VZCZCXRO2235
PP RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ RUEHROV
DE RUEHMD #1150 1630750
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 120750Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY MADRID
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2764
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHLA/AMCONSUL BARCELONA 2806
UNCLAS MADRID 001150
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP AND EUR/WE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KCRM KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG ELAB SP
SUBJECT: SPAIN/TIP REPORT: GOS PLEASED WITH ITS 2007
RANKING BUT VOWS TO INCREASE EFFORTS IN THE COMING YEAR
REF: A. SECSTATE 78766
B. SECSTATE 71163
1. (SBU) Polcouns and Poloff delivered reftel demarche on
June 11 to officials in Spain's Ministry of Interior and
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At the Ministry of Interior,
Emboffs met with Angel Melchor Celada and Maria del Puy
Zaton, senior advisors in the MOI section dealing with TIP
and the primary authors of Spain's forthcoming national
action plan, and with Maria Marcos Salvador, Director of
Spain's Intelligence Center Against Organized Crime (CICO),
who is the GOS' new information focal point for Spain's law
enforcement efforts against human trafficking. At the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Emboffs met with Deputy Director
General for North America Jose Rodriguez Moyano, the head of
the MFA's Human Rights office Fernando Fernandez-Arias, and
US desk officer Bosco Gimenez. All Spanish officials were
pleased with the final version of Spain's country narrative
and deemed it a very positive report. They said they look
forward to reading the translated version of the full report
once it is posted in Spanish on G-TIP's website.
2. (SBU) Polcouns said that Spain deserved its Tier 1 ranking
this year, but cautioned that a country's efforts against TIP
cannot remain static and that Spain must show appreciable
progress in the future to retain its Tier 1 ranking. Emboffs
highlighted reftel A areas for improvement identified in the
2007 TIP report and encouraged the GOS to finalize its
national action plan to combat trafficking and continue and
expand its demand reduction efforts. Our MOI interlocutors
told us that the draft of the national action plan was
currently being finalized by the office of the First Vice
President and should be out soon, although the arrival of the
summer holidays might push back the release until the fall.
Emboffs also discussed new criteria for the 2008 TIP report
and encouraged the GOS to take measures to ensure that
Spanish nationals deployed abroad as peacekeepers do not
engage in or facilitate trafficking in persons. Angel
Melchor replied that Spain already has on the books stringent
laws against this. Finally, Emboffs expressed an interest in
expanding our anti-TIP collaboration with the GOS to include
conferences or roundtable events designed to share best
practices in the fight against TIP.
3. (SBU) On a separate note, we received more details on the
contents of the national action plan at a May 25 TIP
conference hosted by the Swiss and Spanish governments
(Poloff was the only third country national invited to the
event). Rosa Maria Peris, Director General of the Women's
Institute in the Spanish Ministry of Interior, said that the
plan will include a "reflection period" of thirty days,
during which TIP victims can decide if they want to assist
authorities in prosecuting their traffickers. Peris added
that the plan will incorporate recent suggestions made by the
Spanish Congress to improve social sensitivity, education,
and training for TIP victims. The plan is slated to be in
force initially for three years (with periodic evaluations)
and will call for further legislative reforms and improved
coordination with Spanish civil society. This initial plan
will focus on trafficking for sexual exploitation, but
Melchor and Zaton told us that once it is published, they
will immediately begin work on a national action plan against
forced labor trafficking.
AGUIRRE