VZCZCXRO7135
PP RUEHDBU
DE RUEHC #0639/01 1630203
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 120139Z JUN 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE PRIORITY 0757

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 STATE 060639 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB KCRM KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG KPAO KTIP TI
SUBJECT: TAJIKISTAN--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 Tajikistan 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 Tajikistan 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 Tajikistan 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 Tajikistan's country narrative in the 
2009 TIP Report: 
 
-------------------------------- 
Tajikistan (TIER 2 Watch List) 
-------------------------------- 
 
Tajikistan is a source country for women trafficked to the 
UAE often through Kyrgyzstan and Russia, for the purpose of 
commercial sexual exploitation.  Some women are trafficked 
from Tajikistan to Russia, Turkey, Iran, and India for the 
purpose of commercial sexual exploitation.  Men are 
trafficked to Russia and, to a lesser extent, Kazakhstan for 
the purpose of forced labor, primarily in the construction 
and agricultural sectors.  Children, men, and women are 
 
STATE 00060639  002 OF 005 
 
 
coerced by some local government authorities to harvest 
cotton.  In 2008, a small number of Tajik men were trafficked 
to Poland for the purpose of forced labor.  Boys and girls 
are trafficked internally for various purposes, including 
forced labor, forced begging, and commercial sexual 
exploitation. 
 
The Government of Tajikistan 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 demonstrate progress in 
prosecuting and convicting officials complicit in trafficking 
and ensuring that victims have access to protection; 
therefore, Tajikistan is placed on Tier 2 Watch List.  The 
government reported limited improvements in law enforcement 
efforts, although these efforts were overshadowed by the 
government's failures to address serious and systemic 
problems.  The most significant of these problems were the 
government's failure to address trafficking corruption; poor 
coordination between law enforcement and security 
institutions with overlapping responsibilities; failure to 
adequately investigate allegations of security officials' 
abuse of victims; and excessive reliance on the international 
community to conduct trafficking awareness campaigns and to 
ensure victims have access to assistance and protection. 
 
The government also failed to prevent local officials from 
compelling men, women and children ) particularly in Khatlon 
and Sughd regions ) to pick cotton during the annual cotton 
harvest.  For the first time in 2008, local prosecutors 
initiated investigations into allegations that local 
officials and teachers forced children to pick cotton -- 
although there were no convictions of officials for compelled 
labor during the reporting period.  Forced labor in the 
cotton sector remained problematic because the Government of 
Tajikistan continued to set a fixed price for a small cadre 
of investors to purchase cotton from farmers.  This fixed 
price is well below market value, making it difficult for 
farmers to pay workers to pick cotton.  This undervaluing of 
labor, and consequent lack of voluntary laborers, leads local 
officials to compel people to participate in the cotton 
campaign. 
 
Recommendations for Tajikistan:  Vigorously investigate and 
prosecute trafficking offenses, especially those involving 
labor trafficking, and convict and punish trafficking 
offenders with imprisonment; ensure better coordination 
between law enforcement and security institutions, 
particularly the State Committee on National Security; 
prosecute and convict government officials who participate in 
or facilitate trafficking in persons and ensure they serve 
time in prison; ensure indentified victims are not assaulted 
or re-victimized by government officials and ensure such 
allegations of assault are fully investigated and culpable 
offenders are prosecuted and criminally punished; provide 
financial or in-kind assistance to existing trafficking 
shelters; be directly involved in trafficking awareness 
campaigns, and ensure anti-trafficking information appears in 
government media outlets; prohibit the forced or coerced 
labor of children and adults in the annual cotton harvest by 
monitoring school and university attendance, inspecting 
cotton fields during the harvest, and enforcing existing laws 
prohibiting the use of forced labor; make efforts to improve 
trafficking data collection and analysis; and develop a 
victim identification and referral mechanism. 
 
Prosecution 
---------------- 
 
The Government of Tajikistan reported increased but limited 
anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts during the reporting 
period.  Article 130.1 of the criminal code prohibits both 
sexual exploitation and forced labor, and prescribes 
penalties of 5 to 15 years' imprisonment, which are 
sufficiently stringent but are lower than penalties 
prescribed for other grave crimes, such as rape.  Although it 
was added to the criminal code in 2003, officials have not 
successfully used the statute to prosecute trafficking 
offenders.  However, officials have used other criminal 
provisions to address trafficking related crimes, and for the 
first time, authorities investigated suspected labor 
trafficking cases.  In 2008, authorities reported 
investigating 23 individuals suspected of trafficking, an 
increase from 12 trafficking investigations in 2007.  The 
government reported 23 prosecutions in 2008, compared to 19 
reported in 2007.  Courts convicted 17 traffickers in 2008, 
up from 11 convictions reported in 2007.  The government 
reported that no convicted traffickers received suspended 
sentences or were granted amnesty in 2008; sentences for 
those serving time in prison ranged from six months to eight 
years' imprisonment.  The government worked with Russian 
authorities to investigate two trafficking cases in 2008. 
 
 
STATE 00060639  003 OF 005 
 
 
The government did not demonstrate significant efforts to 
address government complicity in trafficking during the 
reporting period.  The State Committee on National Security 
did not vigorously investigate reports that three identified 
trafficking victims were sexually assaulted by its officers 
after they were repatriated to Tajikistan.  There were 
unconfirmed reports that some government officials used their 
authority to stop trafficking investigations because of 
illicit ties to traffickers.  Local officials in Sughd and 
Khatlon regions were directly involved in organizing and 
coercing students to participate in the annual cotton harvest 
and, despite widespread public reports of this forced labor, 
the Ministry of Labor did not deploy inspection teams to 
investigate them and Ministry of Education officials 
generally did not discipline teachers or local administrators 
who facilitated or directed such practices.  However, after 
the conclusion of the harvest, government prosecutors in 
Khatlon investigated 12 local government officials and 
teachers for forcing school age and university students to 
pick cotton; some of the education officials were reprimanded 
for their actions, however no officials were convicted of 
criminal offenses during the reporting period. 
 
Protection 
---------------- 
 
The government demonstrated no efforts to assist trafficking 
victims during the reporting period.  Virtually all victim 
assistance and protection including shelter, medical 
assistance, rehabilitative counseling, legal assistance, and 
vocational training was provided by foreign-funded shelters 
and NGOs; the government did not provide financial or in-kind 
assistance to any NGO or organization that provided victim 
assistance.  In 2008, thirty-eight victims were provided with 
shelter and assistance by foreign-funded NGOs, compared to 46 
victims in 2007.  The government again made no efforts to 
develop and implement systematic victim identification 
procedures or a domestic mechanism to refer victims to care 
providers.  Victims were encouraged to participate in 
trafficking investigations and prosecutions; however, many 
authorities remained untrained and unskilled on interviewing 
and caring for victims of trafficking.  Although victims were 
generally not detained or punished, three female victims of 
sex trafficking alleged that border service officials 
sexually assaulted them upon their repatriation to 
Tajikistan. 
 
Prevention 
---------------- 
 
Tajikistan again demonstrated limited prevention efforts 
during the reporting period.  In October 2008, the government 
produced and broadcast television programs informing 
potential labor migrants of their rights and practical 
considerations for the migration process.  In 2008, officials 
instituted monitoring and licensing requirements for travel 
firms to help detect or investigate firms suspected of labor 
trafficking complicity. 
 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶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 
 
STATE 00060639  004 OF 005 
 
 
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 
 
STATE 00060639  005 OF 005 
 
 
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. 
 
¶Q. Why was Tajikistan again placed on Tier 2 Watch List? 
 
¶A. The Government of Tajikistan did not demonstrate progress 
in prosecuting and convicting officials complicit in 
trafficking and ensuring that victims have access to 
protection; therefore, Tajikistan is placed on Tier 2 Watch 
List.  The government failed to address trafficking 
corruption; demonstrated poor coordination between law 
enforcement and security institutions with overlapping 
responsibilities; failed to adequately investigate 
allegations of security officials' abuse of victims; and 
excessively relied on the international community to conduct 
trafficking awareness campaigns and ensure victims had access 
to assistance and protection.  The government also failed to 
prevent local officials from compelling men, women and 
children ) particularly in Khatlon and Sughd regions ) to 
pick cotton during the annual cotton harvest.  Forced labor 
in the cotton sector remained problematic because the 
government continued to set a fixed price for a small cadre 
of investors to purchase cotton from farmers.  This fixed 
price is well below market value, making it difficult for 
farmers to pay workers to pick cotton.  This undervaluing of 
labor, and consequent lack of voluntary laborers, leads local 
officials to compel people to participate in the cotton 
campaign. 
 
¶Q. What efforts did Tajikistan make during the reporting 
period? 
 
¶A. The Tajikistan government reported limited improvements in 
law enforcement efforts, although these efforts were 
overshadowed by the government's failures to address serious 
and systemic problems.  For the first time in 2008, local 
prosecutors initiated investigations into allegations that 
local officials and teachers forced children to pick 
cotton*although there were no convictions of officials for 
compelled labor during the reporting period. 
 
¶Q. What can Tajikistan do to improve its fight against 
trafficking in persons? 
 
¶A. Vigorously investigate and prosecute trafficking offenses, 
especially those involving labor trafficking, and convict and 
punish trafficking offenders with imprisonment; ensure better 
coordination between law enforcement and security 
institutions, particularly the State Committee on National 
Security; prosecute and convict government officials who 
participate in or facilitate trafficking in persons and 
ensure they serve time in prison; ensure indentified victims 
are not assaulted or re-victimized by government officials 
and ensure such allegations of assault are fully investigated 
and culpable offenders are prosecuted and criminally 
punished; provide financial or in-kind assistance to existing 
trafficking shelters; be directly involved in trafficking 
awareness campaigns, and ensure anti-trafficking information 
appears in government media outlets; prohibit the forced or 
coerced labor of children and adults in the annual cotton 
harvest by monitoring school and university attendance, 
inspecting cotton fields during the harvest, and enforcing 
existing laws prohibiting the use of forced labor; make 
efforts to improve trafficking data collection and analysis; 
and develop a victim identification and referral mechanism. 
 
¶12. The Department appreciates posts' assistance with the 
preceding action requests. 
CLINTON