VZCZCXRO8725
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHTH #0364/01 0671520
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 071520Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY ATHENS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1415
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHAST/USO ALMATY 0008
RUEHAE/AMEMBASSY ASMARA 0075
RUEHEK/AMEMBASSY BISHKEK 0073
RUEHCH/AMEMBASSY CHISINAU 0236
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 0627
RUEHOS/AMCONSUL LAGOS 0256
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 0275
RUEHTL/AMEMBASSY TALLINN 0077
RUEHNT/AMEMBASSY TASHKENT 0130
RUEHYE/AMEMBASSY YEREVAN 0131
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 ATHENS 000364 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR EUR/SE, EUR/PGI, G/TIP, INL/HSTC, G, DRL, PRM, IWI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KCRM KWMN SMIG KFRD PREL PREF ELAB GR
SUBJECT: GREECE TIP REPORT SUBMISSION 2008 - PART 3 
 
REF: State 2731 
 
ATHENS 00000364  001.2 OF 006 
 
 
Sensitive but Unclassified -- Protect Accordingly. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Below are Embassy Athens' responses to the 2008 TIP report 
questionnaire.  Text is keyed to Ref A request for "Investigation 
and Prosecution" Section.  This is the third of four cables. 
 
¶2. (SBU) INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION OF TRAFFICKERS: 
         --------------------------------------------- 
For questions A-D, posts should highlight in particular whether or 
not the country has enacted any new legislation since the last TIP 
report. 
 
-- A. Does the country have a law specifically prohibiting 
trafficking in persons--both for sexual and non-sexual purposes 
(e.g. forced labor)?  If so, please specifically cite the name of 
the law and its date of enactment and provide the exact language of 
the law prohibiting TIP and all other law(s) used to prosecute TIP 
cases.  Does the law(s) cover both internal and external 
(transnational) forms of trafficking? If not, under what other laws 
can traffickers be prosecuted?  For example, are there laws against 
slavery or the exploitation of prostitution by means of force, fraud 
or coercion?   Are these other laws being used in trafficking cases? 
 Please provide a full inventory of trafficking laws, including 
non-criminal statutes that allow for civil penalties against alleged 
trafficking crimes, (e.g., civil forfeiture laws and laws against 
illegal debt). 
 
Greek law 3064/2002 signed in October 2002 and Presidential 
Decree 233/2003 specifically prohibit trafficking in persons for sex 
or labor inside or outside Greek territory, and are considered by 
NGO legal experts to be model pieces of anti-trafficking 
legislation. 
 
In 2005, the Parliament passed a new Immigration Law 
(3386/2005), which, among general immigration provisions, also 
provides for central issuance and renewal of residence permits for 
TIP victims with no fee, special care for minor victims, and a one 
month reflection period, which can be extended for minors. Excerpts 
of the relevant articles are available in English for review. 
 
The Law on Organized Crime (2928/2001), which applies to TIP cases 
when an organized network is involved in the trafficking, governs 
investigative capabilities of law enforcement and provides for 
witness protection. 
 
In 2004, the MOJ amended certain provisions of Presidential Decree 
233/2003.  The amended Presidential Decree guarantees victim 
benefits from the provisions on protection, support and assistance, 
as well as requires that NGOs be accredited to offer assistance 
during screening procedures and victim support.  The Ministry of 
Interior's 2004 amendments to the Presidential Decree to allow 
foreign victims of trafficking a combined residence and work permit 
and to exempt victims from paying a deposit for the permits were 
included in the 2005 Immigration Law.  Other laws on pimping, 
illegal prostitution, violence, rape, exploitation, and coercion 
have been used in the past to combat TIP and are sufficient to cover 
the full scope of trafficking. 
 
The Law on Organized Crime (Law 2928/2001), the Anti-trafficking 
legislation (Law 3064/2002), Presidential Decree 233/2003, Article 
323 B of the Penal Code and the Immigration framework (Law 
3386/2005) constitute many pages of single-spaced documents and are 
not included here for purposes of brevity.  If requested, poloff can 
send the documents by e-mail. 
 
-- B. What are the prescribed penalties for trafficking people for 
sexual exploitation?  What penalties were imposed for persons 
convicted of sexual exploitation over the reporting period?  Please 
note the number of convicted sex traffickers who received suspended 
sentences and the number who received only a fine as punishment. 
 
Penalties for trafficking in people for sexual or labor exploitation 
vary, but include incarceration for up to ten years and a fine of 
 
ATHENS 00000364  002.6 OF 006 
 
 
10,000 to 50,000 euros.  Offenders who exploit minors, exploit 
employees, or cause serious Physical injury to victims face a 
minimum ten year imprisonment and fine of 50,000 to 100,000 euros. 
 
 
Traffickers who kill their victims face life imprisonment.  Because 
felony trials usually require at least 5-6 years to fully make their 
way through the appeals process, there has not yet been a fully 
appealed conviction under the 2002 anti-trafficking law. There are 
numerous ongoing trials. 
 
The Greek government was unable to provide statistics indicating 
which convicted defendants were released on suspended sentences 
versus those who served a full sentence.  The judicial record 
keeping system (which is not computerized) only lists the number of 
persons convicted for trafficking who are still incarcerated and is 
accurate up to the year 2006.  At the end of 2006, there were no 
incarcerated convicted traffickers. 
 
-- C. Punishment of Labor Trafficking Offenses: What are the 
prescribed and imposed penalties for trafficking for labor 
exploitation, such as forced or bonded labor and involuntary 
servitude?  Do the government's laws provide for criminal punishment 
-- i.e. jail time -- for labor recruiters in labor source countries 
who engage in recruitment of laborers using knowingly fraudulent or 
deceptive offers that result in workers being trafficked in the 
destination country?  Are there laws in destination countries 
punishng  employers or labor agents in labor destinaton countries 
who confiscate workers' passports or travel documents, switch 
contracts without the worker's consent as a means to keep the worker 
in a state of service, or withhold payment of salaries as means of 
keeping the worker in a state of service?  If law(s) prescribe 
criminal punishments for these offenses, what are the actual 
punishments imposed on persons convicted of these offenses?  Please 
note the number of convicted labor traffickers who received 
suspended sentences and the number who received only a fine as 
punishment. 
 
-- Greek law does not discriminate on the grounds for trafficking 
and the anti-trafficking laws cover both trafficking for sexual 
purposes as well as trafficking for labor.  Both carry the potential 
for criminal liability including incarceration.  The MFA reports 
that 11 labor trafficking investigations were begun in 2007, the 
results of which are not available. 
 
-- D. What are the prescribed penalties for rape or forcible sexual 
assault?  How do they compare to the prescribed penalties for crimes 
of trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation? 
 
Penalties for rape and forcible sexual assault vary depending on the 
circumstances surrounding the crime and the damage to the victim, 
but range from five years to life imprisonment. The penalties 
compare appropriately to those for sex trafficking. 
 
-- E. Is prostitution legalized or decriminalized? Specifically, are 
the activities of the prostitute criminalized?  Are the activities 
of the brothel owner/operator, clients, pimps, and enforcers 
criminalized? 
Are these laws enforced? If prostitution is legal and regulated, 
what is the legal minimum age for this activity? 
Note that in many countries with federalist systems, prostitution 
laws may be covered by state, local, and provincial authorities. 
 
Prostitution and brothel ownership are legal and regulated by the 
state.  However, NGOs and press reports allege that virtually none 
of the brothels in Athens have valid licenses and, for a variety of 
reasons, including not wanting to create a red-light district within 
the city, neither the GoG nor the City of Athens has effectively 
addressed these unlicensed facilities or unlicensed prostitutes or 
enforced a law that prohibits such uses within a certain distance of 
a school or church.  In Thessaloniki, there is a greater percentage 
of licensed brothels.  Prostitutes must register at the local 
prefecture and carry a medical card that is updated every two weeks. 
 The minimum age is 18 (according to Article 6 of law 1193/81). 
Most prostitution in Greece that occurs is illegal, that is, the 
 
ATHENS 00000364  003.2 OF 006 
 
 
prostitutes are not licensed by the state - and they work through 
newspaper ads, private operators, in bars, or in strip clubs. 
 
-- F. Has the government prosecuted any cases against human 
trafficking offenders?  If so, provide numbers of investigations, 
prosecutions, convictions, and sentences served, including details 
on plea bargains and fines, if relevant and available.  Please 
indicate which laws were used to investigate, prosecute, convict, 
and sentence traffickers.  Also, if possible, please disaggregate by 
type of TIP (labor vs. commercial sexual exploitation) and victims 
(children, as defined by U.S. and international law as under 18 
years of age, vs. adults).  Does the government in a labor source 
country criminally prosecute labor recruiters who recruit laborers 
using knowingly fraudulent or deceptive offers or impose on 
recruited laborers inappropriately high or illegal fees or 
commissions that create a debt bondage condition for the laborer? 
Does the government in a labor destination country criminally 
prosecute employers or labor agents who confiscate workers' 
passports/travel documents, switch contracts or terms of employment 
without the worker's consent, use physical or sexual abuse or the 
threat of such abuse to keep workers in a state of service, or 
withhold payment of salaries as a means to keep workers in a state 
of service?  Are the traffickers serving the time sentenced?  If 
not, why not? 
Please indicate whether the government can provide this information, 
and if not, why not? 
 
The Ministry of Public Order reported that in 2007, there were 41 
cases of trafficking investigated by law enforcement authorities; 29 
cases of sexual exploitation and 11 cases of labor exploitation and 
one illegal adoption.  17 were committed by organized crime 
networks.  121 perpetrators were arrested and charged with different 
charges including articles 323A (Trafficking in Persons) and 351 
(Trade in Human Beings for Sexual Exploitation) of the 
anti-trafficking law (3064/2002). 
 
Of the 121: 4 were from Albania, 26 from Bulgaria, 48 from Greece, 2 
from Kazakhstan, 2 from Lithuania, 2 from Moldova, 7 from the 
Ukraine, 18 from Romania and 12 from Russia 
 
The Ministry of Justice reported that trafficking cases had the 
following developments in 2007: 
 
-- 48 prosecutions were set in motion, 17 of which were by the 
Athens' Prosecutor's Office. 
 
--121 first and second-degree rulings were issued.  Of these, 110 
rulings were guilty and 11 were not-guilty.  160 defendants were 
covered by the guilty rulings and 16 by the not guilty rulings. 
(Note: the discrepancy in the number of charges versus the number of 
defendants is due to the possibility in Greece that a single ruling 
covers multiple defendants.)  As regards sentencing, Greece does not 
have computerized judicial records and there is no central 
depository of such information about trafficking cases (or any other 
subject for that matter).  For these reasons we are unable to 
provide data on which convicted defendants are serving sentences and 
which are not. 
 
Under Greek law, each conviction can be appealed at least one time 
and defendants can also go to the Supreme Court for a second appeal. 
 The conviction will not be final until appeals are completed.  NGOs 
point out that on some occasions, traffickers who were convicted in 
their first trial and potentially face long prison sentences are 
admitted to bail during the pendency of the appellate-level trial. 
One such example is the case of a convicted trafficker from the 
municipality of Drama, who remains free having only served six 
months and despite an original sentence of 13 years in 2005. 
However this is not always the case.  In April 2006, the Felony 
Appeals Court of Athens sentenced two Romanian trafficking 
defendants to 12 years imprisonment and denied them the right to 
bail while their cases are on appeal. In February 2007, the Felony 
Court of Athens sentenced a Nigerian defendant to 19 years 
imprisonment and denied his request for bail pending appeal. In 
April 2007, the Appeals Court of Athens sentenced a Greek trafficker 
to ten years imprisonment and 9,500 euro fine on trafficking 
 
ATHENS 00000364  004.2 OF 006 
 
 
charges. 
 
-- G. Does the government provide any specialized training for 
government officials in how to recognize, investigate, and prosecute 
instances of trafficking?  Specify whether NGOs, international 
organizations, and/or the USG provide specialized training for host 
government officials. 
 
-- The Ministry of Public Order has included anti-trafficking 
training at all police academies.  As a consequence, police 
personnel at all levels regularly receive specialized training on 
the issue.  Training seminars are regularly conducted in cooperation 
with the International Pol, and NGOs and cover 3Qecutors, justices and heaQ two years in the frQ project (2006 
and 2007) and formed a "national team of trainers."  The trainers' 
team conducts specialized training seminars. 
 
Specific training examples: 
 
-- The Ministry of Public Order held a second experts conference in 
May 2007 on the "Ilaeira" initiative to combat trafficking in human 
beings in Athens.  The Conference, the scope of which was to further 
improve trans-border police cooperation in bilateral and 
multilateral level, was attended by police personnel from 20 
countries and four international bodies (EUROPOL, EUROJUST, FRONTEX, 
INTERPOL).  The MPO's ILAEIRA project targets prosecutors, law 
enforcement officials, and NGOs, in addition to police task forces. 
A regional "Ilaeira" trans-border map exercise took place in the 
northern city of Komotini (Thrace) in April 2007. 
 
-- As part of the National Action Plan to Confront Trafficking in 
Persons, the Union of Public Prosecutors in Greece, IOM and the 
Foreign Ministry held a second two-day conference in November 2007. 
The conference entitled "The Combating of Human Trafficking" was 
financed by the MFA Hellenic Aid Division.  The scope of the 
conference was to train Prosecutors in applying the protections 
guaranteed to victims under the anti-trafficking legislation. With 
this second seminar, all prosecutors in Greece (a total of 400 
persons) have received anti-trafficking training. 
 
-- As part of the National Action Plan to Confront Trafficking in 
Persons, the Genders' Equality General Secretariat and the IOM 
conducted a three-day seminar in Ioannina, Northern Greece, on 
"training Greek agencies for the confrontation of human 
trafficking." 
 
-- H. Does the government cooperate with other governments in the 
investigation and prosecution of trafficking cases? 
If possible, can post provide the number of cooperative 
international investigations on trafficking during the reporting 
period? 
 
-- Greece is a leader in promoting increased regional law 
enforcement cooperation.  (See also Part 1, Question B.)  During the 
reporting period, Greek police force continued taking part in 
EUROPOL, INTERPOL, SECI, Black Sea Initiative, and other 
international organs meeting and conferences.  Greek police have 
good ongoing bilateral cooperation with neighboring countries' 
police forces.  Police personnel from Albania, Macedonia and 
Bulgaria meet regularly and whenever an issue rises to coordinate 
passport controls, to police non-controlled border areas in order to 
combat illegal immigration and to combat illegal trafficking in 
persons, narcotics and arms. The Police have liaison police 
personnel residing in Italy, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Turkey, Albania, 
Russia, Ukraine, Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, 
Serbia-Montenegro, Romania and Lebanon to further enhance police 
cooperation. 
 
-- The Southeast European Cooperative Initiative (SECI) hosted a 
regional meeting on October 4 2006 in Kastoria (northwest Greece) to 
 
ATHENS 00000364  005.2 OF 006 
 
 
discuss the state of play and cooperation among participating states 
on Trafficking in Persons (TIP) and illegal migration. 
Representatives of SECI and of the Ministries of Interior and 
Prosecutors' Offices from Albania, Bulgaria, the Republic of 
Macedonia, Greece and Turkey attended the meeting. The participants 
agreed that TIP and illegal migration have become more sophisticated 
within the past few years throughout the region and that SECI states 
must continue to develop more active and efficient cooperation. 
Current cooperation includes the exchange of information via 
contacts established at SECI Center, periodic meetings between 
member states and SECI coordination of international investigation 
cases linked to TIP and illegal migration.  On April 11-13, 2007 a 
two-day training seminar took place in the (eastern) border city f 
Alexandroupolis, entitled "Transborder Law nforcement Cooperation: 
Trafficking in Persons, Illegal Migration, Trafficking in 
Narcotics."  The seminar was jointly hosted by the U.S. Consulate 
General and the Thessaloniki Office of the Stability Pact, supported 
by SECI and facilitated by the IOM Mission in Greece and the 
Secretariat General for Eastern Macedonia and Thrace.  At present, a 
 
SIPDIS 
conference on Transborder Cooperation is being planned for April 
17-18, 2008 in the (western) border town of Florina.  It is a joint 
effort of the U.S. Consulate General and SECI, and aims to cover the 
issues of Law Enforcement Cooperation, Trafficking in Persons and 
Weapons Smuggling. 
 
-- I. Does the government extradite persons who are charged with 
trafficking in other countries?  If so, can post provide the number 
of traffickers extradited during the reporting period?  Does the 
government extradite its own nationals chared with such offenses? 
If not, is the governmnt prohibited by law form extraditing its own 
ationals?  If so, what is the government doing o modify its laws 
to permit the extradition o its own nationals? 
 
--The Greek Government can extradite persons charged with 
trafficking to other countries, however we have no information on 
such extraditions.  Greek citizens can be extradited to EU countries 
that are parties to the "EU arrest warrant," but are protected from 
extradition to certain countries.  For example, Greek nationals are 
protected from extradition to the U.S. based on article 8 of the 
1931 extradition treaty. 
 
-- J. Is there evidence of government involvement in or tolerance of 
trafficking, on a local or institutional level?  If so, please 
explain in detail. 
 
There is no evidence of government involvement in trafficking on an 
institutional level.  NGOs and the media report that some local 
police take bribes or free sex services from traffickers, patronize 
establishments implicated in TIP, or ignore the problem.  Anecdotal 
reports support this phenomenon.  There were accusations made by an 
NGO of corruption at a Greek consulate in Russia because it had 
issued legitimate visas to TIP victims with little documentary 
evidence and no personal interview, either of which might have 
uncovered misrepresentations on the visa applications.  (Note: Not 
all Russian applicants are asked to travel to Moscow for interviews. 
 End Note.)  Likewise, there were press reports that a Greek Consul 
General in Albania was removed from his position on the basis of 
charges that he issued visas to trafficking victims for a fee.  We 
have been unable to substantiate either allegation, although MFA 
contacts assure us the allegations are being investigated. 
 
-- K. If government officials are involved in trafficking, what 
steps has the government taken to end such participation?  Please 
indicate the number of government officials investigated and 
prosecuted for involvement in trafficking or trafficking-related 
corruption during the reporting period.  Have any been convicted? 
What sentence(s) was imposed?  Please specify if officials received 
suspended sentences, were given a fine, fired, or reassigned to 
another position within the government as punishment.  Please 
provide specific numbers, if available.  Please indicate the number 
of convicted officials that received suspended sentences or received 
only a fine as punishment. 
 
We are aware of no government officials being involved in 
trafficking, and the GoG told us there are no such cases. 
 
ATHENS 00000364  006.2 OF 006 
 
 
 
-- L. As part of the new requirements of the 2005 TVPRA, for 
countries that contribute troops to international peacekeeping 
efforts, please indicate whether the government vigorously 
investigated, prosecuted, convicted and sentenced nationals of the 
country deployed abroad as part of a peacekeeping or other similar 
mission who engage in or facilitate severe forms of trafficking or 
who exploit victims of such trafficking. 
 
There were no reported incidents or investigations of Greek soldiers 
deployed to peacekeeping missions engaged in, facilitating, or 
exploiting victims of trafficking. 
 
-- M. If the country has an identified child sex tourism problem (as 
source or destination), how many foreign pedophiles has the 
government prosecuted or deported/extradited to their country of 
origin?  What are the countries of origin for sex tourists?  Do the 
country's child sexual abuse laws have extraterritorial coverage 
(similar to the U.S. PROTECT Act)?  If so, how many of the= 
country's nationals have been prosecuted and/or convicted under the 
extraterritorial provision(s) for traveling to other countries to 
engage in child sex tourism? 
 
-- Article 323 B of the Greek Penal Code was modified to conform 
with the optional protocol of the UN Convention (54263/25/00) on the 
Rights of the Child referring to trafficking of children, child 
prostitution and child pornography.  This and other provisions of 
law 2101/92 make explicit reference to combating sex tourism. 
 
Despite a suggestion by the UN special rapporteur on the sale of 
children, child prostitution, and child pornography for the 
government to appoint a lead person on children's issues, the 
government has not yet done so.  There have been no improvements to 
the institutional capacity for protecting unaccompanied minors or 
street children. The government has not submitted to parliament for 
ratification the pending bilateral child repatriation agreement with 
Albania. There have been repeated calls for the stto take 
specific meaQan advisory board of civil society and public authorities to 
coordinate children's policies as well as the creation of a joint 
Greek-Albanian commission to investigate the "disappearances" from a 
children's institution from 1998 to 2003 have not been addressed. 
 
 
The Police Division for Internet Crime dismantled 128 networks 
dealing in child pornography through the Internet in the period 
between July 2004 and November 2007. They arrested 42 citizens 
identified as members of networks and charged them with buying and 
selling child pornographic materials. Charges against 85 other 
persons have been submitted and are pending in the courts. The 
country does not have legislation punishing possession and 
circulation (without selling) of pedophiliac materials. New 
legislation punishing possession and circulation of such materials 
has been submitted to the Parliament and is expected to pass by 
January 2008. 
 
Greece 2008 TIP Report Submission Continued Septel.