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Viewing cable 06WARSAW2511, POLAND: GOVERNMENT STEPS UP EFFORTS VS. FORCED

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06WARSAW2511 2006-12-06 15:45 2011-08-25 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Warsaw
VZCZCXRO7997
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHWR #2511/01 3401545
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 061545Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY WARSAW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2573
INFO RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 0582
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID PRIORITY 0126
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME PRIORITY 0889
RUEHSM/AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM PRIORITY 3006
RUEHKW/AMCONSUL KRAKOW PRIORITY 1435
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 WARSAW 002511 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KJUS KCRM PGOV IT PL SP SW UK
SUBJECT: POLAND: GOVERNMENT STEPS UP EFFORTS VS. FORCED 
LABOR HUMAN TRAFFICKING 
 
REF: WARSAW 1570 
 
WARSAW 00002511  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
1. (SBU) SUMMARY.  In the months since stories broke of Poles 
trafficked to Spain and Italy for forced labor (Reftel) the 
Polish government has stepped up efforts in the fight against 
human trafficking.  The Polish National Police (PNP) has 
supplemented the five person Central Anti-Trafficking Unit 
(CATU), established in July, by creating seventeen regional 
teams which are cooperating on a new "Hit the Route" strategy 
as well as increasing nationwide training of police on TIP 
issues.  More arrests have been made in the Italian labor 
camp case, although the lack of a signed bilateral agreement 
could be problematic for the prosecution.  In October a 
similar camp, at which trafficked Polish citizens were held 
against their will, was shut down in Spain.  There are 
ongoing investigations of trafficking networks from Poland to 
the United Kingdom and Sweden.  The lack of a definition of 
human trafficking in Poland's legal code has made prosecution 
of trafficking for forced labor difficult, but the Krakow 
prosecutor's decision to use the 2000 Palermo Protocol 
definition created a useful precedent.  END SUMMARY. 
 
BOLSTERING ANTI-TRAFFICKING FORCES AND NEW STRATEGY 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
2. (SBU) In a November 16 meeting with Poloff, Pawel 
Maslowski, head of the CATU, reviewed the Polish government's 
stepped up efforts in recent months in the fight against 
human trafficking in general, and in prosecuting those 
responsible for trafficking Poles to forced labor camps in 
Spain and Italy, in particular.   In July the PNP established 
the five-person CATU, based in Warsaw and headed by 
Maslowski.  The unit functions within the PNP's Criminal 
Bureau and is supported by six individuals from other 
departments:  two detectives each from the Criminal 
Intelligence Office, Prevention Office, and Central Bureau of 
Investigations, who are assigned to work on trafficking cases 
as needed.  In addition, over the last few months, the GOP 
has allocated further resources to the anti-trafficking fight 
by creating seventeen new teams of two or three people each 
to combat human trafficking and child pornography.  There is 
one team in each of Poland's sixteen provinces and a local 
unit in the Warsaw city police.  The CATU tasks the new 
regional teams on a case-by-case basis. 
 
3. (SBU) Poland is on the crossroads of two major 
international trafficking routes:  the south-to-north Balkan 
route (from Turkey through Poland to Scandinavia) and the 
east-to-west Russian route (from Russia and Moldova through 
Poland to Western Europe as far as Portugal).  Traffickers 
have traditionally utilized these routes for sex workers, 
although authorities have noticed a sharp increase in 
trafficking for forced labor.  The PNP recently adopted a new 
approach called "Hit the Route."  Until recently police 
reacted to individually reported cases or incidents of 
trafficking, but under this new approach they are attempting 
to coordinate their efforts and fight the entire trafficking 
chain.  Depending on the information in a case, the CATU 
assigns it to a regional unit and this unit then works in 
cooperation with others along the entire route.  Maslowski 
also noted that the CATU would like to begin investigating 
trafficking in human organs and sex tourism involving minors. 
 
4. (SBU) To further improve enforcement, the CATU has been 
training police officers throughout the country on how to 
identify victims of trafficking.  This training includes a 
standard list of questions for officers to ask, along with 
exercises, instructions, and films that show officers how to 
recognize victims.  Activists such as La Strada's Stana 
Buchowska note that Police treatment of victims, which has 
long been a weakness, has improved somewhat. 
 
PROGRESS ON ITALIAN LABOR CAMP CASE 
----------------------------------- 
 
5. (SBU) Maslowski also discussed progress on the case of 
Poles trafficked to Italy and used for forced agricultural 
labor.  He stated that the "mirror investigations" conducted 
by Polish and Italian police were effective for the 
investigation and takedown phases, but the lack of a signed 
agreement for joint prosecution is a problem for moving 
forward.  Polish prosecutors believe they have found some 
legal justification for joint prosecution based on Article 19 
of the European Convention for Organized Crime, and Justice 
Minister Ziobro is planning a visit to Italy to propose an 
 
WARSAW 00002511  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
agreement.  If signed, the joint investigative team could be 
up and running within a month, with the case going to court 
by summer 2007. 
 
6. (SBU) So far 31 people have been arrested and charged with 
human trafficking in the case.  The most recent arrest took 
place on November 16, when the PNP apprehended the alleged 
leader of the criminal group that recruited Poles to work at 
the forced labor camps, and his wife, who each face possible 
maximum sentences of 10 years, and an associate, who faces a 
five year sentence.  Others arrested include 18 Poles who 
were responsible for recruitment and transport, along with 
Ukrainians and Algerians who served as camp guards.  The 
Italian owner of the farm, who claims he was unaware of the 
brutal conditions of the camp, remains free.  The CATU has 
confirmed the identities of 113 of the over 300 victims 
liberated from the forced labor camps, almost all of whom 
have chosen to remain in Italy to look for another job.  The 
PNP is also gathering material evidence for murder charges in 
the case.  No bodies have been found so far, but police 
estimate at least 10 people have been killed since July 2005. 
 
 
CAMPS FOUND IN VALENCIAN ORANGE GROVES 
-------------------------------------- 
 
7.  (SBU) In a separate case, on October 30, Spanish police, 
in cooperation with the CATU, arrested two Poles and four 
Armenians in Spain, and another two Armenians in Poland who 
were organizing forced labor camps at orange groves in the 
Valencia region of Spain.  The estimated 30 Poles imprisoned 
in the camps worked for no pay, lived in crude barracks, and 
resorted to eating grass for sustenance.  Information about 
the camps came to light after workers sent text messages to 
police.  The CATU tasked the regional team in Lodz with 
investigating this case because a majority of the 20 
identified victims come from that region.  Only eight of 
these victims have agreed to testify against their captors. 
 
8. (SBU) According to Maslowski, the victims were recruited 
for the camps in Poland via word of mouth by friends and 
colleagues, with no advertisements in the press.  Upon 
arrival in Spain, the victims were put into indentured 
servitude, forced to repay their "debts" for job placement 
and transportation.  The perpetrators also beat, threatened, 
and utilized psychological torture on their victims. 
Maslowski praised the responsiveness of the Spanish 
authorities.  Working only from the text messages the victims 
placed to Polish police, Spanish police identified the camp 
location and liberated the victims.  Maslowski hinted that 
the CATU is now tracking labor trafficking operations from 
Poland to the United Kingdom and Sweden. 
 
NEW LEGAL RAMIFICATIONS 
----------------------- 
 
9. (SBU) Poland has signed and ratified the 2000 Palermo 
Protocol, which broadly defines trafficking in persons to 
include recruitment, transportation, transfer of persons by 
means of any form of coercion for the purpose of sexual 
exploitation, forced labor, or servitude.  However, the 
Polish legal code does not actually define human trafficking, 
leaving a gray area for prosecutors and judges, who often saw 
forced prostitution as the only form of trafficking.  Until 
the July arrests in Italy, the concept of trafficking for 
purposes other than sex work was not on prosecutors' nor the 
public's radar.  The press has actively followed this case, 
and the decision by the Krakow prosecutor to use the Palermo 
Protocol definition for cases beyond sexual trafficking has 
created a precedent for forced labor trafficking.  This is 
now the de facto, if not the de jure, definition of human 
trafficking used by Polish prosecutors.  (Note: Maslowski and 
NGOs are cautiously optimistic about this development, and 
hope that it will give more teeth to the prosecution of 
forced labor traffickers. End Note). 
ASHE