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RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHAM #0429/01 0491025
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 181025Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY AMMAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4476
INFO RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS 4075
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT 2987
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 3916
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 2088
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD 6157
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 1555
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 0197
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 0171
RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI 0044
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 0063
RUEHML/AMEMBASSY MANILA 0130
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 0303
RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI 1282
RUEHMK/AMEMBASSY MANAMA 0699
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC

UNCLAS AMMAN 000429 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ELA, DRL, G/TIP 
STATE PASS TO USTR (SFRANCESKI, LKARESH, CROMERO) 
LABOR FOR ILAB (MSeroka) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB ECON ETRD EAID KTIP KTEX JO
SUBJECT:  Complete Text of Jordan's New Anti-TIP Law 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
REFS: A) Amman 242 
      B) Amman 230 
      C) 08 Amman 3388 
  D) 08 Amman 3171 
  E) 08 Amman 2822 
 
¶1.  (U) Jordan's Upper House of Parliament endorsed on February 4 
the anti-Trafficking-in-Persons (TIP) Law. The law was previously 
endorsed by the Lower House on January 25 and now moves forward for 
the King's signature and publication in Jordan's Official Gazette. 
The law would come into effect 90 days after publication, at which 
time the Legislative and Opinion Bureau would begin drafting by-laws 
to govern the law's implementation. The full text of the law is 
contained in paragraph 4 of this cable and will be posted on 
Intellipedia. 
 
¶2. (SBU) The law is comprehensive in that the definition of 
trafficking includes the attracting, transporting, harboring, or 
receipt of persons by means of threat or use of force or other forms 
of coercion and deception for both forced labor and sexual 
exploitation. The law stipulates sentences of up to 10 years 
depending on the crime and enables the government to close or 
suspend business operations and seize funds or profits related to 
trafficking. The law also forms a National TIP Committee, to be 
chaired by the Minister of Justice, and gives it significant 
responsibilities to combat trafficking. The committee would replace 
the current inter-Ministerial committee. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Comment: Generally speaking, the law is a significant step 
forward in Jordan's effort to fight trafficking. The law stipulates 
a punishment of up to 10 years and fines for the most egregious 
trafficking crimes but does not establish a minimum prison sentence 
for such crimes (Article 9). For most other trafficking offenses, 
the minimum punishment is six months imprisonment or a fine of 1,000 
JD ($1,400) (Article 8). In either case, the law provides judges 
with significant sentencing discretion, which merits close scrutiny 
by Post. The law also stops short of mandating a GOJ-established 
shelter, leaving it to the National TIP Committee to make a 
recommendation.  End Comment. 
 
Full Translated Text of Law 
--------------------------- 
 
¶4. (U) The following is the full unofficial translated text of the 
law: 
 
Article 1: This law shall be called the Anti-Human Trafficking Law 
of 2008 and shall go into effect 90 days after the date of its 
publication in the Official Gazette. 
 
Article 2: The following words and phrases, wherever they are used 
in this law, shall have the meanings shown hereunder unless the 
context indicates otherwise: 
 
--The Ministry: The Ministry of Justice 
 
--The Minister: The Minister of Justice 
 
--The Committee: The National Committee for the Prevention of Human 
Trafficking formed in accordance with the provisions of this law. 
 
Article 3: A. For the purposes of this law, the expression "crimes 
of trafficking in persons" shall mean: 
 
--Attracting, transporting, harboring or receipt of persons, by 
means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of 
abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a 
position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments 
or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over 
another person, or 
 
--Attracting, transporting, harboring, or receipt of persons who are 
under 18 years old with the purpose of exploiting them even if this 
exploitation is not associated with a threat or use of force or 
other means enshrined in this article. 
 
¶B. For the purposes of Paragraph (A) of this article, the word 
"exploitation" means exploiting persons in forced labor or in 
slavery or servitude, or by way of removing their body parts, or 
using them in prostitution or any other form of sexual exploitation. 
 
 
¶C. An offense shall be considered transnational in nature if: 
 
--It is committed in more than one state. 
 
--It is committed in one state but its preparation, planning, 
direction, or control takes places in another state. 
 
--It is committed in any state but involves an organized criminal 
group that engages in criminal activities in more than one state. 
 
--It is committed in one state but has effects on another. 
 
Article 4: A. A committee called "the National Committee for the 
Prevention of Human Trafficking" shall be formed under the 
chairmanship of the Minister and shall have the following as 
members: 
 
--The secretary general of the Ministry (vice chairman). 
 
--The secretary general of the Ministry of Interior. 
 
--The secretary general of the Ministry of Labor. 
 
--The commissioner of the National Center for Human Rights. 
 
--A representative of the Foreign Ministry to be named by its 
minister. 
 
--A representative of the Ministry of Social Development to be named 
by its minister. 
 
--A representative of the Ministry of Industry and Trade to be named 
by its minister. 
 
--A representative of the Health Ministry to be named by its 
minister. 
 
--A senior Public Security officer to be named by the Public 
Security director. 
 
--The secretary general of the National Council for Family Affairs. 
 
¶B. The relevant minister or director shall name the members 
mentioned in (5), (6), (7), (8), and (9) of Paragraph (A) of this 
article. 
 
¶C. The Minister shall name one of the employees of the Ministry as 
secretary of the Committee to write the minutes of its meetings, 
keep its records, and follow up on the implementation of its 
decisions. 
 
Article 5: The Committee shall assume the following tasks and 
powers: 
 
¶A. Drawing up a general policy for preventing human trafficking and 
drafting the necessary plans for implementing it (the policy) and 
supervising its application. 
 
¶B. Reviewing legislation related to preventing human trafficking and 
presenting the necessary proposals and recommendations on it. 
 
¶C. Coordinating with all official and nonofficial parties that are 
concerned with the prevention of crimes of human trafficking, 
including the necessary procedures to facilitate the return of 
victims and those who are harmed by these crimes to their countries 
or any other country they choose. 
 
¶D. Issuing a national guide that includes guidelines and educational 
material that is relevant to its work and publishing and 
disseminating it to all concerned parties. 
 
¶E. Holding conferences and seminars, as well as training and 
educational programs for employers and people who bring in laborers 
and employees to educate them on matters related to the prevention 
of human trafficking. 
 
¶F. Studying international, regional and local reports related to the 
prevention of human trafficking and adopting the necessary measures 
and procedures toward them. 
 
¶G. Cooperating with all official and nonofficial parties to 
implement the necessary programs of physical, psychological, and 
social recovery of the victims and those harmed by crimes of human 
trafficking and supervising sheltering them in places that are 
designated for this purpose. 
 
¶H. Forming one subcommittee or more with the aim of assisting the 
Committee in undertaking its tasks and presenting its 
recommendations to the Committee. 
 
¶I. Any tasks that are related to its work as presented to it by the 
chairman of the Committee. 
 
Article 6: A. The Committee shall meet at the invitation of its 
chairman once every three months and whenever there is a need. Its 
meeting shall be legal in the presence a majority of its members. It 
shall adopt its decisions with a majority of attending members. In 
the case of equal votes, the side with which the chairman of the 
Committee voted shall win the vote. 
 
¶B. The chairman of the Committee may invite any person of experience 
and specialization to attend the meetings of the Committee to seek 
his opinion on matters presented to it. 
 
Article 7: Based on a recommendation by the Committee, the Council 
of Ministers may establish or designate one home or more for 
sheltering victims and those who are harmed by crimes of human 
trafficking provided that a regulation, which is issued for this 
purpose, specifies principles for entering and leaving the home and 
the programs of physical, psychological, and social recovery offered 
to its residents, its method of management, and conditions related 
to its staff. 
 
Article 8: Any person who commits one of the crimes of human 
trafficking that are stipulated in Clause 1 of Paragraph A of 
Article 3 of this law shall be penalized by a minimum prison 
sentence of six months or a fine of not less than 1,000 dinars and 
not more than 5,000 dinars or both penalties. 
 
Article 9: Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 8 of this law, 
a penalty of temporary hard labor of no more than 10 years and a 
fine of not less than 5,000 dinars and not more than 20,000 dinars 
shall be handed out to any of the following: 
 
¶A.  Any person who committed any of the crimes of human trafficking 
stipulated in Clause 2 of Paragraph A of Article 3 of this law. 
 
¶B. Any person who committed any of the crimes of human trafficking 
in any of the following cases: 
 
--If the person who committed the crime has established, organized, 
or managed an organized criminal group for human trafficking or 
joined it or participated in it. 
 
--If the victims include females or persons with disabilities. 
 
--If the crime involves exploitation in prostitution, any other form 
of sexual exploitation, or organ removal. 
 
--If the person commits the act by using a weapon or threatening to 
do so. 
 
--If any of the crimes stipulated in this law causes the victim to 
suffer a chronic incurable disease. 
 
--If the person who commits the crime is the spouse of the victim, 
or one of the immediate or distant relatives, or the guardian. 
 
--If the person who commits the crime is a public official or is 
assigned a public service and committed the act by abusing his 
office or public service. 
 
--If the crime is transnational in nature. 
 
Article 10: A. Any person who knew by virtue of the job that he 
holds about the existence of a plan to commit one of the crimes 
stipulated in Article 9 of this law or knew that one of these crimes 
occurred and did not notify the competent official agencies about 
this shall be penalized by imprisonment for a period of more than 
six months. 
 
¶B. Any person who possessed, hid, or disposed of any items while 
knowing that it was obtained through one of the crimes stipulated in 
this law shall be penalized by imprisonment for a period of no more 
than a year or a fine of not less than 200 dinars and not more than 
1,000 dinars or both penalties. 
 
Article 11: A. A corporate person shall be penalized with a fine of 
not less than 1,000 dinars and not more than 50,000 dinars if he 
commits one of the crimes stipulated in this law without exempting 
his representative who committed this crime of responsibility. 
 
¶B. In addition to the penalties stipulated in this law, the court 
may decide to stop a corporate person from conducting business 
completely or partially for a period of not less than a month and 
not more than a year if the chairman of its board of directors or 
any of its members; or the head of its managing board or any of its 
members as the situation warrants; or the director of the corporate 
person or the one who represents him; or any of its staff commits 
one of the crimes stipulated in Articles 8 and 9 of this law. 
 
¶C. If the corporate person repeats the commission of one of the 
crimes that are stipulated in Articles 8 and 9 of this law, the 
court may decide to revoke his registration or liquidate it. The 
chairman and members of its board of directors; or the head or 
members of its managing board as the situation warrants; and its 
director and every partner who is personally responsible for the 
commission of this crime shall be prevented from participating in or 
holding a share in the capital of any corporate person that has 
similar purposes or taking part in its management or conducting any 
business in it. 
 
Article 12: A. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other piece of 
legislation, the public prosecutor may decide to stop legal 
procedures against any of the victims or people harmed by crimes of 
human trafficking stipulated in this law if it is proven that they 
have committed any of these crimes, participated in them, or incited 
them provided that this decision is approved by a committee made up 
of the following: 
 
--Chairman of the public prosecution as chairman. 
 
--A judge of the Court of Cassation to be selected by its chairman. 
--The concerned public prosecutor. 
 
¶B. The public prosecutor may issue a decision closing the place in 
which the owner, any member of its management, or any of its staff 
commits any of the crimes stipulated in this law for a period that 
does not exceed six months. This decision can be protested in front 
of the committee referred to in Paragraph A of this article. 
Article 13: The satisfaction of the victims or those harmed by 
crimes of human trafficking shall not be considered as grounds for 
mitigating any of the penalties enshrined in this law. 
Article 14: The court has to rule on the seizure of any funds and 
profits obtained by the commission of any of the crimes stipulated 
in this law. 
 
Article 15: Despite the provisions enshrined in this law, the court 
shall apply any stricter penalty that is stipulated in any other 
law. 
 
Article 16: The Council of Ministers may issue the necessary 
regulations for the implementation of the provisions of this law. 
 
Article 17: The prime minister and the ministers shall be assigned 
the implementation of the provisions of this law. 
 
Visit Amman's Classified Website at: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman 
 
Beecroft