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Viewing cable 06KIEV869, Ukraine: Submission for the 2006 TIP Report
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| Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 06KIEV869 | 2006-03-06 15:32 | 2011-08-24 16:30 | UNCLASSIFIED | Embassy Kyiv |
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
061532Z Mar 06
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 15 KIEV 000869
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN
SUBJECT: Ukraine: Submission for the 2006 TIP Report
Ref: A) State 3836 B) Kiev 398 C) Kiev 521
(U) Sensitive but unclassified, please handle accordingly.
Not for internet distribution.
¶1. (U) Embassy Kiev's responses to the 2006 TIP report
questionnaire are presented below. Answers are keyed to
questions in ref A.
Overview (Ref A Para 21)
------------------------
¶2. (SBU) (21A) Ukraine is a country of origin for
internationally trafficked men, women and children. The
primary destination countries according to the
International Organization for Migration (IOM) are Turkey,
Russia, and Poland. Between 2004 and 2005, Russia moved
from third place to second place on the list of destination
points for Ukrainian victims trafficked for sexual and/or
labor exploitation. Russia also continued to serve as a
transit country for trafficked Ukrainian victims to other
destination points given the relative ease of moving people
illegally across the porous Ukrainian-Russian border. The
number of countries serving as destination points for
trafficked Ukrainians continued to grow, according to IOM
statistics: in 2003 there were 41 countries, in 2004 there
were 47, and in 2005 there were 49, with China and
Lithuania becoming the latest two countries identified as
destination points. The countries with the highest numbers
of reported Ukrainian victims in 2005 in descending order
were Turkey, Russia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Italy,
Israel, Greece, Serbia and Montenegro, the UK, Lithuania
and Portugal.
¶3. (SBU) (21A continued) Ukraine continued to be a transit
country for internationally trafficked women from Moldova,
Russia and other former Soviet republics. There also were
signs that Ukraine may be becoming a country of destination
for trafficked victims. In 2005 women were trafficked from
Moldova to Ukraine for labor and sexual exploitation.
There was also a report of a woman from Moldova who
trafficked her own children to Ukraine so they could beg
money on the streets. These reports indicate the growing
prosperity of Ukraine relative to some of the other former
republics of the Soviet Union, compounded by the ease of
travel between these countries, their shared second
language (Russian) and historical family, social, and
professional links.
¶4. (SBU) (21A continued) In 2005, two-thirds of the Ukraine
women who were trafficked suffered sexual exploitation (68
percent of IOMs caseload), one-third suffered labor
exploitation (30 percent of IOM's caseload) and a very
small percentage suffering both or being forced to beg.
There also were a small number of women who were trafficked
to bear children for infertile couples. Men were exploited
primarily for labor purposes. However, concrete data for
trafficked men was hard to obtain because trafficked males
generally did not recognize themselves as victims of
trafficking, and thus rarely turned to law enforcement
agencies and/or NGOs for assistance. According to
International Labor Organization (ILO) research on returned
migrants in four eastern and southeastern European
countries, including Ukraine, labor exploitation occurred
primarily in the agriculture and construction sectors. A
sample of 300 victims of forced labor showed that 23
percent had been coerced into sex work, 21 percent into
construction, and 13 percent into agriculture. The
remaining victims (43 percent) were coerced into a number
of employment fields including domestic service and care
work, small manufacturing, restaurant work and catering,
and food processing.
¶5. (SBU) (21A continued) According to local experts and the
ILO, children trafficked across state borders were
recruited primarily to serve as street-venders, domestic
workers, agricultural workers, waiter/waitress, and sex
workers. However, upon arrival at their final destination,
children usually ended up in the sex industry or were
forced to beg. Children trafficked within Ukraine also
were initially recruited for work as cleaners, waiters, and
vendors, but once again, in most cases were ultimately
coerced into providing sexual services or begging.
¶6. (SBU) (21A continued) The assessment report of the
Ukrainian Adoption System by the International Reference
Center for the Rights of Children Deprived of their Family
and International Social Service did not find any evidence
to suggest that trafficking of children through adoption
for exploitation occurred in inter-country adoptions from
Ukraine.
¶7. (SBU) (21A continued) Trafficking in persons did occur
within Ukraine's borders. In 2005, IOM registered six
people, including three minors, who were victims of
internal trafficking. They were trafficked from one region
to another for the purpose of labor (agriculture and
service industry), sexual exploitation (prostitution and
pornography), and begging. There were also reports from
NGOs that women with underage children were trafficked
within a region or a city and the children were forced to
beg. Moreover, some mothers pimped their own underage
daughters or contracted them out to studios producing
pornographic material.
¶8. (SBU) (21A continued) There is no Ukrainian territory
outside the control of the GOU.
¶9. (SBU) (21A continued) Estimates vary regarding the
number of trafficked Ukrainians, but IOM's polling data
indicated that one in every 10 Ukrainians knew someone in
their community who had been trafficked. Ukraine has
treaties permitting Ukrainian citizens to work abroad
legally with only a few countries. It is clear, therefore,
that the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians who leave the
country in search of work fall outside these treaties, seek
work illegally, and are at risk of being trafficked and
exploited. Experts from GOUs Institute for Strategic
Research estimated that at the end of 2004 more than seven
million Ukrainians worked abroad, with only 500,000 doing
so legally. In 2005, IOM provided 720 victims with
assistance and referred 242 of them to the rehabilitation
center. The Ministry of Interior (MOI) reported 446
victims, including 39 minors, were victims in criminal
cases last year.
¶10. (SBU) (21A Continued) Figures for trafficking were
supplied primarily by international organizations, the MOI,
the Ministry of Family, Youth and Sport (MFYS), the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), and other relevant
Ukrainian government agencies. Statistics did not reflect
the full scope of the problem as the numbers tabulated
reflect only registered victims; i.e., those who had
returned to Ukraine through the assistance of Ukraine's
Embassies or international organizations or those who had
appealed to international organizations or GOU agencies for
help.
¶11. (SBU) (21A Continued) According to IOM, groups
targeted for trafficking remained largely constant:
females up to 30 years of age (for sexual exploitation) and
older females (for labor exploitation), males of all ages,
and children under the age of 16. The majority of victims
who received assistance from IOM had been employed at the
time of their recruitment but with salaries on average of
less than USD 50 a month, which is low by Ukrainian
standards.
¶12. (SBU) (21B) Since last year's TIP report the level of
trafficking and the number of people who were vulnerable to
being trafficked remained relatively constant. However,
the 2005 statistics collected by IOM recorded an increase
in the number of minors trafficked to Russia for sexual
exploitation. Also a new sector for labor exploitation
came to light in 2005 involving Ukrainians in Russia's
fishing industry. Twenty-five Ukrainian men were recruited
by an employment agency in Mariupol, a city in eastern
Ukraine, to work on a crabbing trawler in the Russian Far
East. The Ukrainians worked 20 hours a day with little
food and water. The trawler never came to port and food
and water were transported to it by another ship. The
sailors effectively were imprisoned on the ship. The
district prosecutor in Russian's Sakhalin oblast instituted
a criminal case regarding the labor exploitation of the
Ukrainian fishermen. A criminal case regarding human
trafficking also was initiated in Ukraine against the
company that recruited them. Despite the higher numbers in
2005 and this new area of labor exploitation, the general
consensus among experts was that trafficking from Ukraine
had not necessarily grown, but that cooperation had
increased between international and local NGOs and law
enforcement bodies, that reporting was improved and that
awareness had increased overall among officials at all
levels regarding the problems of trafficking.
¶13. (SBU) (21B continued) The Ukrainian administration
which came to power following the "Orange Revolution" has
taken a more assertive stance on TIP relative to previous
Ukrainian governments. High-ranking officials, such as the
Minister of Interior, and the Minister for Family, Youth
and Sport and Ukraines First Lady have acknowledged
publicly that TIP is a very serious problem in Ukraine;
they have called on people to unite in the struggle against
TIP and to end the narrow thinking that stigmatizes TIP
victims as willing participants in their own trafficking.
In March 2005, the MOI created a Department for Combating
TIP with over 500 officers assigned throughout Ukraine's 27
regions dedicated exclusively to investigating TIP cases.
Funding for MOI TIP efforts increased from UAH 3,440,200
(USD 681,228) to UAH 9,422,100 (USD 1,865,762). On January
12, 2006, Parliament amended Ukraine's Criminal Code to
harmonize it with the TIP provisions of the UN Palermo
Convention and Protocol; the changes came into force on
February 10, 2006. In April 2006, the Supreme Court is
scheduled to release guidance for the lower courts
regarding the new amended Criminal Code as well as its
assessments of how courts can improve the hearing of TIP
cases, based on its review of court cases to date.
¶14. (SBU) The one branch of Ukraine's law enforcement
community that did not take an aggressive approach to
prosecuting TIP was the General Prosecutor's Office (GPO)
(Ref B and C). In response to the Embassy's demarche in
mid-2005, the GPO elevated TIP to its list of five priority
crimes. However, the GPO did not accept the Embassy's
suggestion that a specialized GPO anti-TIP unit be created.
The General Prosecutor took the position that Ukraine's
court prosecutors do not specialize and that the low volume
of TIP cases did not justify the resource commit necessary
to create a specialized unit. Regarding a TIP victim
witness protection program, the situation in Ukraine
remained unchanged. The GOU's position continued to be
that its limited budget prevented it from developing a
witness protection program for any criminal offense beyond
its current practice of providing a two-person protective
detail for witnesses for the duration of trials, if deemed
necessary.
¶15. (SBU) (21B continued) Victims were usually trafficked
into conditions of severe exploitation that include
beatings, limited and low-quality food, no medical
assistance, and long work hours. For instance, the IOM
reported that women trafficked to Turkey were forced to
take antibiotics and contraceptives without medical
oversight which resulted in serious, long-term health
problems for the victims.
¶16. (SBU) (21B continued) Children were reported to be an
at-risk group for trafficking. Street children or children
from low-income homes or with drug/alcohol dependent
parents were especially at risk as these children often
were forced to sell themselves to survive or the parents
sold their children to recruiters for pornographic
exploitation or to be trafficked. According to the network
End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking
of Children for Sexual Purposes, 18 percent of street
children in Ukraine had been victims of sexual violence or
exploitation. Another vulnerable category was orphans. By
law these children must leave the orphanages at age 18, but
are afforded only limited social support as they begin
their independent lives. Among women engaged in
prostitution in Ukraine, 11 percent are girls aged 12 to 15
and 20 percent are aged 16 to 17. People in rural areas
were deemed an at-risk group as they had less exposure to
public information campaigns on the risks of being
trafficked. According to data gathered by a social
research company for IOM, people in rural areas were less
likely than their urban counterparts to believe they would
become victims of trafficking and therefore did less due
diligence on the offers they were made (legal or illegal)
to work abroad.
¶17. (SBU) (21B continued) All Ukrainians who went abroad
illegally to work were at risk of being exploited.
According to research by the ILO the lack of information on
how to apply for legal employment abroad made most
Ukrainians dependent on private intermediaries, who in many
cases were conduits for trafficking. The study showed that
individuals who used trusted social connections or legal
channels were, for the most part, employed safely abroad,
whether legally or illegally. In contrast, the majority of
forced labor victims had fallen prey to unscrupulous
intermediaries because they had insufficient knowledge how
to get legal employment abroad, or how to return if abroad
illegally but in need of help.
¶18. (SBU) (21B continued) Some employment, travel, marriage
and model agencies also served as recruitment mechanisms
for TIP. As of December 2005, there were 434 companies
serving as intermediators or helping Ukrainians find jobs
abroad. Companies that engaged in trafficking tended to be
affiliated with organized crime groups, had foreign
partners, and bribed corrupt officials to facilitate the
movement abroad of the victims. The number of males and
females among these recruitment companies was almost equal.
Sometimes females served as success stories for potential
victims by flaunting how much money they ostensibly earned
abroad. The majority of the recruiters were Ukrainians.
It was quite common for victims to receive offers to go
abroad from their friends or a friend of a friend and even
sometimes from relatives.
¶19. (SBU) (21B continued) Traffickers used a variety of
methods to recruit victims, including ads in newspapers, on
local television channels, and on radio stations. Jobs
s
advertised abroad offered high salaries relative to the
salaries for the same job in Ukraine. Most often the
positions advertised required limited qualifications such
as jobs in the hospitality industry (waiters, bartenders,
or hotel staff) or in factories. Another approach was to
offer fake marriage proposals. Often traffickers presented
themselves as friends of other friends, owners of a
bar/cafe somewhere abroad or friends of such owners and
deceived potential victims. The traffickers often paid for
the processing of passports and travel documents for the
victims, thus placing them in debt bondage. In some rare
cases, traffickers simply kidnapped their victims. In
2005, there were several such cases involving minors who
were trafficked to Russia for sexual exploitation.
¶20. (SBU) (21B continued) In the majority of cases, victims
traveled on their own passports. However, false passports
with false dates of birth were often produced for victims
under the age of 18 so they would comply with age
requirements for travel without adult supervision or
parental consent. In some cases corrupt border guards
facilitated the movement of adults and minors across the
border without any identity documents. Given the very
porous nature of Ukraine's border with Russia, undocumented
travel across the border is relatively easy. For example,
law enforcement authorities in the Dnipropetrovsk region
uncovered an organized crime ring that delivered underage
virgins to a client in Moscow. Girls without documents
were moved across the Ukrainian-Russian border to the
client in Russia and then returned home two to three days
later. A policeman from region's police unit for crimes
against minors was a member of the ring. The case is
currently in court.
¶21. (SBU) (21C) The GOUs ability to address TIP is limited
by a variety of factors: a lack of understanding of the
problem by some government agencies, budget constraints,
corruption, and the limited period the more progressive
Ukrainian Government has been in office. For example, the
Ministry of Economics did not support the idea of a
creating new Comprehensive Anti-TIP Program as it did not
see TIP as a priority issue. The General Prosecutors
Office did not agree to establish a special anti-TIP unit
since it did not believe the problem to be widespread.
Other government agencies, however, did take the issue
seriously and did cooperate with international
organizations and local NGOs in conducting information
campaigns, hosting seminars and roundtables, and supporting
reintegration centers, but rarely did this cooperation
entail substantial financial support as the GOU agencies
claimed budgetary constraints. Nevertheless, relative to
previous years GOU financial contributions have improved,
albeit incrementally. The Ministry of Finance reported
that it allocated in 2005 UAH 1,177,200 (USD 233,109) for
implementation of the Comprehensive Anti-TIP Program,
including UAH 145,000 (USD 28,713) from the state budget
and UAH 1,032,200 (USD 204,396) from local budgets. MOIs
Department for Combating TIP and its 27 regional divisions
received UAH 9,422,100 (USD 1,865,762).
¶22. (SBU) (21C continued) The GOU enacted positive
legislative changes and structural changes in the law
enforcement community. The process involved extensive
lobbying with bureaucrats and parliamentary deputies.
Corruption remains endemic in Ukraine, a fact that the GOU
has openly acknowledged, and continues to have a
substantial corrosive effect on the efficiency and
integrity of government services, including the judiciary
and law enforcement. The GOU is struggling to address the
issue with a variety of new anti-corruption initiatives.
In 2005, five regional anti-TIP officers within the MOI
were charged for taking bribes related to TIP. These cases
are in the courts.
¶23. (SBU) (21D) The MFYS monitored the implementation of
the government's Comprehensive Anti-TIP Program for 2002-
2005 and submitted annual reports as well as a threeyear
review to the Cabinet of Ministers. These reports,
however, were not widely disseminated. The MOI monitors
and generates annual statistics on the number of TIP crimes
committed as well as the number of cases it handled.
Prevention (Ref A Para 22)
--------------------------
¶24. (SBU) (22A) The GOU acknowledged that trafficking is a
problem in Ukraine and increased efforts to fight it. In
March 2005, Yushchenko government placed greater emphasis
on TIP as an issue of concern for the government. High-
ranking GOUs officials, such as the Minister of Interior
and the Minister for Family, Youth and Sport and Ukraines
first Lady used the electronic media to educate the public
on the seriousness and scope of the problem of TIP in
Ukraine. In particular, the Minister for Family, Youth,
and Sport, who is also the GOU's Inter-Agency Coordination
on
Council Chairman, and the Minister of Interior spoke out
publicly against TIP at frequent public events and
underscored the need to de-stigmatize victims of TIP. On
March 30, 2005, MOI raised the status of its TIP unit,
previously subsumed within the Criminal Investigation
Department and responsible for a broad range of issues, to
a stand-alone Department focused solely on combating TIP.
Over 500 officers were assigned to country's 27 regional
administrative units with the sole purpose of investigating
TIP. The Ministry of Finance calculated the three-year
cost of implementing the 2002-2005 Comprehensive Anti-TIP
Program was UAH 2,466,800 (USD 488,475). The MFA
established centers in Ukraine to educate citizens on the
risks of working abroad illegally. In 2005, the MFA also
held in Istanbul a specialized TIP training course for its
consular officers stationed in the countries of the Black
Sea region. The Supreme Court informed the Embassy that it
was finalizing its analysis of TIP cases and expected to
circulate it to the country's lower courts in April 2006 in
order to help judges avoid legal mistakes made in
adjudicating previous TIP cases.
¶25. (SBU) (22B) According to the GOUs Comprehensive Anti-TIP
Program for 2002-2005, anti-trafficking responsibilities were
allotted to the following government agencies: MFYS, MOI,
MFA, the Ministry for Education and Sciences, the Ministry of
Justice, the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, the
Ministry of Health, the State Security Service (SSU), the
State Committee for Information, the State Border Guard
Service (SBGS), the State Committee for Nationalities and
Migration, and the State Tourism Administration. The most
prominent and active GOU agencies in this field in 2005 were
the MOI, MFYS, and MFA. The Inter-Agency Coordination
Council, established in the spring of 2002, coordinated and
monitored the government's response to TIP, with the
objective of strengthening the capacity of relevant
government authorities. At the regional level, similar
Coordination Commissions were established and met regularly.
In 2005, the Council made a tentative recommendation,
although not endorsed by all Council members, that a National
Anti-TIP Coordinator be established within the context of the
new Comprehensive Anti-TIP Program for 2006-2010.
¶26. (SBU) (22C) No information or public education campaign
in Ukraine in 2005 was exclusively funded or run by the
government. As a general rule, the GOU supported campaigns
funded by bilateral or international donors by placing
social advertisement on government TV and radio stations
free of charge. The Ministry for Education and Science in
cooperation with the NGO Womens Consortium, the Red Cross,
and IOM initiated a TIP information campaign to raise
awareness among both pupils and teachers. Several
television stations broadcasted documentary films and
informational programs highlighting the danger of human
trafficking. NGOs conducted general awareness campaigns
throughout the country at the local level, often in
cooperation with local government entities. International
organizations also enlisted Ukrainian celebrities to
participate in TIP-prevention information campaigns.
Ruslana, winner of the 2004 Eurovision contest, supported
the OSCEs efforts and Ukraine's most popular signer,
Vakarchuk, lead vocalist for the pop group Okean Elzy,
worked with IOM. At nationally televised events, public
officials urged their fellow citizens to be supportive of
TIP victims and to avoid being trafficked.
¶27. (SBU) (22D) MFYS continued to run a number of credit
programs to support young people such as the "outreach to
rural youth" and "mortgages for young families." However,
the programs' small budgets limited their impact. The
Ministry of Labor, along with the State Employment service
and MFYS, supported a special program entitled "Rural
Women" aimed at raising education levels of rural women.
n.
The State Employment Centers continued to encourage
unemployed women to start their own small business by
training them and providing them with a lump sum payment of
unemployment benefits.
¶28. (SBU) (22F) Good cooperation existed between the
government and civil society, both at the national and
local levels. However, once again, due to the government's
limited financial resources NGOs usually provided
necessary assistance to victims, including medical,
psychological, and legal services. In some regions, active
NGOs took the lead in coordinating TIP activities of local
governmental agencies. Local administrations included NGOs
as partner organizations in their regional action plans.
¶29. (SBU) (22G) The State Border Guards Service (SBGS) and
the MOI are the primary agencies that monitor immigration
and emigration patterns for evidence of trafficking. SBGS
reported that they analyze migration patterns on a monthly
basis and send the information to MOI, GPO, and the SSU.
In the fall of 2005, the MOI expanded the Department for
Combating TIP to include illegal migration.
¶30. (SBU) (22H) The Inter-Agency Coordination Council was
established in 2002 under the Comprehensive Anti-TIP
Program. The Councils task was to coordinate the
governmental response to TIP. In December 2004, an
advisory working group to the Inter-Agency Coordination
Council was established, and included representatives of
NGOs and international organizations. At the regional
level, similar Coordination Commissions were established.
Within the law enforcement community, stovepiping of data
management resulted in insufficient and slow dissemination
of information. Timely sharing of information among
relevant GOU agencies was further hampered by limited
digital communication capabilities. Indeed, transfer of
electronic data within an individual law enforcement agency
among regions remained extremely limited, slow, and
unreliable. In February 2005, the Minster of Interior
cited constraints on internal communications and corruption
as the Ministry's two largest problems. In the second half
of 2005, MOI, SSU and SBGS agreed that senior officers
would meet periodically to discuss ways to improve
information flow and coordination between agencies. The
problem of coordination and data sharing within and among
Ministries hampered all law enforcement efforts in Ukraine,
not just efforts to combat TIP.
¶31. (SBU) (22H continued) The National Security and Defense
Council oversaw the drafting of a concept paper and action
plan for the creation of an umbrella mechanism for
prosecuting corruption that drew on Europe's best practices
and standards. The paper laid out the principles for
reforming Ukraine's law enforcement community to comport
with European Union norms and standards. The President was
expected to approve the concept paper by the end of March
¶2006.
¶32. (SBU) (22J) GOU completed its Comprehensive Anti-TIP
Program for 2002-2005. At the end of 2005, the MFYS
finalized the Concept Paper for the Comprehensive National
Anti-TIP Program for 2006-2010. In addition to input from
government agencies the Concept Paper received input from
IOM, La Strada, UNDP, ILO and Caritas, as well as local
NGOs that deal with trafficking. Once the Cabinet of
Ministers approves the Concept Paper, a comprehensive
program will be drafted.
¶33. (SBU) (22J continued) The Comprehensive Anti-TIP
Program for 2002-2005 was widely disseminated at seminars
and roundtables organized by the GOU in cooperation with
international donors; however, the annual assessment
reports on progress toward implementation received limited
circulation.
Investigation and Prosecution (Ref A Para 23)
---------------------------------------------
¶34. (SBU) (23A) On January 12, the Parliament passed the
Law on Changes to the Criminal Code regarding trafficking
in persons, thus harmonizing Articles 149 (trafficking in
persons) and 303 (pimping or engaging a person in
prostitution) with the UN Palermo Convention and its
Protocol. The legislation also provided for
extraterritorial jurisdiction for serious crimes, including
human trafficking. On February 3 the law was signed by the
President and on February 10 it entered into force. The
law specifically prohibits trafficking in persons for
various purposes, including sexual and labor exploitation,
both internal and transnational. The new law covers
recruitment of a person by means of deceit, blackmail, or
the use of his/her vulnerable condition for the purpose of
exploitation. In 2005, trafficking cases were also
prosecuted under the following articles of the Criminal
Code of Ukraine: Articles 150 (exploitation of children),
190 (fraud), 301 (pornography), 302 (operating brothels and
pandering) and 303 (pimping).
Text of the new TIP statute follows:
Article 149. Trafficking in human beings or other illegal
agreement on person
¶1. Trafficking in human beings or other illegal agreement
with a person as an object, and also recruitment, transfer,
receipt, transportation, harbouring of a person committed
for the purpose of exploitation by means of deceit,
blackmail, or the use of his/her vulnerable condition,
shall be punishable by deprivation of liberty for a term of
three to eight years.
¶2. Any such actions as provided for by paragraphs one or
two of this Article committed in respect to a minor (up to
18 years of age) or perpetrated upon two or more persons,
repeatedly or by a group of persons with prior conspiracy,
or by an official through the abuse of authority, or by a
person upon whom the victim was dependent materially or
otherwise, or committed in combination with violence that
is not endangering life or health of the victim or his/her
close relatives, or in combination with threats of such
violence shall be punishable by deprivation of liberty for
a term of five to twelve years, with or without the
forfeiture of property.
¶3. Any such actions as provided for by paragraphs one, two
or three of this Article, committed in respect to a minor
(up to 14 years of age) or if committed in combination with
violence that is endangering life or health of the victim
or his/her close relatives, or in combination with threats
of such violence or committed by an organized group, or if
causing grave consequences, shall be punishable by
deprivation of liberty for a term of eight to fifteen
years, with or without the forfeiture of property.
Note 1. Exploitation of a person shall be understood as:
all forms of sexual exploitation, use in pornography
business, forced labor or services; slavery or practices
similar to slavery, servitude, involvement into debt
bondage, extraction of organs, experimentation over a
person without his/her consent, adoption for commercial
purposes, forced pregnancy, involvement into the criminal
activity, use in armed conflicts, etc.
Note 2. Vulnerable condition in the Articles 149 and 303 of
this Code shall be understood as: the status of a person,
due to his/her physical or mental peculiarities or external
conditions, that divests or abridges his/her ability to
comprehend his/her commission or omission of an act or to
manage his/her actions, to make his/her own decisions
according to his/her will, to maintain adequate resistance
to violent or other illegal actions.
Note 3. Responsibility for recruitment, transfer, receipt,
transportation, harboring of a minor (up to 14 or 18 years
of age) according to this Article shall be fixed whether or
not such actions were committed with use of deceit,
blackmail, or the use of vulnerable condition of a minor,
or use or threat of violence, through the abuse of
authority or by a person upon whom the victim was dependent
materially or otherwise.
End of Text.
¶35. (SBU) (23B) Article 149 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine
stipulates that traffickers can be sentenced to three to 15
years in prison. There were no specific penalties
stipulated for a particular method of exploitation.
¶36. (SBU) (23C) Article 152 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine
stipulates that a convicted rapist can receive a prison
sentence of three to 10 years, and up to 15 years if the
case involves a minor or if the rape resulted in
particularly grave consequences for the victim. Penalties
for rape are comparable to the penalties for trafficking.
¶37. (SBU) (23D) Prior to February 10, 2006, prostitution
was criminalized under Article 303 of the Criminal Code of
Ukraine. Currently, prostitution is no longer
criminalized, but it can be punished as an administrative
offense and carries a fine of UAH85 (equivalent to USD17)
to UAH 255 (equivalent to USD50). The activities of
brothel owners/operators remained criminalized under
Article 302, but since it is also now addressed in the
amended Article 303, most experts believe Article 302 will
eventually be dropped. Being a client of a prostitute in
Ukraine is not a crime.
Text of Article 303 follows:
Article 303. Pimping or engaging of a person into
prostitution
¶1. Engaging of a person into or coercion to prostitution
with use of deceit, blackmail or his/her vulnerable
condition, or use or threat of violence, or pimping, shall
be punishable by deprivation of liberty for a term of three
to eight years.
¶2. Actions stipulated by paragraph one of this Article,
perpetrated upon two or more persons, or committed
repeatedly or by a group of persons with prior conspiracy,
or if committed by an official through an abuse of
authority, or by a person upon whom the victim was
dependent materially or otherwise, shall be punishable by
deprivation of liberty for a term of four to seven years.
¶3. Actions stipulated by paragraphs one or two of this
Article when committed in respect to a minor (up to 18
years of age), or by organized group, shall be punishable
by deprivation of liberty for a term of five to ten years,
with or without the forfeiture of property.
¶4. Actions provided for by paragraphs one, two, or three of
this Article, if committed against a minor (up to 14 years
of age) or when they caused grave consequences, shall be
punishable by deprivation of liberty of eight to fifteen
years, with or without the forfeiture of property.
Note 1. Pimping in this article shall be understood as:
actions of a person that ensure the prostitution of another
person.
Note 2. Responsibility for engaging or coercing a minor
into prostitution according to this Article shall be fixed
whether or not such actions were committed with use of
deceit, blackmail, or use of vulnerable condition of a
minor, or use or threat of violence, through the abuse of
authority or by a person upon whom the victim was dependent
materially or otherwise.
End of Text.
¶38. (SBU) (23E) The Government normally provides only
general numbers on the status of criminal cases, e.g.,
whether cases are initiated, pending, or completed. In
2005, the MOI reported that it had detected 415 TIP crimes,
initiated 185 cases, completed 72 criminal investigations,
charged 138 persons, arrested 99 persons, and submitted 68
cases to the courts. Thirty-seven organized criminal
groups, including 14 with international ties, were
disrupted. (Note: According to the Criminal Code, an
organized criminal group is a group of three or more people
who commit a premeditated crime with each of the
individuals engaged in separate elements of the crime;
e.g., one served as the stakeout, one drove the car, and
one robbed the bank. End note.) In 2005, the courts heard
95 TIP cases with prosecution obtaining 85 guilty verdicts
under Article 149. Of the 115 individuals who were
convicted, 47 were sentenced to prison terms: five for
less than two years, four for two to three years, twenty
three for three to five years, eleven for five to eight
years, and four for eight to ten years. At the time of the
drafting of this report, 30 criminal cases under Article
149 were still pending in the courts. The SSU, in
cooperation with foreign law enforcement agencies conducted
a series of TIP investigations, which resulted in 78
channels of human trafficking being shutdown and 124
persons being arrested in Ukraine. As of January 30, 2006,
the GOU reported that 69 traffickers were currently
incarcerated.
¶39. (SBU) (23F) According to information provided by
Ukrainian law enforcement agencies, organized crime groups
with international connections controlled the trafficking
routes, while local recruitment was often handled by
employment, travel, marriage, and modeling agencies. Small
crime groups also existed and often looked like and
operated as family businesses.
¶40. (SBU) (23F continued) In 2005, the Ministry of Labor
and Social Policy withdrew a limited number of domestic
employment agencies' licenses because of their involvement
in trafficking. The GPO reported that in 2005 there was no
evidence of government officials involvement in TIP.
However, five regional anti-TIP officers with the MOI were
charged with taking bribes related to TIP. Their cases are
currently in the courts.
¶41. (SBU) (23F continued) The bulk of the illegal income
generated by TIP activities associated with Ukrainian
victims is accumulated abroad where the exploitation of the
victim takes place. Foreign traffickers often send money
to their accomplices in Ukraine via wire transfers to cover
the costs of recruitment, processing documents, and bribing
governmental officials. The GPO reported that they had no
information indicating that income received from
trafficking was being channeled to armed groups or
terrorists.
¶42. (SBU) (23G) MOI and SSU are the responsible law
enforcement agencies for investigating TIP cases.
Ukrainian law permits electronic surveillance, undercover
operations, and mitigated punishment for suspects who
cooperate. Police participation in undercover operations
is not prohibited by Ukrainian law; however, lack of
financial resources and corruption hampered the effective
use of these investigative techniques.
¶43. (SBU) (23H) GOU-financed TIP training was limited to
weekly professional training seminars for MOI's anti-TIP
Department officers both in Kiev and in the regions. Other
government officials involved with combating TIP, however,
did participate on a regular basis in training activities
funded by foreign donors. The U.S. Embassy launched a
program with the GOU to develop TIP curricula for the
Prosecutor's Academy and Judicial Academy. IOM and OSCE
also initiated programs to provide TIP training for
prosecutors and judges. All three donors closely
coordinated their efforts to ensure local ownership and to
avoid duplication.
¶44. (SBU) (23I) The investigation and prosecution of
trafficking cases in Ukraine requires cooperation with
other governments, but the effectiveness of this
cooperation remains limited due to a number of factors: 1)
the complicated procedures under Mutual Legal Assistance
Treaties (MLAT), 2) the lack of funding to translate
documents and correspondence, 3) the legislative
differences between countries, and 4) the lack of timely
assistances from officials in some destination countries.
The latter is a particular issue as under Ukrainian law
police and prosecutors have two months to build a case once
an individual is charged; extensions can be granted by the
court on a case-by-case basis. The GPO reported that 415
TIP crimes were uncovered in 2005 and almost all of them
were investigated in cooperation with other governments.
¶45. (SBU) (23I continued) In 2005, the GPO took steps to
simplify and accelerate the procedure for sharing evidence
with its sister agencies in neighboring countries. It
negotiated an agreement with its Polish counterpart to
allow regional prosecutors to convey Mutual Legal
Assistance (MLA) requests directly to their regional
counterparts in Poland and vice versa; i.e., not have to
pass requests through their respective national
headquarters. The GPO initiated similar discussions in
2005 with the Slovak Republic and Hungary, and was also
engaged in negotiations with the GPOs of Romania and
Moldova on a three-way compact to enhance cooperation on
combating transnational organized crime, including TIP.
¶46. (SBU) (23J) The Ukrainian Constitution prohibits the
extradition of Ukrainian citizens. The GOU, however, does
extradite foreign nationals who are charged with
trafficking in other countries. In 2005, Vladimir
Volodarsky, an Israeli citizen and an alleged leader of a
criminal group, was charged in Israel with trafficking 35
Ukrainian women for sexual exploitation. He had been
placed on an international watch list. Volodarsky resided
in Kiev where he engaged in real estate business, and
allegedly owned a large section of the city's most
luxurious shopping center. In March 2005, Volodarsky was
detained in Kiev; nine months later he was extradited to
Israel. Volodarsky fought his extradition claiming he had
obtained Ukrainian citizenship and thus was exempt under
Ukraine's Constitution from extradition. He fought
extradition because, at the time of his arrest, penalties
for TIP were more severe in Israel than in Ukraine. He
appealed his case to the Supreme Court, but the GOU was
able to prove that Volodarsky had obtained his Ukrainian
citizenship illegally. If convicted in Israel, Volodarsky
will face a prison sentence of up to 16 years. The MOI
official who had assisted Volodarsky to obtain his
"Ukrainian" citizenship was dismissed. Interpol and the
Israeli police took part in the police operation that led
to his arrest. According to MOI officials, Volodarsky
offered a bribe of USD 150,000 to Ukrainian officials to
release him, but to no effect.
¶47. (SBU) (23J continued) While the Ukrainian Constitution
prohibits the GOU from extraditing its own citizens.
Ukrainian law does permit the GOU to extradite foreign
nationals who are charged with trafficking in other
countries when an extradition treaty exists between the two
countries, when the crime was committed within the
jurisdiction of the country making the request, and when
trafficking is defined as a crime under the laws of the
requesting country.
¶48. (SBU) (23K) Post did not receive any official
information suggesting government involvement in or
tolerance of trafficking. At the same time, a prosecutor
from Chernivtsi shared with the Embassy his view that a TIP
case was terminated due to high-level intervention. The
allegations were also reported in two media outlets, the
newspaper Svoboda (Freedom) and the Internet news outlet
Obozrevatel, although a subsequent article in Obozrevatel
refuted the allegations. The case involved six brothers
who were charged with TIP. They allegedly recruited men
from Ukraine for employment in the U.S., and facilitated
their illegal entry into the U.S. Allegedly they brought
t
52 victims into U.S. where they were illegally employed and
exploited. From 1999-2003, the alleged criminals tried to
legalize their income from trafficking. They transmitted
more than USD 500,000 abroad, which was later confirmed by
law enforcement agencies in Poland and Germany. They also
bought four gasoline stations, a woodworking enterprise,
three houses and two cars. In late 2003, an investigation
of the case with the assistance of Polish and German law
enforcement bodies resulted in the arrest of the brothers
and charges of TIP and money laundering. Their defense
attorneys portrayed them as honest businessmen who
generously helped others get to the U.S. and earn money for
their families. The brothers allegedly acknowledged that
they took part of the trafficked men's salaries but claimed
it was payment for services rendered. Their attorneys
filed a complaint to the Presidents Secretariat claiming
severe mistreatment of the defendants by SSU officers. The
court turned back the case for insufficient evidence, and
it was sent to the SSU in the Ternopil oblast for further
investigation where it was eventually closed. Obozrevatel
reported that the daughter of one of the defendants told
their reporter that it was only through the high-level
intervention at the national level that the brothers in
2005 were released.
¶49. (SBU) (23L) GPO reported that no government officials
have been charged with trafficking.
¶50. (SBU) (23M) GOU has not identified child sex tourism as
a problem. Information on how many pedophiles were
prosecuted or deported/extradited to their country of
origin is not available. However, NGO experts who work
with street children reported that there is one place in
downtown Kiev where foreign pedophiles are known to look
for children. Street children know about it and go there
to earn money.
¶51. (SBU) (23M continued) Amendments to Ukraines Criminal
Code came into force on February 10, 2006 which initiated
extraterritorial coverage for serious crimes, including
human trafficking and child sexual.
¶52. (SBU) (23N) The Ukrainian government has signed and
ratified the following international instruments:
ILO Convention 182 concerning the prohibition and immediate
action for the elimination of the worst forms of child
labor - ratified, October 5, 2000;
ILO Convention 29 on forced or compulsory labor - ratified
August 8, 1957;
ILO Convention 105 on forced or compulsory labor - ratified
October 5, 2000.
The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of
the Child (CRC) on the sale of children, child
prostitution, and child pornography - ratified April 3,
¶2003.
The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in
Persons, especially Women and Children, supplementing the
UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime -
ratified February 4, 2004.
Protection and Assistance to Victims (Ref A Para 24)
--------------------------------------------- -------
¶53. (SBU) (24A) Victims of trafficking received various
types of assistance including medical, psychological,
legal, job skills training, job placement, micro-credits
and shelter. Psychological assistance was widely available
through state institutions, but medical assistance was
available only from shelters funded by international
organizations. To strengthen the support infrastructure,
USAID funded an anti-trafficking project implemented by IOM
to support Ukrainian NGOs, civil society groups and faith-
based organizations to provide medical and other services
to TIP victims. The IOM office in Kiev, in cooperation
with its missions in destination countries, also provided
return and reintegration assistance to victims. State
Employment Centers provided unemployed women, including TIP
victims, with job placement and job skills training.
¶54. (SBU) (24A continued) Ukraine has three kinds of victim
care facilities: a rehabilitation center (established by
IOM in Kiev in 2002), six shelters (one run by Caritas in
Ternopil, and five run by local NGOs with IOM assistance
under European Commission (EC) funding in Odesa, Lutsk,
Chernivtsi, Zhytomyr, and Kherson) and a transit shelter
for non-Ukrainian victims (established in the Black Sea
port of Odesa by IOM and managed by the local NGO Vira
Nadia Lyubov). The rehabilitation center is a medical
facility that provides comprehensive medical, dental,
psychological, and gynecological services under one roof.
It is not intended to be a long-term facility for victims
of trafficking. Although lodging and security are
provided, comprehensive and complex medical assistance is
the main function of this facility. The six shelters
provide accommodations and a secure environment for medium
to long-term stays while victims receive employment
training before moving to apartments. These facilities
provide medical care, but usually not in-house. The
transit center is a short-term facility that provides
accommodations for victims waiting to return home. It
provides emergency medical assistance and a secure
environment while the victim waits for transportation to be
arranged.
¶55. (SBU) (24A continued) The MFA continued to assist
victims in destination countries to return home. In 2005,
Ukrainian Consulates repatriated 498 Ukrainian TIP victims.
The MFA opened six centers for the protection of Ukrainians
going abroad in Kiev, Lviv, Simferopol, Uzhgorod, Odesa and
Donetsk. The centers provided free consultations to
Ukrainian citizens regarding their rights abroad.
¶56. (SBU) (24B) In 2005, MFYS worked with IOM to implement
an EC-funded project to open shelters in Odesa, Lutsk,
Chernivtsi, Kherson and Zhytomyr. The buildings for the
centres were provided by the local administration for
nominal rents and the NGOs used the EC funding with IOMs
support to renovate the facilities. In some cases, local
administrations agreed to cover the expenses related to the
hiring of a social worker for the shelter.
¶57. (SBU) (24C) The SSU screened all persons repatriated or
deported to the Black Sea port of Odesa; if a person was
identified as a potential TIP victim, regardless of
nationality, the SSU referred the victim to the appropriate
shelter. At the international airport in Kiev, the MOI's
Department for Combating TIP fulfills this function.
¶58. (SBU) (24C continued) MFA conducted regular refresher
trainings for its diplomats on how to accelerate the
process for confirming the identity and citizenship of a
Ukrainian trafficking victim and how to provide them with
appropriate travel documents to return to Ukraine.
Ukrainian consular officers were also under instructions to
maintain good working relations with IOM offices in their
respective countries of duty. The simplified procedures
for facilitating returns were introduced in 2003 and are
updated annually. When a victim of trafficking approaches
a Ukrainian Embassy or Consulate, the Ukrainian diplomat
refers the victim to IOM to ensure the victim is safe from
being re-trafficked. Ukrainians victims are repatriated to
Ukraine by commercial air. An IOM staff member escorts the
victim to the airport and accompanies the victim until s/he
is seated on the airplane. When they arrive in Ukraine,
the victim is met at the airport and depending on his/her
wish is escorted to the IOM's rehabilitation center. The
Ukrainian government has actively supported this procedure.
¶59. (SBU) (24D) Up until February 10, 2006, under the old
Article 303 of the Criminal Code, victims of trafficking
could be prosecuted for prostitution. The GOU, however,
never exercised this option during the reporting period.
TIP victims are also by law immune from prosecution for
illegally crossing the state border. The law reads that
any person who is confirmed to have suffered a crime
because of their illegal movement across the Ukrainian
border shall be treated as a victim of the crime. However,
victims' rights are often abridged during court hearings in
which female trafficking victims are still often
characterized as prostitutes, a common tactic of defence
lawyers, and thus victims are denied rights of
confidentiality and respect for dignity. An unsympathetic
SIPDIS
attitude towards TIP victims is also common among
prosecutors and judges.
¶60. (SBU) (24E) The GOU has legislation in place that
should facilitate and encourage victims to assist in the
investigation and prosecution of trafficking, but the lack
of resources has hampered the effective utilization of this
legislation. According to the provisions of the Code of
Criminal Procedure and the Law on Protection of Individuals
Involved in Criminal Proceedings there are four ways in
which concerns related to testifying may be addressed
within the Ukrainian criminal justice system: closed
hearing, court hearing held via a camera, witness testimony
given in the absence of the defendant, and witness being
relieved of the obligation to report to a court hearing
provided that they confirm their previous testimony in
writing. Article 52 of the Criminal Procedure Code of
Ukraine also allows for victims who acted as witnesses in
criminal proceedings to be represented by an attorney at
the trial in order to ensure the protection of their
rights. Since most victims cannot afford their own legal
representation IOM has assisted in this matter.
¶61. (SBU) (24E continued) Ukraines Code of Criminal
Procedure grants victims of crimes the right to claim civil
compensation for material and/or moral damages suffered as
a result of the crime. A victims claim for civil
compensation may be handled either as a part of the
criminal proceedings against the accused or through a
separate civil proceeding. As a rule, criminal law judges
did not allow civil suits to be handled simultaneously with
the criminal case. Victims had to initiate a separate
civil procedure, thus reliving their trauma. Nevertheless,
,
several victims pursued the civil suit route and received
damage compensation in the amount of UAH 500-1000
(equivalent to USD 100-200). Since the GOU was not able to
fund adequately the witness protection provisions mentioned
above, the majority of victims of trafficking were not
willing to come forward and report the crime they suffered.
A poll of victims cited as the main reasons for victims
unwillingness to come forward: 1) belief that the judicial
system was corrupt, 2) fear of retaliation from
traffickers, 3) belief that it would be difficult to prove
they had been trafficked, 4) drawn out court proceedings
that would delay their ability to move forward with their
lives, and 5) inadequate physical protection.
¶62. (SBU) (24F) Despite the requirement established in the
Comprehensive Anti-TIP Program for 2002-2005 that the GOU
create efficient mechanisms for protecting victims in
criminal court proceedings, the only forms of victim
protection currently existing under Ukrainian law were
those outlined above in the Law on the Protection of
Individuals Involved in Criminal Proceedings. Victims of
trafficking were not singled out in terms of witness
protection. Few crime victims in general were provided
protective measures.
¶63. (SBU) (24F continued) The GOU did not fund any shelters
directly, but did support a few by providing access to
facilities or by providing in-kind logistical support. For
example, the premises for all six shelters are provided by
local administrations at a nominal fee. In some regions,
local administrations have paid the expenses to hire a
social worker for the center.
¶64. (SBU) (24F continued) The GOU has 95 temporary shelters
for homeless children; however, these shelters do not have
any specialized programs or services for children who have
been trafficked.
¶65. (SBU) (24G) The GOU, in cooperation with international
organizations, provided specialized training for
investigators, prosecutors and judges on how to investigate
and prosecute trafficking cases. MOI held regular meetings
and training sessions for its anti-trafficking units
throughout the country. The GOU also actively cooperated
with foreign donors, international organizations, and NGOs
on improving skill levels of law enforcement officers,
including victim sensitivity training. With the support of
IOM, regional seminars were held in five cities of Ukraine
for representatives of MOI, prosecutors, and judges.
¶66. (SBU) (24G continued) The GOU addressed the special
needs of trafficked children in the framework of a Project
with ILO funded by the USG and the German Government.
Thus, in January 2006, training for social workers and
psychologists from state institutions on how to work with
child victims of trafficking was conducted by the NGO
Womens Consortium.
¶67. (SBU) (24G continued) In 2005 the MFA distributed
special instructions related to the protection and
assistance of victims of trafficking to all Ukrainian
consulates abroad. In addition, consular officers were
required to receive special training where TIP issues were
addressed before assuming overseas assignments. In 2005,
the MFA also brought together all of its consular officials
from its missions in the Black Sea region to Istanbul for
specialized TIP training.
¶68. (SBU) (24G continued) The MFA reported that consular
officers in destination countries had developed good
relations with IOM offices and local NGOs supporting
victims of trafficking. IOM has confirmed this to be true.
¶69. (SBU) (24H) See answers to question A in section 21.
¶70. (SBU) (24I) IOM, OSCE, Caritas and La Strada Ukraine
have offices in Ukraine currently implementing anti-TIP
projects. IOM is implementing a two-year project funded by
USAID aimed at strengthening local NGOs, civil society
groups, and faith-based organizations that work with TIP
victims. La Strada-Ukraine supported 24-hour hotlines for
victims of trafficking and domestic violence in almost all
of the regions of Ukraine. There were also a number of
local NGOs that dealt exclusively with TIP, with the most
active being Revival of the Nation (Ternopil), "Vira
Nadia Lyubov" (Odesa) and "Women of Donbas" (Luhansk).
They provided support to Ukrainian victims of trafficking
and to individuals who were trafficked to Ukraine or were
passing through Ukraine from a former Soviet republic.
Between March 2004 and January 2006, the international NGO
Caritas provided 27 victims of trafficking with
reintegration assistance. Another 130 women received
reintegration assistance without staying at the Caritas run
shelter. Caritas also established a network of counseling
centers which provide social services to trafficked women
in Khmelnytsky, Ivano-Frankivsk, Sokal, and Drohobych.
Between January 2004 and January 2006 these centers
provided 1,937 consultations regarding the prevention of
trafficking. Another 31 smaller NGOs facilitated
cooperation between victims, communities, and law
w
enforcement organizations in addressing trafficking issues.
Local NGOs, drawing on their own resources, foreign donor
assistance, and the support of local administrations
continued to serve as key partners in preventing
trafficking and supporting the special needs of TIP victims
to reintegrate back into the life of their communities.
NGOs also operated 18 regional hotlines for trafficking
victims in different cities.
¶71. (U) The Embassy point of contact for this report is the
Head of the Law Enforcement Section, Michael Scanlan. He
may be reached by email (ScanlanMD@state.gov), telephone
(+38-44-490-4396), fax (+38-44-490-4081) or IVG
¶72. (U) The following personnel time was spent on this
report:
-INL officer 20 hours
-INL Assistant 60 hours
-Political Counselor - 1 hours
-Executive Office - 3 hours
This accounting does not include time spent working on
posts interim assessment submission, the TIP component to
the Human Right Report or TIP spot reporting or program
rogram
implementation and coordination.
Herbst