VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHRA #0552/01 3201201
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 161201Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY RIGA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 6140

UNCLAS RIGA 000552 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR G/TIP Megan Hall 
DEPT ALSO FOR EUR/PGI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM ELAB KTIP KCRM KWMN SMIG LG
 
SUBJECT: LATVIA: 2009 TIP INTERIM ASSESSMENT 
 
REF: A) STATE 109948; B) RIGA 503; C) RIGA 529; D) RIGA 531; E) RIGA 
472; F) RIGA 452; G) RIGA 90; H) RIGA 366; 
 
¶1. (U) In response to reftel A, post provides the following 
responses keyed to the specific questions and format provided 
therein. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Latvia is experiencing EuropeQs worst economic crisis, with 
more than a twenty percent drop in GDP over the last two years.  The 
resulting loss of revenue has caused a shortage of government 
funding for a broad range of social spending needs, including 
assistance for trafficking victims. As detailed in reftel B, 
GOL-funded rehabilitation is provided through a local NGO, Shelter 
Association Safe Home (Safe Home), which reported that 12 
individuals have received state-funded assistance this year. Initial 
FY2009 funding for trafficking victims was supplemented twice, 
providing rehabilitation support for more than twice as many victims 
as originally budgeted. The percent of eligible victims assisted 
rose from 43% in 2008 to 71% in 2009.  While the GOL was unable to 
expand victim services outside of Riga this year, the director of 
Safe Home maintains that the groupQs current network of partners 
(e.g. local crisis centers, hospitals and a refugee facility) 
throughout Latvia is sufficient to locate and provide services for 
victims in areas outside Riga. It is encouraging that the GOL is 
still allocating some of its scarce resources to expand victim 
assistance efforts, but it is clear that funding limitations 
continue to undermine the current scale of Latvian anti-trafficking 
and victim assistance efforts (see reftel C). 
 
¶3. (SBU) Despite resource limitations, GOL sources reported a broad 
spectrum of government efforts to identify victims of trafficking 
among vulnerable populations and to increase public awareness about 
TIP. For example, law enforcement officials initiated 19 new 
anti-trafficking investigations this year (a 12% rise from 17 
investigations in 2008).  Latvian State Police conducted an 
increased number of street surveys and spot-checks among prostitutes 
(governmental sources claim that 26 pimps were detained, twice as 
many as in 2008). State Border Guard officials also performed 
periodic anti-trafficking spot-checks. GOL efforts to increase 
awareness about human trafficking were largely focused on educating 
the public about brokered marriages and fraudulent overseas 
employment offers (see reftels D and E). Given rising domestic 
unemployment rates, the Latvian State Employment Agency disseminated 
a timely anti-TIP warning for those considering employment abroad. 
MFAQs Consular Department used its web page and a travelersQ hotline 
to educate Latvians about available assistance in different 
countries and the potential pitfalls of overseas employment. 
According to GOL sources, MFA and State Police officials regularly 
visit Latvian schools to educate students about the dangers of 
illegal employment and brokered marriages. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Due to funding shortages, efforts to provide law 
enforcement officials, border guards and labor inspectors with labor 
trafficking training have been significantly delayed or curtailed. 
Some funds originally budgeted to provide training were reallocated 
to fund assistance for trafficking victims (see reftel C). 
Nonetheless, GOL sources indicate that the Latvian Police Academy 
developed and implemented a new anti-TIP training program 
including instruction on labor trafficking - for its students. More 
generally, MFA provides annual anti-TIP training to its consular 
staff (see reftel G) and GOLQs Office of the Prosecutor General sent 
a representative to Belgium earlier this year, for a meeting of EC 
experts on anti-trafficking issues. 
 
¶5. (SBU) According to GOL sources, Latvian anti-trafficking and 
trafficking-related statutes provide for severe penalties for 
offenders. As reported in reftel H, a number of the laws were 
amended this year. For example, a TIP-related section of the 
Criminal law (Section 165-1) was expanded to prohibit moving, 
transiting, or establishing residence for another person for the 
purpose of sexual exploitation, regardless of whether the exploited 
individual is acting voluntarily.  The revisions to the existing 
statute broaden the definition of acts banned under the law and 
allow prosecutors more flexibility to pursue cases in which the 
victimQs volition is more difficult to establish. Penalties under 
this statute were strengthened as well. GOL sources reported that 
additional anti-TIP training for judges and prosecutors will help 
ensure that a majority of convicted traffickers serve some time in 
prison. Unfortunately, this training Q which will be performed by 
the Latvian Judicial Training Center - has been delayed due to 
funding constraints until 2010. According to figures provided by GOL 
contacts, nine individuals were convicted of trafficking or 
trafficking-related crimes in the first ten months of 2009. Of this 
total, four were given sentences ranging up to ten years 
imprisonment (2 were given a term of up to 3 years, one was given 
3-5 years, and the fourth was given 5-10 years imprisonment).  The 
percent of convictions resulting in prison sentences rose from 27% 
in 2008 to 44% in 2009. 
 
¶6. (SBU) A number of other significant TIP-related developments have 
occurred this year, including approval of a new national action plan 
which provides an integrated GOL anti-TIP strategy for the future 
(see reftel F). Effective implementation of this blueprint will 
ultimately depend upon funding. Four trafficking victims requested 
governmental compensation, becoming the first applicants under a new 
GOL program. The Ministry of Welfare also proposed a change in 
Latvian law, which would allow trafficking victims from other EU 
countries to receive GOL-funded assistance. Finally, the Ministry of 
Welfare indicated that it plans to give Safe Home more flexibility 
when using GOLQs funds for rehabilitation or other TIP-related 
purposes (i.e. training and outreach). These changes would provide 
the NGO with greater discretion in determining the length of 
rehabilitation and in reusing funds obligated for one victim to 
provide services for another. 
 
GARBER