VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHC #0613 1630050
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 120026Z JUN 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO AMEMBASSY VILNIUS PRIORITY 0000

UNCLAS STATE 060613 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB KCRM KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG KPAO KTIP LH
SUBJECT: LITHUANIA--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 Lithuania 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 Lithuania 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 Lithuania 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 Lithuania's country narrative in the 
2009 TIP Report: 
 
-------------------------------- 
Lithuania (TIER 1) 
-------------------------------- 
 
Lithuania is a source, transit, and destination country for 
women and children trafficked for the purpose of commercial 
sexual exploitation.  One estimate concluded that 
approximately 20 percent of Lithuanian trafficking victims 
are underage girls.  Lithuanian women are trafficked within 
the country and to the United Kingdom, Germany, the 
Netherlands, Greece, Italy, France, and the Czech Republic 
for the purpose of forced prostitution.  Women from Belarus 
are trafficked to Lithuania for the same purpose. 
 
The Government of Lithuania fully complies with the minimum 
standards for the elimination of trafficking.  In 2008, the 
government increased victim assistance funding to $150,000, 
demonstrated strong law enforcement efforts, and increased 
the number of victims referred by law enforcement personnel 
for assistance.  It also ensured that a majority of convicted 
traffickers served significant time in prison. 
 
Recommendations for Lithuania: Train relevant law enforcement 
personnel to improve efforts to identify and investigate 
human trafficking offenses, including labor trafficking; 
provide trafficking awareness and prevention training for 
peacekeepers deployed abroad; and continue to ensure a 
majority of convicted traffickers serve some time in prison. 
 
Prosecution 
---------------- 
 
The Government of Lithuania sustained its anti-trafficking 
law enforcement efforts during the reporting period. 
Lithuania prohibits all forms of trafficking through Article 
147 of its criminal code, which prescribes penalties ranging 
from probation to 15 years' imprisonment.  These penalties 
are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with penalties 
prescribed for other grave crimes, such as rape.  In 2008, 
authorities initiated 16 sex trafficking investigations and 3 
labor trafficking investigations, up from a total of 9 
investigations in 2007.  Authorities prosecuted 20 defendants 
for sex trafficking during the reporting period, compared to 
eight defendants prosecuted in 2007.  In 2008, 13 trafficking 
offenders were convicted, a significant increase from 4 
convictions in 2007.  Ten convicted traffickers were given 
sentences ranging from two to eight years' imprisonment, 
while three traffickers were given no time in prison. 
 
Protection 
---------------- 
 
The Lithuanian Government continued to improve its protection 
of trafficking victims.  Law enforcement identified 86 
trafficking victims and referred them to NGOs for assistance 
in 2008, compared with 56 victims referred in 2007.  In 2008, 
the government provided approximately $150,000 to 13 
anti-trafficking NGOs to conduct victim assistance and 
rehabilitation, including vocational training and job 
placement for victims, compared to $144,000 in 2007.  Adult 
female and minor victims were provided shelter in domestic 
violence shelters.  Male victims of trafficking could be 
housed at community crisis centers, although to date no male 
victims of trafficking have requested shelter.  The 
government encouraged victims to assist in trafficking 
investigations and prosecutions; in 2008, twenty-five 
Lithuanian victims assisted with trafficking investigations 
and prosecutions.  Foreign victims who participated in court 
proceedings were eligible for temporary residency and work 
permits.  Identified victims were not penalized for unlawful 
acts committed as a direct result of their being trafficked; 
however, some victims who were not properly identified may 
have been fined for prostitution offenses.  During the 
reporting period, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs assisted 17 
Lithuanian victims identified abroad by referring them to 
local NGOs for assistance and provided funding for their 
repatriation to Lithuania. 
 
Prevention 
---------------- 
 
Lithuania demonstrated some efforts to prevent trafficking 
during the reporting period.  For example, the government 
funded an education campaign targeted at children and 
adolescents in seven towns across the country; the campaign 
focused on targeting both potential victims of trafficking 
and also potential future clients of the sex trade. 
 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶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 Lithuania given a rank of Tier 1? 
 
A: The Government of Lithuania fully complies with the 
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. 
 
Q2: What progress has Lithuania made in the past year? 
 
A:  In 2008, the government increased victim assistance 
funding to $150,000, demonstrated strong law enforcement 
efforts, and increased the number of victims referred by law 
enforcement personnel for assistance.  It also ensured that a 
majority of convicted traffickers served significant time in 
prison. 
 
Q3: What can Lithuania do to improve its fight against 
trafficking in persons? 
 
A: To improve its efforts in the coming year, the Lithuanian 
government could: train relevant law enforcement personnel to 
improve efforts to identify and investigate human trafficking 
offenses, including labor trafficking; provide trafficking 
awareness and prevention training for peacekeepers deployed 
abroad; and continue to ensure a majority of convicted 
traffickers serve some time in prison. 
 
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