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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TASHKENT 001085 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR G/TIP MEGAN HALL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KTIP KCRM KWMN PHUM UZ
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT KARIMOV SIGNS TIP CRIMINAL CODE 
AMENDMENTS INTO LAW 
 
REF: A. TASHKENT 987 
     ¶B. TASHKENT 900 
     ¶C. TASHKENT 769 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: On September 16 President Islam Karimov 
signed long-awaited criminal code amendments into law 
specifically criminalizing trafficking in persons and 
outlining stricter punishments of up to 12 years in prison 
for convicted traffickers.  In adopting the amendments, the 
Government of Uzbekistan delivered on numerous promises it 
made over the past year and fulfilled a key step in the Tier 
2 watchlist action plan.  The amendments, the latest in a 
series of positive anti-trafficking in persons developments, 
were prominently reported in the state-controlled press and 
should be a valuable prosecutorial and symbolic tool in 
addressing TIP issues in Uzbekistan.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (U) President Karimov signed a law on September 16 
formally amending Uzbekistan's criminal code to include 
specific mention of trafficking in persons and establish 
clear criminal penalties.  The draft law proposing the 
amendments was passed by the lower house of parliament (Oliy 
Majlis) on August 14 and the Senate on August 29.  The new 
amendments appear in a revised version of Article 135 of the 
Criminal Code, which had already been regularly used to 
prosecute and punish traffickers, but in a round-about 
manner.  Article 135 is now officially entitled "Trafficking 
in Persons" and formally defines and criminalizes various 
elements of human trafficking offenses. 
 
¶3. (U) The new version of Article 135 establishes a more 
specific definition of trafficking in person offenses by 
including the transfer and captivity of persons for 
exploitation as well as for taking human organs or tissues. 
The base punishment for first-time offenders is three to five 
years in prison.  The punishment is increased to eight to 
twelve years behind bars for instances of trafficking two or 
more people, using force or threat, for repeated trafficking 
or recidivism, for conspiracy by a group, abuse of official 
position, or use of document fraud for getting a transplant. 
Very dangerous recidivists and members of organized criminal 
groups, or cases involving the death of trafficking victims, 
will also be punished with the most severe eight to twelve 
year sentence.  (Note:  In the previous version of Article 
135 the only sentence specified was three to five years in 
some circumstances.  The possibility of prison terms greater 
than 10 years is especially significant because those 
sentenced to less than 10 years are eligible for amnesty in 
the Uzbek system; these tougher statutes should ensure that 
the most serious offenders serve time in jail.  End note.) 
 
¶4. (U) The new law also expands the definition of 
exploitation to include forced labor, slavery, servile 
status, or removing human organs or tissues, which will allow 
prosecution of trafficking-related crimes.  The law also 
provides legal grounds to prosecute not only recruiters but 
also those who transfer, receive, and forcibly keep victims 
of trafficking.  (Note:  A translated copy of the new 
amendments will be forwarded to G/TIP.  End note.) 
 
¶5. (U) The passage of the criminal code amendments occurred 
exactly according to the timeframe promised by Uzbek 
officials (ref A).  The amendments address an important legal 
gap that remained after the landmark law adopted in March 
that improved victim protection and prevention measures but 
did not affect prosecution.  Passage of criminal code 
amendments was also a key item on the Tier 2 watchlist action 
plan that was developed for Uzbekistan pursuant to the 2008 
Trafficking in Persons Report.  Since the adoption of the 
March law Uzbekistan also made good on its promises to 
swiftly implement a national action plan and establish an 
inter-agency commission (ref B), and it unexpectedly adopted 
the United Nations Protocol on Trafficking in Persons (ref 
 
TASHKENT 00001085  002 OF 002 
 
 
C). 
 
¶6. (U) The passage of the criminal code amendments, like the 
other recent developments, was prominently reported on the 
front pages of major state-controlled newspapers.  The media 
and the Ministry of Internal Affairs wasted no time 
demonstrating the effect of the new law, as on September 16 
an article (from the Regnum News Agency and picked up by BBC 
Monitoring) reported that an Uzbek man from the city of 
Chirchiq was arrested for allegedly trafficking 33 Uzbek 
nationals to Almaty, Kazakhstan.  Despite being promised 
monthly wages of between USD 600 - 700, the article reported 
that the Uzbek victims labored at a brick-making factory for 
up to six months without receiving any compensation.  A 
Ministry of Internal Affairs spokesman was quoted as saying 
"now, in line with the new law, he cannot avoid punishment by 
merely paying a fine."  The timing of this report and the 
statement was likely intended to demonstrate that the law 
will have teeth in the courtroom. 
 
Comment: 
-------- 
 
¶7. (U) The positive momentum on the trafficking in persons 
issue continues in Uzbekistan, and the passage of the 
criminal code amendments is another major step in the right 
direction.  The rapid legislative process demonstrated that 
the Government of Uzbekistan can get things done efficiently 
once the political will is in place, that is, when all 
relevant authorities are confident an issue is safe to 
address without repercussions.  The result in this case is a 
clearer, stronger law to punish offenders for trafficking in 
persons that should prove to be a powerful prosecutorial and 
symbolic tool. 
 
NORLAND