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OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHC #5506 3311832
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 261823Z NOV 08
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO AMEMBASSY ZAGREB IMMEDIATE 0000

UNCLAS STATE 125506 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM KWMN KTIP PHUM PREL SMIG CR
SUBJECT: CROATIA: TIP ACTION GUIDE TO COMBAT TIP 
(2008-2009) 
 
REF: 11/14 DESK-POST ACTION PLAN E-MAIL 
 
¶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 fully 
comply 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 
penalty. 
 
COMPLIANCE:  The government was in full compliance as 
reported in the 2008 TIP Report. 
 
Positive results that should be maintained: 
 
-- Croatia criminally prohibits trafficking for sexual and 
labor exploitation through Criminal Provision 175 of its 
penal code. Prescribed penalties for sex trafficking are 
commensurate with those for rape, and penalties for all forms 
of trafficking are sufficiently stringent. 
 
¶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 Croatia made significant improvements in 
prosecuting and convicting traffickers in 2007. In 2007, the 
government investigated 20 suspected trafficking offenders. 
It convicted 10 traffickers, two of which are pending final 
appeal. Out of the remaining eight traffickers, one received 
a three-year sentence, three received a sentence of one year 
and four months, and two received one-year sentences. In 
February 2008, the government conducted anti-trafficking 
training for ten officers to instruct future Croatian 
peacekeepers prior to their deployment. 
 
Recommended measures to ensure that the country continues to 
fully comply with Minimum Standards: 
 
-- Seek to toughen sentences imposed on convicted traffickers. 
 
-- Investigate possible trafficking on the Dalmatian coast. 
 
¶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 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 of Croatia in 2007 further 
institutionalized a victim-centered approach for trafficking 
victims. The government provides foreign victims with legal 
alternatives to their removal to countries where they may 
face hardship or retribution. In January 2008, a new Law on 
Foreigners mandates a 30-day reflection period for potential 
adult victims and a 90-day reflection period for children who 
are potential victims. The government continued its proactive 
cooperation with civil society, providing identified victims 
with shelter, legal, medical, and psychological services, as 
well as educational and vocational training. Out of 15 
identified victims in 2007, five accepted accommodation in 
shelters. The government facilitated the responsible return 
of the remaining 10 who chose not to stay at a shelter. 
Croatia continued to implement, through the use of mobile 
teams, its national mechanism to proactively identify 
potential trafficking victims and refer them to service 
providers. The government actively encourages victim 
participation in trafficking cases; assistance was not 
conditional upon victim cooperation with law enforcement 
investigators. Victims are entitled to file both civil and 
criminal lawsuits and have the right to press charges 
themselves, even in cases that are dropped by the State 
Prosecutor. The government made efforts to ensure that 
trafficking victims were not detained, penalized, or deported 
for unlawful acts committed as a result of their being 
trafficked. Last year the government provided approximately 
$82,000 in specific funding for shelters for trafficking 
victims. 
 
Recommended measures to ensure that the country continues to 
fully comply with Minimum Standards: 
 
-- Continue efforts to enhance proactive identification of 
women in prostitution and of migrants who transit the country 
legally. 
 
¶4. Prevention:  The government should demonstrate serious and 
sustained efforts to combat TIP by adopting measures to 
prevent TIP.  Measures 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, 
 
(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 proactively 
identify TIP victims 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 
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. C 
 
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 Croatia contributed generously to its 
anti-trafficking efforts, allocating almost $2 million to its 
anti-trafficking regime in 2007. It demonstrated its 
leadership and commitment by conducting numerous high profile 
educational campaigns about trafficking. The government 
earmarked over $37,000 for and developed a nation-wide demand 
reduction campaign as part of an EU Cards Twining Project 
with Austria and Germany to air in May 2008 prior to the 
Euro- Soccer Cup. In 2007, it sponsored an anti-trafficking 
movie night at Zagreb based cinemas with free admission to 
the public, and produced and distributed an anti-trafficking 
documentary nationwide, with over 54 showings across the 
country. 
 
Recommended measures to ensure that the country continues to 
fully comply with Minimum Standards: 
 
-- Ensure that demand reduction efforts are aimed at the 
clients of the sex trade. 
 
¶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