VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHPG #0089/01 0431524
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 121524Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY PRAGUE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1118
INFO RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASH DC
RHEFHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHDC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC

UNCLAS PRAGUE 000089 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT PASS TO HQ USAID WASHDC 
DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP, G-ACBLANK, INL, DRL, PRM, EUR/PGI, EUR/CE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KTIP KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB
SUBJECT: Ninth Annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report - Czech 
Republic 
 
Ref: 08 STATE 132759 
 
¶1. (U) Sensitive But Unclassified entire text; not for internet 
distribution. 
 
¶2. (SBU) SUMMARY: The Czech Republic is meeting the Minimum 
Standards for the elimination of trafficking in persons as set forth 
in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2005, in that: 
 
a) The government provides a comprehensive anti-trafficking legal 
framework by which it prosecutes trafficking in all its forms. 
Punishments are of similar severity as sentences for other serious 
crimes such as rape.  Thus, trafficking sentences are of sufficient 
severity to act as a general deterrent; 
 
b) The government is combating trafficking by investigating and 
prosecuting trafficking cases, as well as convicting and sentencing 
guilty parties.    The government also regularly provided NGOs and 
the USG, consistent with its ability to do so, data regarding 
investigations, prosecutions, convictions, and sentences; 
 
c) The government demonstrated serious and sustained efforts to 
protect victims of trafficking through its National Strategy against 
Trafficking and through its Program of Support for Victims.  The 
government also encouraged victim assistance in the investigation 
and prosecution of traffickers; and 
 
d) The government demonstrated serious and sustained efforts to 
implement measures to prevent trafficking, such as informing the 
public about the causes and consequences of trafficking; taking 
steps to reduce demand for commercial sex acts; ensuring that its 
nationals deployed abroad as peacekeepers have been trained to 
detect, prevent, and punish violations of severe trafficking; and by 
fighting forced labor and child labor that violates international 
standards. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Post responses are keyed to questions posed reftel. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
THE COUNTRY'S TIP SITUATION: (ref Para 23 08 STATE 132759) 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶A. Czech Republic's official sources of information on trafficking 
include: the Ministries of Interior, Justice, Labor and Social 
Affairs, Health, and Education; the Government Council for 
Minorities, the Government Council for Human Rights, the State 
Police, as well as the NGOs La Strada, Caritas (formerly known as 
Catholic Czech Charities), White Circle of Safety, and Pleasure 
without Risk (which supports health campaigns for sex workers; and 
is also sometimes known as "Bliss without Risk").  The International 
Organization for Migration (IOM) also plays a major role in 
voluntary victim returns to their country of origin. In August 2008 
an Interministerial Coordination Group (ICG) was established to 
bring these institutions together in order to make the system of 
coordination of activities and data collection pertaining to 
trafficking in people more effective. The ICG meets twice a year to 
coordinate activities, analyze and evaluate data on trafficking, and 
to plan strategy for combating trafficking. The Ministry of Interior 
and its Section of Crime Prevention provide day-to-day coordination 
of TIP activities and also administer the annual special funding 
program for NGOs, called "Prevention of Trafficking in People and 
Assistance to Victims of Trafficking." 
 
¶B. The Czech Republic is a transit and destination country and, to a 
lesser degree, a source country for trafficking in persons (TIP) 
mainly for the purposes of sexual exploitation, but also for 
purposes of forced labor.  Some victims are trafficked internally 
from areas of high unemployment to Prague and to border regions with 
Germany and Austria, where there is a higher demand for commercial 
sex services. Czech women are primarily trafficked to the 
Netherlands, Denmark, Great Britain, and Switzerland for work as 
prostitutes.  Foreign and Czech women are also trafficked within the 
country, and are at times sold from one organized trafficking ring 
to another. Long-term trends have demonstrated cooperation between 
international criminal gangs operating within the Czech Republic and 
gangs operating in their home countries. 
 
Since entry into the European Union in 2004, NGOs estimate that 
nearly all trafficking victims have entered the Czech Republic 
legally with valid tourist visas.  This holds true for both forced 
labor and sex trafficking. (Note: Schengen rules permit entry into 
the Czech Republic without a visa from other Schengen countries, 
thereby facilitating movement of victims.) 
 
¶C. Under promise of good jobs the traffickers lure women in their 
 
home countries to the Czech Republic where they place them in erotic 
night clubs and force them to prostitution in order to pay back for 
their visa, travel, etc. 
A Constitutional Court ruling from 2007 which allows municipalities 
to ban prostitution in their own jurisdictions has led some 
observers to suspect that prostitution is being pushed out of the 
public view and into private clubs, residences, and businesses, 
where it is harder to monitor. 
 
¶D.  Czech women between the ages of 18-29 with secondary or lower 
educations from regions of high unemployment are at the greatest 
risk of falling victim to sex traffickers. Women who have previously 
worked as prostitutes are particularly vulnerable to exploitation. 
Roma women are at the highest risk of being trafficked internally in 
the Czech Republic, and are at the highest risk among all Czech 
women of being trafficked outside the country.  According to IOM 
research for the Czech government, foreign labor trafficking victims 
in the Czech Republic are relatively evenly divided between men and 
women and come from a variety of source countries, such as the 
former Soviet Union, especially Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, 
Belarus, but also Romania,  China,  Vietnam, and Mongolia. They also 
tend to have relatively low education and to be drawn from 
high-unemployment regions of their countries.  However, unlike sex 
trafficked-persons, individuals trafficked for purposes of labor 
show a much more widely dispersed range of ages.  The Czech Republic 
is also a transit country for labor trafficking victims to other 
European Union member states. 
 
¶E. Most trafficked women for sexual exploitation and organized 
prostitution come from Slovakia, Ukraine, Russia, and other 
countries of the former Soviet Union, and also from Vietnam, 
Romania, Mongolia, and Brazil. Trafficking is mainly organized by 
Russian-speaking organized criminal groups that are active 
throughout the country but mainly focused in Northern and Western 
Bohemia, Southern Moravia and Prague. Trafficking in Vietnamese and 
Chinese individuals is organized by Chinese and Vietnamese nationals 
and members of those communities in the Czech Republic. The language 
and cultural barriers with these victims has complicated police 
investigations; however, there were several major police operations 
targeting Asian traffickers during the reporting period. 
 
In January 2007, in compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 
1718, the government ended the practice of issuing visas to North 
Korean workers.  According to the director of the Foreign Police, 
all laborers have since departed the country. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
SETTING THE SCENE FOR THE GOVERNMENT'S ANTI-TIP EFFORTS: (ref Para 
24 08 STATE 132759) 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶A. The Czech government acknowledges that trafficking for both 
sexual exploitation and forced labor continues to be a problem in 
the country. 
 
¶B. The lead coordinator of combating trafficking is the Ministry of 
Interior and its Section of Crime Prevention in particular. Other 
government bodies concerned with the fight against trafficking in 
persons are the Ministries of Justice, Labor and Social Affairs, 
Health, and Education, as well as the State Police.  These bodies 
form an inter-ministerial committee, parts of which interact with 
anti-trafficking units of multi-lateral bodies, such as the UN, EU, 
and the OSCE.  Additionally, the government works closely and, in 
many cases, funds major anti-trafficking-related projects of several 
NGOs, including Caritas, La Strada, and Pleasure without Risk. The 
government has a strong relationship with the international 
organization, IOM, and its volunteer return program, which aids 
trafficking victims wishing to return to their country of origin. 
In 2006, the country established a specialized  police unit to 
combat forced labor, the first of its kind in the region.  In its 
first two years in operation, the unit made several noteworthy raids 
and trafficking arrests. 
 
¶C. The Czech Government provides significant funding to its agencies 
and NGO partners to implement and monitor the country's 
anti-trafficking campaign and aid victims. In 2008 the Czech 
government provided funding to its agencies and NGO partners worth 
almost 9,000,000 crowns ($450,000). Through the national budget, the 
budget of the Ministry of Interior, and program funds from the 
Ministries of Health, as well as Labor and Social Affairs, the 
government is a major source of funds for NGO trafficking 
monitoring, prevention, and rehabilitation programs.  In many cases, 
the state is the single largest contributor to a particular 
anti-trafficking program, such as Caritas' MAGDALA program, and to 
IOM's voluntary victim return program. 
 
 
According to heads of the main human rights NGOs in the Czech 
Republic, the government's anti-trafficking efforts are on par with 
Western European countries that are generally considered to have 
effective official anti-trafficking programs, such as Germany and 
the Netherlands. Embassy Prague has also consistently used the 
International Visitor Program to train both government and NGO staff 
working in this area. 
 
As strong as the government's efforts have been, NGOs and some state 
officials have recommended additional steps the government can take 
to bolster its anti-trafficking efforts.  Of these recommendations, 
the one most generally cited is the need to establish a national, 
integrated, and fully searchable database containing all information 
on trafficking cases from official and NGO sources 
In January 2008, the government accepted this and other 
recommendations as part of its overall 2008-2011 National Strategy 
plan, which envisages preparing an annual report on combating 
trafficking and making it public. The first annual report is due 
March 2009. Post was able to obtain an early draft of the report, 
which tracks many of the issues and data covered by the requirements 
of the U.S. TVPA. 
 
Other factors may also potentially affect the government's ability 
to fight trafficking.  In December 2007, the country entered the 
EU's Schengen zone, which removed land border controls from around 
the country.  (Border checks, however, remain in place at airports 
inside the Czech Republic.)  As the country is now surrounded on all 
sides by other Schengen states, the area inside the zone has no 
inter-state border checks.  Consequently, monitoring trafficking 
activity into the country has become more difficult. However, there 
are two anti-trafficking coordination efforts with other Schengen 
zone countries: AGELAUS, a regional police effort that monitors 
trafficking trends on a country by country basis; and FRONTEX, which 
seeks ways to boost trafficking detection in an era without external 
national borders. 
 
In Cheb, a city near the German border, the government continued to 
support activities of its specialized police team, "Eger," 
throughout the reporting period.  Police also continued to work 
closely with Roma police assistants to combat trafficking in the 
Roma communities. (Roma women continue to be the main victims of 
domestic trafficking in persons in the Czech Republic.) 
 
The Czech Republic also has one of the highest police to citizen 
ratios in Europe, but still faces a shortage of officers. 
Therefore, the government is still looking for new police recruits. 
Under the well-known American policing slogan "To Protect and to 
Serve," the government has launched a nationwide hiring campaign for 
new police officers.  Some of the former border police may also be 
available to fill vacant police positions. 
 
Though it exists, corruption in the Czech Republic has not been a 
known factor in undermining police anti-trafficking efforts.  Nor is 
Post aware of any instances where anti-trafficking program funds 
have been siphoned off for illegitimate use by NGOs. 
 
¶D. The government regularly scrutinizes and periodically updates its 
anti-trafficking campaign. On January 23, 2008, the government 
approved the 2008-2011 version of the "National Strategy for the 
Fight against Trafficking in Human Beings."  (The Czech Interior 
Ministry works closely with other government ministries, such as 
Justice, Education, Health, Labor and Social Affairs; NGOs, such as 
La Strada, Caritas; the international organization IOM; multilateral 
bodies and foreign police departments and regional government 
partners to improve its anti-trafficking efforts. The government 
also conducts twice-annual inter-ministerial meetings to coordinate 
the government's anti-trafficking policies.  The government 
routinely publishes extensive information relating to aspects of its 
anti-trafficking efforts and shares this information with relevant 
NGOs and regional partners. 
 
Throughout the reporting period, Czech authorities have been highly 
cooperative and transparent in their interactions with Post on the 
government's anti-trafficking campaign.  They have provided Post 
with up-to-date law enforcement data, information on their financial 
support to NGOs, work with international and regional actors, and 
their assessments on the overall progress of the anti-trafficking 
campaign.  NGO directors in the Czech Republic have generally 
praised the government's anti-trafficking efforts. 
 
In 2008 the Ministry of Interior of the Czech Republic joined a 
project submitted by Portugal and the International Center for 
Migration Policies Development called "Data Collection and 
Harmonized Information Systems." The aim of the project is to create 
 
joint criteria for data collection and a unified data base on 
trafficking in people. The project that was launched in May 2008 and 
will be finished in September 2009 was also joined by Poland, 
Slovakia, and Germany. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION OF TRAFFICKERS (ref Para 25 08 STATE 
132759) 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶A. The country's comprehensive anti-trafficking law is Section 
232(a) of the general criminal code (2004).  Known as the "Criminal 
Law against Trafficking in Persons," the law greatly expanded the 
country's original trafficking law which covered only trafficking 
for sexual purposes.  The 2004 law covers all forms of trafficking 
and forced labor. 
 
Section 232(a) states: 
 
1) Whoever induces, engages, hires, lures, transports, hides, 
detains or delivers a person under 18 years of age to be used 
A) for sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual molestation or 
exploitation, 
B) for slavery or servitude, or 
C) for forced labour or other forms of exploitation, shall be 
punished to imprisonment for two to ten years. 
 
2) In the same manner will be punished whoever by means of the use 
of force, threat of force, deception or abuse of his mistake, stress 
or dependence induces, engages, hires, lures, transports, hides, 
detains or delivers another to be used 
A) for sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual molestation or 
exploitation, 
B) for slavery or servitude, or 
C) for forced labour or other forms of exploitation. 
 
3) Offender shall be punished by imprisonment of five to twelve 
years, 
A) if he commits the crime stated in Article 1 or 2 as a member of 
an organised group, 
B) if he exposes another by such act to danger of an aggravated 
bodily harm or death, 
C) if he commits such act with the intent of obtaining a substantial 
gain, or 
D) if he commits such act with the intent of using another for 
prostitution. 
 
4) Offender shall be punished by imprisonment of eight to fifteen 
years, 
A) if he causes by the crime stated in Article 1 or 2 an aggravated 
bodily harm, death or another particularly grave consequence, 
B) if he commits such act with the intent of obtaining a gain of 
large scope, or if he commits such act in connection with an 
organised group operating in more countries. 
 
Based on the sufficiency of resources and the availability of 
witnesses, law enforcement authorities may also use other statutes 
to prosecute trafficking-related offenses.  The majority of these 
trafficking-related cases are brought under the nation's 
anti-pimping statute, as it demands lower evidentiary burdens and 
provides speedier trials than using the trafficking statute. 
 
Section 204 of the criminal code states: 
 
(1) A person who engages, forces or corrupts somebody else to 
prostitute oneself or a person who exploits the fact that someone 
has sexual relations against payment, shall be sentenced to 
imprisonment for at most three years. 
 
(2) A person who commits the offence mentioned in paragraph 1 by 
using violence, threat of violence or threat of other serious 
detriment or by misuse of straits or dependence of the other person 
shall be sentenced to imprisonment for at least one and at most five 
years. 
 
(3) A sentence to imprisonment for at least two years and at most 
eight years shall be imposed if a person: 
A) gains a great profit by committing the offence mentioned in 
paragraph 1 or 2 ; or 
B) commits such an offence as a member of an organised group ; or 
C) commits such an offence against a person under eighteen (18) 
years of age. 
 
(4) A sentence to imprisonment for at least five years and at most 
twelve years shall be imposed if a person commits the offence 
 
mentioned in paragraph 2 against a person under fifteen (15) years 
of age. 
 
The government also criminalized the possession of child pornography 
in November 2007.  The amendment, Section 205 of the criminal code, 
provides sentences of up to eight years in prison for violators. 
The move was in response to calls for further protection for child 
victims of sexual exploitation, and was aimed at stopping the spread 
of child commercial sexual activity across the border. 
 
In January 2009 President Klaus signed into law a new criminal code, 
which sets even stricter sentences for trafficking in persons and 
which will come into force as of January 2010. 
 
¶B. Per Section 232(a)(4), Czech law punishes trafficking in persons 
for sexual exploitation (or any other purpose) with sentences of up 
to 15 years in prison.  In 2008, 29 cases were brought under the 
anti-trafficking statute. The statistics did not indicate how many 
people were involved.  Ten of the cases involved trafficking in 
persons for the purposes of forced labor, and 19 cases involved 
trafficking for sexual exploitation.  By year's end, three 
defendants were convicted under the statute, and received prison 
sentences of between 1-15 years. The three defendants were not 
necessarily part of these 29 cases; they may be part of cases from 
previous years as trafficking cases in the Czech Republic can take 
up to two or more years to complete. 
 
During the reporting period, 88 persons were charged under Section 
204 (2) with pimping.  In the same period, 60 persons were convicted 
under the pimping statute, and 14 of those convicted received prison 
sentences of between 1-5 years.  The others received suspended 
sentences or were fined.  MOI contacts said they did not keep tabs 
on any of the specific fines imposed.  As the underlying offenses 
are usually trafficking-related, Czech officials maintain that these 
pimping cases should be considered as part of their anti-trafficking 
efforts. 
 
¶C. The country's anti-trafficking law, Section 232 of the criminal 
code, does not draw a distinction between penalties for trafficking 
in persons for sexual exploitation and trafficking in persons for 
other purposes, such as labor.  Accordingly, the sentences for such 
offenses are identical - up to 15 years in prison.  The government 
can also fine employers who violate work contracts or confiscate 
workers travel documents.  Fines can be as high as 500,000 crowns 
($25,000) per occurrence.  If employers use abuse, or physical or 
sexual assault against employees to coerce their labor they can be 
charged with a host of crimes, ranging from denial of personal 
liberty, rape, assault, sexual harassment, pimping and trafficking 
in persons. 
 
¶D. The maximum sentence for trafficking is similar to the sentence 
for other serious crimes against the person, such as rape, which 
also carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison; thus, the 
maximum penalty for trafficking is sufficient to act as a general 
deterrent. 
 
¶E. The Czech government does not disaggregate the reported 
statistics, so we cannot distinguish between labor versus sex 
related cases or cases involving children.  See subsections B and C 
of this paragraph, above. 
 
¶F. The Czech government showed continued dedication to training 
police, prosecutors, judges and military officers on the 
significance of the social harm created by trafficking in persons. 
Under the government program "Prevention of Trafficking in Persons 
and Assistance to Victims to trafficking", the Ministry of Interior 
organized and led training and educational activities in cooperation 
with state institutions and leading human rights organizations.  The 
training in many cases was based on major U.S. and EU trafficking 
case studies. During the reporting period, anti-trafficking courses 
were, for example, required for new judges at the country's Judicial 
Academy in Kromeriz. 
 
Anti-trafficking courses were also part of continuing education 
requirements for more senior judges, prosecutors, and police 
officers.  The Judicial Academy's courses focus on legal aspects of 
trafficking in persons as well as on the consequences of trafficking 
for victims. The first such course attended by 55 prosecutors and 
judges was held in January 2008. Lecturers included experts from the 
Ministry of Interior, the Organized Crime Unit of the Czech police, 
and the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. Another seminar, 
dealing with crimes against children through the Internet, and yet 
another course dealing with juvenile immigrants and trafficking of 
children were held for 52 prosecutors and judges in the spring. 
 
In May 2008 the Ministry of Interior organized an international 
course entitled "Trafficking in Human Beings - Forced Labor and Sex 
 
Industry" in Prague. Speakers were Czech and foreign experts, and 
the audience included Czech government officials and their 
colleagues from 19 countries. The course focused on combating 
organized crime, especially in trafficking in human beings, and 
international cooperation in this area. 
 
During 2008 the Ministry of Interior established cooperation with 
the Military University in Brno where it organized a series of 
seminars for the Czech military on the problem of trafficking in 
persons. 
 
Since 2005, the MOI and the Organized Crime Unit of the police 
(UOOZ) have been providing several one-day trafficking seminars at 
secondary police schools. During these seminars, police 
investigators teach academy students specifics of detecting and 
investigating trafficking cases, cooperating with NGOs, and 
providing information on assistance to victims of trafficking. 
 
Human rights NGOs were in full agreement that the Czech police have 
over the last several years greatly enhanced their ability to 
identify victims of trafficking due to greater training and overall 
sensitivity to the phenomenon; they mainly credit the Ministry of 
Interior for making combating trafficking a cornerstone of the basic 
police curriculum. As most victims are currently identified by the 
police, NGOs place a great deal of importance on initial encounters 
with victims.  Overall, NGO representatives stated that police 
effectiveness in dealing with victims in the initial contact phase 
was excellent and much better when compared to their efforts from 
just a few years ago. 
 
The government continued to work hand-in-hand with three main 
non-governmental organizations: Caritas (formerly known as Czech 
Catholic Charities), La Strada, and Pleasure without Risk (Rozkos 
Bez Rizika). Caritas works in schools, as well as asylum and migrant 
centers, to conduct awareness campaigns among potential victims of 
trafficking.  They also publicize the risks of trafficking and the 
strategies used by traffickers to entrap and coerce victims. La 
Strada focuses on advocacy, victim assistance, and prevention 
programs. Although both La Strada and Caritas provide short-term 
crisis intervention, Caritas, which receives subsidies from the 
Catholic Church, tends to focus more on providing longer-term care 
and support, while La Strada specializes on immediate crisis 
intervention. Pleasure without Risk works primarily in the field of 
health care advocacy for sex workers. 
 
All of these organizations, but especially IOM and La Strada, play 
key roles in the government's "Program of Support and Protection of 
the Victims of Trafficking in Persons," which is the main government 
effort aimed at helping victims of trafficking. 
 
¶G. The government cooperated closely with police forces, 
multilateral bodies, and NGOs from neighboring countries.  Under UN 
auspices, the national police have hosted a number of experts on 
crime and migration from Slovakia and Ukraine.  These meetings have 
focused on monitoring the connection between organized crime and the 
movement of migrants across state borders. The Czech government also 
plans to address TIP during its Presidency of the European Union 
from January to June 2009. The Ministry of Interior is preparing two 
major international conferences on this topic. The first conference 
entitled "Joint Analysis, Joint Action - Conference of EU National 
Rapporteurs on Trafficking in Human Beings," supported by the 
European Commission and the Organization for Security and 
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will be held in Prague in March. The 
second conference, also being prepared by the Ministry of Interior 
will deal with sexual exploitation and sex business and how 
different European countries tackle these problems. 
 
The government also joined a 2008-2009 international project 
entitled "Supranational Reference Mechanism for Victims of 
Trafficking in Persons in Source and Destination Countries" which is 
coordinated by the International Center for Migration Policy 
Development (ICMPD). The aim of the project is to interlink the 
existing national coordination mechanisms for protection and 
assistance to victims of trafficking in persons, unification of 
standards of services for victims of trafficking, and fostering 
international and bilateral cooperation in repatriation and 
reintegration of victims of trafficking. Participating countries 
include Portugal, Bulgaria, Romania, Albania, Hungary, Macedonia, 
and many NGOs. 
 
The Ministry of Interior continued bilateral cooperation with 
Ukraine in the "Project ZERO," which was launched in 2007 in support 
of exchange of information and preparation of joint actions by both 
 
countries' police units. The project is coordinated by IOM Kiev, and 
it is financed by the Swedish government. 
 
The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs worked with the Romanian 
national agency against trafficking in persons on prevention of 
trafficking and exploiting Romanian citizens working in the Czech 
Republic. Similar bilateral efforts were conducted with officials 
from Moldova, Mongolia, Slovakia, Sweden, and Poland. 
 
The International Organization of Migration conducted two projects 
in the Caucasus and Central Asia on the prevention of trafficking in 
persons ("Support of Migration Management in Georgia and Moldova - 
2008" and "Support of Migration Management in Central Asia - 2008"). 
These projects were focused on exchanging experiences between Czech 
experts and partners in Georgia, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, 
and Tajikistan in the area of border control, as well as fighting 
illegal migration and organized crime. 
 
The Interior Ministry continued its three-year program (2007-2009) 
of training higher police management in West Balkan countries, 
especially Macedonia and Bosnia Herzegovina, in the area of 
combating organized crime (terrorism, drugs, financial crime, and 
trafficking in persons). The program consists of sending missions of 
experts to those countries and a follow-up training of those 
countries' experts in the Czech Republic. 
 
During the reporting period, the Ministry of Interior continued to 
fund a program between Caritas in the Czech Republic and Ukraine. 
The program's aim is to reduce illegal migration to the Czech 
Republic from Ukraine, a leading source country of trafficked 
persons to the Czech Republic.  Through the "Prevention of Illegal 
Migration from Ukraine" program, Caritas operates information 
centers throughout Ukraine, at which they distribute free 
information pamphlets and job advice to would-be migrants.  The 
program aims to increase the number of legal temporary and long-term 
stays from Ukraine, while reducing the number of illegal migrants. 
Another goal of the project is to eliminate the need for 
intermediaries and brokers that frequently resort to illegal and 
extortive practices. 
 
The Foreign Ministry continued its anti-trafficking outreach 
programs with both foreign embassies in Prague and Czech consulates 
and embassies abroad.  The ministry provided the foreign embassies 
in Prague with anti-trafficking pamphlets, prepared in their own 
languages, including Serbian, Polish, and Ukrainian.  These cards 
provided emergency contact information for trafficking victims and 
names and contact information for NGOs, such as La Strada and 
Caritas, concerned with helping victims.  The pamphlets were also 
distributed by Czech NGOs within the Czech Republic and by the 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs at its embassies and consulates abroad. 
A smaller version of the card can be placed into the passports of 
visa applicants applying at Czech missions located in high-risk 
source countries.  In 2007, the ministry added the Romanian embassy 
in Prague to its list of those receiving the pamphlets. The problem 
of trafficking in persons was included in training consular officers 
before departure to missions, especially in Russia, Ukraine, 
Belarus, Moldova, Serbia, Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia Herzegovina, 
Romania, Bulgaria, and Vietnam. 
 
¶H. Although the Czech government has adopted the European Arrest 
Warrant (EAW), current interpretation of the Czech Constitution 
forbids extradition of Czech nationals charged in foreign courts. As 
such, no Czechs have been extradited under the EAW. However, the 
government does extradite foreign nationals facing trafficking 
charges in other jurisdictions.  This happened, for example, in 2006 
when the government extradited three Israeli nationals wanted in 
Israel for trafficking Ukrainian women. 
 
¶I. There was no evidence of government involvement in or tolerance 
of trafficking on either a local or institutional level during the 
reporting period. 
 
¶J.  There were no credible allegations during the reporting period 
that members of the government engaged in or facilitated trafficking 
in persons. 
 
¶K. Activities of the prostitute are not currently criminalized under 
the Czech criminal code.  Pimping is, however, illegal under Section 
204 of the Czech criminal code.  As there are no legal provisions 
covering prostitution on the national level, there are no national 
regulations governing the activities of sex workers or brothel 
owners. 
 
In March 2007, the Czech Constitutional Court ruled that cities and 
towns have the authority to ban "continuous breaches of public 
 
 
order" and fine violators up to 30,000 crowns ($1,500) per 
violation.  Several municipalities, such as Dubi and Usti nad Labem 
near the German border, and Prague (as of January 2008), have used 
the injunction to ban prostitution within their jurisdictions, or to 
restrict it to a limited number of "permissible zones" outside of 
populated areas. In January 2009 Chomutov, another town near the 
German border, installed cameras monitoring prostitutes and their 
clients in downtown streets popular with sex tourists to reduce or 
eliminate sex tourism in the city. Chomutov authorities also plan to 
place billboards warning sex tourists of contagious diseases they 
could contract from prostitutes. While these injunctions may reduce 
prostitution, NGOs state that it may also force the activity into 
more private surroundings that are more difficult to monitor, or 
simply move it to nearby towns. 
 
A person reaches full legal capacity in the Czech Republic at the 
age of 18.  The age of consent to have sex, however, is 15.  NGOs 
have noted that this discrepancy creates a murky area where children 
as young as 15 can be drawn into prostitution.  If they engage in 
sex for money and are directed to do so by someone else (such as a 
pimp), they can be pressured by that person or their own financial 
desperation to tell investigators that they entered into the act of 
their own free will.  For that reason, Caritas has requested that 
the government raise the age of consent to have sex from 15 to 18. 
However, the new criminal code that will come into force in January 
2010 did not make this change. On the contrary it envisages lowering 
the age of consent to have sex to 14. 
 
L)  In April 2007, the government began mandating anti-trafficking 
courses for senior military officers participating in international 
peacekeeping efforts.  In April 2008, 65 senior military officers 
took part in a four-month anti-trafficking course at the Defense 
University in Brno.  As part of the new 2008-2011 National Strategy, 
the government made plans to expand these programs to cover 
additional peacekeeping forces that will serve under UN and EU 
commands. 
 
M)  In a significant move, the government criminalized the 
possession of child pornography in November 2007.  Section 205 of 
the general criminal code now provides sentences of up to eight 
years in prison for violators.  The move was in response to calls 
for further protections for child victims of sexual exploitation, 
and is aimed at stopping the spread of commercial child sex across 
the border.  In the first nine months of 2008, 38 minors were 
detained and released for soliciting sex in public for money.  Most 
of the children were between the ages of 15-18 and said they had 
prostituted themselves voluntarily.  (In 2007, there were 35 such 
cases.) 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
PROTECTION AND ASSISTANCE TO VICTIMS (ref Para 26 08 STATE 132759 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶A. The primary vehicle by which the government assists trafficking 
victims is its "Program of Support and Protection of Victims of 
Trafficking in Human Beings" (hereinafter referred to as the 
"Program of Support").  The Program of Support was established in 
2003 as a pilot program, but has since become a permanent 
government-funded program and part of Czech law. The Program of 
Support is open to both foreign and Czech victims of cross-border or 
internal trafficking, and involves close cooperation between the 
government, NGOs, and the police. The Program of Support was 
originally designed for sex trafficking victims, but since 2004 it 
has been expanded to include victims of forced labor and other 
trafficking. 
 
Victims in the Program of Support are granted benefits regardless of 
country of origin or citizenship.  The government provides medical, 
psychological, and crisis counseling to Program participants.  While 
the government funds most of the Program costs from its general 
budget and MOI and MOH budgets, the actual day-to-day services are 
provided by NGOs, such as Caritas and La Strada. 
 
The program consists of three stages.  In stage 1, the victim is 
given basic crisis intervention, psychological assistance, and is 
accommodated by an NGO in a shelter for an initial "reflection 
period."  During this time, victims receive full care and decide 
whether they would like to cooperate with police investigating their 
traffickers.  Under the law, the victim cannot be deported during 
this stage and cannot be arrested or fined for underlying offenses 
that were committed as part of being trafficked, such as previous 
illegal stays in the country, current overstays, false documents, 
etc. 
 
In stage 2, if the victim agrees to cooperate with the police and is 
 
 
accepted into the long-term program, the victim receives a visa for 
the duration of the criminal proceedings against the traffickers. 
During this time, s/he has legal status in the Czech Republic and 
may work.  Victims in the Program of Support are housed in shelters 
and given financial support, counseling by social workers, 
psychological and legal counseling, employment coaching, and health 
care. 
 
The third stage starts upon completion of the criminal proceedings 
against the traffickers, and victims are offered either an assisted 
voluntary return to his/her country of origin or the opportunity to 
apply for permanent residence in the Czech Republic for humanitarian 
reasons. 
 
Several revisions to the Program expand the social services and 
legal protections granted Program participants.  The most 
significant change came into force in December 2007 and expanded the 
initial "reflection period" of participants from 30 to 60 days. 
 
Additionally, whereas the previous version of the law gave the 
Deputy Minister of the Interior the authority to approve admission 
into the long-term Program, the 2007 changes give that power to the 
director of the MOI's Crime Prevention Department.  This change is 
intended to speed up the process of getting applicants into the 
Program and expanding the number of people receiving Program 
benefits. 
 
A 2008 provision relaxes the previous requirement that victims must 
testify against their traffickers as a condition of joining the 
long-term Program.   Victims now do not have to "cooperate" with 
police in order to participate in the Program. 
 
Participants who have cooperated with police may receive permanent 
residency at the end of their cases.  In 2008, 24 persons (17 women 
and seven men) participated in the program, four of whom were from 
the Czech Republic; seven from Ukraine; six from Romania; three from 
Brazil; one each from Slovakia, Russia, Kirgizstan, and Uzbekistan. 
 
 
Victims may choose to voluntarily withdraw from the Program of 
Support at any time. Victims may also apply for asylum under the 
normal Czech asylum process. For victims who choose not to 
participate in the Program of Support, NGOs such as La Strada and 
Caritas operate victim shelter and care facilities and ensure 
victims receive proper medical attention, including optional 
screening for HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.  All 
of the major NGOs dealing with trafficking victims received 
government funding. 
 
¶B. In 2008, La Strada provided comprehensive services, including 
shelter and care, to approximately 50 victims. They had direct 
contact with potential victims through their hotline and in visits 
to sex clubs and to at-risk areas. Caritas provided comprehensive 
services, including shelter and counseling, to 26 victims (18 women, 
four men, and four children).  In June 2008 Caritas opened another 
center that offers emergency shelter for victims, including for 
minors. Of the total victims helped by the two NGOs, 24 were 
enrolled in the Program of Support.  La Strada and Caritas assisted 
an additional several hundred victims through outreach programs in 
sex clubs and on the streets. 
 
In 2008 the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs provided funding to 
La Strada and Caritas for providing social services to victims of 
trafficking in the amount of 5,670,000 crowns ($283,500). Another 
source of funding of these facilities and services is the European 
Social Fund. The government also funds the return activities of the 
Czech branch of IOM. Since 2003 IOM mediated 41 voluntary returns to 
the victims' countries of origin, including ten victims who could 
return to the Czech Republic. In 2008, ten voluntary returns were 
realized:  four victims returned to Romania; three to Brazil; and 
one each to Ukraine and Slovakia. One person also returned from 
Denmark to the Czech Republic. IOM participates in public awareness 
campaigns, and sponsors critical research programs used in the 
implementation of anti-trafficking policies. 
 
¶C. As part of the detection and screening effort, the Ministry of 
Health also produced a 90-page book for health care practitioners on 
trafficking in persons. The book defines trafficking, its causes, 
and manifestations. It also informs health care practitioners on how 
to determine whether patients are victims of trafficking, as well as 
outlines specific ways trafficking can damage a victim's physical 
and psychological health. The book also explains the Czech 
trafficking statute and outlines steps to take when approaching 
victims. Doctors and NGOs praise the publication and program for 
raising awareness among the medical community on how to approach and 
 
care for trafficking victims. 
 
¶D. Some victims attempt to use the asylum process to continue their 
residence in the country. EU membership has, however, entailed 
changes to asylum laws which require potential applicants to apply 
for asylum in the first EU country they enter. Since the Czech 
Republic is completely surrounded by fellow EU member states, this 
creates a less conducive application process for those who enter the 
country by land. 
 
Police frequently provided short-term protection to potential 
witnesses.  The protection may include physical protection, use of 
safehouses, and/or security monitoring. This protection may be 
provided for up to 60 days and may be extended with approval of the 
regional police director. 
 
A witness protection law that took effect in 2002 allows the 
government to conceal the identity of a witness, provide a new 
identity and/or residence, assist the witness in finding employment, 
and assign bodyguards if necessary to a witness whose safety is 
endangered by their testimony. To date, though, these provisions 
have been used only rarely in connection with trafficking cases. 
 
¶E. The Ministry of Interior's Refugee Facility Administration has 
implemented a system by which victims and potential victims of 
trafficking, as well as other at-risk groups, are housed in guarded 
facilities to prevent unwanted contact with traffickers and provided 
with counseling and psychological assistance. If a potential victim 
is in immediate danger, the facility will refer the victim, in 
cooperation with the Organized Crime police unit (UOOZ), to a 
shelter or safehouse operated by La Strada or Caritas. 
 
¶F. The Program of Support also establishes a formal police screening 
and referral process for victims. In cooperation with NGOs, the 
government created eight questions for police to ask victims to 
determine if detained persons could be potential victims of 
trafficking. Police units receive training from NGOs in identifying 
victims of trafficking, and are instructed to refer victims to 
organizations such as La Strada or Caritas. The individual 
responsibilities of police, NGOs, and the government are set out in 
formal contracts under the Program of Support. 
 
¶G. see subsection B, this paragraph, above. 
 
¶H.  The government does not have a direct screening process for 
prostitutes per se.  However, it supports such screening through its 
cooperative network of NGOs.  Through government-funded programs 
such as Caritas' MAGDALA Program and Pleasure without Risk's health 
campaign for sex workers, prostitutes are screened for signs of 
trafficking.  Furthermore, the government has written and published 
manuals for use by doctors and hospitals on identifying victims of 
trafficking.  Many NGOs have independent outreach programs in the 
prostitute communities and are thus able to screen for signs of 
trafficking.  Police officers are also trained to ask detained 
persons targeted questions designed to reveal circumstances of 
trafficking.  Once a trafficking victim is identified, s/he is 
informed of the available resources in the NGO and government 
spheres, and can choose to either enter the Program of Support or 
work with the NGO missions privately. 
 
¶I.  The Czech Republic protects and respects the rights of victims 
under the Program of Support and Protection of Victims of 
Trafficking in Persons. Victims are given an initial 60-day 
reflection period in which to decide if they would like to 
participate in the broader Program of Support and cooperate with law 
enforcement authorities.  During this time, they are given crisis 
care by an NGO, including food, clothing, shelter, and medical and 
psychological counseling. IOM assists victims with repatriation and, 
in some cases, reintegration (depending on the country) for victims 
who choose voluntary return.  Trafficking victims who enter the 
Program of Support cannot be prosecuted for crimes (illegal entry 
into the country, visa violations, etc.) that they committed in the 
course of being trafficked.  According to NGO contacts, trafficked 
persons who choose not to enter the Program still receive the 
initial care services from NGOs, and often choose to return to their 
home country on their own. 
 
¶J.  Under the Program of Support, victims are encouraged to 
cooperate with Czech authorities investigating their traffickers. 
Whereas the previous by-laws of the Program of Support required a 
participant's testimony at court against the trafficker, 2007 
changes relaxed this requirement.  Now the victims' cooperation with 
police is no longer required. 
 
Victims who are granted temporary residence are automatically given 
 
permission to work legally in the country. Victims are eligible to 
seek compensation from their traffickers either as a part of the 
criminal sentence or through recourse to civil suits. In order to 
seek civil damages, however, Czech law requires a finding of 
criminal conduct on the part of the defendant. In practice, claims 
for criminal or civil damages against the traffickers are rare, but 
they have been granted in the past. Although there has been some 
discussion of government compensation for trafficking victims, there 
is no Czech equivalent to the Victim-Witness Assistance Program 
found in some U.S. jurisdictions. 
 
At the end of their cooperation with law enforcement, victims may 
qualify for permanent residency.  Ultimately, a majority of victims, 
both inside and outside the Program, choose to return to their 
country of origin. 
 
¶K.  The Czech government has a serious and sustained program to 
educate its police officers, military personnel serving abroad, and 
other officials on trafficking in persons.  Police training has been 
extensively revised to include trafficking education at all levels 
of the police force. Both the Police Secondary Schools and the 
Police Academy have revised their curricula to include trafficking 
investigation and the identification of potential victims. 
Teachers at Police Secondary Schools are also provided regular 
specialized training on how to investigate perpetrators of sexual 
exploitation of children. Several multimedia educational programs, 
including manuals, for teachers were created (e.g. on rape and 
sexual assault, domestic violence, sexual exploitation of children, 
police work in cooperation with public and dealing with victims). 
 
The Interior Ministry also provides a manual for police enforcement 
in the field of Trafficking in Persons. The manual is designed for 
non-specialized patrol officers to improve the investigation of 
trafficking cases and aid in the identification of victims. Regular 
round table workshops, seminars, and training programs continued 
with mid and upper echelon regional police officials, NGOs, and 
other state and municipal officials. Police have child psychologists 
who assist in cases involving children. 
 
NGOs are in agreement that Czech police have greatly enhanced their 
ability to identify victims of trafficking due to better training 
and coordination with NGOs.  NGOs credit the MOI for reinforcing the 
importance of combating trafficking in the basic police curriculum. 
As most victims are initially identified by the police, police 
sensitivity and effectiveness in dealing with victims is critical to 
getting the victims help.  According to NGOs, police interaction 
with victims in the initial contact phase is generally considered 
excellent and better than even a few years ago. They especially 
praised their direct and constant cooperation from the Organized 
Crime Unit and its two trafficking sections for sexual exploitation 
and forced labor. 
 
The Ministry of Labor, local inspectors as well as representatives 
of Work Registration Offices received expanded training to assist in 
cases of labor trafficking. 
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs produced new leaflets and an 
anti-trafficking manual for use by its Consular Officers serving in 
high-risk source and transit countries. The goal is to use the visa 
process as a tool to combat trafficking in persons. Literature is 
also translated into local languages and provided to foreign 
embassies in Prague.  In 2007, the MOI and MFA began closely 
cooperating with the Romanian embassy in Prague, in an effort to 
combat the growing number of trafficking victims from Romania. 
 
In order to assist Czech consular officials in identifying victims 
of trafficking, the Ministry of Interior has assigned officers with 
specialized experience to Czech Embassies in six countries of 
concern (China, Belarus, Egypt, Mongolia, Ukraine and Vietnam). 
These six countries were also chosen due to the high number of 
individuals from them claiming asylum upon arrival in the Czech 
Republic. Due to the growing number of visa applicants in Ukraine, 
the Czech government opened a new consulate focused primarily on 
visa adjudication of Ukrainians. 
 
¶L.  Repatriated Czech victims of trafficking are eligible upon 
return to the Czech Republic to apply for benefits through the 
Program of Support. 
 
¶M.  The Government's NGO partners remain unchanged from the 2007 
Report. These NGOs provide intervention, counseling, and other 
assistance, and participate in the Program of Support. NGOs include: 
 
 
-- La Strada. La Strada is the primary NGO providing services and 
awareness campaigns for young girls and women who may become, or who 
 
have already become, victims of trafficking. Originally established 
with aid from the Netherlands, La Strada now obtains funding from a 
variety of sources, including Czech government ministries. La Strada 
is an NGO participant in the Program of Support. La Strada helps 
returning Czech women obtain new identity documents, find shelter, 
get legal and psychological counseling, arrange medical treatment, 
and gives them a limited amount of financial support. Foreign 
trafficking victims referred to La Strada receive the same services 
and are put in contact with their local embassies to obtain new 
passports and other documentation. La Strada also runs a hotline for 
victims of trafficking and parents in search of their trafficked 
children, with Russian-speaking volunteers once a week. Over the 
past year, La Strada has more than doubled its employees and is now 
also focusing on the forced labor issue. One of La Strada's 
full-time employees is dedicated to working with local migrant 
communities that are at high-risk for labor trafficking. The 
individual visits local work sites and informs laborers of their 
rights under Czech law. 
 
-- Caritas. One of the most important Czech NGOs in the field of 
health and social care, Caritas (formerly known as Czech Catholic 
Charities) has established a coordination center for helping victims 
of trafficking in persons. Caritas is an NGO participant in the 
Program of Support. Caritas has a network of anonymous shelters, 
apartments, and other facilities throughout the country, and also 
refers victims to other organizations when appropriate. Caritas is 
the only NGO equipped to assist victims with children. Social 
workers assist foreign victims in obtaining medical and 
psychological care, as well as obtaining travel documents and 
arranging transportation to the victim's home country. Caritas also 
operates a nationwide helpline for victims of domestic violence and 
trafficking in persons. In 2004, Caritas also began street work with 
prostitutes and visits to brothels and clubs in South Moravia, along 
the Austrian border and Northern Bohemia, along the German border. 
 
-- International Organization for Migration (IOM). IOM conducts 
public awareness campaigns focused on trafficking issues and helps 
women and girls to avoid falling victim to common trafficking 
schemes. IOM also assists in repatriating victims of trafficking; 
particularly those whose asylum claims have been refused. IOM has 
contributed significant research to the anti-trafficking effort. IOM 
is a participant in the Program of Support. 
 
-- Rozkos bez Rizika (Pleasure without Risk) is a Czech NGO with an 
emphasis on providing health care to prostitutes. RR participates in 
the Program of Support and distributes literature, offers health and 
disease checks (including for STDs and HIV/AIDS), and provides 
vaccinations. The organization has an extensive street work network 
both in Prague and throughout the country. Though primarily a health 
care organization, Pleasure without Risk questions clients to try to 
identify trafficking victims, and works closely with Caritas and La 
Strada to refer victims. 
 
--Bily Kruh Bezpeci (White Circle of Safety). Though not a formal 
participant in the Program of Support, this is a Czech NGO that 
provides crisis support and counseling for victims of abuse, 
including trafficking victims. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
PREVENTION (ref Para 27 08 STATE 132759 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶A.  During the reporting period, the government continued funding 
for an extensive demand-reduction campaign.  Called the "Say it for 
her" campaign, the MOI and NGOs worked together to blanket 15 major 
metropolitan areas throughout the country with advertisements, 
billboards, leaflets, and signs featuring a woman bound with tape 
over her mouth, unable to speak.  Above the woman's face, the phrase 
"Together against Trafficking in People" appears; the tape across 
her mouth reads: "Do not be afraid to say it for her!"  To reach the 
broadest audience, the campaign also utilized an anonymous tip 
hotline to report possible cases of trafficking and to serve as a 
helpline for victims.  Additionally, the campaign publicizes its 
website (www.rekni-to.cz, "Rekni to" means "Say it" in Czech.) 
Mirror websites are also available in English and German.  The 
campaign is mainly targeted at Germans and Austrians, as they 
frequent border regions of the country, and British and American 
tourists, who mainly visit Prague on holiday. The "Say it for her" 
campaign materials were also placed in public transportation 
stations, at Prague airport, at border crossings with Germany and 
Austria, in night clubs and restaurants in cities throughout the 
Czech Republic. There were visual campaigns printed in tourist maps 
and erotic publications. Based on public feedback, both the 
government and NGOs believe the campaign has been effective. 
 
The Prague city government also distributed anti-trafficking 
pamphlets to major hotels in the city. 
 
The Refugee Center Administration of the Ministry of Interior 
continued an awareness campaign among female applicants seeking 
political asylum.  The program informed them of the risk of 
trafficking and sexual exploitation. The admission centers employ 
social workers specializing in at-risk groups to counsel women. 
 
¶B. The government carefully monitors migration policies and 
statistics for evidence of trafficking, and it works with 
international organizations and NGOs to gather information on 
immigration and trafficking patterns. 
 
¶C. The government maintains an inter-ministerial working group on 
trafficking that meets every six months.  The Czech Interior 
Ministry, which takes the lead on the trafficking campaign, works 
closely with other government ministries, such as Justice, 
Education, Health, Labor and Social Affairs, NGOs, multilateral 
bodies, and foreign police and government partners to improve its 
efforts. 
 
The government, through its annual budget as well as through the 
program budgets of various ministries, is the primary funder of 
human rights NGOs in the Czech Republic dealing with trafficking 
issues. Relations between the government and these organizations are 
excellent, and the NGOs have a very strong working relationship 
among themselves.  Most of the staff from one organization know and 
work closely with those from another.  NGOs generally praise 
governmental efforts to provide consistent and close coordination 
with them on trafficking issues. NGOs, police and government 
officials regularly meet to exchange best practices that help 
improve and implement anti-trafficking campaigns and criminal 
investigations. Lead representatives from these NGOs tell Post that 
the Czech government takes the fight against trafficking seriously, 
and is doing an excellent job. 
 
¶D.  In January 2008, the government unveiled its 2008-2011 National 
Strategy for the Fight against Trafficking in Human Beings 
("National Strategy").  This is the third such national plan, which 
is the government's blue-print for anti-trafficking policy and 
coordination efforts with NGOs.  The government has been using such 
plans since 2003.  Directors of the major human rights NGOs in the 
Czech Republic, Caritas and La Strada, have told Post that the 
government regularly seeks their input on the changes for upcoming 
versions of the National Strategy and has incorporated many of their 
recommendations into the final versions of the documents. 
 
¶E.  See subsection A, this paragraph, above. 
 
¶F. Protection of minors has been a government trafficking-related 
priority since 2003, when the first National Strategy was released. 
Since then, the government has worked closely with 1) NGOs to 
provide shelters, food, clothing and medical and psychological 
counseling to trafficked minors; and with 2) police and prosecutors 
to more vigorously prosecute their traffickers.  Throughout the 
reporting period, the government also continued to implement its 
"National Plan in the Fight against Child Exploitation." 
 
In April 2007 the "Our Child Foundation" NGO launched an Internet 
hotline fighting spreading child pornography on the Internet. 
Hundreds of e-mails, web pages with dangerous and inappropriate 
contents have been announced on this hotline since its launch. Our 
Child Foundation has submitted all relevant cases for further police 
investigation. 
 
In a significant move, the government criminalized the possession of 
child pornography in November 2007.  Violators face sentences of up 
to eight years in prison.  The move was in response to calls for 
further protections for child victims of sexual exploitation, and is 
aimed at stopping the spread of child-based commercial sex activity. 
 
 
In January 2008, the International Organization for Missing and 
Exploited Children held a four-day conference in Prague focusing on 
crimes committed against children on the Internet.  The conference, 
co-sponsored by Microsoft, Interpol, and the Czech Ministry of 
Interior, was attended by judges, prosecutors, and police. More than 
100 experts spoke on various hi-tech methods used by criminals to 
lure children into dangerous encounters on the Internet. 
 
Throughout the reporting period, the MOI and Ministry of Education 
continued to fund and provide educational material for teachers to 
use in lesson plans focused on trafficking in persons.  Teachers may 
download the material free of charge from the ministries' websites 
 
and can freely reproduce and adapt the material for their students' 
use. 
 
¶G.  The government began mandating anti-trafficking courses for 
senior military officers participating in international peacekeeping 
efforts.  In November 2008, an anti-trafficking seminar for senior 
military officers was held at the Defense University in Brno. In 
January 2009, another anti-trafficking seminar was organized at the 
Defense University in Brno for a group of senior military officers 
and other peacekeeping forces prior to their departure to UN and EU 
peace-keeping missions. 
 
------- 
CONTACT 
------- 
 
The embassy point of contact for trafficking issues is Helena 
Markusova, Political-Economic Section, tel: 420-257-022-372, fax 
420-257-022-817, email: MarkusovaH@state.gov.  Post estimates Mrs. 
Markusova (FSN-10) spent 110 hours researching and preparing the 
2009 TIP report (time does not include non-report related TIP 
activity throughout the course of the year).  Other embassy staff 
spent approximately 10 hours preparing the report. 
 
THOMPSON-JONES