, relying entirely on referrals 
from law enforcement officials who encountered cases of abuse 
and trafficking.  Post has facilitated meetings between the 
director of the government-run shelter and both civil society 
groups and source-country embassy staff members.  Through 
these meetings, the shelter director has come to understand 
more fully the varied situations and issues faced by victims. 
 The director has welcomed alternate referral mechanisms 
through direct contact by embassy officials or NGO 
representatives.  To date the shelter has served 30 
expatriate women who have experienced abuse. 
 
------------------------ 
Law Enforcement Training 
------------------------ 
 
¶9.  (SBU) In a GOB/IOM jointly-sponsored event, IOM conducted 
a two-week training in January 2007 specifically designed for 
law enforcement officers.  Officers from the immigration 
service, the vice squad, judges, public prosecutors, shelter 
staff, and other government officials participated in the 
training.  IOM has included in its work plan of upcoming 
activities another training for 30 officials in law 
enforcement, the Ministries of Labor and Justice, and 
prosecutors from the Public Prosecution. 
 
---------------- 
Public Awareness 
---------------- 
 
¶10.  (SBU) On May 29, Bahrain convened a symposium on 
trafficking at which it brought together nearly 100 people, 
the largest number of local stakeholders ever assembled on 
the issue of trafficking.  Attendees included embassy 
representatives from source countries (Bangladesh, India, 
Indonesia, Pakistan, Thailand and the Philippines), members 
of women,s rights groups and other civil society groups, 
 
MANAMA 00000745  003 OF 003 
 
 
government officials, members of parliament, and other 
concerned citizens.  Each government ministry that plays a 
part in combating trafficking presented the steps it has 
taken to confront the problem.  In addition, both IOM and 
prominent local NGO the Migrant Worker Protection Society, 
presented the capabilities they bring to combat trafficking. 
 
¶11.  (SBU) The IOM work plan includes working with Ministry 
of Social Development staff and source-country embassies to 
develop updated informational brochures for workers to 
receive as they enter the country and materials for families 
who hire expatriate workers to educate them about the proper 
treatment of domestic workers.  IOM will conduct a Train the 
Trainers program that will educate housewives who have 
expatriate housemaids to make them more conscious of 
appropriate treatment and conditions for domestic workers. 
IOM will also conduct an awareness training for 30 
journalists from the Arabic press with the intent of 
increasing the exposure of the Bahraini public to trafficking 
issues and the battle against TIP. 
 
--------------------------------- 
Post Conducted Awareness Activity 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶12.  (SBU) Post hosted a group concerned about trafficking 
July 30, including human rights activists, a journalist, and 
a source-country diplomat, to view the Frontline video 
entitled "Sex Slaves."  The event was very positively 
received, and the discussion following the video was involved 
and informative for all, bringing the focus onto Bahrain and 
its trafficking problem.  The journalist talked about many 
women involved in prostitution in Bahrain whom she has 
interviewed for investigative articles she has written.  In 
her experience, nearly all had chosen to practice 
prostitution for the financial benefits.  The diplomat from 
the Thai Embassy explained that most of the women who go to 
the embassy for help are women who are not well-educated and 
are tricked into leaving Thailand chasing promises of making 
large sums of money.  Post plans to hold similar events in 
the future. 
 
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Visit Embassy Manama's Classified Website: 
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MONROE