VZCZCXRO5064
RR RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHLZ
DE RUEHRL #0916/01 1931502
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 111502Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1636
INFO RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE
RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE 1165
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC
RHEFHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHINGTON DC
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BERLIN 000916
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EUR/AGS, EUR/PGI, DRL/IL, G/TIP,
INL/HSTC, AND PRM
LABOR FOR ILAB
TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN ELAB SMIG ASEC PGOV
GM
SUBJECT: GERMAN RESPONSE TO 2008 TRAFFICKING IN
PERSONS REPORT
REF: A. HALL-CONWAY EMAIL - 06/19/2008
B. BERLIN 750
C. BERLIN 240
SUMMARY
1. (SBU) On July 1, Emboffs met for a roundtable
discussion of the 2008 Trafficking in Persons
(TIP) Report with key German officials from the
MFA, as well as the Family, Labor and Justice
ministries. While the report was well received,
a Family Ministry official expressed regret that
more attention had not been given to Germany's
federal-state interagency working group and to
the unique role played by a federally-funded NGO
representing all 38 of Germany's anti-TIP NGOs.
German officials provided an initial response to
the report's recommendations for Germany and
briefly reviewed possibilities to strengthen
U.S.-German cooperation to combat TIP.
NEW MISSION POINTS OF CONTACT
2. (SBU) Mission points of contact for TIP are
Global Affairs Officer David L. Fisher
(email:fisherdl@state.gov, tel: 49-30-8305-3124)
and Legal Advisor Jacqueline Dadswell
(email:dadswellj@state.gov, tel: 49-30-8305-
2275).
POSITIVE RESPONSE; EXPLANATION OF GERMAN APPROACH
WOULD ADD VALUE
3. (SBU) German officials from the MFA and the
Family, Labor, and Justice ministries responded
positively to the 2008 TIP Report, characterizing
the report's factual descriptions as accurate.
Family Ministry Director for the Protection of
Women from Violence Birgit Schweikert said she
would have preferred that more attention be given
to the German approach to combat TIP, but
acknowledged that much of this might have been
taken for granted. Specifically, Schweikert
pointed to the high quality work of the law
enforcement community, prosecutors, and
counseling centers. She also noted that the
Family Ministry -- particularly through the
Federal-State Interagency Working Group on
Trafficking -- pursues a highly coordinated and
successful strategy with other Ministries and
promotes formal cooperation between counseling
centers and law enforcement. Schweikert agreed
that one of the TIP Report's primary goals is to
call on other countries to recognize their
responsibility to combat trafficking. With this
in mind, Schweikert said, Germany's approach --
if properly highlighted in future reports --
could serve as a model for other countries that
have a federal government.
4. (SBU) Schweikert said the Family Ministry had
hoped the TIP report would also highlight the
important role of the government-funded
Association against Trafficking in Women and
Violence against Women in the Migration Process
(KOK), an umbrella organization representing the
38 TIP counseling centers and NGOs in Germany.
Schweikert stated that such an institution is
unique in Europe (and probably throughout the
world) and therefore is an example that might
serve as a model for other countries. Schweikert
also expressed regret that the Federal
Government's Second Action Plan to combat
violence against women had not been mentioned in
the report.
GERMAN RESPONSE TO TIP REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS
5. (SBU) RECOMMENDATION 1 - Explore ways to
increase the number of convicted traffickers who
BERLIN 00000916 002 OF 003
serve time in prison:
Justice Ministry Director for Criminal Law
Perdita Kroeger noted that, within the parameters
of Germany's independent judicial system, there
are limited possibilities to influence the
judiciary. In addition to efforts underway at
the National Training Academy for Judges and
Prosecutors, the only possibility would be to
introduce legislation to raise the minimum
sentence for trafficking crimes. Kroeger did not
believe such an approach would be successful.
6. (SBU) RECOMMENDATION 2 - Take steps to provide
more even distribution of funding for victim
services among individual states:
German officials pointed out that some of the
states (Laender) have more resources than others
and stressed that the Federal Government has
little leverage over individual states' decision-
making on allocation of funds for victim
services, as these funds come directly from state
budgets, not the federal budget. The Federal
Government does, however, encourage states to
devote more resources to combating trafficking in
persons. German officials said they were
confused by the wording of the recommendation, as
it did not make clear that allocation of funding
is an autonomous decision made by individual
states, not the Federal Government.
7. (SBU) RECOMMENDATION 3 - Improve efforts to
identify and combat labour trafficking:
Labor Ministry Desk Officer for European Social
Issues Ute Heinen said the Federal Government
will play a larger role in combating labor
trafficking in the future. Labor Ministry
officials hope that federal and state efforts
against forced labor will be more visible in the
future, as well. At present the Ministry is
working to obtain funds for a series of projects
focused on labor trafficking.
8. (SBU) RECOMMENDATION 4: Consider establishing
national rapporteurs in key regions around the
country:
The Family Ministry's Schweikert noted that
rather than exploring the possibility of
establishing rapporteuers for key regions in
Germany, the Ministry is considering designating
a single rapporteur for the entire country.
Currently the Ministry has been reviewing and
assessing other countries' approaches on national
rapporteurs that might serve as a model for a
German institution. The Ministry's preliminary
conclusion is that the Dutch Rapporteur is the
only institution to date that has produced
consistently high quality and effective work.
The Dutch rapporteur collects and assesses
relevant data and reports to the Dutch parliament
on an annual basis.
STRENGTHENING U.S.-GERMAN COOPERATION
9. (SBU) Finally the discussion turned to
potential ways to strengthen bilateral
cooperation in the international fight against
TIP. Emboffs reviewed the range of ideas
provided by G/TIP (ref A), including possible
visits by USDOJ officials, as well as ICITAP and
OPDAT trainers. Emboffs also noted the
possibility to arrange DVCs, which have the
advantage of being less expensive and which can
be conducted more frequently. German officials
seemed most interested in a further exchange of
best practices on victim identification
techniques and efforts to fight labor
trafficking. German officials said they would
BERLIN 00000916 003 OF 003
continue to discuss the matter internally and at
a meeting of the Federal-State Interagency
Working Group on Trafficking in October. Post
will follow-up with German contacts and
coordinate with G/TIP via email.
TIMKEN JR.