VZCZCXYZ0012
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHC #0928 2711932
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 281911Z SEP 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO AMEMBASSY TASHKENT PRIORITY 0000

UNCLAS STATE 100928 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM KWMN PHUM PREL SMIG KTIP UZ
SUBJECT: UZBEKISTAN: TIP TIER 2 WATCH LIST ACTION PLAN 
(2009-2010) 
 
REF: A. 2008 STATE 132759 
     ¶B. 2007 STATE 150188 
     ¶C. 2009 STATE 005577 
     ¶D. 2009 STATE 62182 
 
¶1.  This is an action request (see paras 2-4). 
 
¶2.  Begin action request:  Drawing from points in para 8, 
Post is requested to approach appropriate host government 
officials to highlight the United States' strong commitment 
to continue to work with the Government of Uzbekistan to help 
strengthen its efforts to combat and prevent trafficking in 
persons (TIP) and to assist victims.  Post is requested to 
convey the recommendations in para 9 as a non-paper and draw 
from the talking points in para 8 to explain to the host 
government the need for prompt action on the first set of 
recommendations for a positive review in the interim 
assessment that the Department will release to Congress by 
February 2010 and for movement out of the Tier 2 Watch List 
in next year's Report.  Additional recommendations are also 
included in para 9 to aid the host government in making 
progress in its overall anti-TIP efforts.  The notes 
indicated in brackets in the action plan are for post,s 
background only and may be omitted from the non-paper.  The 
&Implementation Guidelines8 referenced in the action plan 
notes are contained in reftel B.  These guidelines provide 
guidance to posts on how the Minimum Standards of the 
Trafficking Victims Protection Act, as amended, (TVPA) are 
implemented, and have been cleared by regional bureaus. 
 
¶3.  Action request continued:  Post is further requested to 
emphasize to the Government of Uzbekistan that the first set 
of recommendations is designed to help remedy the specific 
shortcomings identified in the 2009 TIP Report that resulted 
in the placement of Uzbekistan on the Tier 2 Watch List. 
These recommendations are often referred to as 
"high-priority" items for Tier 2 Watch List removal. However, 
sustained and significant anti-trafficking efforts by the 
government throughout the year will remain the basis for 
determining next year's tier placement.  The interim 
assessment for Special Watch List countries (to include Tier 
2 Watch List countries) will provide a progress report 
regarding the government's actions to address the short list 
recommendations designed to address the concerns that 
resulted in the country's placement on the Tier 2 Watch List 
in the 2009 TIP Report (high-priority items), but there will 
be no changes in tier ratings at that time.  We will 
reconsider the government's tier placement when we conduct 
our annual full assessment for the March 2009-2010 reporting 
period next spring. 
 
¶4.  Action request continued:  The Department recognizes that 
Post may choose to use this opportunity to provide additional 
recommendations, beyond the recommendations for moving out of 
the Tier 2 Watch List.  In such a case, we request that Post 
make clear to the government which are the "high-priority" 
items to move off of the Tier 2 Watch List.  The non-paper in 
para 9 includes both "high-priority" recommendations for Tier 
2 Watch List removal and further-reaching goals for 
longer-term success in combating trafficking in persons in 
all 3 P areas: Prosecution, Protection, and Prevention.  (For 
posts, background information:  G/TIP will be asking for 
posts to report on the country's progress in meeting these 
recommendations by no later than November 15, 2009, in order 
to compile narratives for the interim assessment.) 
 
¶5.  In preparation for the interim assessment and 2010 TIP 
Report, the Department is asking posts to work with host 
governments throughout the year to collect as many statistics 
as possible on law enforcement actions and judicial 
proceedings related to TIP crimes, specifically the 
Department requests data on investigations, prosecutions, 
convictions, and sentences (e.g., fines, probation, length of 
prison sentences imposed, asset seizure information when 
available).   Whether a government collects and provides this 
data consistent with the government's capacity to obtain such 
data is considered in determining whether the government 
qualifies for Tier 1.  Law enforcement statistics, when 
available, are a good way of highlighting how well a 
government enforced its law and demonstrates strengths and 
weaknesses in various approaches.  Please note that host 
governments and embassies must interpret data terms provided 
by host governments such as indictments, charges, cases 
disposed, cases submitted for prosecution, etc., to ensure 
that they fit into one of the following categories: 
investigations, prosecutions, convictions or sentences. 
 
The Department cannot accept "trafficking-related" law 
enforcement statistics (e.g, statistics on prostitution or 
smuggling offenses) because their direct correlation to 
trafficking crimes is not clear.  The Department will accept 
only law enforcement data that fall into the following 
categories: (1) investigations, prosecutions, convictions, 
and sentences for offenses that are explicitly defined as 
trafficking; and (2) investigations, prosecutions, 
convictions, and sentences for offenses that are not defined 
explicitly as trafficking but in which the competent law 
enforcement or judicial authority has specific evidence 
indicating that the defendant was involved in trafficking. 
 
¶6.  The Department is also asking Posts to engage with host 
governments on efforts to address amendments made by the 2008 
Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA). 
As indicated in reftel C, 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. 
 
¶7.  Please keep in mind the TIP Report measures host 
government efforts.  In order for anti-trafficking activities 
financed or conducted principally by parties outside the 
government to be considered for tier placement purposes, Post 
needs to demonstrate a concrete role or tangible value-added 
by a host government in such activities carried out by NGOs, 
international organizations, or posts. 
 
¶8. (U) Background Points: 
 
Begin talking points: 
 
-- The Obama Administration views the fight against 
human trafficking, both at home and abroad, as a critical 
piece of our foreign policy agenda.  We are committed to 
making progress on this issue in the months ahead by working 
closely with partners in every country. 
 
-- The U.S. Government's Trafficking Victims Protection Act 
requires the State Department to submit an annual report to 
Congress on the status of foreign governments, efforts to 
combat trafficking in persons.  Pursuant to the Trafficking 
Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2003 (TVPRA), the 
Department created a special category for Tier 2 countries 
that do not show increasing efforts from the previous year, 
have a very significant number of victims, or whose Tier 2 
rating is based on commitments to take additional steps over 
the next year. 
 
-- Also as mandated by the TVPRA, by February 2010 the 
Department will submit to Congress an interim assessment.  At 
the end of 2009 in preparation for that submission, the 
Department will conduct an assessment of Tier 2 Watch List 
countries' progress in responding to the specific issues of 
concern that resulted in the Tier 2 Watch List rating. 
 
-- Uzbekistan was placed on Tier 2 Watch List in this year's 
Report because of a lack of evidence of increasing efforts to 
combat severe forms of trafficking in persons from the 
previous year (or other relevant criteria). 
 
-- We offer the following recommended actions (Action Plan 
for the Short-term) to tackle specific shortcomings 
highlighted in the 2009 TIP Report.  We believe these to be 
within the reasonable ability of your government to fulfill 
in the near-term and encourage you to take prompt action for 
a positive narrative in the interim assessment.  New tier 
evaluations will not occur at the interim assessment.  We 
will reconsider a government,s tier placement when we 
conduct our annual full assessment for the 2009-2010 
reporting period next spring.  Prompt, appropriate, and 
significant actions will lead to a more favorable tier 
placement; conversely, failure to address the issues 
mentioned above may lead to a Tier 3 placement. 
 
-- We would welcome the Government of Uzbekistan,s comments 
on these recommendations and any other ideas you might have 
to advance our common struggle against trafficking in persons. 
 
-- In addition to the short list of recommendations 
corresponding to our concerns that resulted in your 
government,s placement on the Tier 2 Watch List in the 2009 
TIP Report, we offer additional suggestions of actions that 
your government may choose to take (Action Plan for the Long 
term).  These further measures would be in addition to 
Uzbekistan,s continuation of its current efforts to combat 
trafficking in persons. 
 
End talking points. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Begin Action Plan: 
 
¶A.  Action Plan for the Short-Term: The following are 
recommended measures to produce a positive Interim Assessment 
in January 2010 and in the broader annual assessment of 
government efforts during the reporting period: 
 
--Take (immediate) substantive action to end the use of 
forced labor during the annual cotton harvest.  Identify and 
consider eliminating practices that potentially encourage 
this use of forced labor.  For example, consider eliminating 
the government designated quota for national cotton 
production and allowing farmers to sell their cotton on the 
open market rather than receiving artificially low 
government-controlled prices for their crops. 
 
--Allow international experts to conduct an independent 
assessment of the use of forced labor during the annual 
cotton harvest. 
 
--Investigate, prosecute, convict, and sentence government 
officials complicit in trafficking, including those involved 
in organizing and forcing children and adults to pick cotton 
during the annual harvest. 
 
--Provide financial or in-kind support to anti-trafficking 
NGOs to provide assistance and shelter for victims. 
 
--Establish additional shelters for trafficking victims 
outside of Tashkent. 
 
¶B.  Other areas the government should consider for action to 
improve its overall anti-trafficking efforts: 
 
Prosecution: 
------------------ 
 
--Provide training for law enforcement officials on 
investigating and prosecuting trafficking offenses, including 
training on Article 135 of the criminal code prohibiting 
forced labor, as amended in 2008. 
 
--Continue to gather and report data on the number of 
trafficking investigations conducted, traffickers prosecuted 
and convicted, and the length of sentences served by 
convicted traffickers.  Also gather and report data on the 
number of convicted traffickers granted amnesty. 
 
--Disaggregate trafficking in persons data from other 
criminal offenses, such as illegal migration. 
 
Protection: 
------------------ 
 
--Finalize construction and open the government-run shelter 
for trafficking victims in Tashkent.  Continue to consult 
with local NGOs to ensure victims are adequately assisted. 
 
--Raise public awareness about criminal and administrative 
exemptions from liability for acts committed by victims as a 
direct result of being trafficked, including illicit border 
crossings and other illegal migration charges. 
 
--Provide witness protection to victims who offer information 
to authorities or testimony against their trafficker in a 
criminal prosecution to ensure victims are not intimidated or 
harmed. 
 
--Continue efforts to implement the national anti-trafficking 
action plan. 
 
Prevention: 
------------------ 
 
--Continue to provide NGO-run trafficking awareness training 
for lower-level law enforcement officials. 
 
--Continue to work with UNICEF and improve cooperation with 
ILO to reduce the reliance on forced labor during the annual 
cotton harvest. 
 
--Increase efforts to raise public awareness about the 
trafficking of Uzbek nationals both internally and abroad for 
the purpose of forced labor. 
 
End non-paper. 
 
¶10.    The Department thanks post for its continued efforts 
to address trafficking in persons issues. 
CLINTON