VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHEG #0408/01 0591432
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 281432Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 8348

UNCLAS CAIRO 000408 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, PRM, NEA/RA, NEA/ELA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM SMIG PREF ASEC KFRD KCRM KWMN ELAB EG
SUBJECT: EMBASSY CAIRO SUBMISSION FOR 2008 TIP REPORT 
 
REF: SECSTATE 2731 
 
Sensitive but unclassified, not for Internet distribution. 
 
¶1. (SBU) This message responds to reftel.  Embassy POC is 
poloff Aaron Berman, phone  20-2-2797-2550, fax  20-2-2797-2181, 
bermanad@state.gov.  Pol LES spent approximately 75 hours on 
TIP-related activities and in preparation of the TIP report.  Poloff 
spent approximately 160 hours; ECPO Minister Counselor spent 40 
hours; DCM spent 20 hours.  The GoE POC for TIP is Deputy Assistant 
Foreign Minister for Human Rights Wael Aboul Magd, 20-2-2574-9677. 
Information in this report was gleaned from bilateral meetings, 
other diplomatic contacts, press reporting, and documents provided 
by the GoE.  The following input is keyed to the questions in reftel 
paragraphs 27-30. 
 
Overview 
-------- 
 
¶A. Egypt is neither a country of origin or destination for a 
significant number of trafficking victims.  An unknown number of 
trafficking victims transit Egypt en route to other destinations, 
notably Israel and Europe.  There are currently no reliable 
statistics available in Egypt for the magnitude of the problem. 
 
Italy is the destination for significant numbers of illegal Egyptian 
economic migrants.  Israel is also a destination for African 
economic migrants. Local media reported extensively on illegal 
migration, including on deaths of attempted migrants and Egyptian 
government prosecution of migrant smugglers, throughout the 
reporting period. 
 
International media and anti-trafficking organizations have reported 
that young women may be forced by into temporary marriages with men 
visiting from the Gulf, particularly during the summer, and may also 
be trafficked into domestic servitude or forced marriages in the 
Gulf. However, no reliable statistics are available to quantify the 
extent of this phenomenon. 
 
¶B. The most commonly mentioned trafficking scenario involves young 
women from Eastern Europe arriving in Egypt by air, especially in 
the Red Sea resorts of Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada.  The women then 
travel overland, often with the facilitation of Bedouin smugglers, 
across the border into Israel where they are presumed to be employed 
in that country's sex industry. 
 
On November 11, an Israeli government report claimed that smuggling 
of drugs and women for prostitution from Egypt to Israel had 
dramatically declined, noting that no women were caught being 
smuggled into Israel to serve as prostitutes in the first nine 
months of 2007.  We assess that such a decline would correlate with 
a corresponding decline in trafficking victims transiting Egypt. 
 
However, the head of the shelter for victims of women trafficking in 
Israel Ruth Davidovich claimed in response to the Israeli government 
report that some 30 women were currently staying at the shelter, and 
that most of them were smuggled through the Egyptian border. 
Additionally, on March 12, Egyptian police detained four Russian 
women while attempting to cross into Israel to find work in 
nightclubs.  The four women were handed over to the Russian embassy 
in Cairo for deportation.  An Associated Press article from March 12 
reported that between 5,000 and 10,000 women work involuntarily in 
Israel's sex trade, according to Amnesty International many of them 
are victims of human trafficking. 
 
¶C. In July 2007, the Prime Minister's office issued a decree 
establishing the "National Coordinating Committee to Combat and 
Prevent Trafficking in Persons." The committee's responsibilities 
include drafting national action plans for combating TIP, preparing 
annual reports on national efforts pertaining to TIP, revising 
TIP-related national legislation, communicating with different 
entities on the issue, recommending procedures to assist TIP 
victims, and developing anti-trafficking awareness campaigns. The 
committee has met twice since its establishment. 
 
On December 30, 2007, the National Council for Childhood and 
Motherhood (NCCM) - an Egyptian governmental organization that has 
the lead for assisting children and mothers - announced the 
establishment of a special anti-trafficking unit. This measure came 
in parallel with the launching of First Lady Suzanne Mubarak's 
awareness campaign entitled "End Human Trafficking Now," calling for 
adopting a set of ethical principles in the business community and 
strengthening and raising international law enforcement 
cooperation. 
 
Mrs. Mubarak also addressed the first United Nations global forum 
against human trafficking in Vienna on February 13, 2008. She 
emphasized that the most effective way to combat trafficking is to 
"break the wall of silence around it," and noted that Egypt is 
developing victim protection services and revising the Egyptian 
legal system with specific statutes against trafficking in persons. 
 
 
¶D. Limitations on the government's ability to address TIP include 
budgetary constraints, geographical limitations and treaty 
restrictions on infrastructural improvements and troop numbers along 
the Egyptian-Israeli border, under the Camp David Accord. 
Furthermore, there is a lack of reliable statistics on the extent of 
any trafficking problem, as well as a lack of consistent 
understanding of the definition of trafficking at both the societal 
and official level. 
 
¶E. Egypt provided statistics on arrests and prosecutions of 
trafficking cases under current law for the February 2008 UN forum 
against trafficking in Vienna.  Those statistics indicated that 
Egyptian authorities investigated 102 cases that may have involved 
elements of trafficking in persons from 2003 till 2007, including 73 
cases involving facilitation of prostitution and exploitation and 
seven cases of abusing or forcing children into begging.  We note, 
however, that the Egyptian definition of trafficking in persons may 
not match the international definition or the U.S. definition, which 
are different, and we cannot vouch that all 102 cases cited actually 
involve trafficking offenses. 
 
Investigation and Prosecution of Traffickers 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶A.  There is no specific Egyptian law prohibiting trafficking in 
persons per se.  Egyptian Ministry of Justice and Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs officials have told us that they plan to draft new 
anti-trafficking legislation to remedy any gaps in existing 
legislation.  This legislation is not expected in the current 
session, which ends in July 2008. 
 
Current provisions in the penal code against rape, abduction, 
prostitution, and forced labor, are used to prosecute traffickers. 
The maximum penalty for rape is life imprisonment.  Also, slavery is 
illegal under Egyptian law. 
 
The prescribed penalties for rape or forcible sexual assault range 
from a minimum of three years to life imprisonment with hard labor. 
The actual penalty imposed depends on a number of factors including 
the ages of the victim and the perpetrator as well as their 
relationship. Prostitution is illegal and the activities of 
prostitutes, as well as of brothels, are criminalized.  The 
government generally enforces laws against prostitution. 
 
With the full backing of Mrs. Mubarak, the NCCM has drafted 
amendments to Egypt's 1996 child protection law that strengthens 
anti-trafficking provisions in regards to children.  The new bill 
will be submitted during the current parliamentary session. The law 
notes specifically that "the child shall be protected against 
trafficking, sexual harassment, exploitation, sexual, emotional, and 
physical abuse."  It specifically delineates a penalty of at least 
five years in prison and a fine of at least LE 50,000 (USD 8,993) 
for anyone who "presents for purchasing, receives, or delivers a 
child in order to be treated as a slave or with the intention of 
usage in unlawful commercial or sexual exploitation or any other 
illegitimate purposes."  A new section on child labor forbids 
children working under age 15, or being trained under age 13, and 
defines humane working conditions.  Those in violation are subject 
to fines beginning at LE 200 (USD 36), doubling for each violation, 
and any who "endanger the life of a child," which includes exposing 
a child to "abuse, violence, exploitation, or displacement," incurs 
a sentence of at least three months in prison.  The new law 
increases the minimum age of marriage for girls from 16 to 18, and 
the age of consent is already defined to be 18. 
 
Additionally, local press reported on February 7 that the 
Suggestions and Complaints Committee of the People's Assembly will 
begin discussing adding two new legal provisions that criminalize 
selling of children and set penalties ranging from temporary 
imprisonment to life sentence with hard labor. 
 
¶B. According to the Anti-Prostitution law from 1961, the penalty for 
sexual exploitation varies between one and three years imprisonment. 
 Exploitation of a victim under the age of 21 carries a penalty of 
one to five years of imprisonment, and the use of any means for 
coercion, threat or abuse of the victim to sexually exploit him/her, 
carries one to seven years. 
 
¶C. Egypt is a signatory of ILO convention 182 concerning prohibition 
of the worst forms of child labor.  Egypt is also a party to the 
Convention on the Rights of the Child (with a reservation regarding 
adoption) ILO Convention 29, and ILO Convention 105.  Egypt is also 
a signatory to the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish 
Trafficking in Persons supplementing the UN Convention Against 
Transnational Organized Crime. 
 
¶D. Rape is criminalized under the Egyptian Penal Code with a minimum 
of three years imprisonment. In cases of rape by guardians, 
perpetrators may face up to a life sentence with hard labor. In 
cases of rape and abduction the penalty may be up to life in prison, 
and up to capital punishment in the case of rape and abduction under 
armed threat. 
 
¶E. Prostitution is illegal, activities of prostitutes are 
criminalized, and laws are generally enforced. 
 
¶F. On November 12, 2007 local media reported that Egyptian police 
arrested Mahmoud Al Agnaby for imprisoning five boys and a girl aged 
between 12 and 19, repeatedly sexually assaulting them, and for two 
years forcing them to beg in the streets. 
 
In February 2005, a criminal court in South Sinai convicted Talal 
Soliman of attempting to smuggle five Russian (and/or Moldovan) 
women to Israel.  Soliman was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison. 
According to press accounts, Sinai police in July 2003 had sought to 
detain Soliman when he was transporting the Eastern European women 
from south Sinai to Israel.  Soliman opened fire on the police and 
wounded one of them before he was detained. 
 
According to a Cairo-based Russian diplomatic source (2005 
information), in September 2002, three Moldovan women were abducted 
from a hotel in Sharm el-Sheikh by Bedouin who raped them and 
apparently tried to transport them to Israel. One of the victims 
escaped and informed Egyptian police who successfully rescued the 
other two victims and arrested the perpetrators.  According to the 
Russian, the perpetrators were eventually convicted and received 
25-year sentences. 
 
See section E of the Overview on Egyptian authorities' 
investigations of cases with a trafficking element. 
 
¶G. The Government does not currently provide specialized training in 
how to recognize, investigate, or prosecute instances of 
trafficking.  The Government advises that instances of trafficking 
rarely come to its attention, but has explicitly requested from the 
U.S. any information that could identify such instances in Egypt. 
The Government has accepted training, planned for April - May, 2008, 
from the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children to 
train prosecutors on combating sexual exploitation of children via 
the Internet. 
 
¶H. The Government is not currently known to be involved in 
any international investigations of trafficking cases. 
 
¶I. The Government is not known to have ever extradited persons 
charged with trafficking to face prosecution in other countries. 
However, in 2003 an Egyptian court convicted Moataz Attiya Mohammad 
Hassan, a.k.a. Abu Qusay of manslaughter and aiding illegal 
immigration for his role in the deaths of 353 persons trying to 
reach Australia when their boat sank.  In that case, the Government 
requested the defendant's extradition from Indonesia, which was 
granted. 
 
J-K. There is no evidence of Government or government officials' 
involvement in or tolerance of trafficking.  However, the sale of 
child brides, while illegal, has been reported in the local media 
and is thought to be widespread. 
 
¶L. There is no indication that Egyptian troops participating in 
international peacekeeping missions have been involved in human 
trafficking. 
 
¶M. Although international media and anti-trafficking organizations 
have reported that sex tourism exists in Egypt, there are no 
reliable statistics on the phenomenon.  We know of no prosecutions 
or deportations of foreigners regarding sex tourism. 
 
Protection and Assistance to Victims 
------------------------------------ 
 
A - I. The Government reported that its consular and immigration 
officials, at home and abroad, have been instructed to be on the 
alert for possible instances of illegal migration and fraudulent 
travel, which would include trafficking.  However, the Government 
does not currently have any programs for victim assistance or 
specialized training for personnel in identifying trafficking 
victims.  Government agencies that are involved in combating 
trafficking are the border police, immigration, and customs 
inspectors, overseen by the State Security Investigations Service 
and ultimately by the Ministry of Interior.  Officials responsible 
for consular affairs or tourism can also become involved in 
responding to suspected trafficking cases.  The Government does not 
currently make special provisions for victims' participation in 
prosecutions or for protection of victims as witnesses, nor does it 
provide specialized training in trafficking to government 
officials. 
The NCCM's new anti-trafficking unit is exploring how to provide 
services to child victims of trafficking.  The NCCM and Ministry of 
Social Solidarity already run extensive services for street children 
and child victims of abuse. 
 
Prevention 
---------- 
 
¶A. The Government acknowledged that some trafficking victims may 
transit Egypt, but reports that it is not currently aware of 
information that suggests a significant flow of such persons.  In 
January 2008, NCCM head Ambassador Moushira Khattab stated that 
Egypt is "not in the red zone for child trafficking, and it neither 
imports nor exports this phenomenon."  In November 2007, the 
Minister of Interior denied the existence of child trafficking in 
Egypt, but confirmed that the Ministry is working on combating 
illegal groups that work towards "corrupting and abusing children." 
 
Terminology continues to cause confusion.  Government officials will 
often deny that "trafficking" exists, but when asked about specifics 
will acknowledge that isolated cases occur, such as of temporary or 
forced marriages.  Even so, all say that trafficking is not a 
systemic problem in Egypt. 
 
¶B. In July 2007, state-owned television began airing public service 
announcements on labor trafficking, free of charge.  The 
inter-ministerial committee is in the planning stages of a more 
extensive public awareness campaign, to include mass media and "town 
hall" type meetings. 
 
¶C. Egyptian civil society is not focused on TIP, though at least one 
Egyptian NGO has expressed interest in beginning to monitor and 
document trafficking cases.  Many civil society contacts tell us 
that Egypt, where 40 percent of the population lives on less than $2 
per day, simply faces more pressing social problems than 
trafficking.  Egyptian human rights and women's NGOs informed us 
they are not aware of a significant trafficking problem in Egypt. 
However, many NGOs, with the full support of the government, work on 
children and women's protection.  On human rights and related 
matters, Egyptian civil society has a sometimes contentious 
relationship with the GOE. 
 
¶D.  The Government devotes significant resources to patrolling and 
policing its borders, particularly the Sinai desert border with 
Israel.  The Government does not currently have a specific program 
to monitor migration and travel patterns for evidence of 
trafficking, although it exerts robust efforts to combat illegal 
migration and alien smuggling.  In particular, since the October 7, 
2004 terror bombings in Sinai, which killed 34 people, the 
Government has made a concerted effort to increase security in 
Sinai, especially with regard to alleged illegal activities by the 
Sinai Bedouin tribes.  In November 2006, for example, the Middle 
East News Agency reported that government security forces were 
engaged in a "massive crackdown operation in north Sinai" against 
suspected terrorist and criminal elements. 
 
E-F. The newly established inter-ministerial National Committee for 
Combating and Preventing Trafficking in Persons, chaired by the 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, coordinates between Egyptian government 
agencies and is charged with drafting a national action plan. 
Currently it is focused on arresting and prosecuting traffickers 
under current laws, drafting new, comprehensive anti-TIP 
legislation, and raising public awareness. 
 
¶G. Egypt attends the annual meeting of the International Tourism 
Organization task force on sex tourism, but we are aware of no other 
actions to reduce the demand for commercial sex tourism. 
 
¶H. N/A 
 
¶I. Please see L under "Investigation and Prosecution." 
 
RICCIARDONE