VZCZCXRO0125
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHRL #0307/01 0750543
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 160543Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3586
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC
RHEFHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BERLIN 000307 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR G/TIP, EUR/CE, EUR/PGI, DRL, G-AC, INL, AND PRM 
STATE - PLEASE PASS USAID 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KTIP KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB GM
SUBJECT: TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS - INTERPRETING THE STATISTICS 
 
REF: A. 09 BERLIN 256 
     ¶B. 06 BERLIN 1094 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: According to preliminary 2007 statistics provided 
by the Federal Statistics Office, 95 individuals were sentenced for 
human trafficking in cases where TIP was either the only crime, or 
the severest of the crimes, they were sentenced for.  67 of the 95 
individuals received suspended sentences (71%), but these suspended 
sentences were only given to some of the persons sentenced to prison 
terms of two years or less.  Ten individuals received prison 
sentences of between two and three years, and six individuals 
received prison sentences between three and five years (none of 
these sixteen sentences were suspended).  These statistics do not 
capture any cases in which offenders were sentenced for multiple 
crimes, but among which the trafficking violation did not have the 
severest penalty of the crimes for which they were sentenced. 
Therefore, the German trafficking statistics under-represent the 
total number of traffickers sentenced.  In practice, German 
prosecutors seek to prosecute TIP offenders by whatever means 
possible, often prosecuting for other crimes such as human 
smuggling, tax evasion, or forgery if they believe these other 
charges have a higher chance of resulting in a conviction.  End 
Summary. 
 
 
TIP Statistics for 2007 
----------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) According to preliminary numbers proved by the Federal 
Statistics Office (StaB), German authorities prosecuted 155 persons 
for sex trafficking under Section 232 in 2007, the last year for 
which statistics are available.  Of those, 123 were convicted, 
including 11 persons under the juvenile justice system.  Of the 
remaining 112, 95 persons received prison sentences and 17 were 
required to pay a fine.  Of the 95 persons sentenced to prison, 89 
were sentenced to two years of prison or less and 67 of these 89 had 
their sentences suspended (71 percent of the total 95).  Twelve of 
the 89 persons sentenced to two years of prison or less did not have 
their sentence suspended.  Ten persons received prison sentences of 
two to three years and six persons received prison sentences of 
between three and five years. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Sections 233 and 233(a) only became effective in 2005 and, 
due to the time-intensive nature of labor trafficking 
investigations, German prosecution and sentencing statistics for 
2007 do not reflect the full scope of German efforts to bring labor 
traffickers to justice.  Nevertheless, it is clear that the extent 
of labor TIP prosecutions is significantly less than sex 
trafficking.  German authorities prosecuted 13 persons under Section 
233 in 2007.  Of those, 8 persons were convicted, including two 
persons under the juvenile justice system.  Of the remaining six, 3 
received prison sentences of less than two years (two received 6-9 
months and one between one and two years) and were required to pay a 
fine.  All of those sentences were suspended. 
 
 
Statistics Do Not Reflect Severity of Sentences 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶4. (U) StaB's methodology does not break down multiple convictions. 
As a result, the statistics fail to capture the full scope of German 
efforts to bring traffickers to justice.  The TIP statistics do not 
include cases where human traffickers were convicted on multiple 
charges in which one of the charges, such as rape or murder, carries 
a higher maximum proscribed penalty.  As a hypothetical example, the 
nature of the German statistics is such that a person successfully 
prosecuted for rape and TIP, who received prison sentences of eight 
and six years, respectively, would likely receive an overall 
sentence of around 11 years, but this judgement would not appear at 
all in the TIP section of the statistics (it would only appear in 
the statistics under the Rape category).  Therefore, the trafficking 
statistics under-represent the total number of traffickers 
sentenced. 
 
 
Number of suspended sentences misleading 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) The statistics indicate that a majority of traffickers 
sentenced to prison received suspended sentences in 2007.  German 
prosecutors are required to pursue legal action against all 
 
BERLIN 00000307  002 OF 002 
 
 
individuals accused of trafficking offenses, regardless of their 
level of involvement.  As a result, German prosecution of TIP crimes 
is broad and many of the individuals who received suspended 
sentences played auxiliary roles in TIP crimes and were not the 
central figures in trafficking rings.  Martin Links, a prosecutor 
from Frankfurt (Organized Crime Division), told Embassy staff that 
the threshold for criminal liability in TIP crimes is actually quite 
low.  Links described the case of a person who accompanied 
trafficked women to a government office in order to register them as 
residents and receive residency documentation.  On the basis of this 
activity, the individual was prosecuted under the Aiding TIP 
statute.  In another case, a woman provided lingerie to trafficked 
women made to work in the sex industry and she was also prosecuted 
for aiding and abetting TIP.  The statistics group together and do 
not differentiate between convictions for trafficking, aiding, 
abetting, and attempted trafficking. 
 
 
German sentencing practices 
--------------------------- 
 
¶6. (U) The maximum sentence for TIP is 10 years, while the maximum 
sentence for rape is open-ended.  If a perpetrator commits a number 
of different crimes (e.g., trafficking, smuggling and rape) an 
aggregated sentence is formed.  According to the Penal Code, the 
aggregate sentence shall be less than the sum of the individual 
sentences.  It shall not, in the case of imprisonment for a fixed 
term, exceed fifteen years.  The total sentence is determined on a 
case by case basis and is not based on a purely mathematical 
formula.  In practice, judges often increase the highest individual 
sentence by half of the sum of all the other individual sentences 
combined. 
¶7. (SBU) It is standard German practice for judges to suspend prison 
sentences of two years or less for all crimes, not just TIP crimes. 
But suspension of prison sentences of two years or less is not 
automatic.  Links explained that the Penal Code allows for sentences 
between one and two years to be suspended only if certain 
requirements are met.  Nevertheless, those who receive suspended 
sentences are generally required to perform community service, pay 
fines, and/or meet regularly with a parole officer.  According to a 
study commissioned by the German Institute for Economic Research 
(DIW), 92 percent of individuals who received prison sentences (for 
all crimes) of two years or less had their sentences suspended.  By 
this metric, the use of suspended sentences in TIP crimes is well 
below the average. 
¶8. (U) This message has been coordinated with ConGen Hamburg. 
 
KOENIG