VZCZCXRO6325
RR RUEHLN RUEHSK RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHDBU #1350/01 3371203
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 031203Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0985
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
INFO RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 2084

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 DUSHANBE 001350 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KTIP KCRM KWMN PGOV SMIG TI
SUBJECT: G/TIP VISIT: COMBATTING TIP ON A HALF TANK OF GAS 
 
REF: A) DUSHANBE 1319; B)  DUSHANBE 1263 
 
DUSHANBE 00001350  001.2 OF 005 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: During a November 30 - December 1 visit, G/TIP 
Tajikistan desk officer Megan Hall and emboffs met government 
officials and representatives of NGOs and IOs to discuss 
Tajikistan's progress in addressing trafficking in persons and 
forced labor during the cotton harvest.  Government officials 
outlined numerous Tajik initiatives to Combat TIP, but funding 
for the initiatives is limited.  Tajik Consuls, the Ministry of 
Health, and the Ministry of Interior have directly assisted TIP 
victims and investigated cases, but their capacity is limited by 
chronic funding shortages and high staff turnover.  After the 
President's decree banning employment of child labor in the 
cotton harvest, schools remained open through the picking 
season, unlike in previous years.  However, NGOs report that 
there have been cases of teachers forcing children to pick 
cotton.  Local officials have also directed government 
employees, including doctors and teachers, to work in the fields 
during harvest.  Government officials underscored Tajikistan's 
commitment to combat TIP and highlighted the President's public 
order to end child labor, but denied that any forced labor 
problem exists in the country.  END SUMMARY 
 
 
 
TIP VICTIMS: THERE AND BACK AGAIN 
 
 
 
¶2. (SBU) Russia, and to a lesser degree Kazakhstan, continue to 
be the primary destinations for Tajik labor migrants, although 
the government is seeking additional labor agreements with 
potential destination countries, including Saudi Arabia, 
according to IOM Country Director Zeinal Hajiyev.  Hajiyev 
predicted that these efforts to diversify would be largely 
unsuccessful as Tajik migrants are not well placed to compete 
for foreign jobs outside the Russian sphere due to lack of 
education and language skills.  Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Dubai and 
the Gulf States remain destinations for Tajik women trafficked 
for sexual exploitation.  Tajik consuls abroad, particularly in 
Dubai, have worked with IOM to identify TIP victims and 
facilitate repatriation, although a lack of funding and 
resources limit the ability of Tajik overseas missions to assist 
victims.  (The GOTI expects the Consulate in Dubai to fund its 
own operations based on its income from visa fees.)  When Tajik 
Consuls repatriates TIP victims, IOM pays for the ticket. 
 
 
 
¶3. (SBU) Staff of an IOM-managed, INL-funded shelter for TIP 
victims told Hall that they have a productive relationship with 
the Tajik Consul in Dubai, who contacts them to arrange 
assistance in Dushanbe when repatriating a victim.  (These 
victims often come to the Consul's attention through raids 
conducted by the Dubai police).  However, shelter staff report 
that the State Committee on National Security (GKNB) immediately 
investigates victims at the airport upon their return to 
Tajikistan.  Because victims first learn of the shelter from the 
GKNB, many get the impression that it is affiliated with the 
security services and refuse assistance.  According to ILO 
specialist Firuz Sattarov, many victims also believe if they 
stay in the shelter, they will acquire a public stigma as 
prostitutes.  The shelter assisted 21 victims in 2009 but 
currently houses no trafficking victims.  Shelter staff want to 
meet victims on the airport tarmac to provide guidance before 
they encounter security officials.  Ideally, victims would first 
move into the shelter before any interview with officials takes 
place and have the option to refuse the interview entirely.  INL 
is seeking to extend funding of the shelter until August 2010. 
USAID plans to begin a competitive bid process to identify and 
fund an implementing partner to run the shelter after INL 
funding expires. 
 
 
 
¶4. (SBU) IOM received no reports of abuse of TIP victims by 
security officials in 2009.  Hajiyev noted that one victim 
residing at the shelter was called by the GKNB for an interview 
in the middle of the night.  IOM intervened and the GKNB agreed 
to interview the victim during the day.  Hajiev noted that the 
GKNB conducts investigations for many types of criminal cases at 
night.  Lack of sensitivity in working with TIP victims remains 
a problem.  Many lower-level security officials continue to view 
TIP victims as prostitutes, despite numerous training sessions 
by IOs, NGOs, and the GOTI.  OSCE TIP officer Graziella Piga 
reports that when government officials were asked during a 
training session how they identify a TIP victim, one Police 
Academy Instructor responded, "She wears mascara, high heels, 
and a short skirt." 
 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) In addition to Consuls, the Ministry of Health and an 
IOM-funded TIP-hotline Victims refer victims to the shelter. 
 
DUSHANBE 00001350  002.2 OF 005 
 
 
However, according to Piga, the "national hotline" consists of 
the regular office cell phone of one IOM-staffer and the general 
phone number of the police.  Although the OSCE sponsored the 
travel of senior government officials to study referral 
mechanisms in Serbia and Macedonia, Inter-Ministerial Commission 
Secretary Adham Abdulloyev told Piga that there is no need for a 
new referral system as the current system functions well. 
Shelter Staff said the Inter-Ministerial Commission advised them 
on victims' legal cases, but has not provided the shelter with 
monetary or in-kind assistance. 
 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) Hajiyev noted that the Tajik Migration service has 
several offices in Russia, but added that many migrants consider 
it a police structure rather than a victim-assistance mechanism 
because it is under the MVD.  He said that it was not clear who 
was the government's "main player" on TIP.  Although the 
Inter-Agency Commission was mandated to manage anti-TIP 
activities, the GKNB regularly acted on its own without 
coordinating with the MVD; the MVD asked IOM to intervene with 
the GKNB to request that it refer more cases to the MVD for 
investigation.  Hajiyev also expressed appreciation for the 
INL-funded TIP training courses IOM provided from June to July 
¶2009.  (NOTE: Seven sessions, totaling 200 Tajiks, focused on 
practical steps for law enforcement personnel.  Attendees 
included 84 Ministry of Interior representatives, 20 judges, 38 
prosecutors and 11 law students.) 
 
 
 
MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS TIP UNIT: OUT OF GAS 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) The MVD's Anti-TIP division is led by Colonel Alikhon 
Mulloyev and staffed with 14 officers, with affiliates in all 4 
regions of the country.  Mulloyev underlined that trafficking in 
persons is a major concern to Tajikistan, along with drug and 
weapons trafficking.  The Unit opened four cases under criminal 
article 130.1, Trafficking in Persons, in 2009.  (Tajikistan 
prosecutes most TIP-related crimes under other statues, 
including 130.2, "false recruitment".  The GOTI reports 22 
prosecutions of TIP-related cases in the first half of 2009). 
Mulloyev recognized the sensitivities of working with TIP 
victims, adding that he would like to hire additional female 
officers to assist victims of sexual exploitation. 
 
 
 
¶8. (SBU) The Unit is limited, however, by poor provision of 
funding and resources.  Mulloyev said that the Unit appreciated 
the training provided by the USG, but that with one government 
car assigned for all 14 officers in the country, it was very 
difficult for the Unit to investigate cases.  The Unit's weekly 
fuel allotment for this vehicle is 20 liters of petrol, enough 
to fill half a tank.  The allotment per operation to pay 
informers is 10-50 somoni (2-12 dollars).  For any field 
investigation, officers must pay transportation costs out of 
pocket.  There is no computer in Mulloyev's office.  Another 
challenge is high staff turnover.  Only four Unit officers have 
been on the job more than two years.  Mulloyev asked if the 
Embassy could write a diplomatic note asking the Ministry of 
Interior to appoint more experienced officers to the Unit and 
keep them there. 
 
 
 
COTTON: SCHOOL REMAINS OPEN, BUT CASES OF FORCED LABOR CONTINUE 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------------ 
 
 
 
¶9. (SBU) G/TIP officer met with representatives of three NGOs, 
the Bureau for Human Rights (BHR), Center for Human Rights 
(CHR), and Imran, to discuss trafficking and forced labor in the 
2009 cotton harvest.  All three monitored the use of child and 
forced labor in the harvest and will release reports in early 
¶2010.  President Rahmon banned the use of child labor in an 
April, 2009 decree, and denounced the practice in his national 
address.  "We didn't think there would be cases of child labor 
because of the President's decree," according to BHR Director 
Nargis Zokirova, "but children are still being taken out to the 
fields.  They just do it on the weekend."  Unlike in years past, 
local officials have not closed schools during the harvest. 
While child labor is still employed in many areas, it occurs 
outside of school hours. 
 
 
 
 
DUSHANBE 00001350  003.2 OF 005 
 
 
¶10. (SBU) Monitors reported several cases of coercion by school 
officials.  In the Khatlon region, a teacher told children that 
if they did not participate in the cotton harvest, they should 
bring in a few kilograms of cotton as their contribution, 
according to Zokirova.  "Not every family can afford to buy 
cotton, so the children had to go out and pick it."  Teachers in 
the small town of Pakhtabad, near the Uzbek border, told 
students that the President ordered them to pick cotton at the 
end of the season.  They threatened some children with expulsion 
if they did not comply.  Zokirova said that local administrators 
involved in the cotton business are likely acting to protect 
their cotton investments.  Since many adult men are in Russia, 
they continue to illegally conscript child labor and government 
employees. 
 
 
 
¶11. (SBU) Imran representatives concurred that the practice of 
forced labor still occurs, because "local officials don't get 
the message that they are not supposed to compel people.  They 
didn't gather enough cotton in time, so now they compel 
everyone."  As the government continues to set region-specific 
quotas for cotton cultivation, these officials resort to forced 
labor to meet their targets.  Imran staff suggested that it is 
easy to compel Tajiks to pick cotton, even when there is no 
direct threat, because they recall the repercussions for refusal 
in years past.  Individuals forced to pick cotton do not 
complain to the government or NGOs because of the widely held 
notion that the work is indeed mandatory.  CHR confirmed that 
local officials have deployed state employees, including doctors 
and teachers, to harvest cotton for 10-15 day periods.  NGOs 
called for the government to prosecute officials in such cases 
to set a precedent that forced/child labor will not be 
tolerated.  Although authorities prosecuted three teachers for 
employing child labor during the 2008 harvest, these cases 
received little media attention. 
 
 
 
¶12. (SBU) On a positive note, the government's 2008 "Freedom to 
Farm" decree, which called for allowing farmers to plant any 
crop they wished, may have contributed to the estimated 20% drop 
in land used for cotton production in 2009.  Overall, the use of 
forced child labor is down from past years due to the official 
ban.  IOM's request to monitor the 2009 cotton harvest and 
verify implementation of President Rahmon's ban on employment of 
forced child labor finally received government approval in 
mid-November, according to IOM Country Director Hajiyev, but 
this approval at the tail end of the season was too late for IOM 
to deploy a monitoring mission.  IOM will try to reach an 
agreement with the Tajik government to begin monitoring next 
year from the start of the harvest.  INL will coordinate with 
IOM to discuss possible USG funding of this initiative. 
 
 
 
TIP COMMISSION: LET'S TALK ABOUT TIP, BUT NO FORCED LABOR HERE 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----------------- 
 
 
 
¶13. (SBU) In a 45 minute introductory statement, Adham 
Abdulloyev, secretary of the TIP commission and member of the 
President's apparatus, told Hall that President Rahmon made TIP 
a top priority, and outlined Tajikistan's efforts to combat TIP, 
most of them rhetorical.  Tajikistan has ratified over 20 
conventions regarding TIP and labor issues, created the 
22-member Inter-Agency Commission, facilitated TIP training of 
12 Afghans by NGO "Imran" at Tajik National University (TNU), is 
creating a course on TIP at TNU (with support from IOM and INL), 
facilitated training of 220 officials in 2009 (conducted by IOM, 
OSCE, and NGOs), issued a 37-page report on the government's 
anti-TIP efforts, and is establishing a new database to compile 
statistics on TIP cases. 
 
 
 
¶14. (SBU) Hall advised Abdulloyev that G/TIP is closely 
following developments in three areas: government complicity in 
trafficking, level of victim-access to assistance, and the use 
of forced labor in the cotton harvest.  On government 
complicity, Abdulloyev said that "our President is seriously 
addressing the issue.  If such a case occurs, the offender is 
immediately punished.  A special body overseas the activities of 
government employees.  So far this year there has not been such 
a case, but once reported, such cases will be thoroughly 
investigated." 
 
 
 
¶15. (SBU) On victim access to assistance, Abdulloyev noted that 
there are currently USG-funded, IOM-managed, shelters in 
 
DUSHANBE 00001350  004.2 OF 005 
 
 
Dushanbe and Khujand.  The Tajik government hopes to build 
additional shelters "when the economic situation improves."  The 
Ministry of Health established eight support rooms to provide 
medical and psychological support for victims of TIP and 
domestic violence.  Abdulloyev said that the Commission will 
include statistics on victims assisted by the Ministry of Health 
in its next report. 
 
 
 
¶16. (SBU) On forced labor during the cotton harvest, Abdulloyev 
reiterated the President's ban and the Ministry of Education's 
decree banning the practice.  He said that the President has 
directly relayed the order to local officials via phone.  He 
admitted that officials used forced child labor until "two or 
three years ago", but not this year and said that there is "no 
problem" with the IOM monitoring the harvest in 2010.  Poloff 
noted that there continue to be reports of forced child and 
adult labor, despite the President's ban.  Abdulloyev said that 
all labor in the cotton fields is voluntary as "in eastern 
countries there are traditions for the whole community to come 
together.  If someone is forced or threatened with 
administrative punishment, these cases will be prosecuted, but 
we haven't heard of such cases."  He said that additional 
information on the fall harvest would be included in the 2009 
report and declared "we are in favor of open and direct 
communication (with the USG)." 
 
 
 
¶17. (SBU) In a separate meeting with the members of the TIP 
Commission, including first Deputy Foreign Minister Yuldashev 
(Reftel A) and Deputies of the Ministry of Justice, GKNB, and 
MVD,  Hall raised the same concerns of government complicity, 
victims access, and forced labor.  Commission members said that 
there have been no cases of official involvement in trafficking 
in 2009.  Yuldashev said that Tajik media would have reported 
such cases and claimed that "our government agencies don't hide 
anything." (NOTE: In the Russian language newspaper "Business 
and Politics", there have been reports of forced adult labor in 
Khatlon and Sughd).  He concluded, "I must say that complicity 
of government officials has not been detected... Maybe because 
of poor performance of our law agencies and maybe because it 
actually didn't happen." 
 
 
 
¶18. (C) Yuldashev declared that forced labor did not occur in 
the cotton sector because "we didn't pick any cotton this year. 
What is 253,000 tons?  In the Soviet days, we picked one 
million!  This year we didn't force anyone because there was no 
cotton to pick, but if someone wanted to voluntarily participate 
they could do it for good money."  Yuldashev concluded that the 
problem was not forced labor in the cotton sector, but not 
enough cotton grown.  "We must grow cotton.  It is our wealth. 
If we could produce one million tons of cotton again, everyone 
would have work and there would be no trafficking in persons. 
Some people my age think that someone is against Tajik cotton, 
maybe a competitor."  GKNB and MVD Deputy Ministers said that 
there were no cases of local officials forcing individuals to 
pick cotton.  Yuldashev declared that "forced labor is not a 
problem in Tajikistan" and directed his staff to re-circulate 
the Ministry of Education's directive on child labor to local 
officials.  He said that the reports of forced adult labor in 
Sughd and Khatlon was "bad information."  None of the Commission 
members, including Yuldashev, were aware of the IOM's proposal 
to monitor the 2010 harvest, or the government's apparent 
approval of the monitoring. 
 
 
 
¶19. (SBU) On assistance to TIP victims, Yuldashev said "the 
government would work with this category of victims according to 
our financial ability.  We don't hide the phenomena of 
trafficking of our women or pretend that everything is fine. 
Security officials ensure that when victims return they are not 
re-victimized" (apparently referring to allegations made in 2007 
by three victims who claimed to have been assaulted by GKNB 
officers).  Yuldashev repeated the government's commitment to 
combat TIP and engage the USG on TIP initiatives.  Hall 
expressed appreciation for the GOTI's actions to combat TIP, but 
reminded Yuldashev that the USG is interested in real 
implementation of Tajikistan's anti-TIP policies, including 
identification of victims and vigorous prosecution of both 
traffickers and officials employing forced labor. 
 
 
 
¶20. (SBU) COMMENT:  High-level GOTI officials consistently 
respond positively to engagement by the Embassy, particularly 
INL, on anti-trafficking projects and consistently argue that, 
given Tajikistan's budgetary difficulties, the government has 
exerted considerable political will towards combating TIP.  At 
 
DUSHANBE 00001350  005.2 OF 005 
 
 
the working level, government efforts are often hamstrung by the 
insensitivity of security officials, lack of resolve to 
prosecute officials, and a lack of funds.  High-level officials 
do not consider forced labor during the cotton harvest a TIP 
issue, but the government has made an effort to reduce the use 
of forced child labor through public decrees, though it is clear 
that some local officials continue to pressure children and 
adults to pick cotton.  The denials by members of the TIP 
Commission that such practices occur underlines the need to 
encourage the government to allow the IOM to monitor the 2010 
harvest from the start of the season.  A more complete picture 
of forced labor during the 2009 harvest will be available after 
NGOs release their monitoring reports. END COMMENT 
QUAST