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DE RUEHC #0537 1622304
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P 112221Z JUN 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO AMEMBASSY SOFIA PRIORITY 0000

UNCLAS STATE 060537 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB KCRM KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG KPAO KTIP BU
SUBJECT: BULGARIA--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 Bulgaria 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 
Bulgaria 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 Bulgaria 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 Bulgaria's country narrative in the 
2009 TIP Report: 
 
-------------------------------- 
BULGARIA (TIER 2) 
-------------------------------- 
 
Bulgaria is a source, transit, and, to a lesser extent, a 
destination country for men, women, and children from 
Ukraine, Moldova, and Romania trafficked to and through 
Bulgaria to Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Austria, 
Norway, the Czech Republic, Poland, Greece, Turkey, and 
Macedonia for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation 
and forced labor.  Ethnic Roma women and children remain 
highly vulnerable to trafficking.  Children are trafficked 
within Bulgaria and to Greece and the United Kingdom for the 
purposes of forced begging and forced petty theft.  Around 15 
percent of identified trafficking victims in Bulgaria are 
children.  Bulgarian women and some men are trafficked 
internally, primarily to resort areas along the Black Sea 
coast and in border towns with Greece, for the purposes of 
commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. 
 
The Government of Bulgaria does not fully comply with the 
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; 
however, it is making significant efforts to do so.  In 2008, 
the government maintained strong efforts to investigate, 
prosecute, and convict trafficking offenders, targeting some 
of the leaders of trafficking networks.  The government also 
doubled the number of government-run centers available to 
assist child trafficking victims and opened a new adult 
shelter in April 2009.  The government generally maintained 
the number of traffickers sentenced to time in prison, but it 
did not prosecute public officials complicit in trafficking 
over the last year. 
 
Recommendations for Bulgaria: Vigorously investigate, 
prosecute, convict, and punish government officials complicit 
in trafficking; continue efforts to investigate, prosecute, 
and convict trafficking offenders and ensure that a majority 
of convicted traffickers serve some time in prison; continue 
to increase the number of victims referred by government 
officials for assistance; and continue to improve data 
collection and methods for assessing trafficking law 
enforcement statistics. 
 
Prosecution 
---------------- 
 
The Bulgarian government demonstrated strong anti-trafficking 
law enforcement efforts over the reporting period; however, 
it slightly decreased the number of traffickers sentenced to 
time in prison and it did not apply vigorously law 
enforcement measures to government officials complicit in 
trafficking.  Bulgaria prohibits trafficking for both sexual 
exploitation and forced labor through Section 159 of its 
criminal code, which prescribes penalties of between one and 
15 years' imprisonment.  These penalties are sufficiently 
stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for other 
grave crimes, such as rape.  In 2008, police conducted 187 
sex trafficking and 25 labor trafficking investigations, 
compared to 179 sex trafficking and 22 labor trafficking 
investigations conducted in 2007.  In 2008, authorities 
prosecuted 79 individuals for sex trafficking and eight for 
forced labor compared to 78 persons prosecuted in 2007.  In 
2008, a total of 69 trafficking offenders were convicted -- 
66 for sex trafficking and three for labor trafficking 
offenses -- compared to 71 sex trafficking offenders and two 
labor trafficking offenders convicted in 2007.  Twenty-five 
of the 69 traffickers convicted in 2008 served time in 
prison.  Of those 25, twelve trafficking offenders were 
sentenced to up to three years' imprisonment, six were 
sentenced to from three to five years' imprisonment, and 
seven were sentenced to from five to 15 years' imprisonment. 
 
There were continued reports of trafficking-related 
corruption during the reporting period.  In autumn 2008, 
police arrested three municipal councilors in Varna for 
allegedly leading an organized human trafficking and money 
laundering group; the investigation was ongoing at the time 
of this report.  In 2008, the government also investigated 
one police officer for complicity in trafficking.  During the 
reporting period, the government closed its investigation 
launched in 2007 against a low-level border police officer 
allegedly involved in human trafficking.  The Government of 
Bulgaria did not prosecute, convict, or sentence any 
government officials for trafficking during the reporting 
period. 
 
Protection 
---------------- 
 
The Government of Bulgaria increased its victim assistance 
and protection efforts during the reporting period.  The 
government increased available assistance for child victims 
of trafficking by boosting funding for the number of 
government-run child-crisis centers from three to six in 
2008; these centers provided rehabilitative, psychological, 
and medical assistance to identified child victims of 
trafficking.  Approximately 25 child trafficking victims were 
assisted in government shelters in 2008.  The majority of 
adult victims were assisted by privately funded NGOs, 
although the government did provide limited in-kind 
assistance to some anti-trafficking NGOs.  In 2008, the Varna 
local government provided facility space and the National 
Commission for Combating Trafficking in Persons (the 
Commission) allocated $13,000 to renovate and establish an 
adult trafficking shelter in that city; the shelter was 
opened in April 2009.  In 2008, the government identified 250 
victims of trafficking, including 38 minors, and referred all 
of them for assistance, compared to 288 victims of 
trafficking identified in 2007.  Approximately 80 victims 
were assisted by NGOs during the reporting period.  All 
victims in Bulgaria were eligible for free medical and 
psychological care provided through public hospitals and 
NGOs.  Victims were encouraged to assist in trafficking 
investigations and prosecutions; victims who chose to 
cooperate with law enforcement investigators were provided 
with full residency and employment rights for the duration of 
the criminal proceedings, although no victims requested 
temporary residency permits during the reporting period. 
Foreign victims who chose not to cooperate with trafficking 
investigations were permitted to stay in Bulgaria for one 
month and 10 days before they faced mandatory repatriation. 
In 2008, seven victims participated in the police witness 
protection program.  Victims were generally not detained, 
fined, or otherwise penalized for unlawful acts committed as 
a direct result of their being trafficked. 
 
Prevention 
---------------- 
 
The Bulgarian government maintained its strong efforts to 
prevent trafficking during the reporting period.  In June 
2008, the commission organized a campaign that educated 1,385 
students through movie viewings and brochures about the 
danger of trafficking while looking for summer employment and 
travel.  In September 2008, the commission also produced and 
distributed 20,000 informational leaflets with movie tickets 
for a film about human trafficking.  In October 2008, the 
government launched an awareness campaign in more than 3,000 
schools across the country and distributed 125,000 
information cards to students to raise awareness about the 
dangers of trafficking.  A local anti-trafficking commission 
organized an exhibition of paintings produced by child 
victims of trafficking.  In April 2009, Parliament amended 
Bulgaria's criminal code to punish clients of children in 
prostitution with of up to three years' imprisonment. 
 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶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 Bulgaria given a ranking of Tier 2? 
 
¶A. The Government of Bulgaria does not fully comply with the 
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; 
however, it is making significant efforts to do so. 
 
Q2: What progress has Bulgaria made in the past year? 
 
¶A.  In 2008, the government maintained strong efforts to 
investigate, prosecute, and convict trafficking offenders, 
targeting some of the leaders of trafficking networks.  The 
government also doubled the number of government-run centers 
available to assist child trafficking victims and opened a 
new adult shelter in April 2009.  The government generally 
maintained the number of traffickers sentenced to time in 
prison, but it did not prosecute public officials complicit 
in trafficking over the last year. 
 
Q3: What can Bulgaria do to improve its fight against 
trafficking in persons? 
 
¶A. To improve its anti-trafficking performance, the 
Government of Bulgaria could:  Vigorously investigate, 
prosecute, convict, and punish government officials complicit 
in trafficking; continue efforts to investigate, prosecute, 
and convict and ensure that a majority of convicted 
traffickers serve some time in prison; continue to increase 
the number of victims referred by government officials for 
assistance; and continue to improve data collection and 
methods for assessing trafficking law enforcement statistics. 
 
 
Q4:  What sources does the State Department use for 
information? 
 
A: The Department of State prepared this Report using 
information from U.S. embassies, foreign government 
officials, NGOs and international organizations, published 
reports, research trips to every region, and information 
submitted to tipreport@state.gov. 
 
 
¶12. The Department appreciates posts' assistance with the 
preceding action requests. 
CLINTON