VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHC #0488 1622114
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 112049Z JUN 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO AMEMBASSY BAKU PRIORITY 0000

UNCLAS STATE 060488 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB KCRM KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG KPAO KTIP AJ
SUBJECT: AZERBAIJAN--2009 TIP REPORT: PRESS GUIDANCE AND 
DEMARCHE 
 
REF: A. 2009 STATE 59732 
     ¶B. 2009 STATE 5577 
 
¶1. This is an action cable; see paras 5 through 7 and 10. 
 
¶2. On June 16, 2009, at 10:00 a.m. EDT, the Secretary will 
release the 2009 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report at a 
press conference in the Department's press briefing room. 
This release will receive substantial coverage in domestic 
and foreign news outlets.  Until the time of the Secretary's 
June 16 press conference, any public release of the Report or 
country narratives contained therein is prohibited. 
 
¶3. The Department is hereby providing Post with advance press 
guidance to be used on June 16 or thereafter.  Also provided 
is demarche language to be used in informing the Government 
of Azerbaijan of its tier ranking and the TIP Report's 
imminent release.  The text of the TIP Report country 
narrative is provided, both for use in informing the 
Government of Azerbaijan and in any local media release by 
Post's public affairs section on June 16 or thereafter. 
Drawing on information provided below in paras 8 and 9, Post 
may provide the host government with the text of the TIP 
Report narrative no earlier than 1200 noon local time Monday 
June 15 for WHA, AF, EUR, and NEA countries and OOB local 
time Tuesday June 16 for SCA and EAP posts.  Please note, 
however, that any public release of the Report's information 
should not/not precede the Secretary's release at 10:00 am 
EDT on June 16. 
 
¶4. The entire TIP Report will be available on-line at 
www.state.gov/g/tip shortly after the Secretary's June 16 
release.  Hard copies of the Report will be pouched to posts 
in all countries appearing on the Report.  The Secretary's 
statement at the June 16 press event, and the statement of 
and fielding of media questions by G/TIP,s Director and 
Senior Advisor to the Secretary, Ambassador-at-Large Luis 
CdeBaca, will be available on the Department's website 
shortly after the June 16 event.  Ambassador de Baca will 
also hold a general briefing for officials of foreign 
embassies in Washington DC on June 17 at 3:30 pm EDT. 
 
¶5. Action Request: No earlier than 12 noon local time on 
Monday June 15 for WHA, AF, EUR, and NEA posts and OOB local 
time on Tuesday June 16 for SCA and EAP posts, please inform 
the appropriate official in the Government of Azerbaijan of 
the June 16 release of the 2009 TIP Report, drawing on the 
points in para 9 (at Post's discretion) and including the 
text of the country narrative provided in para 8.  For 
countries where the State Department has lowered the tier 
ranking, it is particularly important to advise governments 
prior to the Report being released in Washington on June 16. 
 
¶6. Action Request continued:  Please note that, for those 
countries which will not receive an "action plan" with 
specific recommendations for improvement, posts should draw 
host governments' attention to the areas for improvement 
identified in the 2009 Report, especially highlighted in the 
"Recommendations" section of the second paragraph of the 
narrative text.  This engagement is important to establishing 
the framework in which the government's performance will be 
judged for the 2010 Report.  If posts have questions about 
which governments will receive an action plan, or how they 
may follow up on the recommendations in the 2009 Report, 
please contact G/TIP and the appropriate regional bureau. 
 
¶7. Action Request continued: On June 16, please be prepared 
to answer media inquiries on the Report's release using the 
press guidance provided in para 11.  If Post wishes, a local 
press statement may be released on or after 10:30 am EDT June 
16, drawing on the press guidance and the text of the TIP 
Report's country narrative provided in para 8. 
 
¶8. Begin Final Text of Azerbaijan's country narrative in the 
2009 TIP Report: 
 
-------------------------------- 
AZERBAIJAN (TIER 2 Watch List) 
-------------------------------- 
 
Azerbaijan is a source, transit, and limited destination 
country for men, women, and children trafficked for the 
purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. 
Women and children from Azerbaijan are trafficked to Turkey 
and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the purpose of 
commercial sexual exploitation.  Men and boys are trafficked 
to Russia for the purpose of forced labor.  Men and women are 
also trafficked to Iran, Pakistan, and the UAE for purposes 
of sexual exploitation and forced labor.  Some men are 
trafficked within Azerbaijan for the purpose of forced labor 
and women and children are trafficked internally for forced 
prostitution and forced labor, including forced begging. 
Azerbaijan serves as a transit country for victims trafficked 
from Moldova, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan to Turkey and the 
UAE for commercial sexual exploitation.  The Azerbaijani 
exclave of Nakhchivan serves as a transit point for women 
trafficked to Turkey.  A small number of men and women from 
Ukraine, Moldova, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Russia were 
trafficked to Azerbaijan for the purpose of commercial sexual 
exploitation. 
 
The Government of Azerbaijan does not fully comply with the 
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; 
however, it is making significant efforts to do so.  Despite 
these overall efforts, the government did not show evidence 
of progress in investigating, prosecuting, convicting, and 
punishing trafficking offenders, including complicit 
officials; therefore, Azerbaijan is placed on Tier 2 Watch 
List.  Although the government made modest improvements, 
victim identification and access to victim assistance 
remained limited during the reporting period.  The government 
adopted a new national action plan on trafficking in February 
2009; however, it did not allocate funding to implement the 
programs and policies in the plan, and funding for 
anti-trafficking efforts remained low and inconsistent 
throughout the reporting period.  The new action plan 
included a draft national victim referral mechanism, though 
the mechanism was not formally adopted or implemented during 
the reporting period.  Azerbaijan demonstrated improved 
awareness efforts. 
 
Recommendations for Azerbaijan:  Increase law enforcement 
efforts to prosecute and convict traffickers, including 
government officials complicit in trafficking, and ensure 
that a majority of convicted traffickers serve some time in 
prison; vet members of the anti-trafficking unit for human 
rights abuses; implement the national victim referral 
mechanism; increase inter-agency coordination of 
anti-trafficking efforts; improve victim assistance and 
protection for child victims of trafficking; provide initial 
assistance to domestic victims without requiring them to file 
a formal complaint with police; and conduct awareness and 
victim treatment training for law enforcement and judges. 
 
Prosecution 
---------------- 
 
The Government of Azerbaijan conducted fewer trafficking 
investigations and prosecutions and convicted fewer 
traffickers than in 2007.  Azerbaijan's 2005 Law on the Fight 
Against Trafficking in Persons prohibits trafficking for both 
sexual exploitation and forced labor, and prescribes from 
five to 15 years' imprisonment, punishments which are 
sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those prescribed 
for other grave crimes, such as rape.  In 2008, the 
government reported conducting 66 trafficking investigations 
and prosecuted 61 trafficking cases, down from 75 cases in 
¶2007.  The government secured the convictions of 61 
traffickers, down from 85 convictions in 2007.  Some 
convicted traffickers received sentences of from one to eight 
years' imprisonment.  According to most civil society groups 
in Azerbaijan, corruption and a lack of training among 
low-level law enforcement impeded overall anti-trafficking 
efforts.  There were unconfirmed reports that convicted 
traffickers bribed some judges to grant suspended sentences. 
There were also unconfirmed reports that police officers 
controlled saunas, motels, and massage parlors where forced 
prostitution occurred.  During the reporting period, some 
victims claimed they were kidnapped by police and forced into 
prostitution and were later threatened by police not to file 
charges against the officials responsible for trafficking 
them.  The government failed to vigorously investigate 
trafficking-related corruption during the reporting period. 
The government has yet to vet members of its anti-trafficking 
unit for human rights abuses, a recommendation since the 2005 
Trafficking in Persons Report. 
 
Protection 
---------------- 
 
The Government of Azerbaijan demonstrated mixed progress in 
assisting victims during the reporting period.  It did not 
employ a system to proactively identify victims of 
trafficking among vulnerable populations, including labor 
migrants; some NGOs suspect that labor trafficking may be 
more significant that sex trafficking.  Coordination among 
the government agencies assigned to combat trafficking and 
assist victims was infrequent; most agencies did not have a 
dedicated office or point of contact responsible for 
coordinating with other agencies to effectively combat 
trafficking.  In 2008, NGOs and law enforcement identified 
121 victims; the government-funded shelter assisted 55 of 
these victims, up from 29 in 2007.  Victims were only 
eligible for government-funded assistance, however, if they 
were an adult, female, and participated in a formal criminal 
case.  Law enforcement referred 52 victims to the 
government-funded shelter in 2008.  The government encouraged 
victims to participate in investigations and prosecutions of 
trafficking offenders; however, victims reported that some 
corrupt police officers discouraged them from filing criminal 
complaints through threats of physical violence.  There were 
no reports that victims were penalized for unlawful acts 
committed as a direct result of being trafficked.  Generally, 
identified foreign victims of trafficking who cooperate with 
law enforcement were permitted to remain in Azerbaijan until 
the completion of their court case; however, six foreign 
victims were deported prior to the completion of their court 
case during the reporting period.  There were no child 
trafficking shelters operating during the reporting period. 
Some child victims received shelter at a government-run child 
homeless center for a maximum of 30 days and then were 
returned to the streets. 
 
Prevention 
---------------- 
 
The government improved its prevention efforts during the 
reporting period.  The government conducted a general 
trafficking-awareness campaign, advertising in both 
newspapers and on television.  The government also funded and 
produced a documentary, in part, about sex trafficking called 
&Protect Me,8 which aired on several television stations 
during the reporting period.  The government-funded 
trafficking hotline appeared more effective and identified at 
least eight trafficking victims during the reporting period. 
Although the government appointed a national anti-trafficking 
coordinator in 2004, the individual is a known human rights 
violator, a problematic obstacle to it achieving a truly 
victim-centered approach to its anti-trafficking efforts. The 
government made no effort to reduce demand. 
 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶9. Post may wish to deliver the following points, which offer 
technical and legal background on the TIP Report process, to 
the host government as a non-paper with the above TIP Report 
country narrative: 
 
(begin non-paper) 
 
-- The U.S. Congress, through its passage of the 2000 
Trafficking Victims Protection Act, as amended (TVPA), 
requires the Secretary of State to submit an annual Report to 
Congress.  The goal of this Report is to stimulate action and 
create partnerships around the world in the fight against 
modern-day slavery.  The USG approach to combating human 
trafficking follows the TVPA and the standards set forth in 
the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in 
Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the 
United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized 
Crime (commonly known as the "Palermo Protocol").  The TVPA 
and the Palermo Protocol recognize that this is a crime in 
which the victims' labor or services (including in the "sex 
industry") are obtained or maintained through force, fraud, 
or coercion, whether overt or through psychological 
manipulation.  While much attention has focused on 
international flows, both the TVPA and the Palermo Protocol 
focus on the exploitation of the victim, and do not require a 
showing that the victim was moved. 
 
-- Recent amendments to the TVPA removed the requirement that 
only countries with a "significant number" of trafficking 
victims be included in the Report. Beginning with the 2009 
TIP Report, countries determined to be a country of origin, 
transit, or destination for victims of severe forms of 
trafficking are included in the Report and assigned to one of 
three tiers.  Countries assessed as meeting the "minimum 
standards for the elimination of severe forms of trafficking" 
set forth in the TVPA are classified as Tier 1.  Countries 
assessed as not fully complying with the minimum standards, 
but making significant efforts to meet those minimum 
standards are classified as Tier 2.  Countries assessed as 
neither complying with the minimum standards nor making 
significant efforts to do so are classified as Tier 3. 
 
-- The TVPA also requires the Secretary of State to provide a 
"Special Watch List" to Congress later in the year. 
Anti-trafficking efforts of the countries on this list are to 
be evaluated again in an Interim Assessment that the 
Secretary of State must provide to Congress by February 1 of 
each year.  Countries are included on the "Special Watch 
List" if they move up in "tier" rankings in the annual TIP 
Report -- from 3 to 2 or from 2 to 1 ) or if they have been 
placed on the Tier 2 Watch List. 
 
-- Tier 2 Watch List consists of Tier 2 countries determined: 
(1) not to have made "increasing efforts" to combat human 
trafficking over the past year; (2) to be making significant 
efforts based on commitments of anti-trafficking reforms over 
the next year, or (3) to have a very significant number of 
trafficking victims or a significantly increasing victim 
population.  As indicated in reftel B, the TVPRA of 2008 
contains a provision requiring that a country that has been 
included on Tier 2 Watch List for two consecutive years after 
the date of enactment of the TVPRA of 2008 be ranked as Tier 
¶3.  Thus, any automatic downgrade to Tier 3 pursuant to this 
provision would take place, at the earliest, in the 2011 TIP 
Report (i.e., a country would have to be ranked Tier 2 Watch 
List in the 2009 and 2010 Reports before being subject to 
Tier 3 in the 2011 Report).  The new law allows for a waiver 
of this provision for up to two additional years upon a 
determination by the President that the country has developed 
and devoted sufficient resources to a written plan to make 
significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with the 
minimum standards. 
 
-- Countries classified as Tier 3 may be subject to statutory 
restrictions for the subsequent fiscal year on 
non-humanitarian and non-trade-related foreign assistance 
and, in some circumstances, withholding of funding for 
participation by government officials or employees in 
educational and cultural exchange programs.   In addition, 
the President could instruct the U.S. executive directors to 
international financial institutions to oppose loans or other 
utilization of funds (other than for humanitarian, 
trade-related or certain types of development assistance) 
with respect to countries on Tier 3.  Countries classified as 
Tier 3 that take strong action within 90 days of the Report's 
release to show significant efforts against trafficking in 
persons, and thereby warrant a reassessment of their Tier 
classification, would avoid such sanctions.  Guidelines for 
such actions are in the DOS-crafted action plans to be shared 
by Posts with host governments. 
 
-- The 2009 TIP Report, issuing as it does in the midst of 
the global financial crisis, highlights high levels of 
trafficking for forced labor in many parts of the world and 
systemic contributing factors to this phenomenon:  fraudulent 
recruitment practices and excessive recruiting fees in 
workers' home countries; the lack of adequate labor 
protections in both sending and receiving countries; and the 
flawed design of some destination countries' "sponsorship 
systems" that do not give foreign workers adequate legal 
recourse when faced with conditions of forced labor.  As the 
May 2009 ILO Global Report on Forced Labor concluded, forced 
labor victims suffer approximately $20 billion in losses, and 
traffickers' profits are estimated at $31 billion.  The 
current global financial crisis threatens to increase the 
number of victims of forced labor and increase the associated 
"cost of coercion." 
 
-- The text of the TVPA and amendments can be found on 
website www.state.gov/g/tip. 
 
-- On June 16, 2009, the Secretary of State will release the 
ninth annual TIP Report in a public event at the State 
Department.  We are providing you an advance copy of your 
country's narrative in that report.  Please keep this 
information embargoed until 10:00 am Washington DC time June 
¶16.  The State Department will also hold a general briefing 
for officials of foreign embassies in Washington DC on June 
17 at 3:30 pm EDT. 
 
(end non-paper) 
 
¶10. Posts should make sure that the relevant country 
narrative is readily available on or though the Mission's web 
page in English and appropriate local language(s) as soon as 
possible after the TIP Report is released.  Funding for 
translation costs will be handled as it was for the Human 
Rights Report.  Posts needing financial assistance for 
translation costs should contact their regional bureau's EX 
office. 
 
¶11. The following is press guidance provided for Post to use 
with local media. 
 
 
Q1: Why was Azerbaijan again given a ranking of Tier 2 Watch 
List? 
 
A: Azerbaijan is placed on Tier Two Watch List for a second 
consecutive year because the government did not show evidence 
of progress in investigating, prosecuting, convicting, and 
punishing trafficking offenders, including complicit 
officials. 
 
Q2: What progress did Azerbaijan make in the last year? 
 
¶A. The government made modest victim assistance improvements 
in 2008, although victim identification and access to victim 
assistance remained limited.  The government adopted a new 
national action plan on trafficking in February 2009; 
however, it did not allocate funding to implement the 
programs and policies in the plan, and funding for 
anti-trafficking efforts remained low and inconsistent 
throughout the reporting period.  The new action plan 
included a draft national victim referral mechanism, though 
the mechanism was not formally adopted or implemented during 
the reporting period.  Azerbaijan also demonstrated improved 
public awareness efforts. 
 
Q3: What can Azerbaijan do to improve its fight against 
trafficking in persons? 
 
¶A. To improve its anti-trafficking performance, the 
Government of Azerbaijan could: increase law enforcement 
efforts to prosecute and convict traffickers, including 
government officials complicit in trafficking, and ensure 
that a majority of convicted traffickers serve some time in 
prison; vet members of the anti-trafficking unit for human 
rights abuses; implement the national victim referral 
mechanism; increase inter-agency coordination of 
anti-trafficking efforts; improve victim assistance and 
protection for child victims of trafficking; provide initial 
assistance to domestic victims without requiring them to file 
a formal complaint with police; and conduct awareness and 
victim treatment training for law enforcement and judges. 
 
¶12. The Department appreciates posts' assistance with the 
preceding action requests. 
CLINTON