VZCZCXYZ0001
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHC #0607 1630040
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 120016Z JUN 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO AMEMBASSY RIGA PRIORITY 0000

UNCLAS STATE 060607 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB KCRM KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG KPAO KTIP LG
SUBJECT: LATVIA--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 Latvia 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 Latvia 
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 Latvia 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 Latvia's country narrative in the 2009 
TIP Report: 
 
-------------------------------- 
Latvia (TIER 2 Watch List) 
-------------------------------- 
 
Latvia is a source and destination country for women 
trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation 
and forced labor.  Latvian women are trafficked to Germany, 
the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Denmark, 
Switzerland, Greece, Ireland, and Japan for commercial sexual 
exploitation.  Latvian teenage girls are trafficked within 
the country for the purpose of commercial sexual 
exploitation.  Latvia is a destination country for women 
trafficked from Belgium and Portugal for the purpose of 
commercial sexual exploitation and for women from Thailand 
who may have been trafficked for the purpose of forced labor. 
 
 
The Government of Latvia does not fully comply with the 
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; 
however, it is making significant efforts to do so.  Despite 
these efforts, the government did not show evidence of 
progress in prosecuting and punishing trafficking offenders 
and assisting victims of trafficking; therefore, Latvia is 
placed on Tier 2 Watch List.  During the reporting period, 
the results of the government's efforts to investigate sex 
and labor trafficking crimes and prosecute those responsible 
declined.  It also cancelled funding for one NGO that had 
been providing victim care and it deported three potential 
victims of labor trafficking before their claims were 
completely vetted. 
 
Recommendations for Latvia:  Provide government-funded 
assistance to a greater number of trafficking victims; 
increase efforts to identify victims of trafficking among 
vulnerable populations, such as women and girls in 
prostitution, and refer these victims for assistance; ensure 
law enforcement, border guards, and labor inspectors receive 
labor trafficking training; ensure that a majority of 
convicted traffickers serve some time in prison; take steps 
to expand available victim services to areas outside of Riga; 
work with NGOs to improve services available to victims of 
trafficking; and increase efforts to raise awareness about 
both sex and labor trafficking. 
 
Prosecution 
---------------- 
 
The results of the Government of Latvia's law enforcement 
efforts decreased in 2008.  Latvia prohibits all forms of 
trafficking through Section 154-1 and 154-2 of its Criminal 
Law, which prescribe penalties of from 3 to 15 years' 
imprisonment.  These prescribed penalties are sufficiently 
stringent and commensurate with penalties prescribed for 
other grave crimes, such as rape.  The government also uses 
non-trafficking related laws to prosecute traffickers. 
Authorities initiated 17 trafficking investigations, 
including at least one case of forced labor, compared to 21 
trafficking investigations in 2007.  Authorities prosecuted 
15 individuals and convicted 11 traffickers in 2008, a 
decrease from 28 convictions in 2007.  Only 3 of the 11 
trafficking offenders convicted in 2008 are serving time in 
prison; eight traffickers were given suspended sentences or 
fines and served no time in prison.  One trafficker was 
sentenced to up to three years' imprisonment and two 
traffickers were sentenced to 5 to 10 years' imprisonment. 
In 2007, seven convicted traffickers served sentences ranging 
from 1 to 10 years' imprisonment and 21 traffickers served no 
time in prison.  Despite several labor trafficking cases 
reported by police in 2008, the government did not try any 
suspected labor trafficking offenders. 
 
Protection 
---------------- 
 
The government demonstrated mixed efforts to assist victims 
during the reporting period.  Although the government 
increased the total amount of money spent for victim 
assistance, the number of victims provided with 
government-funded assistance remained the same; the 
government discontinued funding for all but one 
anti-trafficking NGO operating in the country during the 
reporting period, reducing Latvia's overall ability to 
identify and assist victims of trafficking.  The Government 
of Latvia spent $58,500 of $81,000 budgeted for victim 
assistance in 2008, an increase from $23,000 spent in 2007. 
However, only 12 of 28 identified victims of trafficking 
qualified for government-funded assistance due to a 
cumbersome application process; the remaining 16 victims 
received assistance from privately-funded NGOs.  The 
government offered foreign victims temporary legal 
alternatives to their removal to countries where they may 
face hardship or retribution; victims who agree to assist law 
enforcement may apply for temporary residency and work 
permits.  No victims applied for or received the 30-day 
reflection period during the reporting period.  The residency 
permits of three Thai women, initially identified as 
trafficking victims, were abruptly terminated after the 
victims' alleged traffickers requested that the government 
cancel their work permits.  The victims were quickly deported 
and the police stopped their investigation into their 
allegations of forced labor.  The government identified and 
referred 17 victims to NGOs for assistance in 2008, compared 
to 10 in 2007; however, the NGO community expressed concerns 
that victim-screening mechanisms used by law enforcement did 
not adequately identify victims of trafficking from 
vulnerable populations living in Latvia including street 
children, women in prostitution, and foreign migrant 
populations.  Twenty-one out of 28 victims identified in 2008 
were Latvian women trafficked abroad; seven of these 
identified victims were exploited in Latvia.  The government 
encouraged victims to participate in investigations against 
their traffickers; in 2008, 14 victims assisted with law 
enforcement investigations.  One trafficking victim benefited 
from the government's witness protection program.  The 
government did not penalize victims for unlawful acts 
committed as a direct result of their being trafficked. 
 
Prevention 
---------------- 
 
Latvia again demonstrated modest efforts to prevent 
trafficking in persons during the reporting period.  The 
Ministry of Education placed human trafficking as an 
education topic in the human rights curriculum of all high 
schools in Latvia.  The government funded and the Latvian 
State Tourism Agency distributed information sheets and 
travel guides for tourists that included information designed 
to discourage sex tourism in Latvia. 
 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶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 Latvia given a ranking of Tier 2 Watch List? 
 
A: Latvia is placed on Tier 2 Watch List because the 
government did not show evidence of progress in prosecuting 
and punishing trafficking offenders and assisting victims of 
trafficking.  During the reporting period, the results of the 
government's efforts to investigate sex and labor trafficking 
crimes and prosecute those responsible declined.  It also 
cancelled funding for one NGO that had been providing victim 
care and it deported three potential victims of labor 
trafficking before their claims were completely vetted. 
 
Q2: What are the legal justifications for placing a country 
on Tier 2 Watch List? 
 
A: A country may be placed on Tier 2 Watch List if it is 
assessed that it does not comply with the minimum standards 
to eliminate trafficking in persons, but is making 
significant efforts to do so and there is a failure to 
provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms 
of trafficking in persons from the previous year, including 
increased investigations, prosecutions, and convictions of 
trafficking crimes, increased assistance to victims, and 
decreasing evidence of complicity in severe forms of 
trafficking by government officials. 
 
Q3: What can Latvia do to improve its fight against 
trafficking in persons? 
 
A: To improve its efforts in the coming year, the Latvian 
government could: provide government-funded assistance to a 
greater number of trafficking victims; increase efforts to 
identify victims of trafficking among vulnerable populations, 
such as women and girls in prostitution, and refer these 
victims for assistance; ensure law enforcement, border 
guards, and labor inspectors receive labor trafficking 
training; ensure that a majority of convicted traffickers 
serve some time in prison; take steps to expand available 
victim services to areas outside of Riga; work with NGOs to 
improve services available to victims of trafficking; and 
increase efforts to raise awareness about both sex and labor 
trafficking. 
 
¶12. The Department appreciates posts' assistance with the 
preceding action requests. 
CLINTON