VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHC #0621 1630108
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 120044Z JUN 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO AMEMBASSY WARSAW PRIORITY 0000

UNCLAS STATE 060621 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB KCRM KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG KPAO KTIP PL
SUBJECT: POLAND--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 Poland 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 Poland 
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 Poland 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 Poland's country narrative in the 2009 
TIP Report: 
 
-------------------------------- 
Poland (TIER 1) 
-------------------------------- 
 
Poland is a source country for men and women trafficked to 
Italy, Austria, Germany, Belgium, France, Spain, Sweden, the 
Netherlands, and Israel for purposes of forced labor and 
sexual exploitation.  It is also a transit and destination 
country for women trafficked from Moldova, Ukraine, Bulgaria, 
Romania, Belarus, Russia, Sudan, Senegal, Uganda, Kenya, 
Djibouti, China, and Vietnam for the purpose of commercial 
sexual exploitation.  Women from Ukraine, Bulgaria, Mongolia, 
and Vietnam are trafficked to Poland for purposes of forced 
labor, forced begging, and debt bondage. 
 
The Government of Poland fully complies with the minimum 
standards for the elimination of trafficking.  The government 
increased its reflection period for foreign victims to 90 
days.  The government also significantly increased funding 
for victim assistance programs, by pledging additional 
support for the only specialized trafficking shelter in the 
country and expanded the capacity of non-specialized shelters 
and crisis intervention centers to provide assistance to 
trafficking victims.  The government worked with NGOs and 
international organizations to raise awareness of trafficking 
in Poland and abroad, including a limited number of campaigns 
to reduce demand for commercial sex acts. 
 
Recommendations for Poland:  Continue training for 
prosecutors and judges on the application of the existing 
trafficking law; ensure that a majority of trafficking 
offenders serve time in prison; expand sensitivity and 
awareness training for municipal and regional police and 
border guards; ensure that male trafficking victims are 
provided with adequate housing; continue to increase the 
shelter system's capacity to assist victims; and conduct 
additional awareness campaigns to reduce the demand for 
commercial sex acts. 
Prosecution 
---------------- 
 
The Government of Poland demonstrated progress in its overall 
law enforcement efforts during the reporting period.  Poland 
prohibits all forms of trafficking through its criminal code. 
 Article 203, Article 204, Sections 3 and 4, and Article 253 
of the criminal code are used to prosecute sex trafficking 
cases.  Article 253 and organized crime statutes are used to 
prosecute labor trafficking cases, though there are no 
provisions that specifically define and address trafficking 
for labor exploitation.  Prosecutors rely on trafficking 
definitions in the 2000 UN TIP Protocol when pursuing cases 
against traffickers.  Penalties prescribed under Article 253 
range from 3 to 15 years' imprisonment, and Articles 203 and 
204 prescribe from one to 10 years' imprisonment; these 
punishments are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with 
those prescribed for other grave crimes, such as rape.  Law 
enforcement officials and NGOs continued to report that the 
lack of a clear legal definition of trafficking in Poland's 
criminal code limits effective prosecutions.  Police 
investigated 119 alleged trafficking violations in 2008 under 
Articles 253, 203, and 204 (Sections 3 and 4), compared to 
122 alleged trafficking violations in 2007.  Authorities 
prosecuted 78 individuals in 2008, under Articles 253, 203, 
and 204 (Sections 3 and 4) an increase from 62 prosecutions 
in 2007.  In 2008, 46 traffickers were convicted in Courts of 
First Instance under Articles 253 and 203, an increase from 
43 convictions in 2007.  Post-appeal sentences, which are 
considered final, are collected for Articles 253, 203, and 
204 (Sections 3 and 4).  In 2007, the most recent year for 
post-appeal sentencing data, 24 out of 42 convicted 
traffickers -- or 57 percent -- received suspended sentences; 
the remaining 18 convicted traffickers were given sentences 
ranging from one to five years' imprisonment.  In 2006, 39 
out of 86 -- or 45 percent -- of convicted traffickers were 
given suspended sentences.  In 2008, the government continued 
to provide trafficking-related training to judges and 
prosecutors.  There were also numerous training programs for 
law enforcement officials on victim identification.  In March 
2009, Poland's Central Anti-Trafficking Police Unit issued a 
new set of guidelines on identifying victims of forced 
begging to regional police units around the country. 
 
Protection 
---------------- 
 
The government demonstrated improved efforts to assist 
trafficking victims during the reporting period. 
Specifically, the government increased its direct assistance 
to the country's only specialized trafficking shelter by 40 
percent (to $70,000) and in January 2009 pledged an 
additional $215,000 in emergency funding to keep the shelter 
open through December 2009.  The promised grant was awarded 
in April 2009.  In addition, the government expanded its 
network of specialized crisis intervention centers, which 
served both trafficking and domestic violence victims, from 
33 in 2007 to 37 in 2008, and initiated a nationwide training 
program with the centers to improve provision of assistance 
to trafficking victims.  The Law on Social Assistance 
provides that all foreign victims of trafficking are entitled 
to assistance.  There are no specialized shelters for male 
victims of trafficking; as a result, male trafficking victims 
who require temporary housing are placed in facilities that 
provide social services and shelter for homeless people, as 
well as half-way houses for recently released prison inmates. 
 Over the last year, 315 victims were identified by NGOs and 
authorities; most victims requested and received 
government-funded assistance.  In October 2008, the 
government extended the reflection period for foreign victims 
from two to three months; two victims used the reflection 
period in 2008.  There were reports that police encouraged 
victims to cooperate immediately with law enforcement and to 
forego the reflection period.  In 2008, twenty-one victims 
assisted law enforcement with trafficking investigations. 
 
Prevention 
---------------- 
 
The government demonstrated adequate efforts to prevent 
trafficking through awareness-raising activities in 2008. 
For example, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) published 
a guidebook for Poles working abroad, warning them about the 
dangers of labor exploitation.  A local government also 
conducted an awareness campaign through posters and leaflets 
targeting Polish labor migrants and provided information on 
methods of trafficking recruitment and offered practical 
advice on what to do if a person is trafficked.  The MFA also 
distributed approximately 140,000 leaflets through Polish 
consulates in Eastern Europe and Central Asia for foreigners 
granted Polish work visas.  The government carried out a 
limited number of law enforcement and public awareness 
campaigns to reduce demand for commercial sex acts over the 
year.  The government provided anti-trafficking training for 
all military personnel and police being deployed abroad for 
international peacekeeping missions. 
 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶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 Poland given a ranking of Tier 1? 
 
A: The Government of Poland fully complies with the minimum 
standards for the elimination of trafficking. 
 
Q2: What progress has Poland made in the last year? 
 
A: The government increased its reflection period for foreign 
victims to 90 days.  The government also significantly 
increased funding for victim assistance programs, by pledging 
additional support for the only specialized trafficking 
shelter in the country and expanded the capacity of 
non-specialized shelters and crisis intervention centers to 
provide assistance to trafficking victims.  The government 
worked with NGOs and international organizations to raise 
awareness of trafficking in Poland and abroad, including a 
limited number of campaigns to reduce demand for commercial 
sex acts. 
 
Q3: What can Poland do to improve its fight against 
trafficking in persons? 
 
A: To improve its anti-trafficking performance, the Polish 
government could: continue training for prosecutors and 
judges on the application of the existing trafficking law; 
ensure that a majority of trafficking offenders serve time in 
prison; expand sensitivity and awareness training for 
municipal and regional police and border guards; ensure that 
male trafficking victims are provided with adequate housing; 
continue to increase the shelter system's capacity to assist 
victims; and conduct additional awareness campaigns to reduce 
the demand for commercial sex acts. 
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