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DE RUEHC #0582 1622354
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P 112323Z JUN 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO AMEMBASSY HELSINKI PRIORITY 0000

UNCLAS STATE 060582 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB KCRM KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG KPAO KTIP FI
SUBJECT: FINLAND--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 Finland 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 Finland 
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 Finland 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 Finland's country narrative in the 
2009 TIP Report: 
 
-------------------------------- 
Finland (TIER 1) 
-------------------------------- 
 
Finland is a transit and destination country for women and 
girls trafficked from Russia, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, 
Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, the Caucasus, China, and Thailand 
to and through Finland to France, Sweden, Italy, Canada, 
Spain, and the United States for the purpose of commercial 
sexual exploitation.   Finland is a destination country for 
men and women trafficked from China, Pakistan, and Bangladesh 
for the purpose of forced labor; victims are exploited in the 
construction industry, restaurants, and as domestic servants. 
 
The Government of Finland fully complies with the minimum 
standards for the elimination of trafficking.  In June 2008, 
the government formally updated its 2005 National Action Plan 
to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings; the new plan outlined 
various goals including developing support programs for 
repatriated victims and enhancing victim identification and 
referral training for law enforcement personnel, teachers, 
social workers, medical personnel, and others who may have 
contact with victims of trafficking.  In January 2009, the 
government designated Finland's Ombudsman for Minorities to 
serve as the national coordinator on trafficking in persons 
in order to better gauge the scope of the trafficking problem 
within Finland and to assess the government's 
anti-trafficking progress. 
 
Recommendations for Finland:  Continue training sessions for 
prosecutors and judges on trafficking cases; improve the 
collection of anti-trafficking law enforcement data, 
including the number of investigations, prosecutions, 
convictions, and sentences given to convicted traffickers; 
and continue vigorously identifying and referring victims of 
trafficking for assistance. 
 
Prosecution 
---------------- 
 
Finland sustained its solid law enforcement efforts during 
the reporting period.  Law 1889-39 of the Finnish penal code 
prohibits all severe forms of trafficking and prescribes six 
years' imprisonment for convicted offenders, a penalty that 
is sufficiently stringent and commensurate with penalties 
prescribed for other grave crimes, such as rape.  Related 
criminal statutes, such as kidnapping, procuring for 
prostitution, and child rape may also be used to prosecute 
traffickers.  During the reporting period, police conducted 
nine trafficking investigations, compared to 10 in 2007.  In 
2008, authorities prosecuted at least seven individuals for 
sex trafficking offenses and two for labor trafficking 
compared to 10 prosecutions for sex trafficking in 2007.  In 
2008, nine individuals were convicted for trafficking 
offenses) including two for labor trafficking -- up from 
three in 2007.  Seven convicted traffickers served time in 
prison; trafficking sentences ranged from nine to 66 months' 
imprisonment.  Law enforcement officials worked with 
counterparts from Estonia, Sweden, and Russia on 
approximately 10 trafficking cases in 2008.  The government 
extradited one non-Finnish citizen to another EU country on 
trafficking charges. 
 
Protection 
---------------- 
 
The Finnish government maintained its significant victim 
assistance efforts during the reporting period.  It continued 
to provide direct shelter, rehabilitative assistance, and 
medical care to victims in addition to its provision of 
funding for NGO-run shelters.  In 2008, law enforcement 
officials referred 13 victims to NGOs and government-run 
assistance centers; this is an increase from nine victims 
assisted in 2007.  The government encouraged victims to 
assist in the investigation and prosecution of trafficking 
offenders and allowed victims to apply for temporary 
residency.  The government did not penalize victims for 
unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being 
trafficked.  Police and Border Guard officials use a series 
of written guidelines on victim treatment and referral 
developed by the Finnish Immigration Service. 
 
Prevention 
---------------- 
 
The government continued its trafficking awareness efforts in 
¶2008.  The government continued its demand reduction campaign 
targeted at Finns who travel abroad for sex tourism; the 
government again distributed brochures to thousands of 
visitors at a major annual travel fair warning that sex 
tourism is a crime.  Authorities monitored immigration 
patterns and screened for trafficked trafficking applicants 
at ports of entry.  Finnish troops deployed on international 
peacekeeping missions received intensive anti-trafficking 
training aimed at providing deployed forces with the ability 
to identify potential trafficking victims; there were no 
trafficking related cases involving Finnish troops or 
government personnel deployed overseas in 2008. 
 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶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 Finland given a rank of Tier 1? 
 
A:  The Government of Finland fully complies with the minimum 
standards for the elimination of trafficking, as described by 
the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, as amended. 
 
Q2:  What progress has Finland made in the past year? 
 
A:  In June 2008, the government formally updated its 2005 
National Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings; 
the new plan outlined various goals including developing 
support programs for repatriated victims and enhancing victim 
identification and referral training for law enforcement 
personnel, teachers, social workers, medical personnel, and 
others who may have contact with victims of trafficking.  In 
January 2009, the government designated Finland's Ombudsman 
for Minorities to serve as the national coordinator on 
trafficking in persons in order to better gauge the scope of 
the trafficking problem within Finland and to assess the 
government's anti-trafficking progress. 
 
Q3:  What can Finland do to improve its fight against 
trafficking in persons in the coming year? 
 
A:  To improve its anti-trafficking performance, the 
government should: continue training sessions for prosecutors 
and judges on trafficking cases; improve the collection of 
anti-trafficking law enforcement data, including the number 
of investigations, prosecutions, convictions, and sentences 
given to convicted traffickers; and continue vigorously 
identifying and referring victims of trafficking for 
assistance. 
 
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