VZCZCXYZ0002
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHC #0631 1630130
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 120106Z JUN 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM PRIORITY 0000

UNCLAS STATE 060631 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB KCRM KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG KPAO KTIP SW
SUBJECT: SWEDEN--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 Sweden 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 Sweden 
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 Sweden 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 Sweden's country narrative in the 2009 
TIP Report: 
 
-------------------------------- 
Sweden (TIER 1) 
-------------------------------- 
 
Sweden is a destination, and, to a lesser extent, a transit 
country for women trafficked from Romania, Russia, Nigeria, 
Albania, Tanzania, Thailand, and Estonia for the purpose of 
commercial sexual exploitation.  Some of these women are 
trafficked through Sweden to Norway, Denmark, Germany, and 
the United Kingdom.  Women and children from Romania are 
trafficked to Sweden for the purpose of forced begging.  One 
man from Ukraine was trafficked to Sweden for the purpose of 
begging and petty theft.  In 2008, a Swedish national was 
identified as a victim of trafficking in another EU country, 
where her alleged trafficker attempted to force her into 
prostitution.  The Swedish police estimate that 400 to 600 
persons are trafficked to Sweden annually, primarily for 
forced prostitution. 
 
The Government of Sweden fully complies with the minimum 
standards for the elimination of trafficking.  In January 
2009, Sweden used its anti-trafficking law to prosecute and 
convict labor traffickers for the first time.  The government 
allocated $26 million to implement the Ministry for 
Integration and Gender Equality's two- year comprehensive 
anti-trafficking action plan in Sweden and in select source 
countries, which included measures to prevent sex 
trafficking, improve victim assistance and the victim 
repatriation system, provide training for law enforcement and 
judges, and improve screening for potential victims during 
the visa application process. 
 
Recommendations for Sweden: Consider increased use of the 
2002 anti-trafficking law to prosecute trafficking offenders; 
improve efforts to collect trafficking specific law 
enforcement data; develop and implement formal procedures for 
the identification of trafficking victims and increase 
efforts to identify victims; improve labor trafficking 
awareness and coordination among local and regional police; 
continue training judges on the application of the 
anti-trafficking law; and continue efforts to better 
identify, address and prevent child trafficking to Sweden. 
 
Prosecution 
---------------- 
 
The government continued its law enforcement efforts to fight 
sex trafficking and improved efforts to address labor 
trafficking over the reporting period.  Sweden's 2002 
anti-trafficking law prohibits trafficking for both sexual 
exploitation and forced labor and prescribes penalties of two 
to 10 years' imprisonment, penalties that are sufficiently 
stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for other 
grave crimes.  Prosecutors continued, however, to rely on a 
prostitution procurement law with weaker penalties to 
prosecute and convict some sex traffickers.  In 2008, police 
conducted 15 sex trafficking and eight labor trafficking 
investigations, compared to 15 investigations reported in 
¶2007.  Authorities prosecuted four labor trafficking 
offenders and nine sex trafficking offenders, compared to 13 
prosecutions in 2007.  Four individuals were convicted for 
labor trafficking and eight individuals were convicted for 
sex trafficking, compared to two labor trafficking 
convictions and 11 sex trafficking convictions in 2007. 
Sentences given to nine convicted traffickers ranged from six 
to 78 months' imprisonment. 
 
Protection 
---------------- 
 
Sweden provided adequate victim assistance during the 
reporting period, although the number of victims assisted 
decreased over the reporting period.  Police received some 
victim identification training and referred identified 
victims to NGOs for assistance.  The government funded NGOs 
both in Sweden and abroad to provide victim rehabilitation, 
health care, vocational training, and legal assistance. 
Identified foreign victims were granted a minimum 30-day 
temporary residency permit that provided them with access to 
health care and social services.  Swedish authorities 
encouraged victims to participate in trafficking 
investigations and prosecutions; victims who declined to 
participate in investigations were subject to deportation 
after the 30-day reflection period, although no victims were 
deported from Sweden in 2008.  Over the reporting period, six 
victims received state-funded assistance compared to 11 
victims in 2007.  Four victims received temporary residency 
permits to remain in Sweden for the duration of the relevant 
criminal trial, a decrease from 10 victims given such 
temporary permits in 2007.  The Swedish government provided 
temporary residency to certain victims, but did not otherwise 
offer legal alternatives to the removal of foreign victims to 
countries where they face hardship or retribution.  The 
government did not punish victims for unlawful acts committed 
as a result of being trafficked. 
 
Prevention 
---------------- 
 
The Government of Sweden demonstrated efforts to raise 
awareness and prevent trafficking over the reporting period. 
The local government in Stockholm conducted an awareness 
campaign targeted at cab drivers and hotel and restaurant 
personnel who are likely to come in contact with victims of 
trafficking; the campaign consisted of posters and television 
advertisements and provided information on how the public can 
report suspected instances of trafficking.  In July 2008, the 
Ministry for Integration and Gender Equality adopted a 
comprehensive anti-trafficking action plan, which in part 
requires increased efforts to prevent commercial sexual 
exploitation. 
 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶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 Sweden given a ranking of Tier 1? 
 
A: The Government of Sweden fully complies with the minimum 
standards for the elimination of trafficking. 
 
Q2: What progress has Sweden made in the past year? 
 
A: In January 2009, Sweden used its anti-trafficking law to 
prosecute and convict labor traffickers for the first time. 
The government allocated $26 million to implement the 
Ministry for Integration and Gender Equality's two- year 
comprehensive anti-trafficking action plan in Sweden and in 
select source countries, which included measures to prevent 
sex trafficking, improve victim assistance and the victim 
repatriation system, provide training for law enforcement and 
judges, and improve screening for potential victims during 
the visa application process. 
 
Q3: What can Sweden do to improve its fight against 
trafficking in persons? 
 
A: To improve its anti-trafficking performance, the Swedish 
government could: consider increased use of the 2002 
anti-trafficking law to prosecute trafficking offenders; 
improve efforts to collect trafficking specific law 
enforcement data; develop and implement formal procedures for 
the identification of trafficking victims and increase 
efforts to identify victims; improve labor trafficking 
awareness and coordination among local and regional police; 
continue training judges on the application of the 
anti-trafficking law; and continue efforts to better 
identify, address and prevent child trafficking to Sweden. 
 
¶12. The Department appreciates posts' assistance with the 
preceding action requests. 
CLINTON