VZCZCXRO2220
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHSQ #0974/01 3481556
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 141556Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY SKOPJE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6813
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE 0126
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL
RUEHSQ/USDAO SKOPJE MK
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUESEN/SKOPJE BETA
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 3722

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SKOPJE 000974 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR STATE G/TIP (JENNIFER DONNELLY), STATE EUR/SCE (GAILYN 
MCCLUNG), DOJ (JOE JONES), DOJ/OPDAT (CARL ALEXANDRE) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM MK
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: RENEWED COMMITMENT TO FIGHTING TIP 
 
REF: A. SKOPJE 132 
     ¶B. SKOPJE 740 AND PREVIOUS 
 
SUMMARY 
 
¶1. (SBU) In 2007 the Government of Macedonia (GOM) has shown 
a concerted effort to make fighting human trafficking (TIP) a 
high priority.  The National Commission on Combating TIP (NC) 
has adopted Post's seven priority recommendations to 
combat/prevent TIP in Macedonia, and the Minister of Interior 
(MOI) has committed to adopt them as a GOM-wide plan that 
would include all relevant ministries.  Stronger laws, better 
victim assistance mechanisms and more effective TIP-related 
law enforcement procedures are among the areas that Macedonia 
needs to work on to improve its anti-TIP compliance. End 
summary. 
 
ANTI-TIP UPDATE 
 
¶2. (SBU) On December 13, DCM Navratil called on Minister of 
Interior Jankuloska and Macedonian Director of Police 
Todorovski to discuss GOM activities to combat and prevent 
TIP.  Following the successful example of our 2006-2007 six 
priority anti-TIP recommendations (Ref. A), the DCM provided 
a similar 2007-2008 plan, based on G/TIP's Macedonia Action 
Plan.  Minister Jankuloska discussed the seven new priority 
recommendations with the DCM, and promised to distribute them 
to the other ministries and make it the GOM's near-term 
action plan for which the MOI has the lead role. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The seven priority actions are: 
 
-- Adopt the Draft Law for Amending the Criminal Code that 
deals with TIP; 
-- Fully implement a database for TIP victims and TIP 
criminals; 
-- Include language in Art. 418-b (smuggling) verdicts that 
indicates if the smuggled persons were also TIP victims; 
-- Start implementing the new Standard Operational Procedures 
(SOPs) for dealing with TIP victims; 
-- Consider the possibility for the GOM to provide financial 
assistance to the domestic TIP victims shelter; 
-- Intensify efforts to investigate, prosecute and convict 
TIP-related crimes; and 
-- Deliver high-level public statements condemning TIP and 
the demand for commercial sex. 
 
ADOPT CRIMINAL CODE AMENDMENTS 
 
¶4. (SBU) Minister Jankuloska informed the DCM that the Draft 
Law for Amending the Criminal Code is currently in 
Parliamentary procedure.  She expects that the amendments 
would be passed unanimously because there is no public 
opposition to them.  Cognizant of the fact that Parliament 
may be distracted by other priorities, Jankuloska committed 
to present our priority action plan to the GOM and push for 
fast adoption of the TIP articles. 
 
IMPLEMENT TIP DATABASE 
 
¶5. (SBU) The Minister talked about the on-going project 
between Vienna-based NGO ICMPD and the GOM related to a 
comprehensive TIP database.  In January 2008, ICPMD is 
planning to train employees of the National Referral 
Mechanism (NRM) and the MOI, since there will be two 
databases: one on TIP victims (hosted by the NRM), and one on 
TIP criminals (hosted by the MOI).  The databases should be 
operational by February 2008. 
 
SMUGGLING V. TIP ISSUES 
 
¶6. (SBU) As has been reported before (Ref. B), the toughest 
TIP-related challenge for the MOI is to build cases on "pure" 
TIP charges when potential victims have consistently refused 
to identify themselves as such, and when the evidence during 
raids has not been sufficient to prove trafficking.  A 
concerned Jankuloska complimented her police inspectors for 
trying to find "lesser charges" to convict TIP-related 
criminals, in order to keep them behind bars. 
 
 
SKOPJE 00000974  002 OF 003 
 
 
NEW SOPs ON TIP VICTIMS 
 
¶7. (SBU) Over the past six months, an inter-ministerial team 
(MOI, Ministry of Justice and NRM) has drafted extensive SOPs 
for conducting TIP raids and protecting potential TIP 
victims.  The SOPs are currently in the legal departments of 
the relevant ministries before adoption by the whole GOM. 
Minister Jankuloska assured the DCM that even now the 
Anti-TIP Sector of the MOI follows most of the SOP procedures 
during raids.  The main area of improvement, confirmed by our 
DOJ police advisor, is in the participation of NGO 
representatives and/or social workers during post-raid victim 
interviews. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Such was the case in the four November 30 raids on 
night clubs in the Tetovo region in western Macedonia. 
During the raids, 19 women were discovered (12 from Macedonia 
and seven foreigners).  On December 1, all women were 
interviewed by two Anti-TIP Sector police officers and two 
social workers, in order to determine whether they were TIP 
victims.  All women claimed that they were willingly involved 
in the jobs at the four clubs.  The Macedonian nationals were 
then let go, while the seven foreigners were deported on the 
basis of their illegal employment in Macedonia. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Agreeing with the Minister that victim 
identification is a complex issue, the DCM suggested the 
inclusion of NGO representatives and social workers during 
the raids, rather than just in the post-raid interviews.  The 
Minister promised to look into such an option, noting that 
the MOI would need a good system to ensure the safety of the 
NGO civilians. 
 
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO SHELTERS 
 
¶10. (SBU) The Minister said that, even though the GOM was 
strapped for resources, it was ready to translate its 
commitment to fighting TIP into material support to shelters 
and NGOs.  The MOI has signed memorandums of understanding 
with two of the main TIP-related NGOs in the country, and is 
planning to provide free security to the domestic victims' 
shelter that is run by one of these NGOs.  In addition, the 
NC is ready to contact some of its member ministries with a 
request for pro bono doctors, legal advisors, social workers 
and other specialists to the shelter which is now paying for 
the services of private professionals. 
 
INTENSIFY PROSECUTIONS AND CONVICTIONS 
 
¶11. (SBU) Minister Jankuloska provided positive news about 
Macedonia's stepped-up efforts to fight trafficking.  She 
reported that for the 11 months of 2007, there were 30 
prosecutions, with 77 defendants, 49 of whom were convicted. 
The speedy convictions mark a significant departure from the 
past when TIP cases would take years to complete and 
conviction rates were lower. 
 
HIGH LEVEL PUBLIC STATEMENTS 
 
¶12. (SBU) The Minister said that she and other senior members 
of the GOM have made numerous public statements condemning 
TIP, but she acknowledged that "it's never enough."  She said 
that her most recent statements were at an NGO-organized 
regional workshop, and at the December 12 Ohrid regional 
police meeting.  She added that she was looking for 
additional ways for promotion of the anti-TIP message and 
gave as an example the newest anti-TIP campaign "It's 
Simple," which is conducted by the NRM, OSCE and the NC. 
 
COMMENT 
 
¶13. (SBU) Throughout this year, Post has encouraged and 
observed heightened GOM attention to TIP issues.  Proactive 
NC leadership and a clear commitment of the most senior 
members of the GOM have made our anti-TIP cooperation with 
the Macedonians better than ever.  Our on-going working level 
contacts have been strengthened by Post's TIP Officer's 
participation in the GOM's Anti-TIP Secretariat and in the 
ICMPD-led Transnational Referral Mechanism Advisory Board. 
We will continue our active engagement with the Macedonian 
 
SKOPJE 00000974  003 OF 003 
 
 
government on this issue. 
MILOVANOVIC