U.S. Department of State

In May 2004, President Aliyev signed a decree ordering all government bodies to implement the new National Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Persons. The decree named a deputy minister of Internal Affairs as the National Coordinator for anti-trafficking efforts. Since then, the Government has created a special anti-trafficking police unit; however, there is concern about the informal process used to select the members of this unit (i.e., they are not properly vetted). The Government has not yet created a shelter or a hotline for victims. Since mid-August, law enforcement Ministry of Internal Affairs officials referred nine victims to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The Government drafted anti-trafficking legislation and amendments to the Criminal Code, but the draft legislation has not yet been finalized. The Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that 10 people have been convicted of trafficking crimes in the last half of 2004, according to the current Criminal Code provisions, such as coercion into prostitution and operating a brothel.

Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina has undertaken significant efforts to combat trafficking in persons, although challenges remain in adequately protecting domestic victims of trafficking and effectively raising the level of public awareness about trafficking. While Bosnia and Herzegovina has a law on the protection of foreign victims of trafficking, it does not yet have a comparable piece of legislation regarding domestic victims of trafficking, resulting in a lack of institutional capability to handle them. The National Anti-Trafficking Coordinator is well aware of this gap in the legislative framework and is working on drafting a law on domestic trafficking victims.

Bosnia is in the process of reforming its police practices and establishing a nation-wide police agency that will increase investigative capacity for complex cases and address the organized crime aspect. There have been relatively few prosecutions of major traffickers under the new anti-trafficking legislation that provides for stiff sentences for leaders of organized crime networks, but new cases indicate that prosecutors are making increasingly effective use of provisions of the law on protection of foreign victims of trafficking, and that they are more closely examining prostitution cases to ascertain whether they may be appropriately prosecuted under anti-TIP provisions. Authorities continue to pursue investigations into official corruption and implication in TIP activities.

Croatia
The Government of Croatia's progress in addressing trafficking in persons has been mixed. While progress was seen in specific areas, no traffickers were convicted through mid-November 2004. The Anti-Trafficking Committee developed a new National Action Plan for 2005-2008 in November, encompassing international and NGO recommendations. However, overall, the Committee met infrequently and produced few concrete results. Government officials from the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and the Ministry of Interior have received extensive trafficking victim identification training along with other types of anti-trafficking training, and the Ministry of Education has designed a TIP education module that will be added to the standard high school curriculum. In addition, the Police Academy has incorporated TIP training in its curriculum.

In July 2004, the Government adopted the Law on Human Trafficking and Slavery, and that law became effective in October. Officials noted a slight increase in the number of trafficking-related investigations and indictments, but as of mid-November there had been no trafficking-related convictions and no persons had been prosecuted under the new anti-trafficking legislation. The Government had not developed a resource list of assistance services to disseminate to potential trafficking victims by police and service providers, but the Ministry of Interior distributed resource materials on the International Organization for Migration to suspected victims.

Cyprus
The Government of Cyprus has made modest progress in its efforts to combat trafficking; a number of planned government initiatives have yet to be approved and implemented. Two intergovernmental groups meet regularly to discuss anti-trafficking efforts and promote information sharing. The groups expect to officially present to the Government a national plan to combat trafficking and legislation to address trafficking and immigration by the end of 2004. There was a significant increase in trafficking-related arrests in the first 10 months of 2004, 173 vice 26 in 2003. Additionally, 15 cases are being tried under 2000 anti-trafficking legislation, although no one has been convicted.

While police produced press releases on every trafficking in persons-related arrest, the Government has funded no large-scale efforts to educate the public on trafficking. The Government froze the issuing of new cabaret licenses in June 2004. It has prohibited hiring replacements of women on "artiste" visas who are identified as victims and removed from their cabaret employment. Women who are trafficking victims and leave a cabaret now have the right to stay in Cyprus and receive legal advice and financial assistance if they agree to aid the police in prosecuting their former employer or the person who trafficked them to the island. The Government has also set aside several rooms for trafficking victims in government- subsidized homes for the elderly until more permanent shelters can be secured. Victim protection remains inadequate. The Government drafted, but has not yet finalized or distributed, an information sheet to provide to newly arrived female foreign workers.

Estonia
The Government of Estonia showed evidence of increasing efforts to address trafficking by establishing an interagency coordination body; establishing a formal referral system for victim assistance; providing financial support for training and outreach activities; and increasing trafficking investigations, convictions, and victim identification.

Since the 2004 Trafficking in Persons Report, the Government of Estonia has formed an interagency group at the Under Secretary level that drafted input for the National Action Plan on Trafficking. The Social Ministry and Police have concluded an agreement on victim support, to include a cadre of specialists and volunteers to better render assistance to victims. The Government has coordinated and partially financed five anti-trafficking training programs. While there were no trafficking prosecutions in 2003, one prosecution of nine traffickers under the "enslavement" provision of Estonia's law is moving forward in court. While Tallinn Police continued raids on brothels, closing 28 of an estimated 45 existing brothels this year, at the time of this report, complete statistics were unavailable on the numbers of trafficking victims identified and assisted.

Georgia
The recently elected Government of Georgia has taken initial steps indicating an increase in efforts to address trafficking in persons beyond the work begun by the previous administration, although some key reforms must still be addressed. The new Government appointed a government-wide anti-trafficking coordinator who is the head of the Human Rights Unit of the National Security Council. The Government expects to adopt a National Action Plan against Trafficking for 2005-2007 by Presidential Decree in December. The Anti-TIP Unit within the Ministry of Interior, which had been merged into the Organized Crime Department over the summer, has been reestablished as an independent unit and the former director has been reinstated and allocated a staff of 10. A branch of the unit has also been set up in Batumi, an important gateway for trafficking, with a staff of 4 expected to soon increase to 10.

While a formal government-wide referral system is not yet in place, the Government identified the establishment of a victim referral system as a key part of the draft Action Plan. In recent trafficking cases, government agencies have referred victims to the Public Defenders office, which then contacted local NGOs and the International Organization for Migration to provide victim assistance, creating a de facto system of referral. The Police Academy is re-designing its curriculum and intends to include TIP-sensitive training. The draft Action Plan also calls for biannual special training programs for judges, police, and border guards. Increased information sharing among the various Georgian law-enforcement entities has yielded a significant increase in the number of trafficking investigations and arrests in 2004. In July 2004, a police investigation lead to the rescue and return of 14 trafficked Uzbek women being held in Georgia. The Georgian Government has also cooperated in trafficking cases with the Governments of Greece and Ukraine in 2004.

Greece
While the Government of Greece has taken some significant steps to combat trafficking in persons, such as appointing a government-wide coordinator and drafting a comprehensive national action plan, key efforts and results in the area of victim protection remain lacking. The number of victims identified in Greece has not increased significantly; nor has the number of victims referred to shelters. The Government recently agreed to allow NGOs access to its women's immigrant detention facility near Athens where trafficking victims may be found. A Government supported, NGO-run shelter for TIP victims, the first in the northern region, opened in Thessaloniki in November. The Ministry of Health reported that 23 residence permits had been given to victims of trafficking since May 2004, and NGOs support these figures. While the number of victims given residency status does not yet reflect the scope of the problem, it is an improvement over the zero victims granted residency status in 2003.

In early November 2004, the Government Committee of the Secretaries General designated an anti-trafficking coordinator. This Committee, which shares interagency trafficking-related information, meets twice monthly and is presided over by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Justice. The Government published arrests and numbers of cases involving trafficking in persons for the first six months of 2004. The Government began keeping statistics on TIP-related crimes in January 2004, and the majority of those cases are still going through court proceedings. For this reason, the Government says it has not yet been able to provide statistics on prosecutions or convictions, but has promised such statistics starting in January 2005. The Government made pledges to support NGOs? public awareness campaigns, although it is unclear whether this action produced tangible results. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expects the bilateral agreement with Albania on the issue of trafficking in children to be ready by year?s end.

Kazakhstan
The Government of Kazakhstan has shown moderate progress in implementing its National Plan of Action to combat trafficking in persons adopted in February 2004. Accomplishments include employing a small amount of discretionary funds for anti-trafficking efforts by ministries, agencies and regional governments and concluding formal agreements with NGO-run victim crisis centers. The Government has not yet implemented mandatory anti-trafficking school curricula, though it plans to do so by the end of 2005. The Government has not yet issued regulations that would allow Kazakhstan to become a signatory to the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Financial Police Agency have earmarked budgets for witness protection programs that are used, in part, for trafficking victims. The Ministry of Culture, Information, and Sports (MCIS) provided a small amount of funds to the Union of Crisis Centers that supports women victims of violence, including trafficking victims. The MCIS also supported the costs of publishing anti-trafficking information in the media. The Ministry of Justice reported that police departments in all regions have formalized relationships with the victim crisis centers. Additionally, the Ministry of Justice is drafting a nation wide memorandum of understanding to enhance the relationship between key government ministries and anti trafficking NGOs. The Ministry of Education expects to provide a unit on trafficking in persons as part of its core curriculum class on "Basics of Law" no later than the next school year and possibly as soon as the end of this school year.

Russia
While the Government of Russia has made progress in combating trafficking in persons, for example by passing witness protection legislation and arresting a number of traffickers, more work remains to be done. Russia has yet to pass comprehensive protection legislation specifically for trafficking victims and to develop a comprehensive victim assistance system.

In August 2004, the Government adopted witness protection legislation that creates a statutory basis for the protection of trafficking victims and their families by relocation and other means. The legislation is well funded and broadly drafted to specifically address the protection of both victims and their families. To ensure that the police are aware of new anti-trafficking legislation and how to investigate trafficking cases, the Ministry of the Interior, working with others, brought police instructors from 23 regional training academies to undergo a week long, train-the-trainer conference in October 2004. Attendees received compilations of Russian anti-trafficking legislation and a comprehensive anti-trafficking NGO directory for Russia. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has publicly underscored its commitment to assist TIP victims worldwide. Recently, the Russian Embassy in Malta played a key role in the repatriation of Russian victims in a Maltese Russian trafficking case. At a November 29th Duma hearing, the Deputy Procurator General delivered a comprehensive report on the Procuracy?s efforts to prosecute TIP cases. The Ministry of Internal Affairs also provided a report on the work of its newly-formed special TIP investigative units, which have cooperated with Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova and numerous other countries on TIP prosecutions.

Serbia and Montenegro
The Governments of constituent republics Serbia and Montenegro do not have joint counter-trafficking institutions, but do conduct joint counter-trafficking activities on an ad hoc basis; this interim assessment will examine each republic?s activities separately. Overall, since the 2004 Trafficking in Persons Report, both have shown modest progress in increasing efforts to combat trafficking in persons.

The Republic of Serbia
In October 2004, the Government formed specialized units within the Border Police for fighting illegal migration and trafficking in persons. Seventy officers from 20 police districts? anti-trafficking teams were given supplementary trafficking awareness training. The Interior Ministry formed a special unit to provide security for witnesses in criminal proceedings. The Government is finalizing a witness protection law that will formalize the witness protection programs already in place. The Interior Ministry also formalized temporary residency for victims (for three months, six months, or one year). The Government established a ministerial-level anti-trafficking Council on October 14, 2004. There has been an increase in the number of traffickers arrested, but a lack of centralized information on judicial proceedings in TIP cases impeded the Government?s ability to report prosecutions and convictions. The Government also sponsored numerous public awareness activities, including incorporating anti-trafficking education into the high school curriculum and broadcasting a trafficking documentary on a government-owned television station.

The Republic of Montenegro
Montenegro re-established its special police anti-trafficking team in April 2004. Anti-trafficking liaison officers have been assigned to each of Montenegro's seven police districts. Cooperation between the anti trafficking team and the Border Police has increased. In July of 2004, the Minister of Justice appointed the Special Prosecutor for Organized Crime (including trafficking). The Witness Protection law was passed on October 19, 2004. From May to November, 16 people faced prosecution in 9 trafficking-in-persons cases. On November 25, the Basic Criminal Court in Rozaje passed down the first ever conviction for trafficking in persons in Montenegro, sentencing the defendant to five months in prison. In September, the Ministry of Health established in Berane a regional trafficking crisis center staffed with health professionals, social workers, and psychologists.

Tajikistan
The Government of Tajikistan has made appreciable progress in adopting comprehensive trafficking in persons legislation and establishing a specialized anti-trafficking police unit. Challenges lie in establishing a national action plan and identifying victims? needs as a first step to creating a victim referral system between law enforcement officials and NGOs.

President Rahmonov signed Tajikistan?s Law on Combating Trafficking in Persons on August 1, 2004. The law addresses prevention of trafficking, prosecution of traffickers, and protection of victims. On May 5, 2004, the Government officially created the Special Division for Combating Kidnapping, Trafficking in Persons, and Racketeering. Five officers of the new division are dedicated to the investigation of TIP cases. On November 4, 2004, a Dushanbe court sentenced Jahon Hilalova to 14 years imprisonment, Tajikistan?s first verdict under its new anti trafficking legislation. The Government of Tajikistan has not developed a national plan on combating trafficking in persons. However, in accordance with the new anti trafficking legislation, the Government plans to establish by year?s end an interagency commission that will develop a state policy or national plan on combating trafficking. Anti-trafficking training for law enforcement has been initiated by providing 300 copies of an anti-trafficking handbook to Department of Interior officials, officers, and prosecutors. In addition, government representatives participated in seminars and training sessions for law enforcement agencies.

Turkey
The Government of Turkey has shown some anti-trafficking progress through training of officials, assistance to an increased number of trafficking victims, and the establishment of a victim hotline. However, it has not undertaken a focused, effective public awareness campaign.

On June 29, 2004, the Government finalized an agreement with a leading local anti-trafficking NGO to establish the first shelter for victims of trafficking in Turkey. On November 2, 2004, the shelter successfully managed the repatriation of its first victims, three Ukrainian women referred by enforcement officers after an October 31 raid in Istanbul. The NGO has sheltered more than 10 victims, including a victim who volunteered to lead investigators to her traffickers, who were subsequently arrested.

In a combined effort by the Government, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the partner NGO, more than 50 victims of trafficking were assisted in voluntary returns in 2004, up from less than five in 2003. The partner NGO started in December a part-time toll-free hotline for trafficking victims. The Government contributed funds for IOM anti trafficking training. According to official statistics, since June 2004, 332 law enforcement officers participated in anti-trafficking training courses. The Government also incorporated trafficking sensitivity and screening training in academy curricula for new national police and Jandarma recruits. Neighboring governments and NGOs reported that Turkey?s implementation of bilateral anti trafficking protocols and agreements remains inconsistent, though media reports documented several successful anti-trafficking police operations with some source countries.

Uzbekistan
The Government of Uzbekistan continues to make significant efforts to combat trafficking, particularly in the area of enforcement. The Government has opened nearly 180 cases, apprehended 228 suspects, and identified 531 victims. Areas to watch include the effectiveness of the interagency working group to combat trafficking, the status of the comprehensive anti trafficking legislation in the legislature, and the institutionalization of a screening and referral system to identify trafficking victims by law enforcement and effectively refer them to assistance centers.