VZCZCXRO9112
PP RUEHLA
DE RUEHC #5695/01 3041357
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P R 301346Z OCT 08
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID PRIORITY 9993
INFO RUEHLA/AMCONSUL BARCELONA 2548

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 STATE 115695 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM KWMN KTIP PHUM PREL SMIG SP
SUBJECT: SPAIN: TIP ACTION GUIDE TO COMBAT TIP (2008-2009) 
 
REF: 10/20/08 ZERDECKI-BUCKNEBERG EMAIL WITH FINAL 
     ELECTRONIC ACTION PLAN 
 
¶1.  This is an action request (see para 5). 
 
¶2.  The 2008 Trafficking in Persons Report rates countries as 
Tier 1 when host governments are fully meeting the minimum 
standards to combat trafficking in persons (TIP) as defined 
by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA).  Remaining 
on Tier 1, however, is not guaranteed; governments must 
continue to demonstrate appreciable progress and continued 
full compliance with the minimum standards.  All countries 
will be reassessed annually to determine whether they 
evidence satisfaction of all of the minimum standards.  Tier 
1 countries are subject to slipping to Tier 2 if they do not 
fully comply with the minimum standards, but do continue to 
show significant efforts. 
 
¶3.  Please keep in mind the TIP Report measures host 
government efforts.  To be useful for tier placement 
purposes, there should be a concrete role or tangible 
value-added by a host government in activities by NGOs, 
international organizations, or posts. 
 
¶4.  The following explains steps the government needs to take 
in order to continue to fully comply with the Minimum 
Standards for the elimination of trafficking, and therefore 
qualify for a continued Tier 1 ranking, and offers 
suggestions to address specific areas of concern highlighted 
in the 2008 TIP Report.  Legal standards are excerpted from 
the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, as amended. 
Implementation Principles are excerpted from guidance issued 
in 07 State 150188 (October 29, 2007) and are not specific to 
any country or region.  Country-specific points are not 
exhaustive, but offer steps and possible ways to address 
specific areas of concern.  The Department assesses 
government efforts each year.  All governments must show 
concrete evidence of serious and sustained efforts in 
eliminating severe forms of trafficking from the previous 
year.  Tier ranking determinations will be based on the 
government,s efforts to comply with the Minimum Standards to 
Combat TIP during the April 2008 - March 2009 reporting 
period. 
 
¶5.  Begin action request:  Post is requested to explain to 
the host government the areas of specific concern noted in 
the TIP Report and suggested areas to continue to comply 
fully with the minimum standards (and thus continued Tier 1 
placement).  Post may offer steps below to the host 
government as possible ways to address specific areas of 
concern.  While the list is not exhaustive, it should focus 
the host government on deficiencies in meeting the minimum 
standards and examples of ways to overcome them.  As every 
year, the Department will weigh the government,s level of 
support and participation in reported activities, as well as 
the efficacy and sustainability of government actions, in 
light of its resources and capabilities. 
 
Begin Action Guide and internal numbering. 
 
¶1. Legal Framework: The government should criminally prohibit 
TIP and punish such acts. 
 
(A) For TIP crimes, punishment should be prescribed that is 
commensurate with that for grave crimes, such as forcible 
sexual assault. 
 
(B) For TIP crimes, punishment should be prescribed that is 
sufficiently stringent to deter and that adequately reflects 
the heinous nature of the offense. 
 
Implementation Guideline: At minimum, governments must 
criminalize and prescribe penalties for all forms of 
trafficking relevant in the country, including forced labor. 
This must include the elements of "severe forms of 
trafficking in persons" -- force, fraud, and coercion. 
Although desirable, this need not be accomplished through a 
comprehensive law, so long as relevant elements of 
trafficking, specifically including fraud/deception and 
coercion along with force, are covered by the country's laws. 
 Sanctions for sex trafficking should be on par with rape. 
The prescribed penalties for sex trafficking crimes or 
trafficking involving rape, kidnapping or death should be 
substantially similar to those for rape, taking into account 
the full range of sentences available.  Consistent with the 
UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, criminal 
penalties to meet this standard should include a maximum of 
at least four years deprivation of liberty, or a more severe 
 
STATE 00115695  002 OF 004 
 
 
penalty. 
 
COMPLIANCE:  The government was in full compliance as 
reported in the 2008 TIP Report. 
 
Positive results that should be maintained: 
 
-- Spain prohibits all forms of trafficking in persons though 
Article 318 of its Criminal and Penal Code.  The prescribed 
penalty for sex trafficking is five to 15 years' 
imprisonment, and the penalty for labor trafficking is four 
to 12 years in prison.  These are sufficiently stringent, and 
the penalties prescribed for sex trafficking are commensurate 
with the prescribed penalties for rape. 
 
¶2. Prosecution and other Law Enforcement Efforts:  The 
government should show serious and sustained efforts to 
combat TIP by vigorously investigating and prosecuting TIP 
acts, and convicting and sentencing persons responsible for 
such acts. 
 
(A) The government must provide data regarding 
investigations, prosecutions, convictions, and sentences, 
consistent with its capacity to do so, or it shall be 
presumed not to have vigorously investigated, prosecuted, 
convicted or sentenced such acts. 
 
Implementation Guideline: All governments, consistent with 
their capacity to do so, are required to submit full 
comprehensive data on trafficking enforcement actions, 
including length of sentences actually imposed on convicted 
traffickers, as evidence of their vigorous law enforcement 
efforts.  Imposed sentences should involve significant jail 
time, with a majority of cases resulting in sentences on the 
order of one year imprisonment or more, but taking into 
account the severity of an individual's involvement in 
trafficking, imposed sentences for other grave crimes, and 
the judiciary's right to hand down  punishments consistent 
with that country's laws.  Convictions obtained under other 
criminal laws and statutes can be counted as trafficking if 
the government verifies that they involve trafficking 
offenses. 
 
COMPLIANCE:  The government was fully compliant as reported 
in the 2008 TIP Report. 
 
Positive results that should be maintained and/or exceeded: 
-- The Government of Spain demonstrated strong efforts to 
combat trafficking through law enforcement in the last year. 
The government implemented new legislation in 2007 that 
increased prescribed penalties for trafficking by two to six 
years in prison if the offender is found to be part of a 
criminal organization, and passed additional legislation in 
2007 that allows Spanish courts to prosecute cases of 
trafficking that have occurred outside Spain,s borders. 
During the reporting period, police arrested 530 individuals 
for sex trafficking and 161 for labor trafficking. 
Government officials prosecuted 102 trafficking cases, 
convicted 142 trafficking offenders, and imposed an average 
prison sentence of 4.6 years on those convicted.  Over 67 
percent of these sentences were greater than four years, and 
approximately 25 percent of the convictions resulted in a 
fine and/or suspended sentence.  Spain announced in early 
2008 that it would allot $8.6 million to fund an 
anti-trafficking cooperation agreement with several Central 
American countries. 
¶3. Victim Protection and Assistance:  The government should 
demonstrate serious and sustained efforts to combat TIP by 
protecting TIP victims and encouraging their assistance in 
the investigation and prosecution of their traffickers. 
Protection should include: 
 
(A) provisions for legal alternatives to victims, removal to 
countries in which they would face retribution or hardship. 
 
(B) ensuring that victims are not inappropriately 
incarcerated, fined, or otherwise penalized solely for 
unlawful acts that were committed as a direct result of being 
trafficked. 
 
Implementation Guideline: Critical factors considered in 
whether a country fully satisfies this part of the minimum 
standards are: (1) Formal, systematic screening procedures 
that proactively identify victims and guide law enforcement 
and other front line responders in the process of victim 
identification.  (2) Shelter, health care, and counseling 
should be available to victims, allowing them to recount 
their trafficking experience to trained social counselors and 
law enforcement at a pace with minimal pressure.  Shelter and 
care may be provided in cooperation with NGOs, but part of 
the government,s responsibility includes funding and 
referral to NGOs providing services; to the best extent 
 
STATE 00115695  003 OF 004 
 
 
possible, trafficking victims should not be held in 
immigration detention centers, or other detention facilities. 
 Factors also considered and strongly recommended for 
favorable placement are: (1) Victim/witness protection, 
rights and confidentiality; i.e., governments should ensure 
that victims are provided with legal and other assistance and 
that, consistent with its domestic law, proceedings are not 
prejudicial to victims' rights, dignity or psychological 
well-being; and that victims are provided information in a 
language they understand.  (2) Source and destination 
countries share responsibility in ensuring the safe, humane 
and, to the extent possible, voluntary 
repatriation/reintegration for victims.  At a minimum, 
destination countries should contact a competent governmental 
body, NGO or IO in relevant source country to ensure that 
trafficked persons who return to their country of origin are 
provided with assistance and support necessary to their 
well-being.  Trafficking victims should not be subjected to 
deportations or forced returns without safeguards or other 
measures to reduce the risk of hardship, retribution, or 
re-trafficking. 
 
COMPLIANCE:  The government was fully compliant as reported 
in the 2008 TIP Report. 
 
Positive results that should be maintained and/or exceeded: 
 
-- The government sustained impressive efforts to provide 
care for trafficking victims during the reporting period.  In 
2007, Spain increased funding to anti-trafficking NGOs 
providing care to victims.  Spanish police continued 
informally to refer rescued victims to NGOs providing 
temporary shelter and rehabilitation services.  Victims 
receive medical assistance, including emergency care, through 
the national health care system.  The police identified 1,035 
sex trafficking victims and 445 labor trafficking victims in 
¶2007.  The government encourages foreign victims to assist in 
trafficking investigations and prosecutions by providing work 
and residence permits to victims choosing to assist, giving 
them the option of either permanent residence status or 
funding to return to their own countries after the 
prosecution.  There is no indication that victims are 
inappropriately incarcerated, fined or penalized for unlawful 
acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked. 
 
Recommendation for measures to ensure that the country fully 
complies with Minimum Standards: 
 
-- Establish a formal referral mechanism and procedures for 
proactive victim identification. 
 
¶4. Prevention:  The government should demonstrate serious and 
sustained efforts to combat TIP by adopting measures to 
prevent TIP, such as: 
 
(A) steps to inform and educate the public, including 
potential victims, about the causes and consequences of TIP, 
 
(B) measures to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts and 
for participation in international sex tourism by nationals 
of the country, 
 
(C) measures to ensure that its nationals who are deployed 
abroad as part of a peacekeeping or other similar mission do 
not engage in or facilitate severe forms of trafficking in 
persons or exploit victims of such trafficking, and 
 
(D) measures to prevent the use of forced labor or child 
labor in violation of international standards. 
 
Implementation Guideline: The government should provide/fund 
a hotline or similar mechanism that offers victims and 
potential victims assistance/information about TIP.  Per the 
new amendments to the Minimum Standards, starting with the 
April 2007 - March 2008 reporting period to be covered in the 
2008 TIP Report, countries should, for example where 
applicable: (1) Reduce demand for commercial sex acts: 
Implement or support some form of visible awareness campaign 
that educates the clients of the sex trade (and potential sex 
trafficking victims) if the country has a significant sex 
trafficking problem, or a campaign that targets those who 
form the demand for victims of forced labor about the nature 
of the relevant form of TIP.  Nations with legalized 
prostitution should make additional efforts to identify TIP 
victims proactively among those in prostitution in the 
legalized sex trade. This includes the systematic and 
sensitive screening of persons in the legalized sex trade. 
(2) Address child sex tourism: Countries that have a 
significant number of nationals traveling abroad as child sex 
tourists should undertake an awareness campaign that targets 
tourists traveling to known child sex tourism destinations. 
(3) Address trafficking and exploitation committed by 
 
STATE 00115695  004 OF 004 
 
 
multinational peacekeepers:  Governments with more than 100 
troops on peacekeeping or other similar missions abroad 
should provide anti-TIP training for these troops (directly 
or through multilateral efforts), and should investigate and, 
if appropriate, prosecute any allegations of trafficking 
crimes or crimes of facilitating trafficking or exploiting 
trafficking victims committed by these troops abroad and 
referred to it by the UN or another competent organization. 
 
COMPLIANCE:  The government was fully compliant as reported 
in the 2008 TIP Report. 
 
Positive results that should be maintained and/or exceeded: 
 
-- Spain sustained efforts to raise awareness about 
trafficking over the past year.  The Spanish government 
instituted a toll-free hotline that offers trafficking 
victims and potential victims information.  Regional offices 
of the national police conduct quarterly reviews to set goals 
for combating trafficking and to assess progress.  Spain,s 
draft National Integral Plan Against Trafficking in Persons 
includes a government pledge of almost $45 million per year 
and the dedication of over 200 new police and civil guards to 
its enforcement.  Local governments continued 
demand-reduction campaigns.  The city of Madrid targeted 
potential sex solicitors with the slogan, &Do not contribute 
to the perpetuation of 21st Century Slavery.8  Spanish 
military troops deploying abroad as international 
peacekeepers received anti-trafficking training through 
participation in multilateral training efforts.  Under the 
motto &There Are No Excuses,8 the Spanish government warned 
travelers against child sex tourism.  In January 2008, the 
Ministries of Labor and Social Affairs and Foreign Affairs 
teamed up with Save the Children to host an international 
conference on child trafficking, which addressed child sex 
tourism. 
 
Recommendation for measures to ensure that the country fully 
complies with Minimum Standards: 
 
-- Continue anti-trafficking awareness initiatives aimed at 
educating clients of the commercial sex trade about the 
causes and consequences of trafficking. 
 
-- Implement a national action plan to combat trafficking. 
 
-- Expand child sex tourism demand reduction campaigns. 
 
-- Continue to seek active participation from NGOs on 
anti-trafficking efforts, including policy initiatives. 
 
¶5. Corruption and Official Complicity:  The government should 
vigorously investigate, prosecute, convict, and sentence 
public officials who participate in or facilitate TIP, and 
take all appropriate measures against officials who condone 
such trafficking. 
 
(A) This should include nationals of the country who are 
deployed abroad as part of a peacekeeping or other similar 
mission who engage in or facilitate severe forms of 
trafficking in persons or exploit victims of such trafficking. 
 
(B) The government must provide data regarding such 
investigations, prosecutions, convictions, and sentences, or 
it shall be presumed not to have vigorously investigated, 
prosecuted, convicted, or sentenced such acts. 
 
Implementation Principle: Governments, consistent with their 
capacity to do so, must provide full comprehensive data on 
actions taken against TIP-related complicity.  Information on 
general government corruption does 
not satisfy this minimum standard, except in cases in which 
specific cases of complicity are not reported by the 
government or known to the USG, but where there is a 
reasonable probability of such complicity within the wider 
context of generalized corruption in that country. 
 
COMPLIANCE:  There were no specific cases of complicity 
reported by the government in the 2008 TIP Report. 
 
Recommendation for measures to ensure that the country fully 
complies with Minimum Standards: 
 
-- Continue to vigorously investigate and prosecute 
trafficking-related corruption at all levels of law 
enforcement.  Share comprehensive data on investigations, 
prosecutions, and convictions of complicit officials, and the 
lengths of sentences imposed on those convicted, if specific 
cases of complicity have occurred. 
 
End Action Guide and internal numbering. 
 
¶6.  The Department appreciates Post,s continued efforts to 
address trafficking in persons issues. 
RICE