VZCZCXYZ0004
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHC #1215 1640008
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 122344Z JUN 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO AMEMBASSY BELGRADE IMMEDIATE 0000

UNCLAS STATE 061215 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KTIP ELAB KCRM KPAO KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG YI
SUBJECT: SERBIA -- 2009 TIP REPORT: PRESS GUIDANCE AND 
      DEMARCHE 
 
REF: A. (A) STATE 59732 
     ¶B. (B) STATE 005577 
 
¶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 Serbia 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 Serbia 
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 Serbia 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 Serbia,s country narrative in the 
2009 TIP Report: 
 
-------------------------------- 
Serbia (TIER 2) 
Serbia is a source, transit, and destination country for men, 
women, and girls trafficked internationally and within the 
country for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation 
and forced labor.  Foreign victims are trafficked to Serbia 
from Eastern Europe and Central Asia through Kosovo and 
Macedonia.  Serbia continued to serve as a transit country 
for victims trafficked from Bosnia, Croatia, and Slovenia and 
destined for Italy and other countries in Western Europe. 
Children, mostly Roma, continued to be trafficked for the 
purpose of sexual exploitation, forced marriage, or forced 
street begging.  The majority of identified victims in 2008 
were Serbian women and girls trafficked for the purpose of 
sexual exploitation; over half were children.  There was an 
increase in cases of trafficking for forced labor in 2008. 
The Government of Serbia does not fully comply with the 
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; 
however, it is making significant efforts to do so.  The 
government increased funding for protection of victims and 
appointed a new National Anti-Trafficking Coordinator in 
November 2008, though serious concerns remained about 
punishment of traffickers and prosecution of complicit 
officials.  Moreover, law enforcement data provided was 
incomplete.  The government also has not yet developed formal 
procedures to adequately identify and refer potential 
trafficking victims, seriously hampering its ability to 
provide assistance and protection to victims.  Serbia may be 
negatively assessed in the next Report if it does not address 
these deficiencies. 
Recommendations for Serbia:  Provide comprehensive data on 
efforts to vigorously  prosecute, convict, and punish 
traffickers;  aggressively prosecute and punish officials who 
facilitate trafficking; implement a standardized protocol for 
victim identification and referral that includes the Agency 
for Coordination of Protection of Victims of Trafficking  and 
NGOs, as appropriate; provide sustained direct funding for 
victim protection and assistance; increase training for 
social workers and police to improve identification of 
trafficking victims; develop programs to address the 
increasingly growing problem of trafficking for forced labor 
and children who are victims of trafficking; and improve 
prevention efforts. 
Prosecution 
The Government of Serbia continued to actively investigate 
trafficking cases, but it did not provide evidence it 
adequately prosecuted, convicted and punished trafficking 
offenders.  Trafficking suspects accused of violent crimes 
often continued to be freed during the pre-trial and appeal 
process, posing a serious risk to their victims.  The 
criminal code for Serbia prohibits sex and labor trafficking 
through its article 388, which prescribes penalties of two to 
10 years, imprisonment; these are sufficiently stringent and 
commensurate with those prescribed for other grave offenses, 
such as rape.  In 2008, the government investigated and 
charged 94 persons with trafficking.  The government did not 
provide comprehensive prosecution data, but reported that, in 
2008, 18 trafficking offenders were convicted and sentenced 
to prison; 17 others were acquitted.  The government did not 
provide information on the length of these sentences or 
whether any were suspended.  It reported that it detained 29 
trafficking suspects pending trial or investigation during 
¶2008.  At times, traffickers were not held in detention 
during pre-trial and appeals processes; by law, individuals 
convicted for trafficking are only detained during the 
appeals process if their sentence was greater than five 
years. Trials that last months or years and multiple appeals 
result in delays, sometimes by several years, in convicted 
traffickers serving their sentences.  One of Serbia,s most 
infamous traffickers, sentenced to four years and three 
months by the Supreme Court in 2006, remains free.  NGOs and 
international organizations reported anecdotally that 
sentences were increasing due to better education of judges. 
In December 2008, an individual was convicted of trafficking 
in persons in the District Court in Subotica, which sentenced 
him to 10 years in jail; this trafficker remains in jail 
pending appeal. The government did not demonstrate adequate 
 
punishment of officials complicit in trafficking.  In a high 
profile case in Novi Pazar in August 2008, the government 
prosecuted and convicted 12 trafficking offenders, including 
the Deputy Public Prosecutor and two police officers.  The 
principal trafficker in this case, a private citizen, 
received an eight-year sentence, though the two police 
officers received suspended sentences and the prosecutor was 
given a suspended sentence of three years and released for 
time served of one year.  The prosecutor had sexually 
exploited some of the victims.   There were no further 
developments in the 2007 case reported by the media of a 
police office investigated for facilitating the trafficking 
of a forced labor victim.  The government,s refusal to 
cooperate with the Kosovo government hampers Serbia,s 
efforts to investigate and prosecute transnational 
trafficking. 
Protection 
The Government of Serbia increased efforts to protect victims 
but did not improve its identification procedures in 2008. 
While the government, with the assistance of international 
organizations, trained law enforcement officials on victim 
identification and treatment, the government continued to 
lack systematic victim identification, referral and treatment 
procedures and standards; trafficking cases were addressed on 
an ad hoc basis.  The government provided three NGOs with 
$36,571 for victim assistance in July 2008 through the 
one-time sale of a special stamp.  The government,s Agency 
of Coordination for Protection of Victims of Trafficking 
remained understaffed, but it received $18,501 in direct 
government funding, an increase compared to 2007, and also 
received $29,143 from the public stamp subsidy for its victim 
assistance funding.  In 2008, the government and NGOs 
identified 55 trafficking victims and accommodated 20 in two 
NGO shelters.  Identified victims generally are not detained, 
jailed, or otherwise penalized for unlawful acts committed as 
a direct result of their being trafficked; however, 
government officials and organizations that deal with 
trafficking believe that due to the lack of systematic victim 
identification procedures, some victims were not identified 
and may have been penalized for acts committed as a result of 
being trafficked.  In February 2008, border police arrested 
two trafficked girls from Uzbekistan for immigration 
violations.  Serbia's Ombudsman learned of the case and 
facilitated the girls, release from detention two weeks 
later.  The girls declined temporary residence permits and 
departed Serbia at their own expense.  Reportedly, their 
traffickers fled across the border before police were able to 
arrest them.  According to organizations dealing with 
trafficking, many victims were not provided with adequate 
protection in court mandated by the 2006 Witness Protection 
Law due to the lack of court facilities that would allow 
victims to await court proceedings or testify in areas 
separated from the defendants.  An NGO reported that in early 
2009, one victim and her child were repeatedly threatened by 
the trafficker during the trial; the victim subsequently 
changed her testimony; she was then charged by the government 
with perjury and defamation.  During the reporting period, 
six NGO-municipal multi-disciplinary teams established last 
year to improve victim protection continued to operate. 
 
Prevention 
The Government of Serbia demonstrated some efforts to prevent 
trafficking in 2008.  The new government appointed a new 
anti-trafficking national coordinator in November 2008, after 
the previous government left the position unfilled for many 
months.  The government also created a ministerial-level 
Anti-Trafficking Council the same month.  The Council and the 
working level Anti-Trafficking Team and Working Groups, which 
included NGO and international organization representatives, 
collaborated on a 2009-2011 national anti-trafficking action 
plan which the government adopted in April 2009.  The 
Interior Minister and Justice Minister held a press 
conference on International Women's Day specifically to draw 
attention to human trafficking. The government funded and 
implemented an anti-trafficking campaign that included 
posters displayed at airports and border crossings around the 
country, flyers distributed at schools and police stations, 
and advertisements published in the help-wanted sections of 
magazines.  The materials were designed to warn potential 
victims and to ask the public to report trafficking-related 
activity to a police hotline.  An NGO campaign targeted at 
potential clients of the sex trade was not funded by the 
government. 
-------------------------------- 
 
 
¶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 Serbia given a rank of Tier 2? 
 
A: The Government of Serbia does not fully comply with the 
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; 
however, it is making significant efforts to do so.  The 
government increased funding for protection of victims and 
appointed a new National Anti-Trafficking Coordinator in 
November 2008, though serious concerns remained about 
punishment of traffickers and prosecution of complicit 
officials.  The government also has not yet developed formal 
procedures to adequately identify and refer potential 
trafficking victims, seriously hampering its ability to 
provide assistance and protection to victims. 
 
Q2: What progress has Serbia made in the past year? 
 
A:  The government provided three NGOs with $36,571 for 
victim assistance in July 2008 through the one-time sale of a 
special stamp.  The government funded and implemented an 
anti-trafficking campaign that included posters displayed at 
airports and border crossings around the country, flyers 
distributed at schools and police stations, and 
advertisements published in the help-wanted sections of 
magazines. 
 
Q3: What can Serbia do to improve its fight against 
trafficking in persons? 
A: To improve its anti-trafficking performance, the Serbian 
government should:  provide comprehensive data on efforts to 
vigorously prosecute, convict, and punish traffickers; 
aggressively prosecute and punish officials who facilitate 
trafficking; implement a standardized protocol for victim 
identification and referral that includes the Agency for 
Coordination of Protection of Victims of Trafficking  and 
NGOs, as appropriate; provide sustained direct funding for 
victim protection and assistance; increase training for 
social workers and police to improve identification of 
trafficking victims; develop programs to address the 
increasingly growing problem of trafficking for forced labor 
and children who are victims of trafficking; and improve 
prevention efforts. 
 
¶12. The Department appreciates posts, assistance with the 
preceding action requests. 
CLINTON