VZCZCXRO4594
RR RUEHIK
DE RUEHCH #0083/01 0471337
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 161337Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY CHISINAU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8864
INFO RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 2418
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC
RUEAHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI 0001
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 37 CHISINAU 000083 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR G/TIP, G, INL, DRL/AE, PRM, EUR/UMB 
 
STATE PLEASE PASS TO USAID, DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, 
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, DEPARTMENT OF 
LABOR, AND DEPARTMENT OF TREASURY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB KTIP KCRM KFRD KWMN PGOV PHUM
PREF, SMIG, KMCA, MD 
SUBJECT: MOLDOVA: TENTH ANNUAL TRAFFICKING IN 
PERSONS (TIP) REPORT 
 
REFS: A. STATE 2094, B. 09 Chisinau 0898, C. 09 
Chisinau 0877, D. 08 Chisinau 1277 
 
CHISINAU 00000083  001.2 OF 037 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Post's responses to Ref A's questions are 
given below.  As reported in both the TIP Interim 
Assessment (Ref B) and (Ref C), the new Government 
of Moldova (GOM), which assumed power in 
September, is taking charge of the TIP issue at 
the highest level, and in a manner that has 
increased cooperation between the cabinet 
ministries and other agencies in the GOM.  The 
Prime Minister appointed the Deputy Prime Minister 
and Minister of Foreign Affairs and European 
Integration Iurie Leanca to chair the National 
Coordinating Committee on Trafficking in Persons 
(NCCTIP).  Leanca oversees twelve ministries and 
agencies on the NCCTIP.  Five ministries (Foreign 
Affairs, Interior, Justice, Education, and Labor 
and Social Protection) have assigned officers, at 
the division head level to the NCCTIP Secretariat, 
which for the first time now has been given full- 
time staff and office space.  The Ministry of 
Justice (MOJ) and the Prosecutor General's Office 
(PGO) also have been working to improve the 
collection of statistics.  They are steadily 
moving file records from hard copy to electronic 
format, placing more data on GOM websites, and 
more strictly monitoring TIP case management in 
the field.  The GOM has attempted to address 
problems in reporting by initiating a consolidated 
report on government actions in combating TIP. 
The new GOM also launched a reinvestigation in 
November 2009 of former Center for Combating 
Trafficking in Persons (CCTIP) Deputy Director Ion 
Bejan, who was dismissed in 2006 amidst 
allegations of complicity in TIP.  Both law 
enforcement agencies and NGOs report that over the 
last decade, the number of trafficking victims has 
steadily declined, so that the number of victims 
in 2009 is now approximately half of what it was 
in 2000.  This decline can be attributed to 
greater awareness on the part of potential victims 
as a result of vast public awareness programs 
conducted as well as the shifting nature of 
criminal patterns.  The pattern of trafficking has 
changed, so that victims are more frequently 
recruited abroad, paid small amounts of money, 
allowed to contact their families and are given 
greater freedom of movement, which allows victims 
the feeling that their actions have been 
undertaken voluntarily.  According to 
International Organization for Migration (IOM), 
the average duration of exploitation for sexual 
services decreased from one to two years to four 
months maximum. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Ref A Question 25 A.  What is (are) the 
source(s) of available information on trafficking 
in persons? What plans are in place (if any) to 
undertake further documentation of human 
trafficking? How reliable are these sources? 
 
¶3. (SBU) Sources of available information are 
reports directly from the Government of Moldova 
(GOM), and from NGOs such as La Strada, and the 
International Organization for Migration (IOM). 
The new government has initiated increased TIP 
reporting, and has been responsive to our requests 
for information.  Data from these sources are 
trustworthy, although often difficult to compare 
because they use different categories of 
information.  The GOM has significantly improved 
its organization of data in the second half of 
2008 and 2009 to include some information on 
numbers sentenced for trafficking and related 
offences.  See paras. 5-11 for the latest update. 
 
CHISINAU 00000083  002.2 OF 037 
 
 
 
¶4. (SBU) The GOM's record keeping on criminal 
cases has improved this past year.  Statistics 
about trafficking are limited and much of what is 
reported outside of official channels is 
conjecture.  Official reporting has been 
complicated by the fact that it is difficult to 
obtain coordinated, government-wide statistics, 
though steps are being taken to address this 
problem.  Thus far, the most accurate reporting 
appears to be in the area of convictions. 
Information about prosecutions has improved and 
the government has now begun to regularly provide 
us with the TIP data we are seeking. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Although individual GOM ministries and 
agencies are improving their data collection, the 
government-wide coordination of data remains a 
difficulty.  The CCTIP keeps statistics on cases 
opened and transmitted to prosecutors.  The PGO 
keeps statistics on prosecutions and judgments 
which are delivered by courts, and which may be 
subject to appeal.  The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) 
keeps statistics on irrevocable judgments that 
have been finally executed.  This system reflects 
the national criminal justice system. 
 
¶6. (SBU) To help ameliorate this problem, Post has 
submitted a Training or Technical Assistance 
Request to G/TIP.  The request seeks experts who 
will visit Chisinau to train GOM agencies to 
present statistics in cascading matrices through 
stages of the penal process.  That is, at each 
stage, from the opening of an investigation to 
final incarceration, how many proceed to the next 
stage, and how many do not, and for what reasons. 
The need is particularly acute at the final stage, 
that of identifying how many go to trial for 
trafficking offenses, how many are convicted (for 
what particular offenses), how many "drop out" 
(because of acquittal, reclassification of charges 
etc.), what sentences are given, and which 
individuals are in jail and for how long (minus 
amnesties and other get-out-of-jail processes.) 
 
¶7. (SBU) The PGO's Info-PG system contains general 
information on prosecutors' activity for all 
categories of offences at each stage of criminal 
prosecution (receipt and examination of a 
complaint of a criminal offence, prosecution, 
trial).  This informational system includes 
sections on TIP and child trafficking offences. 
The information is updated monthly by prosecutors. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Concurrently, an electronic data base, 
Procuratura on-line (PGO on-line), launched 
through an order of the Prosecutor General in 
October 2008, is under construction and is 
expected to be operational by the end of 2010. 
Data for this system are being collected by 
prosecutors, to include each decision taken, for 
all categories of offences, beginning with the 
receipt of a complaint to the stage of serving a 
sentence.  Since the data base will include 
records with comprehensive information on the 
evolution of each criminal case, it should solve 
the problems of government-wide record keeping. 
The system is projected to be operational by the 
end of 2010. 
 
¶9. (SBU) The PGO also has a mechanism of data 
collection specifically focused on TIP cases. 
Since October 2006, prosecutors from all PGO 
sections, in territorial and specialized offices 
forward monthly reports on TIP cases and the 
evolution of criminal prosecution to the Section 
 
CHISINAU 00000083  003.2 OF 037 
 
 
for Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in 
Persons in the PGO, which generalizes all 
information and forwards it monthly to NCCTIP and 
the Supreme Security Council.  Data coordination 
between the CCTIP and the PGO will soon be 
improved by an Embassy-installed secure IT system 
at the CCTIP, which will be accessed by the PGO's 
Section for Prevention and Combating of 
Trafficking in Persons located at the CCTIP.  The 
new system is expected to be completed by February 
¶2010. 
 
¶10. (SBU) While some of the weaknesses are 
attributable to the nebulous nature of 
trafficking, illegal migration, and lawful 
migration, the GOM's byzantine organizational 
structure has meant that multiple agencies 
continued to use separate systems of data 
collection: as noted above, the CCTIP keeps 
statistics on cases opened and transmitted to 
prosecutors; the Prosecutor's office keeps 
statistics on judgments/decisions delivered by 
courts (which may later be subject to appeal); the 
Ministry of Justice keeps statistics on judgments 
executed.  In addition, bringing TIP cases from an 
initial investigation to conviction and penalty 
often requires long periods of time, principally 
because of a three-level appeal mechanism provided 
by the Code of Criminal Procedure.  This means 
that judicial decisions do not reflect a real-time 
percentage of cases opened in the current year; 
for example, the case of the Turkish trafficker 
sentenced to 23 years in 2008 was opened in 2004. 
This reflects the organization of the national 
criminal justice system, but can cause some 
confusion when reviewing numbers.  The government 
has attempted to correct these data reporting 
problems and in 2009 began issuing a consolidated 
report on trafficking. 
 
¶11. (SBU) Since different agencies report their 
own investigative records, often with only 
statistics and excluding names of suspects, the 
GOM is unable to determine accurately the 
percentage of eventual convictions such 
investigations yield.  Poor reporting does not 
reflect lack of will, but widespread 
administrative incapacity.  A new PGO electronic 
system (see para. 8) is expected to improve the 
data collection mechanism. 
 
¶12. (SBU) Figures for the total number of 
trafficking victims can only be estimated.  As 
many victims are reluctant to report their 
experiences, the common NGO assumption is that as 
many as 70 percent of cases may go unreported. 
The IOM's figure of 2,602 victims assisted during 
the ten-year period between 2000 and 2009 would 
thus translate to a total estimate of some 8,700 
victims of sexual trafficking or labor 
exploitation over that decade.  (Both law 
enforcement and NGOs report that the number of 
victims per year has steadily declined over the 
past decade.  The number of victims in 2008 and 
2009 was less than half those reported in 2000 and 
¶2001.  In its 2009 report, the CCTIP states that 
the number of victims has declined.) 
 
¶13. (SBU) Information on trafficking from IOM was 
perhaps the most reliable as to the numbers and 
demographics of victims.  In May 2007, the 
International Center for Migration Policy 
Development (ICMPD) conducted a survey on anti- 
trafficking efforts in Moldova, following which 
the Ministry for Social Protection, Family, and 
Child (MSP), now the Ministry of Labor, Social 
 
CHISINAU 00000083  004.2 OF 037 
 
 
Protection and Family (MLSP), assumed 
responsibility for the national victim-centred 
database.  In December 2007, the ICMPD delivered a 
computer and software for use by the National 
Coordinating Unit (NCU) in the MSP, which will 
coordinate all data collection for the National 
Referral System (NRS).  In 2009, the MLSP's role 
as a central integrator of the victim-centred 
database has increased.  MLSP, NCU 
representatives, IOM and UNFPA representatives 
agreed to develop and incorporate the module of 
victim-centered database as part of the data 
collection and management function within the NRS 
to be promoted through the Government decision 
together with the concept of domestic violence 
(developed in 2008 and approved in September 2009) 
and child protection (developed in 2007-2008). 
 
¶14. (SBU) Consolidation and extension of the NRS 
in 2009 has improved data collection on 
trafficking victims.  The NCU, with the MLSP, 
maintains a temporary data base of NRS 
beneficiaries and collects data from case managers 
of multi-disciplinary raion (district) units, 
NGOs, and other actors involved, which submit 
identification forms or social surveys on TIP 
victims and potential victims.  Based on the data 
collected, NCU refers victims for further 
assistance.  In 2009, the number of victims (133) 
referred through the NRS increased substantially 
compared to the 84 referred in 2008. 
 
¶15. (SBU) The CCTIP and the PGO kept records of 
the trafficking cases they processed.  The OSCE 
kept comprehensive information on organizations 
providing assistance.  The Center for Prevention 
of Trafficking in Women (CPTW) also provided 
information on repatriated victims and legal 
services that have been provided to them, but this 
information was sporadic.  Terre des Hommes 
Foundation provided information on child victims 
repatriated through its program.  OSCE, the 
American Bar Association's Central European and 
Eurasian Law Initiative (ABA-CEELI), and the 
Embassy's Resident Legal Advisor (RLA) remained 
the best sources for information on legislative 
reform in the trafficking area. 
 
¶16. (SBU) Ref A Question 25 B: Is the country a 
country of origin, transit, and/or destination for 
men, women, or children subjected to conditions of 
commercial sexual exploitation, forced or bonded 
to labor, or other slave-like conditions?  Are 
citizens or residents of the country subjected to 
such trafficking conditions within the country? 
If so, does this internal trafficking occur in 
territory outside of the government's control 
(e.g. in a civil war situation)?  From where are 
people recruited or from where do they migrate 
prior to being subjected to these exploitative 
conditions?  To what other countries are people 
trafficked and for what purposes?  Provide, where 
possible, numbers or estimates for each group of 
trafficking victims.  Have there been any changes 
in the TIP situation since the last TIP Report 
(e.g. changes in destinations)? 
 
¶17. (SBU) Moldova is primarily a country of 
origin.  As Ref B notes, trafficking per se occurs 
mostly outside the borders of the country, after 
potential victims are lured abroad (mostly by 
friends or relatives), or make the decision 
themselves to accept what they know to be high- 
risk employment, or simply go overseas in search 
of work.  Increasingly, we hear reports of a new 
pattern of trafficking in which, instead of the 
 
CHISINAU 00000083  005.2 OF 037 
 
 
old pattern where traffickers lured girls abroad, 
victims who have gone abroad voluntarily to seek 
employment are entrapped when they arrive 
elsewhere and are approached with a job offer.  In 
such cases no criminal actions take place within 
Moldova, and the entire crime takes place in the 
destination country.  Thus in this new trafficking 
pattern, there is no one in Moldova who can be 
prosecuted for these crimes, even though the 
victims were Moldovan citizens. 
 
¶18. (SBU) Moldova remained a source country for 
trafficked persons, particularly women and girls. 
It is also to a lesser extent a transit country, 
and there are some reported cases of internal 
trafficking, often of girls from rural areas, to 
the capital Chisinau.  Only isolated cases of 
trafficking to Moldova as a destination country 
have been reported. 
 
¶19. (SBU) Moldovan victims are primarily 
trafficked to Russia and countries of the Middle 
East.  According to IOM statistics, the main 
destination countries are:  Russia (25 percent), 
Turkey (17 percent), United Arab Emirates (UAE)(17 
percent) and Ukraine (8.8 percent).  Although 
according to published statistical data most 
victims were trafficked to Russia in 2009, IOM 
experts state that Turkey remained the leading 
destination country as in 2008.  They explained 
the discrepancy as a result of non-reporting by 
TIP victims in Turkey and deliberate under- 
reporting of numbers by Turkish authorities. 
Turkey remains the leading destination country 
partly because of the large number of non-stop 
flights between Chisinau and Istanbul, and the 
availability of airport visas upon arrival for 
Moldovan citizens. 
 
¶20. (SBU) IOM reported 159 TIP victims for 2009, 
of whom 56.6 percent were victims of sexual 
exploitation and 27.7 percent victims of labor 
exploitation.  IOM reported an increase of labor 
exploitation cases concerning women, men and 
children working on farms in Ukraine and Russia. 
IOM reported that Moldova continued to emerge as a 
hub for trafficking because of the social 
vulnerability of potential victims, corruption, 
the unstable border situation, and the ease with 
which real or fake documents can be produced.  Sex 
tourism exists, but no statistics are available. 
Because of ease of travel, and the efforts of 
particular travel organizations, clients usually 
came from Turkey. 
 
¶21. (SBU) Child sex tourism does not appear to be 
a serious problem in Moldova.  Post is unaware of 
any, small or large, commercial endeavors which 
involve child sex crimes save one.  Post is 
following an ongoing investigation between a 
Western European country and the GOM involving the 
distribution of child pornography via the 
Internet.  While there is no confirmation that 
these images were produced in Moldova, the 
supposition seems reasonable since the target of 
this investigation lives and works in Moldova. 
Current information suggests this person acted 
alone and is not a member of an organized crime 
network.  The governments of Moldova and the 
Western European country are investigating this 
possibility and our Embassy remains ready to 
assist. 
 
¶22. (SBU) Occasionally Post becomes aware of cases 
of pedophiles traveling to Moldova individually to 
exploit children.  Such a case yielded a U.S. 
 
CHISINAU 00000083  006.2 OF 037 
 
 
conviction in 2007.  Post remains involved in 
investigating one ongoing case and believes the 
GOM would immediately communicate to the Embassy 
any further cases which might become known. 
 
¶23. (SBU) While Post has seen several instances of 
children being smuggled outside of Moldova in the 
past few months, all of these incidents were 
humanitarian family-reunification cases in which 
Moldovan parents, working illegally outside of 
Moldova, had arranged for their children to be 
transported to them.  None of these cases appear 
to be utilizing child sex tourism networks.  Post 
remains vigilant in investigating the possibility 
of trafficking in Moldovan children. 
 
¶24. (SBU) Ref A Question 25 C.  To what kind of 
conditions are the trafficking victims subjected? 
 
¶25. (SBU) Ref D noted that conditions of servitude 
have improved.  We are witnessing a new pattern in 
trafficking. Increasingly, young women are 
"persuaded" into prostitution as part of a debt- 
bondage scheme, not beaten, have relative freedom 
of movement, are permitted to keep some of the 
money they earn, and are allowed to telephone 
home.  They frequently can purchase their own 
freedom by recruiting a friend or relative to take 
their place.  There is an aura of having made a 
"voluntary" decision, and so the victims do not 
see themselves as trafficking victims.  IOM 
reported that only two victims out of 158 assisted 
in 2008 and only six out of 159 in 2009 self- 
identified themselves as victims.  Many victims do 
not know their basic human rights and do not 
realize they were actually sold and exploited. 
IOM reported a shorter term of exploitation as one 
of the trends in 2009.  According to IOM, in 
comparison the previous years, the average 
duration of exploitation for sexual services 
decreased from one to two years to four months 
maximum.  Men, offered apparently legitimate jobs 
and working in the construction industry, are 
frequently underpaid, or not paid at all, and 
threatened with exposure to the police if they 
fail to cooperate.   However, they tend not to 
identify themselves as victims and thus refuse the 
psychological and other assistance available to 
them through the Chisinau Assistance and 
Protection Center (CAPC).  They tend to treat the 
trafficking experience as failed migration and 
rush to find a new job in order to provide for 
their families. 
 
¶26. (SBU) Ref A Question 25 D.  Vulnerability to 
TIP: Are certain groups of persons more at risk of 
human trafficking (e.g. women and children, boys 
versus girls, certain ethnic groups, refugees, 
IDPs, etc.)?  If so, please specify the type of 
exploitation for which these groups are most at 
risk. 
 
¶27. (SBU) According to IOM and La Strada 
interlocutors in ref D, young women with poor 
educational levels, low intelligence, and no job 
prospects, living in bleak, economically depressed 
rural areas, often experiencing domestic violence, 
are the most vulnerable.  The MLSP reported that 
90 percent of TIP victims had experienced domestic 
violence.  Many of the trafficked women were 
graduates from boarding schools (orphanages) and 
thus do not have families, housing or support. 
They tend to have low levels of education, are 
naove and thus become easy targets for recruiters. 
 
¶28. (SBU) Ref A Question 25 E.  Traffickers and 
 
CHISINAU 00000083  007.2 OF 037 
 
 
Their Methods:  Who are the 
traffickers/exploiters?  Are they independent 
business people?  Small or family-based crime 
groups?  Large international organized crime 
syndicates?  What methods are used to gain direct 
access to victims?  For example, are the 
traffickers recruiting victims through lucrative 
job offers?  Are victims sold by their families, 
or approached by friends of friends?  Are victims 
"self-presenting" (approaching the exploiter 
without the involvement of a recruiter or 
transporter)? If recruitment or transportation is 
involved, what methods are used to recruit or 
transport victims (e.g., are false documents being 
used)?  Are employment, travel, and tourism 
agencies or marriage brokers involved with or 
fronting for traffickers or crime groups to 
traffic individuals? 
 
¶29. (SBU) Perpetrators of TIP in Moldova can be 
divided into two groups: direct perpetrators and 
agents of trafficking.  Direct perpetrators are 
criminals who themselves forcefully or 
fraudulently compel individuals to work in 
conditions of involuntary labor.  We know of 
recruitment in Moldova which involves single men 
persuading individual women to travel aboard for 
work in the commercial sex industry.  This 
recruitment becomes trafficking when the women, 
through fraud or compulsion exercised by the 
recruiter, travel and then work under duress. 
Psychological manipulation and exploitation of 
vulnerability are also used to recruit victims. 
Presumably, the same technique might be used to 
recruit persons directly for other types of labor. 
We are unable to determine the extent or direction 
of this trafficking method, as existing reporting 
is anecdotal, and we cannot tell whether 
trafficking for eventual work in the sex trade is 
the most common goal of this method.  If the 
victim chooses to leave Moldova willingly to work 
in the sex industry, then no crime has taken place 
within Moldova's borders. 
 
¶30. (SBU) Also present is agency trafficking, in 
which a firm or individual in a foreign country 
engages someone to recruit multiple victims in 
Moldova.  These agents are often perpetrators of 
"happy trafficking," the phenomenon of friends or 
acquaintances recruiting persons in Moldova in 
exchange for release from the agent's own peonage 
in the other country.  In a typical scenario, an 
employment company in a foreign country would 
charge a current trafficking victim with returning 
to Moldova to recruit one or more victims.  After 
being convinced that payment and terms are 
adequate, those future victims move to the agent's 
former country, where they are then compelled to 
work.  In exchange, the agent receives release 
from debts owed or other considerations. 
 
¶31. (SBU) Major transnational organized crime 
syndicates do not appear to be significant, direct 
actors in TIP in Moldova.  In the early part of 
this decade, the GOM initiated a broad effort 
against organized crime.  It appears that the most 
nefarious forms of organized crime--trafficking in 
persons and dangerous goods, kidnapping for 
ransom, and extortion through violence--are far 
less common in Moldova than in neighboring 
countries.  While Moldovan citizens might fall 
victim to organized crime trafficking networks 
outside of their country, such organizations do 
not appear to be operating in force in Moldova. 
 
¶32. (SBU) An important side note here is the 
 
CHISINAU 00000083  008.2 OF 037 
 
 
possible use of online social networking sites. 
Awareness and use of the Internet among young 
Moldovans appears high; information technology is 
a mandatory subject at the high school level. 
Solitary persons, or possibly organized groups, 
seeking to recruit potential trafficking victims 
could use these sites to make contacts with 
Moldovans without ever entering the country.  This 
method could be available to both direct 
perpetrators and agents of trafficking.  Given the 
lack of direct evidence, we can make no 
conclusions regarding the extent of online 
recruiting. 
 
¶33. (SBU) Ref A Question 26 A.  Does the 
government acknowledge that human trafficking is a 
problem in the country?  If not, why not? 
 
¶34. (SBU) The Government's stated, official 
approach toward anti-trafficking efforts is one of 
strong commitment.  Foreign governments, NGOs, and 
the international press mandate that the GOM make 
public statements conceding a serious TIP problem. 
Former President Voronin made public statements 
about the government's commitment to fighting 
trafficking.  Moldova's new government, in place 
since late September, has moved quickly to push 
reforms and address the problem of TIP.  The new 
Prime Minister Vlad Filat chaired the GOM's first 
meeting of the NCCTIP on November 9.  This meeting 
included cabinet ministers in charge of social, 
legal, and judicial matters.  The Prime 
Minister demanded concrete action in investigating 
and opening cases against traffickers, and 
appointed Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of 
Foreign Affairs and European Integration Iurie 
Leanca to chair the NCCTIP.  We therefore expect 
the GOM's anti-TIP effort promises to be even 
higher-profile and better coordinated than 
previously: it is a clear priority of the Prime 
Minister, is headed by a senior cabinet member, 
and includes all relevant ministers. 
 
¶35. (SBU) Our meetings with Moldovan officials are 
consistently marked by their expressed concern 
about reducing TIP.  No one wants their citizens 
to suffer as victims of such crimes.  The GOM 
works officially to address TIP, yet existing 
societal flaws such as corruption and a lack of 
resources can undermine these efforts. 
 
¶36. (SBU) Many police contacts, including sources 
outside of the capital, state that the GOM's 
stress on the importance of counter-TIP efforts 
comes at the expense of other, often TIP-related 
law enforcement efforts.  For example, domestic 
abuse and alcoholism, which appear disturbingly 
common throughout Moldova, are difficult to 
investigate because authorities lack vehicles to 
transport officers to crime scenes expeditiously. 
GOM efforts to make the broad, societal 
improvements which would address the root causes 
of TIP, according to these sources, are inhibited 
by the skewing of resource allocations to TIP- 
related activities. 
 
¶37. (SBU) Corruption is rampant throughout 
Moldova.  We are unable to determine to what 
extent this problem facilitates TIP.  It would 
appear to, at least, make the practice easier and, 
at worst, to act as a strong subsidy to it. 
 
¶38. (SBU) Ref A Question 26 B.  Which government 
agencies are involved in efforts to combat sex and 
labor trafficking --including forced labor--and, 
which agency, if any, has the lead in these 
 
CHISINAU 00000083  009.2 OF 037 
 
 
efforts? 
 
¶39. (SBU) We are seeing some progress towards the 
GOM's assumption of responsibilities which are 
within the sole purview of the government: 
investigations, arrests, inter-agency cooperation, 
and case management.  However, prosecution 
efforts, especially those which should be directed 
at high officials allegedly complicit in 
trafficking, continue to lag.  At the same time, 
given the changing nature of trafficking 
recruitment, we cannot be sure that there are any 
high-level officials involved in the trafficking 
effort.  All GOM actions in combating TIP are 
institutionally centered at the CCTIP, the U.S. 
Government-funded GOM lead agency in anti-TIP 
efforts.  In 2008, CCTIP was restructured, with 
eight officers assigned to regional coordination 
centers in the north and south of the country.  In 
each raion, one or two police officers are 
detailed to report to CCTIP coordination officers. 
The GOM individual responsible for coordinating 
TIP-reduction efforts is Deputy Prime Minister, 
Minister of Foreign Affairs and European 
Integration Iurie Leanca. 
 
¶40. (SBU) The government, at the national and 
local level, used the National Referral Mechanism 
to coordinate prosecution, protection and 
prevention.  Government-appointed social workers 
and teachers, working with religious leaders, NGOs 
and National Referral system multi-disciplinary 
teams, were involved in prevention of trafficking 
and giving assistance to victims.  In mid-2007, 
the Ministry of Social Protection, Family, and 
Child (MSP) began to co-chair the monthly 
Technical Coordination Meetings (TCMs) with the 
OSCE Mission.  At TCMs, NGOs, the government, 
international organizations, and foreign embassies 
make presentations on their work and coordinate 
efforts. 
 
¶41. (SBU) At the end of 2006, the MFAEI opened 
information centers on trafficking in persons in 
the Moldovan embassies abroad, appointed counter- 
trafficking focal points at Moldovan diplomatic 
missions in major destination countries, and 
provided training for these individuals.  On 
December 17, 2009, the MFAIE inaugurated the 
ministry's Call Center, which provides information 
on urgent consular issues involving victims 
overseas, and receives both domestic and 
international calls.  Consular officials being 
stationed overseas receive training on identifying 
victims and working with them. 
 
¶42. (SBU) Efforts abroad focus on identifying 
victims and providing services, including 
repatriation of victims who seek assistance. 
Victims whose passports have been confiscated may 
still be repatriated, if the consular officer can 
identify them as Moldovan citizens.  The National 
Committee has the lead role in reviewing the 
government's anti-trafficking efforts, and it 
continued to hold meetings, which were open to 
NGOs and the international community. 
Representatives from various ministries, raions, 
and civil society make presentations on their 
efforts at these meetings. 
 
¶43. (SBU) In December 2009, the GOM changed the 
structure of the NCCTIP to include representatives 
of ten ministries (MOI, MFAEI, MLSP, MOJ, Ministry 
of Culture, Ministry of Health, Ministry of 
Education, Ministry of Informational Technologies 
and Communications, Ministry of Youth and Sports, 
 
CHISINAU 00000083  010.2 OF 037 
 
 
Ministry of Finance), two government agencies 
(Border Guards Service, and Intelligence and 
Information Service), the PGO, the Secretary of 
the Supreme Security Council, and the Bashkan 
(Governor) of the Gagauaz Autonomous Region.  To 
increase the coordinating role of the NCCTIP, 
including data collection and reporting, a 
permanent Secretariat of the Committee was also 
established.  The Secretariat is located in the 
main government building, and employs a secretary 
(Ministry of Interior employee) and four detached 
specialists at the department head level from four 
other ministries (MFAEI, MOJ, MLSP, and 
Education).  Information on GOM anti-trafficking 
efforts is posted on the Ministry of Interior 
website, and disseminated in the print media, and 
on national and regional television and radio. 
 
¶44. (SBU) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and 
European Integration, the Intelligence and 
Security Service, the 
Ministry of Interior, the Border Guard Service, 
and the National Migration Bureau are required to 
take necessary actions to prohibit the presence in 
Moldova of foreign citizens and stateless persons, 
when there is accurate information that they are 
traffickers in human beings.  Also, the Ministry 
of Foreign Affairs and European Integration 
organizes and participates in negotiations aimed 
at signing international treaties with other 
states and international organizations in the 
field of trafficking in human beings, as well as 
through granting assistance and protection to 
trafficked persons abroad. 
 
¶45. (SBU) The Border Guard Service is required to 
prevent and combat trafficking in human beings 
through the prevention, detection, and deterrence 
of attempted border crossings of the state border 
by traffickers in human beings, as well as illegal 
border crossings of the state border by victims of 
trafficking in human beings. 
 
¶46. (SBU) The MLSP, with the assistance of the 
National Employment Agency, publishes information 
on the situation in the labor market, vocational 
training programs, and incentives for employment, 
by offering labor mediation services, professional 
information and counseling, vocational orientation 
and training, as well as consultations and 
assistance in starting a business activity.  The 
MLSP coordinates the NRS's provision of 
protection, and assistance for TIP victims at the 
state level. 
 
¶47. (SBU) The Ministry of Education, in 
cooperation with other interested ministries, 
local public administration authorities, and non- 
governmental organizations working in this field, 
develops educational and training programs for 
teachers, parents, children, and at-risk groups 
aimed at eliminating all the causes and conditions 
that foster trafficking in human beings, 
especially in women and children. 
 
¶48. (SBU) The Ministry of Informational 
Technologies and Communications ensures the 
identification of victims of trafficking in human 
beings and issues residence permits or identity 
cards to victims of trafficking who are foreign 
citizens or stateless persons, when their stay in 
Moldova is necessary because of their personal 
circumstances or their participation in criminal 
proceedings against the trafficker.  We have no 
record of any such cases occurring in 2008 or in 
¶2009. 
 
CHISINAU 00000083  011.2 OF 037 
 
 
 
¶49. (SBU) The Ministry of Economy, together with 
other interested ministries and departments, 
develops and implements socio-economic programs 
aimed at the removal of the economic causes and 
conditions encouraging illegal migration, 
including trafficking in human beings. 
 
¶50. (SBU) Ref A Question 26 C.  What are the 
limitations on the government's ability to address 
these problems in practice?  For example, is 
funding for police or other institutions 
inadequate?  Is overall corruption a problem? Does 
the government lack the resources to aid victims? 
 
¶51. (SBU) If the solution to trafficking in 
Moldova is stopping the massive flow of labor 
migration, then providing greater job prospects at 
home so that young people do not seek to leave the 
country looking for jobs overseas and greater 
economic development is the answer.  If the 
solution is sought in enhanced law enforcement, 
then reform of the law enforcement system could 
result in better prosecutions.  Salaries for 
Moldovan law enforcement and judiciary officials 
are low, not only making them vulnerable to 
corruption, but in many cases compelling them to 
seek extra sources of income.  The typical 
officer, with three family members to care for and 
a home to keep, cannot provide for his family on 
his official salary.  We are aware of this 
widespread corruption but are uncertain to its 
true extent or nature.  Sources have reported that 
officers generally avoid the most offensive and 
most egregious types of bribery, out of some sense 
of integrity and a fear of reprisal, but our 
knowledge about this phenomenon is limited. 
 
¶52. (SBU) Existing law enforcement resources are 
also a problem.  The CCTIP, for example, was 
founded with U.S. assistance, but was to be 
maintained by the GOM.  However, three years after 
the formal establishment of the Center, the 
facility receives only salaries, space, 
stationery, a limited amount of office supplies, 
and fuel from the government.  All other ongoing 
assistance (some office supplies, vehicles, 
cellular phones, other equipment, and training) is 
provided in kind by the Embassy, and occasionally, 
other donors. 
 
¶53. (SBU) Other law enforcement entities with 
direct involvement in counter-trafficking efforts 
are even less adequately equipped.  The Ministry 
of Interior's Department of Operative Services 
conducts the majority of felony-level 
investigations in Moldova.  Operative Services 
relies heavily on nine vehicles donated by the 
USG, and is often lacking even the most 
rudimentary financial support.  For example, when 
Operative Services sought to infiltrate a 
nefarious goods trafficking ring and required USD 
5,000 to carry out a buy/bust operation, they 
solicited foreign embassies for assistance. 
 
¶54. (SBU) Sex trafficking and conventional labor 
trafficking continue despite Moldovan law 
enforcement efforts.  The conventional wisdom is 
that trafficking thrives in Moldova because of the 
poor economic conditions.  Despite the willingness 
of some, if not most, Moldovan officers to accept 
bribes, trafficking continues not because the 
police are corrupt or incompetent, but because a 
continuing supply of victims is willing to 
voluntarily travel overseas in search of 
employment. 
 
CHISINAU 00000083  012.2 OF 037 
 
 
 
¶55. (SBU) In sex trafficking and trafficking for 
labor, most of the fraud which persuades persons 
to travel to other countries does occur in Moldova 
itself.  However, the coercion which sends victims 
into peonage or forced labor is subsequent to the 
fraud, and is usually carried out abroad.  Since 
the fraud is not perpetrated on a visible level, 
such as in the mid-1990s when women were violently 
and coercively taken out of Moldova, it is now 
more difficult for Moldovan law enforcement to 
investigate.  The NGO La Strada expressed its 
concern about investigations and prosecution of 
trafficking for labor exploitation.  It reported 
that, unlike trafficking for sexual exploitation, 
labor exploitation cases very often are 
investigated and prosecuted as organized illegal 
migration and fraud.  In cases when CIS countries 
appear as countries of destination, investigation 
of trafficking cases is likely to be approached as 
organized illegal migration and/or fraud.  If EU 
and other countries are involved, cases of 
trafficking for labor are more likely to be 
approached as such. 
 
¶56. (SBU) Today's direct traffickers are not 
shackling women and putting them in buses against 
their will.  Instead, they are approaching girls 
abroad who left voluntarily, finding them lost and 
bewildered getting off the bus in Turkey and offer 
a job or a place to stay.   Alternatively, they 
approach girls at nightclubs and strip bars, 
buying those women drinks, taking them to dinner, 
and slowly persuading them to come with them to 
Dubai or Nicosia, ostensibly to work as waitresses 
(or other seemingly innocuous positions).  These 
direct recruiters make false promises and thus 
commit fraud, but as lone wolves who might come to 
Moldova once every few years, they are more 
difficult for Moldovan law enforcement to detect. 
 
¶57. (SBU) Agent traffickers are equally difficult 
to investigate and prosecute.  Often they are 
friends or relatives (increasingly women) who send 
a contact to a foreign country, where that person 
is then subject to abuse.  Investigating and 
prosecuting a friend who misrepresents working 
conditions to an acquaintance is made possible 
since that friend is likely Moldovan and resident 
in Moldova.  But these are cases which end with 
the arrest of that individual low-level Moldovan. 
The true perpetrators of the most violent aspects 
of the crimes are not in Moldova.  They are the 
construction firm or nightclub owner in Tel Aviv, 
on behalf of whom the Moldovan recruiter is 
working.  The leader of the enterprise is a 
suspect in another country, not a criminal 
operator based in Chisinau.  Similarly, law 
enforcement can infiltrate a travel agency which 
misrepresents factory jobs in Istanbul, but unless 
that company is tied to a large organization, the 
success ends with the prosecution of the travel 
agency.  In those cases where the entire 
recruitment takes place after the victim has 
arrived abroad, Moldovan law enforcement cannot 
prosecute these cases at all; only the destination 
country can prosecute. 
 
¶58. (SBU) We do not see the presence of large 
international networks recruiting in Moldova and 
therefore would expect that Moldovan law 
enforcement's most frequent successes would be 
against direct and not agency traffickers.  The 
likelihood of modernizing the Moldovan law 
enforcement institutions to the point that they 
could successfully penetrate and eliminate most or 
 
CHISINAU 00000083  013.2 OF 037 
 
 
all of these small, personalized networks is 
extraordinarily low.  Law enforcement agencies in 
the United States and Western Europe struggle to 
eliminate such problems themselves. 
 
¶59. (SBU) However, the government's failure to 
undertake prosecution of a government official 
allegedly complicit in trafficking remains a 
problem, and contributed to Moldova's placement on 
Tier Three in 2008.  However, we cannot prove that 
there are any high-level officials complicit in 
trafficking in either the current or previous 
governments. 
 
¶60. (SBU) Corruption continued to pervade all 
sectors of Moldovan government and society. 
Although there are no hard numbers on the extent 
to which government officials are complicit in 
trafficking crimes, there were reports from 
victims that some border guards and police 
officers have been complicit in the crime or have 
taken bribes to turn a blind eye to such 
activities.  Most of these reports were limited to 
low-level officials.  In 2009, the CCTIP reported 
two cases of attempted bribery of its officers, 
which resulted in the opening of a criminal case 
against the suspects. 
 
¶61. (SBU) The GOM's many efforts against TIP 
contrast with the apathy shown by left-bank 
Transnistrian authorities, especially at the 
higher levels of administration, to the NGOs that 
assist with anti-trafficking efforts. 
 
¶62. (SBU) Ref A Question 26 D.  To what extent 
does the government systematically monitor its 
anti-trafficking efforts (on all fronts-- 
prosecution, victim protection, and prevention) 
and periodically make available, publicly or 
privately and directly or through 
regional/international organizations, its 
assessments of these anti-trafficking efforts? 
 
¶63. (SBU) In 2009, the GOM introduced a report 
providing a consolidated narrative analysis 
showing its efforts and  its results in 
prevention, protection, prosecution, and 
incarceration, which it made available to the 
international community.  However, this report 
still lacks comprehensive statistical analysis. 
The creation of the CCTIP reflects a government 
effort to have a more centralized and more 
systematic approach to carrying out and monitoring 
its anti-trafficking efforts.  We believe that the 
new GOM's changes, particularly the placement of 
the NCCTIP under a senior cabinet member, with 
numerous ministries and agencies coordinating 
efforts, and the establishment for the first time 
of a full-time Secretariat for the NCCTIP, will 
begin to improve matters. 
 
¶64. (SBU) Ref A Question 26 E.  What measures has 
the government taken to establish the identity of 
local populations, including birth registration, 
citizenship, and nationality? 
 
¶65. (SBU) Citizenship is derived from one's 
parent(s). Registration of birth is free of charge 
for all citizens.  In April 2009, the government 
began enforcing a new law that simplified birth 
registration procedures by establishing civil 
registration offices within maternity hospitals 
which issue birth certificates before the mother 
and newborn are discharged from the hospital. 
Prior to its abolition of the practice on November 
25, the government issued optional, free-of-charge 
 
CHISINAU 00000083  014.2 OF 037 
 
 
ID cards for newborns, if parents requested them. 
 
¶66. (SBU) Ref A Question 26 F.  To what extent is 
the government capable of gathering the data 
required for an in-depth assessment of law 
enforcement efforts?  Where are the gaps?  Are 
there any ways to work around these gaps? 
 
¶67. (SBU) The GOM has frequently expressed its 
inability to present TIP statistics in a manner 
that shows the disposition of cases through all 
stages of the penal process, from initial 
investigation to final incarceration.  The 
relevant GOM agencies should be able to track TIP 
cases at each stage, from the opening of 
investigation to final incarceration, note how 
many cases proceed to the next stage, and how many 
do not, and for what reasons.  The need is 
particularly acute at the final stage, that of 
identifying how many go to trial for trafficking 
offenses, how many are convicted (for what 
particular offenses), how many "drop out" (because 
of acquittal, flight from country, etc.), what 
sentences are given, and which individuals are in 
prison and for how long (minus amnesties and other 
"get-out-of-jail" processes.)  See paras. (5-11). 
 
¶68. (SBU) Ref A Question 27 A.  Existing Laws 
against TIP: Does the country have a law or laws 
specifically prohibiting trafficking in persons 
both for sexual exploitation and labor?  If so, 
please specifically cite the name of the law(s) 
and its date of enactment and provide the exact 
language [actual copies preferable] of the TIP 
provisions.  Please provide a full inventory of 
trafficking laws, including non-criminal statutes 
that allow for civil penalties against alleged 
trafficking crimes (e.g., civil forfeiture laws 
and laws against illegal debt).  Does the law(s) 
cover both internal and transnational forms of 
trafficking?  If not, under what other laws can 
traffickers be prosecuted?  For example, are there 
laws against slavery or the exploitation of 
prostitution by means of force, fraud, or 
coercion?  Are these other laws being used in 
trafficking cases? 
 
¶69. (U) In 2005, Parliament passed a new law to 
address comprehensively all aspects of the crime 
of trafficking.  In 2007, the government made a 
series of efforts to implement the law.  The IOM 
reported that the MSP had provided staff and 
facilities to assist victims of trafficking.  In 
2009, the government allocated 608,800 Moldovan 
Lei (approximately USD 50,700) from the state 
budget to fund the activities of the Center of 
Assistance and Protection of TIP victims and 
potential victims.  The Mid-Term Expenditures 
Framework for 2009-2011 provides for GOM 
allocations of 575,600 Lei for 2010 and 618,200 
Lei for 2011 to fund the Center's activities. 
 
¶70. (U) In June 2005, Parliament passed an 
amendment to the Law on Employment and Social 
Protection, which now allows all categories of 
vulnerable youth from 16 to 18 years of age 
(graduates of residential institutions, orphans, 
children without parental care, children from one- 
parent families, victims of trafficking, disabled 
persons, persons released from penitentiaries and 
beneficiaries of rehabilitation institutions) to 
receive government benefits.  Before this 
amendment, children between the ages of 16 and 18 
were no longer covered by the educational and 
housing services of the Ministry of Education, but 
were not yet entitled to receive the benefits 
 
CHISINAU 00000083  015.2 OF 037 
 
 
provided by the Ministry of Economy, such as 
unemployment or vocational training. 
 
¶71. (U) Trafficking in persons was criminalized 
under Moldovan law in August 2001.  In 2005, 
amendments to the Criminal Code made the victim's 
consent to being trafficked irrelevant.  In 
addition, the anti-trafficking legislation was 
complemented by passage of a comprehensive law on 
the prevention and combating of trafficking in 
persons that came into effect in December 2005. 
The government worked closely with the 
international community on the law, which was 
studied and approved by the OSCE and the Council 
of Europe.  The law includes a definition of 
trafficking that is fully consistent with the 
Palermo Protocol.  The law exempts victims from 
criminal prosecution for illegal acts committed 
during the trafficking experience, without 
preconditioning this exemption on the victim's 
willingness to cooperate with law enforcement 
authorities, as the previous legislation 
stipulated.  The law also institutes a "reflection 
period" of 30 days, during which time a victim can 
decide whether he/she will cooperate with law 
enforcement in any criminal proceedings against 
his/her traffickers.  Furthermore, the law 
establishes the obligations which central and 
local public authorities carry out with regard to 
combating trafficking and assisting victims of 
trafficking.  For example, the Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs and European Integration has been 
appointed as the main governmental agency 
responsible for coordinating the repatriation of 
victims. 
 
¶72. (U) The articles in the current criminal code 
on trafficking in persons and trafficking in 
children include the following provisions.  (Note: 
The Law on Preventing and Combating Domestic 
Violence was enacted on March 18, 2008 taking 
effect six months later on September 18, 2008. 
End note.) 
 
Begin text: 
Article 165.  Trafficking in human beings 
comprises 
(1) The recruitment, transportation, transfer, 
concealment or receipt of a person, with or 
without his/her consent, for the purpose of 
commercial or non-commercial sexual exploitation, 
for forced labor or services, for begging, for 
slavery or similar conditions, for use in armed 
conflicts or criminal activities, for the removal 
of human organs or tissues committed by: 
a) the threat of physical or mental violence not 
dangerous to the personQs life and health, 
including kidnapping, the seizure of documents, 
and servitude for the purpose of paying a debt, 
the amount of which was not set within a 
reasonable limit, as well as through the threat of 
disclosure of confidential information of the 
family of the victim or of other persons, both 
individuals and legal entities; 
b) deception; 
c) the abuse of vulnerability or abuse of power, 
giving or receiving payments or benefits to get 
the consent of a person controlling another 
person; 
shall be punished by imprisonment for 5 to 12 
years with the deprivation of the right to hold 
certain positions or to practice certain 
activities for 2 to 5 years, whereas a legal 
entity shall be punished by a fine in the amount 
of 3000 to 5000 conventional units with the 
deprivation of the right to practice certain 
 
CHISINAU 00000083  016.2 OF 037 
 
 
activities or the liquidation of the legal entity. 
 
(2) The same actions committed: 
a) by a person who previously committed an act set 
forth in par. (1); 
b) against two or more persons; 
c) against a pregnant woman; 
d) by two or more persons; 
e)by an official or a high-ranking official; 
f) with violence dangerous to the personQs life, 
physical or mental health; 
g) with torture, inhumane or degrading treatment 
aimed at ensuring the personQs subordination, or 
with the use of rape, physical dependence, or a 
weapon; 
shall be punished by imprisonment for 7 to 15 
years with the deprivation of the right to hold 
certain positions or to practice certain 
activities for 2 to 5 years, whereas a legal 
entity shall be punished by a fine in the amount 
of 5000 to 7000 conventional units with the 
deprivation of the right to practice certain 
activities or the liquidation of the legal entity. 
 
(3) The actions set forth in par. (1) or (2): 
a) committed by an organized criminal group or by 
a criminal organization; 
b) that cause severe bodily injury or a mental 
disorder, or the death or his/her suicide; 
shall be punished by imprisonment for 10 to 20 
years with the deprivation of the right to hold 
certain positions or to practice certain 
activities for 3 to 5 years, whereas a legal 
entity shall be punished by a fine in the amount 
of 7000 to 9000 conventional units with the 
deprivation of the right to practice certain 
activities or the liquidation of the legal entity. 
 
 (4) The victim of trafficking in human beings 
shall be exempted from criminal liability for any 
crimes committed by him/her in relation to this 
procedural status. 
 
Article 206.  Trafficking in children 
1) The recruitment, transportation, transfer, 
harboring, or receipt of a child, as well as 
giving or receiving payments or benefits to obtain 
the consent of the person who exerts control over 
the child for the purpose of: 
a) commercial or non-commercial sexual 
exploitation in prostitution or a pornographic 
industry; 
b) exploitation by forced labor or services; 
b9) practicing begging or other base purposes; 
c) exploitation in slavery or in conditions 
similar to slavery including illegal adoption; 
d) participating in armed conflicts; 
e) participating in criminal activities; 
f) removing human organs or tissues; 
g) abandonment abroad; 
h) sale or purchase; 
shall be punished by imprisonment for 8 to 12 
years with the deprivation of the right to hold 
certain positions or to practice certain 
activities for 2 to 5 years, whereas a legal 
entity shall be punished by a fine in the amount 
of 3000 to 5000 conventional units with the 
deprivation of the right to practice certain 
activities or by the liquidation of the legal 
entity. 
 
(2) The same actions involving: 
a) physical or mental violence, the use of weapons 
or the threat of their use; 
b) sexual abuse and violence; 
c) the abuse of authority or the childQs 
 
CHISINAU 00000083  017.2 OF 037 
 
 
vulnerability, the threat of disclosure of 
confidential information to the childQs family or 
to other persons; 
[Letters d), e) excluded by Law No. 235-XVI dated 
08.11.2007, in force as of 07.12.2007] 
f) the removal of human organs or tissues; 
shall be punished by imprisonment for 10 to 15 
years with the deprivation of the right to hold 
certain positions or to practice certain 
activities for 2 to 5 years, whereas a legal 
entity shall be punished by a fine in amount of 
5000 to 7000 conventional units with the 
deprivation of the right to practice certain 
activities or by the liquidation of the legal 
entity. 
 
(3) The actions set forth in par. (1) or (2): 
a) committed by a person who has previously 
committed the same actions; 
b) committed against two or more children; 
c) committed by an official or by a high-ranking 
official; 
d) committed by an organized criminal group or a 
criminal organization; 
e) causing severe bodily injury or mental disorder 
of the child or his/her death or suicide; 
f) committed against a child aged under 14, 
shall be punished by imprisonment for 15 to 20 
years with the deprivation of the right to hold 
certain positions or to practice certain 
activities for 3 to 5 years or with life 
imprisonment, whereas a legal entity shall be 
punished by a fine in the amount of 7000 to 9000 
conventional units with the deprivation of the 
right to practice certain activities or by the 
liquidation of the legal entity. 
 
(4) A victim of trafficking in children shall be 
exempted from criminal liability for any crimes 
committed by him/her in relation to this 
procedural status. 
 
¶73. (SBU) Ref A Question 27 B.  Punishment of Sex 
Trafficking Offenses:  What are the prescribed and 
imposed penalties for the trafficking of persons 
for commercial sexual exploitation, including for 
the forced prostitution of adults and the 
prostitution of children? 
 
¶74. (U) In December 2005, the Criminal Code was 
amended to allow the prosecution of those who 
organize illegal migration.  In addition, Moldova 
has criminal code articles on forced labor, 
slavery and slavery-like conditions, illegal 
transport of children out of the country (art. 207 
CC), and forced removal of organs or tissues to be 
used in transplant operations (art. 158 CC). 
(Note: The Kidney Foundation of Moldova reported 
that, according to its knowledge, 32 people were 
trafficked from Moldova for organ retrieval in 
¶2007.  Updated data for 2008 are not yet 
available.  IOM reported five cases of trafficking 
for organ retrieval in 2008 and one case in 2009 
(a male victim who was trafficked in 1999), among 
victims assisted by IOM. End note.)  In 2007, 
authorities used these anti-trafficking articles, 
and preexisting anti-trafficking laws, in criminal 
cases.  They also targeted suspected traffickers 
with criminal charges of pimping and document 
forging.  All of these laws cover both internal 
and external trafficking. 
 
¶75. (SBU) To adjust Moldovan criminal legislation 
to European standards, the Moldovan Criminal Code 
was amended in December 2008.  According to the 
amendment Law, effective May 24, 2009, detention 
 
CHISINAU 00000083  018.2 OF 037 
 
 
terms for trafficking in persons were reduced for 
each paragraph of Article 165 (Ref. par. 58): 
 
--Par. (1) from 7-15 to 5-12; 
--Par. (2) from 10-20 to 7-15; 
--Par. (3) from 15-25 to 10-20; 
--Life imprisonment was excluded. 
 
¶76. (SBU) Ref A Question 27C.  Punishment of Labor 
Trafficking Offenses:  What are the prescribed and 
imposed penalties for labor trafficking offences, 
including all forms of forced labor?  If your 
country is a source country for labor migrants, do 
the government's laws provide for criminal 
punishment--i.e. jail time for labor recruiters 
who engage in recruitment of workers using 
knowingly fraudulent or deceptive offers with the 
purpose of subjecting workers to compelled service 
in the destination country?  If your country is a 
destination for labor migrants (legal/regular or 
illegal/irregular), are there laws punishing 
employers or labor agents who confiscate workers' 
passports or travel documents for the purpose of 
labor trafficking, switch contracts without the 
worker's consent as a means to keep the worker in 
a state of compelled service, or withhold payment 
of salaries as means of keeping the worker in a 
state of compelled service? 
 
¶77. (U) The Moldovan Criminal Code under the 
Trafficking in Persons section also defines "the 
recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring 
or receipt of a person for the purpose of labor 
exploitation or services, in slavery or similar 
conditions."  Moreover, Moldova as a source 
country incriminates forced or bonded labor and 
slavery and conditions similar to slavery as 
separate distinctive crimes and provides for jail 
time.  Hence, if a person is charged with 
trafficking in persons for forced labor, besides 
trafficking charges the labor recruiter may face 
additional charges of forced labor or slavery. 
Upon sentencing, the courts cumulate the penalty 
prescribed for trafficking in persons (minimum: 
five years of imprisonment and maximum: 20 years 
of imprisonment) with the one prescribed for 
forced labor (minimum: fine or three years of 
imprisonment and maximum: ten years of 
imprisonment). 
 
¶78. (SBU) Ref A Question 27 D.  What are the 
prescribed penalties for rape or forcible sexual 
assault? (Note:   This is necessary to evaluate a 
foreign government's compliance with TVPA Minimum 
Standard 2, which reads: "For the knowing 
commission of any act of sex trafficking, the 
government of the country should prescribe 
punishment commensurate with that for grave 
crimes, such as forcible sexual assault (rape)." 
End Note) 
 
¶79. (U) The Moldovan Criminal Code stipulates that 
the penalty for rape or forcible sexual assault 
ranges from three years of imprisonment up to life 
imprisonment, when the crime is committed in 
aggravating circumstances.  For trafficking in 
persons, the lowest penalty is five years of 
imprisonment, which is a longer jail term than the 
minimum penalty for rape (three years of 
imprisonment).  The highest penalty for 
trafficking is 20 years, while the highest penalty 
for rape, in exceptionally grave circumstances, 
including the death of the victim, is life 
imprisonment.  According to the criminal statute, 
both crimes are considered as exceptionally grave 
and the penalties prescribed for trafficking are 
 
CHISINAU 00000083  019.2 OF 037 
 
 
commensurate with forcible sexual assault. 
 
¶80. (SBU) Ref A Question 27 E.  Law Enforcement 
Statistics: Did the government take legal action 
against human trafficking offenders during the 
reporting period?  If so, provide numbers of 
investigations, prosecutions, convictions, and 
sentences imposed, including details on plea 
bargains and fines, if relevant and available. 
Please note the number of convicted trafficking 
offenders who received suspended sentences and the 
number who received only a fine as punishment. 
Please indicate which laws were used to 
investigate, prosecute, convict, and sentence 
traffickers.  Also, if possible, please 
disaggregate numbers of cases by type of TIP 
(labor vs. commercial sexual exploitation) and 
victims (children under 18 years of age vs. 
adults).  What were the actual punishments imposed 
on persons convicted of these offenses? Are the 
traffickers serving the time sentenced? If not, 
why not? 
 
¶81. (SBU) In 2009, CCTIP released statistics 
regarding the number of cases opened, number of 
cases sent to the courts, and number convictions 
that carry penalties: 
 
--Number of cases opened: TIP Q185; Trafficking in 
children Q 21; Taking children out of the country 
illegally Q 21; Pimping Q 152; Illegal migration 
137; 
 
--Number of cases sent to court: TIP Q 102; 
Trafficking in children Q 11; Taking children out 
the country illegally Q 12; Pimping Q 114; Illegal 
migration - 75. 
 
¶82. (SBU) The PGO reported that in 2009, trial 
courts tried 53 TIP cases against 66 individuals, 
of whom 39 were sentenced to imprisonment; 18 were 
placed on probation; four were fined; and five 
were acquitted.  For the same period trial courts 
tried four cases on child trafficking, including 
four individuals, who were sentenced individually 
to imprisonment.  These decisions may be subject 
to appeal in higher courts.  Four sentences were 
delivered as a result of plea agreements. 
 
¶83. (SBU) PGO reported that in 2009, courts 
downgraded seven cases from trafficking in persons 
to less serious offences; five to pimping; one to 
forced labor; and one to begging.  As a result of 
disagreements with court decisions (including 
convictions, downgrading, acquittals), prosecutors 
appealed 15 court decisions. 
 
--Number of convictions that carry penalties 
reported by MOJ: for trafficking in persons Q 60 
persons (11 of which were the result of plea 
bargaining) in 57 criminal cases.  For Trafficking 
in children Q five persons (of which two were a 
result of plea bargaining) in eight criminal cases 
persons were sentenced to imprisonment from seven 
to 20 years.  (Note: These sentences were not 
necessarily from cases opened this year, and given 
the length of time necessary to prosecute a case, 
were more likely cases from previous years.  The 
judgments were final and irreversible, and not 
subject to appeal.  The PGO keeps statistics on 
all judgments, including preliminary judgments 
which can later be dismissed or overturned on 
appeal.  The MOJ collects statistics on final and 
irreversible judicial decisions.  End note). 
 
¶84. (SBU) The MOJ reported that 131 persons 
 
CHISINAU 00000083  020.2 OF 037 
 
 
convicted of trafficking in persons (art. 165) and 
12 persons convicted of trafficking in children 
(art. 206) are currently serving irrevocable 
imprisonment sentences. Eleven suspects in TIP 
cases and one suspect in trafficking of children 
are under preventive arrest awaiting criminal 
prosecution. 
 
¶85. (SBU) The CCTIP and MOI units closed down 40 
networks of trafficking and illegal migration in 
2009, including nine  networks of sexual 
exploitation (five from Turkey, one form UAE, one 
from Greece, one from Cyprus, and one of internal 
trafficking), 18 networks that organized illegal 
migration, six networks of illegal transportation 
of children, and seven networks of external 
pimping. 
 
¶86. (SBU) The GOM carried out oversight on the 
lawfulness of orders (in 2007 and the first seven 
months of 2008) which refused the initiation of 
criminal proceedings, and terminated criminal 
proceedings.  Refusal to initiate cases occurred 
in 54 cases, and termination occurred in 41 cases. 
No evaluation of the propriety of these actions 
has been provided.  No reports of such activity 
were made in 2009. 
 
¶87. (SBU) On June 20, 2008, the Chisinau Court of 
Appeals sentenced Alexandru Covali (alias Shalun) 
to 21 years imprisonment.  Prosecutors 
successfully argued that from 2001 to 2006 Covali 
created a criminal organization which operated on 
the territory of Moldova, Romania, Ukraine, 
orchestrating a broad network of human 
trafficking, trafficking in children, and pimping. 
According to the prosecutors, the recruitment of 
the victims was carried out on Moldovan territory, 
mainly in Transnistria.  Victims were transported 
to Chisinau, where they were sheltered in 
specially prepared houses and apartments.  Covali 
remains in jail. 
 
¶88. (SBU) On December 27, 2006, Moldovan citizen 
Ion Gusin was convicted of trafficking in persons 
and sentenced to 22 years in jail for his role as 
pimp and translator for the foreign sex tourist, 
U.S. citizen Anthony Bianchi.  (See paras. 119, 
165, and 173.)  Gusin moved children around 
Moldova for abuse by this perpetrator.  The case 
is notable for the successful prosecution of a 
case of internal trafficking, and for the strong 
cooperation offered to the USG by the GOM. 
 
¶89. (SBU) On April 11, 2008, the Supreme Court of 
Justice sentenced Turkish citizen Mustafa Istemez 
to 23 years of imprisonment for trafficking women 
from Moldova as part of a criminal network, which 
was active 2001-2004.  At least 20 young women 
were trafficked through this channel.  The 
criminal case was opened in 2004 by CCTIP 
officers.  Istimez remains in jail. 
 
¶90. (SBU) On October 29, 2009, a Chisinau court 
sentenced Alexandr Plohotniuc, residing in the 
breakaway province of Transnistria, to seven years 
of imprisonment for attempting, as part of a 
criminal network, to traffic a Ukrainian woman to 
Turkey for sexual exploitation under the pretense 
that the woman would work there as a shop 
assistant. 
 
¶91. (SBU) On March 12, 2009, a Chisinau court 
sentenced Brian Deacon, a U.K. citizen, to seven 
and a half years of imprisonment for sexual 
molestation of children in Moldova. According to 
 
CHISINAU 00000083  021.2 OF 037 
 
 
prosecutors, Deacon, who came to Moldova as a 
consultant for a private company, approached 
children from vulnerable families and subjected 
them to noncommercial sexual exploitation.  During 
a search of his house, images of child pornography 
were found in his computers.  Prosecutors 
requested that the judge convict Deacon of child 
trafficking and sentence him to 22 years of 
imprisonment.  However, the case was downgraded to 
actions of a sexually perverse character. 
Prosecutors have appealed the sentence. 
 
¶92. (SBU) On March 10, 2009, the Chisinau Court of 
Appeals sentenced a young woman to six years, 
eight months of imprisonment for trafficking a 
woman to Turkey. 
 
¶93. (SBU) On February 9, 2009, a Cantemir court 
sentenced Gorceag Violeta and Botusneanu Cristian 
to ten years of imprisonment for trafficking a 
woman to Turkey. 
 
¶94. (SBU) On June 24, 2009, a Chisinau Court 
sentenced a young woman to ten years of 
imprisonment for trafficking two minors to Turkey. 
 
¶95. (SBU) On July 8, 2009, the Court of Appeal 
sentenced Marin Cernei to seven years of 
imprisonment for trafficking two young women to 
the Russian Federation.  After the prosecutor 
intervened, the Court of Appeals upgraded this 
case from conviction for pimping to trafficking in 
persons. 
 
¶96. (SBU) On October 21, 2009, a Chisinau Court 
sentenced Ala Slobozian and Alexandru Slobolian to 
15 years of imprisonment, Mihail Bondarenco to 13 
years of imprisonment, Ion Acris to ten years of 
imprisonment, and Iacov Tricolici to eight years 
of imprisonment for trafficking five Moldovan 
women in 2002-2003 to Israel, Turkey and UAE for 
sexual exploitation. 
 
¶97. (SBU) Ref A Question 25 F.  Does the 
government provide any specialized training for 
law enforcement and immigration on identifying and 
treating victims of trafficking?  Or training on 
investigating and prosecuting human trafficking 
crimes?  Specify whether NGOs, international 
organizations, and/or the USG provide specialized 
training for host government officials. 
 
¶98. (SBU) The Police Academy has included a 
regular segment on trafficking in its curriculum 
developed in conjunction with the NGO La Strada. 
A trafficking segment was included in educational 
plan for 2009-2012.  In 2009, the Academy 
organized seven training courses on trafficking 
for MOI staff.  The MOI organized 11 seminars and 
training sessions on trafficking for its employees 
in 2009. 
 
¶99. (SBU) In February, March, and August 2009, the 
European Union Border Assistance Mission (EUBAM) 
organized working sessions on enhancing the 
effectiveness of law enforcement in preventing and 
combating trafficking in persons, with the 
participation of the CCTIP and Border Guard 
Service.  In March, CCTIP hosted a working 
session, supported by EUBAM, with the 
participation of officers from Moldova, Slovakia, 
Ukraine, Italy and Austria, to augment 
international capabilities to prevent crimes 
pertaining to illegal migration of minors.  In 
March, CCTIP organized a working session with NGOs 
dealing with assistance to victims of human 
 
CHISINAU 00000083  022.2 OF 037 
 
 
trafficking.  In May, CCTIP together with IOM, 
MSPFC, the Center for Assistance and Protection of 
VoTs from Chisinau and United Nations Fund for 
Population (UNFPA), organized a training program 
"Protection and Empowerment of the Victims of 
Human Trafficking and Domestic Violence in the 
Framework of the National Referral System." 
 
¶100. (SBU) In June, the French Embassy, in 
partnership with IOM, organized an International 
Conference "Children and Teenagers, Victims of 
Trafficking in Persons," with the participation of 
experts from Moldova (including CCTIP officers), 
Ukraine, Croatia, Bulgaria, France, Romania, 
Slovenia, Hungary, Bosnia & Herzegovina, as well 
as IOM, OSCE and UNICEF.  In July, the Chisinau 
Municipality Department for Child Protection, in 
partnership with the NGOs Woman for a Contemporary 
Society and Save the Children, with the support of 
the Chisinau Mayoralty and the Local Public 
Authority of Emilia Romagna region, Italy, 
organized a seminar "Prevention of Child 
Trafficking in Ukraine, Republic of Moldova and 
Italy."  In November, CCTIP, in partnership with 
the Center for Combating Trafficking in Women, 
organized the seminar "Strengthening Capacities of 
Law Enforcement Bodies in Combating TIP" in 
Chisinau, Causeni, and Ungheni, with the 
participation of police officers dealing with 
trafficking related offences. 
 
¶101. (SBU) The U.S. Embassy provided three 
training courses to officers of the CCTIP, 
prosecutors, and MOI officers in 2009: 
 
--Two training sessions on Legal Fundamentals of 
Combating Trafficking in Persons in the Republic 
of Moldova in March and June.  The course 
presented to investigators and prosecutors the 
status of laws and regulations that govern 
investigation and prosecution process of counter- 
trafficking process and other associated crimes 
 
-- A roundtable dealing with victim-witnesses and 
the unique role of the psychologist in addressing 
victim's needs as well as facilitating better 
cooperation between the victim-witnesses and law 
enforcement in August in Balti. 
 
¶102. (SBU) In 2009, IOM, with OSCE support, 
organized 11 monthly Social Partnership Round 
Tables between NGOs active in the social 
protection field, local authorities, GOM 
representatives and international organizations 
active in the country.  Nine took place in 
Transnistria.  To support active NGOs, IOM 
implemented a small grants program which included 
an organizational development capacity building 
program and provided for expansion and 
consolidation of a partnership network.  Further, 
IOM organized job training sessions for 
multidisciplinary teams within the NRS in the 
identification and referral of TIP victims and at- 
risk persons for 175 newly recruited social 
assistants at the municipal and community level. 
From June to September, 2009, IOM offered 
technical assistance to the MSP in an initial 
capacity building program for social assistants. 
 
¶103. (SBU) In May 2009, OSCE organized a training 
program in the basic methodology, necessary 
abilities, and concepts for providing of 
assistance and protection to trafficked persons, 
consolidation of cooperation between actors of the 
National Referral System, for CCTIP and PGO 
officials, and improved coordination and activity 
 
CHISINAU 00000083  023.2 OF 037 
 
 
among law enforcement and social workers. 
 
¶104. (SBU) In 2009, in partnership with the United 
Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the 
OSCE Mission supported a project aimed at 
improving the skills of judges and prosecutors in 
TIP cases at the National Justice Institute, which 
included three training programs and the drafting 
of a specialized curriculum on combating 
trafficking for the National Institute of Justice. 
The OSCE also organized, in partnership with the 
Children, Communities, Families (CCF Moldova) NGO, 
a roundtable on child pornography to identify 
problems, challenges and ways to address this new 
phenomenon in Moldova. 
 
¶105. (SBU) In 2009 La Strada organized: 
 
--270 seminars in secondary schools located in 
rural/remote areas for over 5,700 persons under an 
agreement concluded with the Ministry of 
Education; 
 
--a national media awareness campaign on the 
vulnerability of labor migrants, especially women, 
to exploitation.  The campaign included two video 
spots broadcast on national TV channels (over 
1,000 minutes)and billboards placed on major 
national roads, posters and other printed 
materials distributed mostly in rural areas (over 
15,000 copies); 
 
--debriefings for 81 journalists from national and 
local newspapers and radio stations; 
 
--debriefings for 60 police officers from various 
police commissariats on issues of social 
protection of trafficked persons, and disseminated 
information about La Strada's tools such as its 
mobile intervention team and  mediation services; 
 
--debriefings for representatives of the 
Department of Consular Affairs under the Ministry 
of Foreign Affairs and European Integration 
(MFAEI) on the identification and repatriation of 
trafficked persons; trained the staff of the Call 
Center set up by the MFAEI concerning migrants' 
protection and assistance to trafficked persons; 
 
--the fifth Annual Workshop on concerns in working 
with trafficked persons and potential victims of 
trafficking Q exchange of good practices in 
partnership with the Ministry of Labor, Social 
Protection and Family (MLSPF) for 20 specialists 
in social protection as well as members and/or 
leaders of the multidisciplinary teams from 23 
raions; 
 
-- 20 seminars for 230 representatives of local 
public administration in an effort to inform them 
of new trends of human trafficking and assistance 
infrastructure available for trafficked persons; 
 
--a continuing training initiatives in partnership 
with the U.S. Embassy in Moldova, the National 
Institute of Justice, and the OSCE Mission to 
Moldova for law enforcement officers in the area 
of identification of trafficked persons, 
conducting investigative interviews with 
vulnerable witnesses and victims, and protection 
and fair treatment.  Over 130 police officers, 
prosecutors and judges participated in this 
program. 
 
¶106. (SBU) Ref A Question 27 G: Does the 
government cooperate with other governments in the 
 
CHISINAU 00000083  024.2 OF 037 
 
 
investigation and prosecution of trafficking 
cases?  If possible, provide the number of 
cooperative international investigations on 
trafficking during the reporting period. 
 
¶107. (SBU) In 2009, EUBAM conducted the 
international operation NICONI to combat TIP and 
illegal migration, with the participation of CCTIP 
officers.  As a result, seven criminal networks 
were detected and 13 criminal cases opened.  In 
March, a MoldovanQAustrian operation on illegal 
migration was launched under EUBAM auspices. 
EUBAM maintains cooperation in TIP combating 
through a permanent working group (WG 1) with 
participation of the main actors in the area. 
EUBAM supports international and national 
investigation, mentors and assists its partners, 
initiates and facilitates the constant exchange of 
information and operational meetings, and 
functions as a link between the partners and EU 
law enforcement agencies.  At least one Joint 
Border Control Operation is planned for 2010.  To 
enhance cooperation between Moldovan and Ukrainian 
law enforcement in fighting human trafficking, 
CCTIP and Moldovan Border Guards Service detached 
liaison officers to Odessa to ensure an efficient 
and timely exchange of information.  During the 
reporting period, CCTIP carried out 17 
international operations with Italy, Ukraine, 
Morocco, Romania, Poland, and Slovenia.  As a 
result of cooperation with law enforcement bodies 
of Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, and Italy, six 
suspects were apprehended and extradition 
procedures are in progress.  A total of 15 
criminal cases were opened for trafficking-related 
crimes as a result of international operations, 
including three cases of trafficking to Turkey. 
 
¶108. (SBU) The Government's investigation of 
trafficking is largely limited to low- and mid- 
level crimes.  Although the law on operative 
investigators was amended in February of 2004 to 
expand investigators' ability to work undercover 
and to use advanced techniques such as electronic 
surveillance, investigators have not yet taken 
full advantage of this authority and did not use 
the techniques to follow investigations up the 
chain to apprehend high-level or governmental 
targets.  Mitigated punishment for cooperating 
suspects is available to prosecutors under current 
Moldovan law, but the procedure is used largely to 
dispose of uncontested cases rather than as an 
investigative tool. 
 
¶109. (SBU) Following the provisions of the Letter 
of Agreement on Narcotics Control and Law 
Enforcement signed in 2001 between the USG and the 
GOM, the USG has renovated the CCTIP, installing 
specially designed office furniture, and modern 
computer hardware and software.  The U.S. Embassy 
has developed a comprehensive training plan for 
CCTIP staff, which includes interview and 
interrogation techniques, task and strike force 
management, ethics and public corruption, 
information technology training, officer safety 
and survival, and crime scene management. 
 
¶110. (SBU) Ref A Question 27 H.  Does the 
government extradite persons who are charged with 
trafficking in other countries?  If so, please 
provide the number of traffickers extradited 
during the reporting period, and the number of 
trafficking extraditions pending.  In particular, 
please report on any pending or concluded 
extraditions of trafficking offenders to the 
United States. 
 
CHISINAU 00000083  025.2 OF 037 
 
 
 
¶111. (SBU) Persons who are charged with 
trafficking in other countries can be extradited 
only on the basis of an international treaty to 
which the Republic of Moldova is a party or on 
terms of reciprocity according to a judicial 
decision.  Although such treaties do exist between 
Moldova and many countries, there have been no 
extraditions for trafficking cases.  The PGO 
reported that during 11 months of 2009, it made 
four requests for extradition of foreign nationals 
under prosecution for trafficking: three to the 
Russian Federation and one to Ukraine.  Citizens 
of the Republic of Moldova and persons who have 
been granted political asylum by the Republic of 
Moldova cannot be extradited from the country, if 
they have committed the crime abroad but are 
subject to criminal liability according to the 
Moldovan criminal and criminal procedure statutes. 
 
¶112. (SBU) Ref A Question 27 I.  Is there evidence 
of government involvement in or tolerance of 
trafficking, on a local or institutional level? If 
so, please explain in detail. 
 
¶113. (SBU) Though most government officials are 
committed to fighting TIP, there have been 
allegations of individuals complicit, and in 
summer 2008 the GOM gave details of several cases 
on which it promised follow-up.  See para.  174 
for the latest update. 
 
¶114. (SBU) Ref A Question 27 J.  If government 
officials are involved in trafficking, what steps 
has the government taken to end such complicity? 
Please indicate the number of government officials 
investigated and prosecuted for involvement in 
trafficking or trafficking-related criminal 
activities during the reporting period.  Have any 
been convicted?  What sentence(s) was imposed? 
Please specify if officials received suspended 
sentences, or were given a fine, fired, or 
reassigned to another position within the 
government as punishment.  Please indicate the 
number of convicted officials that received 
suspended sentences or received only a fine as 
punishment. 
 
¶115. (SBU) On June 11, 2008, the Anticorruption 
Prosecutor's Office resumed the investigation of 
the alleged involvement of government officials 
(former CCTIP Director Bejan and other CCTIP 
officers) in trafficking.  The prosecutors are 
attempting to elicit the cooperation of 
individuals sentenced in the Covali case and 
tracing the illegal assets originating from 
Covali's criminal actions in order to determine 
the nexus between Covali's trafficking activities 
and the corruption of government officials.  The 
resumption of this high profile investigation was 
widely announced via press conferences and website 
postings.  During 2008, the PGO negotiated with 
the Superior Council of Magistrates to lift the 
immunity of two trial court judges and prosecute 
them.  The magistrates are suspected of 
unreasonably downgrading the charges in two 
trafficking cases and imposing on the defendants 
(traffickers) penalties more lenient than 
prescribed by the law.  In November 2009, CCTIP 
sent a request to the PGO for a reexamination of 
Bejan case.  In December 2009, the PGO reported 
that the case of Bejan and other CCTIP officers 
(Alexandru Artin, Eduard Sibov and Vladimir 
Istrati) is under criminal investigation by the 
Anti-Corruption Prosecutors' Office and the Center 
for Combating Economic Crimes and Corruption.  The 
 
CHISINAU 00000083  026.2 OF 037 
 
 
PGO will inform us on any decision. 
 
¶116. (SBU) Ref A Question 27 K.  For countries 
that contribute troops to international 
peacekeeping efforts, please indicate whether the 
government vigorously investigated, prosecuted, 
convicted and sentenced nationals of the country 
deployed abroad as part of a peacekeeping or other 
similar mission who engaged in or facilitated 
severe forms of trafficking or who exploited 
victims of such trafficking. 
 
¶117. (SBU) No reports existed of Moldovan 
peacekeepers (demining contingents) in Iraq 
participating in such activities.  Moldovan 
peacekeepers no longer work in Iraq, but a 
contingent will be sent to Afghanistan. 
 
¶118. (SBU) Ref A Question 27 L.  If the country 
has an identified problem of child sex tourists 
coming to the country, what are the countries of 
origin for sex tourists? How many foreign 
pedophiles did the government prosecute or 
deport/extradite to their country of origin?  If 
your host country's nationals are perpetrators of 
child sex tourism, do the country's child sexual 
abuse laws have extraterritorial coverage (similar 
to the U.S. PROTECT Act) to allow the prosecution 
of suspected sex tourists for crimes committed 
abroad?  If so, how many of the country's 
nationals were prosecuted and/or convicted during 
the reporting period under the extraterritorial 
provision(s) for traveling to other countries to 
engage in child sex tourism? 
 
¶119. (SBU) Of the 61 investigations launched in 
2008 by CCTIP under the trafficking in children 
statute, one high-profile case involved U.S. 
citizen Anthony Bianchi and Moldovan citizen Ion 
Georghe Gusin.  On the basis of this case, the 
CCTIP launched 17 criminal investigations under 
the child trafficking, violent acts of sexual 
nature, forced sexual relations, and perverse acts 
articles of the Criminal Code.  The CCTIP worked 
jointly with U.S. officials in the investigation 
and prosecution of Bianchi, who was charged under 
a 2003 U.S. federal law that makes it illegal for 
Americans to commit sexual crimes against children 
in foreign countries.  Eight of the victims from 
Moldova and four CCTIP officers traveled to 
Philadelphia in July 2007 to testify in a U.S. 
federal court, before an American jury, against 
Mr. Bianchi.  Bianchi was convicted in 2007.  On 
January 7, 2009, Judge Bruce Kaufman of the 
Eastern District Court denied Bianchi's appeal of 
his conviction.  According to an ICE release, 
Bianchi, faced 36 years of imprisonment, a 
mandatory minimum sentence of five years, five 
years supervised release, a USD 3 million fine and 
a USD 1,200 special assessment.  In May 2009, 
Anthony Bianchi was sentenced to 25 years in 
prison. 
 
¶120. (SBU) Ref A Question 28 A.  What kind of 
protection is the government able, under existing 
law, to provide for victims and witnesses?  Does 
it provide these protections in practice? 
 
¶121. (SBU) In September 2008, the GOM enacted a 
new witness protection law, which included many 
provisions recommended by the U.S. Embassy.  The 
law clearly distinguishes the activities pertinent 
to protection of witness and actions meant to 
assist victims of crimes.  It also provides for 
the creation of a separate witness protection 
division under the Ministry of Interior. 
 
CHISINAU 00000083  027.2 OF 037 
 
 
According to the law, the prosecutor leading the 
investigation is the ultimate decision maker on 
whether to place witnesses under a protection 
program and/or to refer victims to special social 
and medical care facilities.  In addition to a 
special Division on Witness Protection based on 
the law, the CCTIP has a special unit for witness 
and victim protection and assistance.  This unit 
protects and encourages victims to assist in the 
investigation and prosecution of trafficking 
cases.  The main purpose of the unit is to provide 
for physical and psychological protection.  Simple 
measures include court security, access to police, 
police escorts, keeping the victims constantly 
informed of the status of the legal proceedings, 
access to counseling, and protection while 
participating in criminal procedures.  After the 
trial, the victims will be referred to the Center 
operated by the MSP in order to have access to 
legal and social support services, including post- 
trial counseling, to address any trauma caused by 
testifying. 
 
¶122. (SBU) In the period 2006-2008, there were 12 
persons under protection as part of a criminal 
proceeding: seven persons in 2006, four in 2007, 
and one in 2008.  In 2009, CCTIP reported two 
victims for whom protection measures were applied. 
 
¶123. (SBU) According to the MOI, the main 
impediment to proper implementation of the Law on 
Witness Protection and administration of the 
program is underfunding and poor logistical 
capacities.  On November 2-11, the Embassy, in 
partnership with UNODC, brought in two experts on 
witness protection, who conducted a comprehensive 
assessment of the witness protection system and 
the framework for implementation of the new law 
protection law.  The report with recommendations 
to GOM is expected by February 2010. 
 
¶124. (SBU) Ref A Question 28 B.  Does the country 
have victim care facilities (shelters or drop-in 
centers) which are accessible to trafficking 
victims?  Do foreign victims have the same access 
to care as domestic trafficking victims?  Where 
are child victims placed (e.g., in shelters, 
foster care, or juvenile justice detention 
centers)?  Does the country have specialized care 
for adults in addition to children?  Does the 
country have specialized care for male victims as 
well as female?  Does the country have specialized 
facilities dedicated to helping victims of 
trafficking?  Are these facilities operated by the 
government or by NGOs?  What is the funding source 
of these facilities?  Please estimate the amount 
the government spent (in U.S. dollar equivalent) 
on these specialized facilities dedicated to 
helping trafficking victims during the reporting 
period. 
 
¶125. (SBU) Moldova currently does not have active 
arrangements with other countries on the provision 
of temporary residence status for foreign-national 
victims of trafficking. 
 
¶126. (SBU) In December 2006, the Rehabilitation 
Center of IOM was transferred to government 
ownership and responsibility.  The Center of 
Assistance and Protection of TIP victims and 
potential victims is a state institution 
(established as of June 11, 2008) that is managed 
by the MLSP.  The Center provides temporary 
placement, legal and medical assistance, 
psychological counseling, social support, and 
vocational training.  The Center is supported by 
 
CHISINAU 00000083  028.2 OF 037 
 
 
the state budget (608,800 Lei, approximately USD 
50,700, was allocated for the Center in 2009) and 
IOM, according to the Cooperation Agreement 
concluded between IOM and the MSP.  In 2010, the 
Center will receive 575,600 Lei from the state 
budget and 550,000 Lei for the repatriation of TIP 
victims and children left without parental care 
abroad.  The Center serves at the primary contact 
point in Moldova for repatriated victims, 
including children. 
 
¶127. (SBU) The MLSP reported that in 2008-2009, 91 
TIP victims and migrants in difficult conditions 
were repatriated.  According to a GOM decision of 
August 2008, the MLSP is responsible for all 
activities required for the organization and 
initiation of repatriation procedures for non- 
accompanied minors identified in foreign 
countries.  In 2009, the MLSP, in partnership with 
IOM and/or Terre des Hommes Foundation, organized 
20 repatriation missions of children and 
repatriated 42 unaccompanied minors (25 from the 
Russian Federation, eight from Romania, eight from 
Ukraine, one from Sweden). 
 
¶128. (SBU) In addition to the Center, there are 
ten maternal and youth centers providing 
assistance to victims.  These centers are 
supported by local public authorities and NGOs. 
In 2009-2011, the MLSP will provide budget support 
for two regional multi-functional community 
centers Q one in Balti and one in Cahul Q offering 
assistance to TIP victims and potential victims. 
These allocations were provided according to the 
National Program on Creation of Integrated Social 
Services for 2008Q2012 and adopted in December 
¶2008.  The state budget provided for 1,175,300 Lei 
(approximately USD 97,900) for 2009 and 1,203,800 
Lei (approximately USD 100,300) for 2010 for the 
two centers. IOM will cover operating costs for 
the next seven years.  Legal, medical, and 
psychological services are mainly provided by 
international organizations and NGOs.  The Center 
of Assistance and Protection of TIP victims and 
potential victims is the only comprehensive victim 
assistance facility in the country.  Various 
ministries have cooperated with NGOs and 
international organizations to support their 
assistance efforts.  For example, the Ministry of 
Interior signed a Memorandum of Collaboration with 
IOM to ensure that victims of trafficking 
repatriated through IOM are not apprehended by 
border guards and transferred to the Ministry of 
Internal Affairs for interrogation, but allowed to 
go straight to the Center of Assistance and 
Protection of TIP victims and potential victims. 
 
¶129. (SBU) The Center for Temporary Placement of 
Minors in Chisinau has 39 employees (security, 
psychological and educational), who deal with 
1,800 cases a year of lost, abandoned, 
repatriated, or arrested children aged three to 
18, and children who run away from orphanages.  It 
has beds for 24 children.  In addition to the 
Center, 27 smaller centers, capable of housing up 
to ten children, operate in municipalities.  On a 
cases-by-case basis, the Center reunites children 
with their biological families, places them in 
orphanages, or returns them to orphanages.  It 
provides full-time education to those who stay at 
the Center (a stay can last from several hours to 
six months), and provides a valuable services for 
vulnerable young people who would otherwise be on 
the streets.  The Center reported no victims of 
child trafficking in 2009 among its beneficiaries. 
 
 
CHISINAU 00000083  029.2 OF 037 
 
 
¶130. (SBU) Ref A Question 28 C.  Does the 
government provide trafficking victims with access 
to legal, medical and psychological services?  If 
so, please specify the kind of assistance 
provided.  Does the government provide funding or 
other forms of support to foreign or domestic NGOs 
and/or international organizations for providing 
these services to trafficking victims?  Please 
explain and provide any funding amounts in U.S. 
dollar equivalent.  If assistance provided was in- 
kind, please specify exact assistance.  Please 
specify if funding for assistance comes from a 
federal budget or from regional or local 
governments. 
 
¶131. (SBU) See paras. 126 and 128 above. 
 
¶132. (SBU) Ref A Question 28 D.  Does the 
government assist foreign trafficking victims, for 
example, by providing temporary to permanent 
residency status, or other relief from 
deportation?  If so, please explain. 
 
¶133. (SBU) In 2009, CCTIP reported one foreign 
trafficking victim Q a Ukrainian citizen.  The 
victim was offered temporary placement in the 
Center of Assistance and Protection of TIP victims 
and potential victims in Chisinau. 
 
¶134. (SBU) Ref A Question 28 E.  Does the 
government provide longer-term shelter or housing 
benefits to victims or other resources to aid the 
victims in rebuilding their lives? 
 
¶135. (SBU) See paras. 70, 126, and 128 above. 
 
¶136. (SBU) Ref A Question 28 F.  Does the 
government have a referral process to transfer 
victims detained, arrested or placed in protective 
custody by law enforcement authorities to 
institutions that provide short- or long-term care 
(either government or NGO-run)? 
 
¶137. (SBU) In 2008, the National Referral System 
for Protection and Assistance of Victims and 
Potential Victims of Trafficking (NRS) began 
operating in 16 raions and two municipalities.  In 
an effort to improve the legal framework and the 
institutionalization process of the NRS, the 
Parliament adopted the Strategy and the Action 
Plan of the NRS on protection and assistance to 
TIP victims and potential TIP victims on December 
5, 2008.  On February 10, 2009, the Strategy was 
published in the Official Monitor of Moldova.  The 
Strategy established cooperation between competent 
state institutions and national and international 
organizations that are engaged in the prevention 
and combating of human trafficking.  The NRS has 
trained local specialists in skills such as direct 
contact with the victims, their reintegration into 
the family and the society, and the prevention of 
stigma usually attributed to TIP victims in 
society.  The multidisciplinary teams have been 
supplied with separate phone lines, internet 
access, computers, and stationery.  Some were also 
provided with furniture, and some coordinators of 
multidisciplinary teams are attending computer 
courses.  In 2009, the NRS was extended to 23 
raions, two municipalities, and one town.  In 
partnership with IOM and UNFPA, a training session 
on strengthening the capacities of social workers 
through NRS was offered in one raion in 
Transnistria. 
 
¶138. (SBU) The Center of Assistance and Protection 
of TIP victims (CAPTIP) is the first contact point 
 
CHISINAU 00000083  030.2 OF 037 
 
 
in Moldova for repatriated victims, including 
children, at which they receive temporary lodging 
and legal, medical, psychological, and social 
assistance.  If there is a need for a special 
service for the beneficiaries, these persons are 
referred to NRS for assistance.  During 2009, 133 
TIP victims (49 more than in 2008, which reported 
84 victims) and 308 potential TIP victims (287 in 
2008) were referred by NRS.  Since 2006, 292 
victims and 582 potential victims have been 
referred through the NRS.  On March 27, 2008, the 
Ministry of Social Protection signed a Memorandum 
of Cooperation with UNDP, Ministry of Public 
Administration, IOM, and the NGO Association of 
Psychologists Tighina to establish a partnership 
in order to implement the UNDP Project "Better 
Opportunities for Women."  This project hopes to 
establish an eight-bed center and shelter in 
Transnistria for TIP victims. 
 
¶139. (SBU) Ref A Question 28 G.  What is the total 
number of trafficking victims identified during 
the reporting period?  (If available, please 
specify the type of exploitation of these victims 
Q e.g. "The government identified X number of 
trafficking victims during the reporting period, Y 
of which were victims of trafficking for sexual 
exploitation and Z of which were victims of 
nonconsensual labor exploitation.)  Of these, how 
many victims were referred to care facilities for 
assistance by law enforcement authorities during 
the reporting period?  By social services 
officials?  What is the number of victims assisted 
by government-funded assistance programs and those 
not funded by the government during the reporting 
period? 
 
¶140. (SBU) In 2009, IOM Moldova provided 
assistance to 159 TIP victims: 152 adults (132 
women and 20 men) and seven children (six girls 
and one boy).  Most of the victims (56.6 percent) 
were trafficked for sexual exploitation, 27.7 
percent for labor exploitation, 5.7 percent for 
begging, and 1.2 percent for combined 
exploitation.  The operations and efforts of law 
enforcement agencies resulted in the 
identification of 13 persons (8.2 percent) before 
they were taken out of Moldova, thus preventing 
their exploitation in the destination countries. 
Out of the total IOM caseload, more than 130 TIP 
victims were referred through the National 
Referral System and received assistance from the 
local public authorities.  The Center of 
Assistance and Protection of TIP victims provided 
assistance to 130 TIP victims and 138 potential 
victims in 2009.  210 beneficiaries have been 
provided temporary placement.  65 beneficiaries 
received legal assistance.  The CAPTIP received 
state funding in 2009.  CCTIP reported, that in 
2009 189 victims identified by the CCTIP (compared 
to 271 identified in 2008) participated in 
criminal proceedings.  The CCTIP also noted a 
growing number of victims willing to cooperate 
with state law enforcement authorities.  (Note: 
out of 189 victims, 33 percent were trafficked in 
2009, 28 percent in 2008 and 39 percent in the 
period of 2002Q2007.  End Note). 
 
¶141. (SBU) Ref A Question 28 H.  Do the 
government's law enforcement, immigration, and 
social services personnel have a formal system of 
proactively identifying victims of trafficking 
among high-risk persons with whom they come in 
contact (e.g., foreign persons arrested for 
prostitution or immigration violations)?  For 
countries with legalized prostitution, does the 
 
CHISINAU 00000083  031.2 OF 037 
 
 
government have a mechanism for screening for 
trafficking victims among persons involved in the 
legal/regulated commercial sex trade? 
 
¶142. (SBU) See paras. 137-138. 
 
¶143. (SBU) Ref A Question 28 I.  Are the rights of 
victims respected?  Are trafficking victims 
detained or jailed?  If so, for how long?  Are 
victims fined?  Are victims prosecuted for 
violations of other laws, such as those governing 
immigration or prostitution? 
 
¶144. (SBU) Most NGOs agree that the government's 
treatment of victims continued to improve over the 
last few years and particularly in 2008 and 2009, 
as seen in the coordinated efforts to assist 
victims overseas, bring them home safely, and 
rehabilitating them.  The counter-trafficking law 
exempts victims from prosecution for illegal 
actions committed during the trafficking 
experience.  Victims also are not fined for 
violations of immigration laws.  Moreover, the new 
draft Code of Administrative Offences expressly 
provides that the persons engaged in practicing 
prostitution against their will are exempted from 
administrative liability. 
 
¶145. (SBU) Ref A, Question 28 J.  Does the 
government encourage victims to assist in the 
investigation and prosecution of trafficking?  How 
many victims assisted in the investigation and 
prosecution of traffickers during the reporting 
period?  May victims file civil suits or seek 
legal action against traffickers?  Does anyone 
impede victim access to such legal redress?  If a 
victim is a material witness in a court case 
against a former employer, is the victim permitted 
to obtain other employment or to leave the country 
pending trial proceedings?  Are there means by 
which a victim may obtain restitution? 
 
¶146. (SBU) The government encouraged victims to 
assist in the investigation and prosecution of 
trafficking.  The CCTIP reported that it ensured 
the security of TIP victims returning to the 
country; provided psychological and pedagogical 
counselors for victims (including children) who 
were being interviewed at La Strada; referred 
victims, "from the moment of identification," to 
competent state authorities for assistance; and 
minimized the number of hearings in which a victim 
must participate.  In 2009, 36 of 159 victims 
assisted by IOM testified against traffickers.  At 
the same time, La Strada expressed concerns about 
children victims, noting that no special 
protection measures have been extended to 
children; no special interviewing rooms exist; 
children were often interviewed as many as ten 
times, often being confronted by the alleged 
trafficker; interviews were often carried out by 
police with no special training, on ad hoc 
schedules, often for several hours, and without 
the presence of legal counsel.  La Strada 
concluded by stating that risk assessments for 
minors had to be performed by NGOs and that NGO 
recommendations for the protection of victim- 
witnesses were "randomly and rarely considered." 
 
¶147. (SBU) Under Moldovan law, a victim can obtain 
restitution through criminal proceedings, but only 
if the victim requests it.  The draft National 
Anti-trafficking Action Plan for 2010-2011 
provides for the establishment of legal provisions 
to ensure access of victims to restitution from 
traffickers and/or the state.  The draft also 
 
CHISINAU 00000083  032.2 OF 037 
 
 
provides for modification of criminal law to 
ensure that the seizure of a trafficker's property 
by the state can take place only after the victim 
has obtained restitution. 
 
¶148. (SBU) Ref A Question 28 K.  Does the 
government provide any specialized training for 
government officials in identifying trafficking 
victims and in the provision of assistance to 
trafficked victims, including the special needs of 
trafficked children?  Does the government provide 
training on protections and assistance to its 
embassies and consulates in foreign countries that 
are destination or transit countries?  What is the 
number of trafficking victims assisted by the host 
country's embassies or consulates abroad during 
the reporting period?  Please explain the type of 
assistance provided (travel documents, referrals 
to assistance, payment for transportation home). 
 
¶149. (SBU) In addition to regular training 
sessions conducted by CCTIP during 2009 for its 
newly employed officers (at the CCTIP, at three 
regional subdivisions, and at raion police 
stations), the CCTIP organized: 
 
--a working session in March, with NGOs dealing 
with assistance to victims of human trafficking; 
 
-- a training program "Protection and Empowerment 
of the Victims of Human Trafficking and Domestic 
Violence in the Framework of the National Referral 
System" in May, in partnership with IOM, MSPFC, 
Center for Assistance and Protection of Victims of 
Trafficking from Chisinau and UNFPA; 
 
-- three seminars on "Strengthening Capacities of 
Law Enforcement Bodies in Combating TIP" in 
November, in partnership with the Center for 
Combating Trafficking in Women, in Chisinau, 
Causeni, and Ungheni with the participation of 
police officers dealing with trafficking-related 
offences. 
 
¶150. (SBU) In 2009, the NRS supported local 
specialists, who attended a series of training 
courses conducted by the MLSP.  The participants 
learned about direct contact with the victims and 
their reintegration into family and society, and 
the prevention of any possible stigma usually 
attributed to TIP victims in society. 
 
¶151. (SBU) Ref A Question 28 L.  Does the 
government provide assistance, such as medical 
aid, shelter, or financial help, to its nationals 
who are repatriated as victims of trafficking? 
 
¶152. (SBU) See paras. 126, 128, and 138. 
 
¶153. (SBU) Ref A Question 28 M.  Which 
international organizations or NGOs, if any, work 
with trafficking victims?  What types of services 
do they provide?  What sort of cooperation do they 
receive from local authorities? 
 
¶154. (SBU) IOM and La Strada are the principal 
organizations working with victims of trafficking. 
They provide relief, rehabilitation, and 
counseling.  Several NGOs provide half-way houses, 
typically with six to ten beds, for victims of 
trafficking.  Ref B describes positive reports 
from IOM and La Strada on the types and level of 
cooperation offered by the GOM. 
 
¶155. (SBU) Ref A Question 29 A.  Did the 
government conduct anti-trafficking information or 
 
CHISINAU 00000083  033.2 OF 037 
 
 
education campaigns during the reporting period? 
If so, briefly describe the campaign(s), including 
their objectives and effectiveness.  Please 
provide the number of people reached by such 
awareness efforts, if available.  Do these 
campaigns target potential trafficking victims 
and/or the demand for trafficking (e.g., "clients" 
of prostitutes or beneficiaries of forced labor)? 
(Note:  This can be an especially noteworthy 
effort where prostitution is legal.  End Note.) 
 
¶156. (SBU) The National Employment Agency of the 
Ministry of Economy continued to provide 
vocational training free of charge to at-risk 
persons and returned trafficking victims referred 
by IOM.  It distributed information to potential 
victims about the job market and taught them how 
to prepare a resume, how to apply for a job, and 
how to handle a job interview, in addition to 
informing them about their rights and about job 
placement opportunities.  In an effort to increase 
public awareness related to trafficking in human 
beings, CCTIP, with local and international NGOs 
and IOs, developed and conducted seminars for high 
school students, teaching staff from schools and 
universities, priests, local authorities and local 
law enforcement officials. 
 
¶157. (SBU) In 2009, the CCTIP organized and 
conducted nine seminars on the prevention of human 
trafficking for local public authorities in summer 
camps and at the Peace Corps Office in Chisinau. 
 
¶158. (SBU) In 2009, the CCTIP hosted approximately 
ten discussions of the problem of human 
trafficking, including for foreign journalists, 
broadcast on radio and TV channels such as 
Moldova1, PRO TV, NIT, TV 21, TV7, and local media 
outlets.  During the reporting period, the CCTIP 
issued 40 press releases on the MOI web page and 
to local media and conducted press conferences on 
a monthly basis, reporting to NGOs and interested 
members of the public on the activity of the 
Center. 
 
¶159. (SBU) Representatives of the MLSP 
participated in the monthly Technical Coordination 
Meetings on Combating Trafficking in Persons 
hosted by OSCE. 
 
¶160. (SBU) Ref A Question 29 B.  Does the 
government monitor immigration and emigration 
patterns for evidence of trafficking? 
 
¶161. (SBU) In 2004, Pasager, an automated system 
to monitor borders, was implemented with U.S. 
support, and is being used by the Border Guards 
Service to, among other things, combat trafficking 
in persons, by monitoring and recording 
information on individuals crossing the border. 
Passport scanners are used to detect counterfeit 
documents.  Information introduced into the system 
using one of the three entry modules for road, 
air, and railway traffic is stored in a central 
database.  At Chisinau airport, in cooperation 
with the Ministry of Information Development, the 
Border Service implemented real-time ID control 
for Moldovan citizens.  In addition, the system 
has a mechanism for reviewing the most recent 
entry records and travel history of Moldovan 
citizens. 
 
¶162. (SBU) Ref A Question 29 C.  Is there a 
mechanism for coordination and communication 
between various agencies, internal, international, 
and multilateral on trafficking-related matters, 
 
CHISINAU 00000083  034.2 OF 037 
 
 
such as a multi-agency working group or a task 
force? 
 
¶163. (SBU) The National Referral Mechanism 
coordinates prosecution, protection and prevention 
of TIP.  See para. 31.  The National Anti- 
trafficking Committee (NCCTIP) has the lead role 
in reviewing the government's anti-trafficking 
efforts, and further steps to strengthen its 
coordination role were taken in 2009.  See paras. 
39-40. GOM cooperated with other governments on 
investigation and prosecution of TIP cases.  The 
results depended in part on the other country's 
response.  Moldova is a member of SECI and SEEPAG, 
the prosecutors' corollary organization to SECI. 
On February 8, 2006, the government ratified an 
agreement with Turkey to combat trafficking as 
part of a broader effort to fight illegal drug 
trafficking, international terrorism, and other 
organized crime. 
 
¶164. (SBU) On June 20, 2007, the government signed 
a bilateral agreement with Slovakia on combating 
organized crime.  In 2007, the government began 
negotiations on bilateral agreements on combating 
TIP with the UAE.  At an April 26-27, 2007, 
meeting, senior law enforcement officials from 
Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine negotiated a 
trilateral agreement to establish a headquarters 
in Romania. In 2009 GOM began negotiations on 
bilateral agreements on protection and 
repatriation of children with Italy and on 
repatriation of children and adults in difficult 
conditions with the Russian Federation.  No new 
agreements were signed in 2009. 
 
¶165. (SBU) Between 2005 and 2007, CCTIP, all 
Moldovan agencies collaborating in the CCTIP task 
force, the Embassy, and the Immigration and 
Customs Enforcement Agency, cooperated in a joint 
international criminal investigation of American 
citizen Anthony Mark Bianchi.  Bianchi was charged 
under a 2003 federal law that makes it illegal for 
Americans to commit sexual crimes against children 
in foreign countries.  The two-year investigation 
resulted in Bianchi's August 2007 conviction at 
the Federal Court in Philadelphia on all counts of 
sexual crimes against minors committed overseas. 
The crime included a TIP charge levied in Moldova 
against a local national who moved children to 
facilitate Bianchi's acts in Moldova. 
 
¶166. (SBU) Parliament ratified: 
--the Council of Europe Convention on Combating 
Trafficking in Human Beings, on March 30, 2006; 
--the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish 
Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and 
Children, supplementing the UN Convention against 
Transnational Organized Crime, on February 17, 
2005; 
--ILO Convention 182 concerning the Prohibition 
and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the 
Worst Forms of Child Labor in February 2002; 
--ILO Convention 29 in October 1999 which entered 
into force in March 2001; and 
--ILO Convention 105 in March 1993. 
 
¶167. (SBU) With U.S. Government support, GOM 
opened in January 2005, the multi-agency Center 
for Combating Trafficking in Persons (CCTIP), 
which includes the International Anti-trafficking 
Analytical Bureau and the Victim/Witness 
Protection Program.  CCTIP is a task force, drawn 
from numerous GOM ministries, of prosecutors, 
investigators, analysts, and support personnel 
created to combat trafficking in persons.  The 
 
CHISINAU 00000083  035.2 OF 037 
 
 
CCITP was officially inaugurated in April 2007. 
The U.S. Embassy has installed specially designed 
office furniture, modern IT hardware, and computer 
software.  The CCTIP has a fully-equipped modern 
conference room, and is being used as a training 
facility for many courses, seminars, and 
international round table discussions. 
 
¶168. (SBU) Ref A Question 29 D.  Does the 
government have a national plan of action to 
address trafficking in persons?  If the plan was 
developed during the reporting period, which 
agencies were involved in developing it?  Were 
NGOs consulted in the process?  What steps has the 
government taken to implement the action plan? 
 
¶169. (SBU) On March 26, 2008, the third National 
Plan to Prevent and Combat Trafficking in Human 
Beings (National Plan).  The plan, for 2008-2009, 
was passed by the Government.  The drafting of the 
National Plan was coordinated by the National 
Committee, with input from other GOM agencies and 
NGOs.  The National Plan will improve the 
legislative framework, create an implementing 
mechanism for existing and adopted laws, raise the 
awareness of the risks of being trafficked and 
illegal migration, decrease the vulnerability of 
children to being trafficked, ensure social 
assistance, extend international co-operation, 
increase the number of cases and convictions for 
human trafficking, offer recovery to the victims 
of trafficking, and ensure non-discriminatory 
treatment.  Local multi-disciplinary anti- 
trafficking committees have also been established 
in all 32 districts of Moldova.  A draft National 
Plan for 2010-2011 was outlined in November 2009, 
in consultation with ministries and governmental 
agencies, NGOs and international organizations and 
is expected to be approved in January 2010 by a 
government decision, after clearance by all 
ministries involved. 
 
¶170. (SBU) Ref A Question 29 E: Required for all 
Posts: What measures has the government taken 
during the reporting period to reduce the demand 
for commercial sex acts? 
 
¶171. (SBU) Prostitution is not criminalized, but 
it is an administrative offense punished by 30 
days of detention if practiced repeatedly. 
Clients are not punished.  Pimping is criminalized 
and the law is enforced with penalties ranging 
from two to seven years of jail time.  La Strada 
reported that the GOM actions targeting demand 
reduction were focused on prostitution: raiding 
saunas and hotels, and checking the identification 
and purpose of visiting foreigners, especially 
those accompanying women after ten P.M.  During 
the period of June 12-20, 2009, CCTIP, MOI and the 
Special Forces Brigade "Fulger" checked ten night 
clubs, to identify cases of practicing 
prostitution, pimping, and illegal overstay of 
foreign citizens.  As a result, 12 administrative 
cases were opened, and violators were fined a 
total of 17,400 Lei (USD 1,400). 
 
¶172. (SBU) Ref A Question 29F.  Required of all 
Posts: What measures has the government taken 
during the reporting period to reduce the 
participation in international child sex tourism 
by nationals of the country? 
 
¶173. (SBU) See paras. 72, 119, and 165.  The GOM 
exhibited exemplary, active, and full cooperation 
with the USG on the child sex tourism case of 
Anthony Bianchi.  The assistance, which 
 
CHISINAU 00000083  036.2 OF 037 
 
 
contributed materially to Bianchi's conviction, 
helped send a message to predators that Moldova 
was not a safe place for them.  In May 2009, 
Anthony Bianchi was sentenced to 25 years in 
prison. 
 
¶174. (SBU) On January 30, 2009, prosecutors gave 
us follow up information on GOM pledges made in 
June 2008 to investigate the complicity of GOM 
officials in trafficking.  GPO officials 
investigating the complicity case of former CCTIP 
Deputy Director Ion Bejan are conducting extensive 
investigations of the records of Bejan and his co- 
workers in police offices, Ministry of Interior 
files (personnel records, operative files, and 
informants' reports), PGO and judicial reports, 
and other GOM offices which record citizen 
complaints.  So far, they have found no evidence 
of complicity.  In addition, convicted trafficker 
Alexandru Covali (see paras. 69 and 86), who 
originally implicated Bejan, has been shown to 
have lied about having access to his GPO file 
(with Bejan's assistance), and to have lied about 
turning over ownership of a car to Bejan's son. 
Since June, 2008, Covali has refused to talk to or 
cooperate with GOM prosecution authorities 
regarding his alleged connections to the Bejan 
case. 
 
¶175. (SBU) The PGO reported no cases of 
involvement of public officials in trafficking in 
persons (art. 615) or child trafficking (art. 206) 
in 2009.  In 2008, prosecutors gave us information 
on these other alleged complicity cases against 
government employees: 
 
--On November 25, a mayor was condemned for 
organizing illegal migration, and sentenced to 
five years in jail.  The PGO appealed the sentence 
as too lenient.  The former mayor is now in jail. 
 
--The directors of two sports clubs, Armada and 
Camelot, who were convicted of organizing illegal 
migration, could not be convicted: the de jure 
"victims" (who were de facto beneficiaries of a 
scheme to get visas to the EU by means of 
falsified membership in the clubs) filed 
depositions, but had left Moldova before they were 
able to testify in the trials. 
 
--Two employees of the GOM-private sector joint 
venture Gymnastic Federation forged documents to 
attest to membership of other persons in the 
federation.  The head of the trampoline section 
admitted his guilt and was fined 2,000 Lei (USD 
190).  The head of the rhythmic section, who also 
was accused of coaching visa applicants for 
interviews, is under prosecution at present. 
 
--An employee of the National Philharmonic was 
convicted of organizing illegal migration and 
fined 2,000 Lei (USD 190).  The judge accepted 
mitigating circumstances, namely that she had 
acted alone, and turned state witness against a 
travel company.  The PGO has appealed the sentence 
as too lenient, and the appeals case is now 
pending. 
 
--An employee of the Ministry of Information 
Development (which issues passports, birth 
certificates, and national identity cards) was 
convicted of illegally issuing documents, and 
fined 2,000 Lei(USD 190).  The PGO is appealing 
the sentence as too lenient. 
 
¶176. (SBU) Prosecutors also reported on: 
 
CHISINAU 00000083  037.2 OF 037 
 
 
 
--a case-law initiative which indicts 
organizations as well as individuals, thus 
permitting the investigation of company assets and 
liquidation of companies used to organize 
trafficking and illegal migration; 
 
--effecting the adjournment of cases of illegal 
migration when witnesses have gone overseas, in 
order to avoid acquittal; 
 
--increased use of letters rogatory to foreign 
governments to pursue potential witnesses in 
trafficking and illegal-migration cases; 
 
--fast-tracking of criminal procedures (primarily 
interviews and searches) in suspected trafficking 
cases, before witnesses leave the country or 
otherwise drop out of sight. 
 
¶177. (SBU) Ref A Question 30 A.  Does the 
government engage with other governments, civil 
society, and/or multilateral organizations to 
focus attention and devote resources to addressing 
human trafficking?  If so, please provide details. 
 
¶178. (SBU) In May 2008, the government signed a 
memorandum on standard operating procedures 
pertaining to alien smuggling and the assistance 
of trafficking victims with the NGO community. 
The parties involved are the Ministry of Interior, 
General ProsecutorQs Offices, Ministry of Social 
Protection, Family and Child, IOM, Center for 
Combating Trafficking in Women, and La Strada. 
See para. 128, 137-138, and 163-164. 
 
¶179. (SBU) Ref A Question 30 B.  What sort of 
international assistance does the government 
provide to other countries to address TIP? 
 
¶180. (SBU) There are no records of any assistance 
provided to other countries to address TIP by GOM. 
 
¶181. (U) Post's TIP point of contact is Michael 
Mates, +373 22 408486, email matesmj@state.gov. 
Post is unable to estimate the total number of 
hours of officer and FSN time devoted to gathering 
the information and answering the 40 paragraphs of 
questions in Ref A, whether indirectly (as part of 
officer and FSN participation in anti-TIP 
activities) or directly (in the collection of 
specific information for and drafting of this 
report), but notes that the effort involved 
significant input from officers and FSNs of the 
RSO, RLA, and P/E sections. 
 
CHAUDHRY