VZCZCXRO0902
RR RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHAG #0009/01 0851535
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 261535Z MAR 09
FM AMCONSUL HAMBURG
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0263
INFO RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC
RUEFHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUEHAG/AMCONSUL HAMBURG 0299

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HAMBURG 000009 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR G/TIP, EUR/CE, EUR/PGI, DRL, G-AC, INL, AND PRM 
STATE - PLEASE PASS TO USAID 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KTIP KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB GM
SUBJECT: BEST PRACTICES LEAD TO SUCCESSFUL TIP PROSECUTIONS IN LOWER 
SAXONY 
 
REF: A. A) BERLIN 307 
     ¶B. B) BERLIN 256 
     ¶C. C) BERLIN 65 
     ¶D. D) 07 HAMBURG 017 
 
HAMBURG 00000009  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary.  Combating trafficking in persons (TIP) is a 
priority for officials in the northern German state of Lower 
Saxony.  In 2008, state officials amended a decree regulating 
cooperation among the various agencies in order to improve 
victim assistance programs and cooperation between government 
and civil society.  The changes expanded the reach of Lower 
Saxony victim-oriented services to foreigner, employment, and 
youth welfare offices and strengthened cooperation among other 
agencies such as police, prosecution, and NGOs.  Cross-agency 
TIP awareness courses are routinely held and police are now 
deploying   specially-trained TIP units in cities throughout the 
state.  State prosecutors are determined to bring traffickers to 
justice regardless of the charges.  In the past year and a half, 
four major TIP cases have been successfully prosecuted for which 
investigations lasted significant amounts of time and victims 
were willing to testify.  The details of these prosecutions 
provide insights into the methodology behind Germany's criminal 
sentencing statistics and demonstrate the impossibility of 
obtaining a complete understanding of the number of TIP 
convictions based solely on the published statistics.  End 
Summary. 
 
INTER-GOVERNMENTAL COOPERATION IMPROVED 
--------------------------------------------- ------------------ 
 
¶2. (SBU)  Although  Lower Saxony has mandated anti-TIP 
cooperation among state government agencies for several years, 
the senior state prosecutor and organized-crime police 
representative told poloff that coordination until recently was 
not functioning as well as it should/could.  On July 11, 2008 
the Lower Saxony Interior Ministry made amendments to the TIP 
legislation that are designed to  improve cooperation among 
police, prosecution, and foreigner, social security, youth 
welfare, and employment offices, as well as TIP NGOs.  They 
established a cross-departmental victim-centered cooperative 
approach to protect TIP victims.  The foreigner, employment, and 
youth welfare offices are new additions to the network. 
Cross-departmental seminars for basic and advanced training are 
conducted regularly to increase TIP awareness, optimize 
coordination among TIP stakeholders, and improve victim 
services.  In 2008, the Lower Saxony State Offices of Criminal 
Investigations (LKA) extended the reach of its TIP trained 
personnel beyond the state capital by sending investigative 
teams throughout the state to work primarily on trafficking and 
sexual exploitation cases. 
 
TIP TRENDS IN LOWER SAXONY 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) The Lower Saxony LKA has an outstanding record in 
combating trafficking in persons in this northern German state. 
During 2007, 109 TIP preliminary proceedings were completed, an 
increase of 42 percent over 2006 (77 cases).  The number of 
identified victims declined by seven percent during that time 
period to 129, while the number of suspects increased by 14 
percent to 160.  30 percent of the victims were German, 22 
percent were Polish, six percent Romanian and five percent 
Bulgarian.  The majority of the criminal suspects were German 
(72 percent), followed by Turkish nationals (11 percent) and 
Polish nationals (six percent).  69 percent of German victims 
and 76 percent of foreign victims were between the ages of 18 
and 25.  In discussions with ConGen Hamburg representatives, 
Lower Saxony police explained that law enforcement authorities 
have increased efforts to prosecute cases against individuals 
who induce people under the age of 21 to engage in prostitution 
(under section 232 subsection 1, sentence 2 of the German Penal 
Code).  Berlin has led the effort in prosecuting cases under 
this subsection of the law (116 cases in 2007), followed by 
Lower Saxony (80), North Rhine Westphalia (68), and Hamburg 
(37).  Country-wide there has been a 29 percent increase in 
preliminary investigations into trafficking human beings under 
21 for sexual exploitation (454 cases in 2007).  Lower Saxony 
police note that the number of victims trafficked from Bulgaria, 
Nigeria and Hungary continues to increase.  According to police, 
Bulgarian trafficking suspects and victims are highly mobile and 
flexible.  Trafficking networks are spread out over several 
German and European cities.  Lower Saxony authorities have 
observed a growing number of Nigerian traffickers who are 
involved in human smuggling, document fraud, and the use of 
 
HAMBURG 00000009  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
voodoo magic in order to coerce victims. 
 
CHALLENGES TO PROSECUTION 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) While the number of cases has increased, state 
prosecutors from both Lower Saxony and Hamburg complain that it 
is difficult to prosecute TIP cases, due in great part to the 
reluctance of victims to testify, as required under section 232 
of the German Penal Code.  Police in both states work closely 
with TIP NGOs to provide victims with protection, housing, 
counseling, and medical and legal advice.  Nevertheless, victims 
often choose not to participate in trials because they fear 
retribution, either against themselves or family members or 
because they have returned to their former lives and put the 
episode behind them.  Prosecutors nonetheless use all penal 
codes applicable in order to prosecute TIP offenders, but are 
often not as successful as they would have been if there had 
been victim testimony.  Another inhibiting factor is that it 
often takes months, if not years, to gather sufficient evidence 
to ensure a conviction particularly against organized criminal 
groups involved in TIP.  The enlarged EU, which offers freer 
intra-European mobility, has made identifying potential victims 
more difficult for authorities.  Police may no longer detain and 
question women who they suspect to be TIP victims on the 
pretense of checking their legal status.  This practice had 
enabled police in the past to bring potential victims to a 
non-hostile atmosphere where they could speak without fear. 
Hamburg State Prosecutor Wolfgang Zoellner told ConGen Hamburg 
that prior to 2004, human smuggling was the main charge that 
prosecutors used to incarcerate traffickers.  Under the laws at 
the time, the mere presence of a trafficking victim in Germany 
was sufficient to prosecute traffickers using smuggling charges. 
 Lower Saxony Senior State Prosecutor Hansjuergen Schulz noted 
that EU enlargement has had the benefit of better cooperation 
among prosecutor's offices, particularly in Eastern Europe. 
 
SUCCESSFUL TIP PROSECUTIONS 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶5. (SBU) Lower Saxony state prosecutors were successful in 
prosecuting a number of TIP crimes in 2008.  ConGen Hamburg 
representatives recently discussed some of these cases with 
Lower Saxony Senior State Prosecutor Hansjuergen Schulz.  Four 
are outlined below. 
 
¶6. (SBU) On January 29, 2008 the Hannover District Court found a 
Polish-German couple, Slawomir and Edyta Morawska, guilty of 
trafficking in persons and pimping and sentenced them to five 
and one-half years and three years and three months, 
respectively.  Between 2004 and 2007 the Morawskas ran six 
apartment-based brothels in Lower Saxony.  The Morawskas 
persuaded, under false pretenses, young Polish women to travel 
to Germany where they then forced them into prostitution.  The 
Morawskas also worked with human smugglers to bring women into 
Germany.  Some of these women were aware that they would work as 
prostitutes, but all were held under harsh circumstances, were 
denied wages, and were required to pay back "expenses" for their 
transport and work. 
 
¶7. (SBU) On July 2, 2008 the Verden District Court convicted 
Stephan Klimasch of kidnapping/hostage taking with threats of 
death or grievous bodily injury in combination with severe 
trafficking in persons, severe rape, collusion to commit 
trafficking in persons and sexual assault and sentenced him to 
14 years imprisonment and subsequent preventive detention. 
Police expect Klimasch will spend the rest of his life behind 
bars.  Klimasch's accomplice, Bernd Klisch, was convicted of 
kidnapping and hostage taking in combination with severe 
trafficking in persons, as well as rape, sexual assault, and 
collusion to commit trafficking in persons and sexual assault. 
Klisch was sentenced to 12 and one-half years imprisonment. 
Both must pay two of the three female victims 150,000 euros in 
damages and the third victim 5,000 euros. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Unlike other TIP cases in Germany, Klimasch and Klisch 
worked alone.  The two criminals lured three women - two of whom 
were German and one who was a Bulgarian student studying in 
Bremen - to a private home in a residential neighborhood near 
Bremen pretending to hire them for either PR work or as a nanny. 
 The victims were locked up, chained in a dog cage, and raped by 
the accused.  The offenders led the victims to believe that they 
were part of a larger organization in order to install fear in 
 
HAMBURG 00000009  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
the victims and make them believe that they had the capability 
to harm their family and friends.  In 24 instances one of the 
victims was forced to have sex with johns over the period of a 
couple of weeks.  The victims were also forced to suggest 
further victims among their friends and to "train" one another 
for prostitution. 
 
¶9. (SBU) On July 3, 2008 the Verden District Court confirmed 
final judgment on its case adjudicated on October 15, 2007 
against Stefan Brockmann and Fritz Witte.  Brockmann was 
sentenced to seven years and nine months incarceration for 
trafficking in persons for sexual exploitation, human smuggling, 
and pimping, and sexual assault as well as other less serious 
charges.  Witte, Brockmann's accomplice, was sentenced to jail 
for one year and nine months for human smuggling and aiding and 
abetting in trafficking in persons and pimping.  Brockmann and 
Witte, along with several assistants, ran four brothels in Lower 
Saxony for several years.  They employed women from many 
countries, primarily Lithuania, the Czech Republic, and Romania. 
 Many of the women were under 21 and investigators found that 
particularly those from Romania had come to Germany in order to 
obtain EU residency.  Many of them were working with false 
documentation.  The women were held under severe circumstances 
and were paid only 25 percent of their earnings, some less, 
depending on their country of origin. 
 
¶10. (SBU) In a case adjudicated on November 11, 2008 an Italian 
was convicted of trafficking in persons, rape, and bodily harm 
and sentenced to a seven year prison term.  In this case, the 
German victim entered the witness protection program and 
comprehensively testified against the culprit. 
 
IMPLICATIONS FOR TIP STATISTICS 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶11. (U) Due to the methodology used by the Federal Statistics 
Office in compiling crime statistics, the Klimasch/Klisch case 
and the case of the Italian referred to in paragraph 10, will 
not be categorized as TIP crimes.  In Germany the sentences 
received by individuals convicted of multiple crimes appear only 
under the category with the highest proscribed penalty.  TIP has 
a maximum proscribed sentence of ten years in prison. 
Therefore, the statistics office will list the Klimasch/Klisch 
sentences only under criminal code section 239b 
(kidnapping/hostage taking with threat of death or grievous 
bodily harm; maximum 15 years) and the Italian will only be 
listed under section 177 (rape; maximum 15 years).  These cases 
demonstrate the difficulty in interpreting published TIP 
sentencing statistics due to the fact that the numbers listed 
under the TIP category capture only a subset of the total number 
of traffickers sentenced; there exists another set of TIP 
offenders who were sentenced on multiple charges but whose 
sentences are listed under a non-TIP crime category in the 
published statistics (reftel A).  Because it is not possible to 
obtain data that includes every case in which persons were 
convicted for TIP offenses, attempts to assess Germany's 
prosecution record based solely on published statistics are 
unreliable. 
 
COMMENT 
--------------- 
 
¶12. (SBU) Northern German state prosecutors and police display 
impressive dedication to capturing and prosecuting human 
traffickers.  They also have an in-depth understanding of the 
duress under which victims are placed.  Schulz explained how, at 
first, police and prosecutors were unsure whether one of the 
victims in the Klimasch/Klisch case was a culprit or victim due 
to her unusual behavior.  However, after researching the 
Stockholm syndrome and providing proper medical attention and 
assessments, they were able to ascertain the victim's innocence 
and assist her effectively.  Nevertheless, prosecuting TIP cases 
remains a challenge due to the expanded EU borders, the 
inability to force victims to testify, and the organized aspects 
of the crime.  End Comment. 
 
¶13. (U) This cable has been coordinated with Embassy Berlin. 
JOHNSON