VZCZCXRO1517
PP RUEHDBU RUEHHM RUEHJO RUEHLN RUEHPOD RUEHSK RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHMO #0224/01 0291438
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 291438Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6095
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHXI/LABOR COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHXD/MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 MOSCOW 000224 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/RUS, DRL/ILCSR FOR SMORGAN, G/TIP FOR LCDEBACA 
DOL/ILAB FOR LSTROTKAMP, RRIGBY, TMCCARTER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB ECON EIND PGOV SOCI RS
SUBJECT: INFORMATION ON CHILD LABOR AND FORCED LABOR FOR 
DOL CONGRESSIONAL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS 
 
REF: SECSTATE 131995 
 
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Task 1/TVPRA 
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¶1. (U) Post does not have information on additional goods for 
the Russia TVPRA list. 
 
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Task 2/TDA 
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2A. Prevalence and Sectoral Distribution of Exploitive Child 
Labor 
¶1. (U) Child labor in Russia encompasses not only Russian 
children, but often children from neighboring countries. 
Some children are brought to Russia for the purpose of 
exploitation, while others come with migrant worker parents. 
In urban areas, children can be found working primarily in 
the informal sector in retail services, street hawking, 
washing cars, repairing automobiles, making deliveries, 
collecting trash, and begging.  In rural areas, children are 
more commonly involved in agricultural work.  Among street 
children, boys are usually involved in hard, physical labor, 
while girls are more likely to work in trade and 
prostitution.  However, child prostitution involving boys 
does exist in Russia, particularly among homeless and 
orphaned children.  Homeless and orphaned children on the 
streets are engaged in prostitution as a means to survive. 
Child sex tourism and commercial sexual exploitation remain a 
concern, especially in St. Petersburg and Moscow, but also 
for other large Russian cities.  Domestic trafficking of 
children from rural areas to urban centers and between 
regions also occurs.  (Note: Information gathered from public 
documents and statements by the GOR Children's Ombudsman, 
UNICEF, and child protection NGOs.  End Note.) 
 
¶2. (U) In 2008, the Federal Labor and Employment Service 
(FLES) reported 10,000 violations of child labor laws, noting 
that the victims often received little pay and suffered from 
unsafe working conditions.  FLES found the largest incidence 
of exploitive child labor in the industrial, trade, and 
agricultural sectors.  Employers paid 1.5 million rubles (USD 
52,000) in administrative fines for violations of child labor 
laws.  In addition, labor inspectors corrected more than 300 
labor agreements for minors encumbering positions legal for 
workers of their age and restored to work more than 250 
minors who had been illegally terminated. 
 
2B. Laws and Regulations 
¶1. (U) In December 2008, the GOR created a Child Support Fund 
(CSF) to protect the social welfare of children, providing 
specific assistance to orphans and disabled children.  The 
Fund also develops programs for the social rehabilitation of 
children (e.g. finding homes for orphaned children and 
treating victims of abuse) and the prevention of child 
homelessness.  In 2009, the Fund implemented 58 regional 
programs with 630 million rubles (USD 21 million) in its own 
financing, 4.5 billion rubles (USD 152 million) in regional 
government funds, and 362 million rubles (USD 12 million) in 
donations from businesses and NGOs. 
 
In July 2009, the GOR strengthened the Criminal Code for 
crimes against the life, health, and sexual inviolability of 
minors.  Criminals guilty of sexual assault on a minor are 
now subject to sentences of 8-15 years, as opposed to 4-10 
previously.  If the victim is under the age of 16, the range 
of possible sentences increases to 12-20 years.  Previously, 
the age at which the range of possible sentences increased 
was 14, but possible sentences ranged from only 8-15 years. 
In addition, criminals guilty of engaging in sexual 
intercourse with a minor may be prohibited from working in 
certain professions for a period of up to 20 years.  After 
receiving such a sentence, the guilty person would not be 
eligible to appeal for parole until he or she had served at 
least three-fourths of his or her sentence. 
 
In addition, the GOR increased the range of possible 
sentences from up to six years to up to eight years for 
criminals found guilty of disseminating pornography that 
depicts minors.  If the minor involved is under the age of 
14, the sentencing range increased from up to eight years, to 
a minimum of three and a maximum of ten years. 
 
 
MOSCOW 00000224  002 OF 004 
 
 
In September 2009, the GOR created the office of the 
Children's Ombudsman at the federal level.  The Children's 
Ombudsman will serve as an information clearinghouse at the 
federal level for activities that promote and protect 
children's rights.  Regional affiliates of the federal 
Children's Ombudsman already exist in 28 regions of the 
Russian Federation.  The GOR hopes to establish similar 
offices in the remaining regions in the near future.  In 
addition, the Children's Ombudsman will create a national 
center for missing children which, among other functions, 
will serve as a resource center for parents, law enforcement 
officials, and members of the public seeking information on 
the sexual exploitation of children. 
 
¶2. (U) The legal and regulatory framework of the Russian 
Federation is adequate for addressing exploitive child labor. 
 However, it is worth noting that Russia still has not 
ratified the Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child 
Prostitution, and Child Pornography of the UN Convention on 
the Rights of the Child. 
 
2C. Institutions and Mechanisms for Enforcement. Section I: 
Hazardous Child Labor. 
¶1. (U) FLES and the Public Prosecutor are responsible for the 
enforcement of laws relating to hazardous child labor. 
 
¶2. (U) Official data on information exchange mechanisms is 
not available. 
 
¶3. (U) Workers, employers, and labor inspectors are able to 
issue complaints about hazardous child labor violations. 
Official data is not available. 
 
4-14. (U) Official data on funding for inspections, staffing 
levels, the number of inspections, the number of children 
involved, the number of prosecutions, the number of cases 
closed, the number of convictions, case length, penalties, 
and trainings regarding hazardous child labor is not 
available. 
 
 
2C. Institutions and Mechanisms for Enforcement. Section II: 
Forced Child Labor. 
¶1. (U) FLES and the Public Prosecutor are responsible for the 
enforcement of laws relating to forced child labor. 
 
¶2. (U) Official data on information exchange mechanisms is 
not available. 
 
¶3. (U) Workers, employers, and labor inspectors are able to 
issue complaints about forced child labor violations. 
Official data is not available. 
 
4-14. (U) Official data on funding for inspections, staffing 
levels, the number of inspections, the number of children 
involved, the number of prosecutions, the number of cases 
closed, the number of convictions, case length, penalties, 
and trainings regarding forced child labor is not available. 
 
2D. Institutional Mechanisms for Effective Enforcement. 
Section I: Child Trafficking 
¶1. (U) Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) personnel enforce 
laws and regulations prohibiting child trafficking, but the 
MIA does not have a special department dedicated to the 
prevention of child trafficking. 
 
¶2. (U) Official data on agency funding levels regarding child 
trafficking is not available. 
 
¶3. (U) A hotline is planned but not yet operational. 
 
4-12. (U) Official data on the number of investigations, 
number of children rescued, number of arrests, number of 
cases closed, number of convictions, sentences imposed, case 
length, and training regarding child trafficking is not 
available. 
 
¶13. (U) In general, children are not involved in armed 
conflict in Russia. 
 
2D. Institutional Mechanisms for Effective Enforcement. 
Section II: Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children 
¶1. (U) MIA personnel enforce laws and regulations prohibiting 
child trafficking, but the MIA does not have a special 
department dedicated to the prevention of the commercial 
 
MOSCOW 00000224  003 OF 004 
 
 
sexual exploitation of children. 
 
¶2. (U) Official data on agency funding levels regarding the 
commercial sexual exploitation of children is not available. 
 
¶3. (U) A hotline is planned but not yet operational. 
 
¶4. (U) MIA reported 223 violations regarding the production 
and distribution of pornography depicting a minor in 2008, 
opened 159 investigations, and issued 157 indictments.  MIA 
registered 159 crimes for the production and distribution of 
child pornography in the first half of 2009. 
 
5-12. (U) Official data on the number of children rescued, 
number of arrests, number of cases closed, number of 
convictions, sentences imposed, case length, and training 
regarding the commercial sexual exploitation of children is 
not available. 
 
¶13. (U) In general, children are not involved in armed 
conflict in Russia. 
 
2D. Institutional Mechanisms for Effective Enforcement. 
Section III: Use of Children in Illicit Activities 
¶1. (U) MIA personnel enforce laws and regulations prohibiting 
child trafficking, but the MIA does not have a special 
department dedicated to the prevention of child trafficking. 
 
¶2. (U) Official data on agency funding levels regarding the 
use of children in illicit activities is not available. 
 
¶3. (U) A hotline is planned but not yet operational. 
 
4-12. (U) Official data on the number of investigations, 
number of children rescued, number of arrests, number of 
cases closed, number of convictions, sentences imposed, case 
length, and training regarding the use of children in illicit 
activities is not available. 
 
¶13. (U) In general, children are not involved in armed 
conflict in Russia. 
 
2E. Government Policies on Child Labor 
¶1. (U) The GOR does not have a policy or plan that 
specifically addresses child labor. 
 
¶2. (U) The GOR did not incorporate exploitive child labor 
specifically as an issue to be addressed in other social 
policies. 
 
3-5. (U) Not applicable 
 
¶6. (U) The Bilateral Presidential Commission's Civil Society 
working group will address exploitive child labor as part of 
the children's issues on its agenda. 
 
¶7. (U) The GOR did not sign a bilateral, regional, or 
international agreement to combat trafficking in 2009. 
However, in September, the GOR and other CIS countries agreed 
to a set of recommendations on the modernization of 
international cooperation in the fight against human 
trafficking, which will be a part of the CIS 2010-2014 
program to combat trafficking. 
 
2F. Social Programs to Eliminate or Prevent Child Labor 
¶1. (U) CSF is developing a program for 2010 that will target 
violence against children, including sexual exploitation. 
The program will focus on raising public awareness of the 
problem, increasing parental responsibility, and treating 
victims. 
 
¶2. (U) The GOR did not incorporate child labor specifically 
as an issue to be addressed through its social programs. 
 
¶3. (U) CSF will devote 120 million rubles (USD 4 million) of 
its own funds to the new program in 2010. 
 
4-5. (U) Not applicable 
 
¶6. (U) The GOR did not sign a bilateral, regional, or 
international agreement to combat trafficking in 2009. 
However, in September, the GOR and other CIS countries agreed 
to a set of recommendations on the modernization of 
international cooperation in the fight against human 
trafficking, which will be a part of the CIS 2010-2014 
 
MOSCOW 00000224  004 OF 004 
 
 
program to combat trafficking. 
 
2G. Continual Progress 
¶1. (U) Although exploitive child labor continues to be a 
problem in Russia, the GOR has taken significant steps to 
give higher priority to child welfare issues at the federal 
level, increase penalties for violations of laws and 
regulations relating to child labor and exploitation, and 
expand its child welfare programs.  In 2008, the number of 
reported violations of child labor laws and the total fines 
for those violations increased in comparison with previous 
years. 
Beyrle