US embassy cable - 03THEHAGUE2196

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 THE HAGUE 002196 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, PRM, IWI, EUR/PGI, EUR/UBI 
 
DEPT PASS TO AID 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM, PHUM, KWMN, ELAB, SMIG, NL 
SUBJECT: RECENT TIP DEVELOPMENTS IN THE NETHERLANDS 
 
REF:  A) State 218687; B) The Hague 1855 
 
1.  Summary 
----------- 
Below follows an update of recent developments in the 
Netherlands re trafficking in persons (TIP).  Contents: 
 
--New Legislation 
--Other Parliamentary Activity 
--Outreach to National TIP Rapporteur's Office 
--Arrests/Prosecutions 
--Visitors Raise TIP: A/S Jones; Former Congresswoman Smith 
--Comments 
 
2.  New Legislation 
------------------- 
On June 16, 2003, the Dutch Cabinet gave the first stage 
approval to a bill submitted by Justice Minister Donner 
expanding the definition of people trafficking to all forms 
of modern slavery, in conformity with the EU Framework on 
Trafficking and the UN Palermo Protocol.  Under the bill, it 
is forbidden "in all cases to recruit persons under coercion 
or deception, to transport or to house them, for the reason 
of exploitation."  The bill penalizes all forms of social- 
economic exploitation in the different sectors, such as the 
hotel, restaurant and agricultural sector, household work 
and prostitution.  The bill also applies to the removal of 
human organs.  The requirement of "coercion or deception" 
does not apply to minors; exploitation of minors is always 
punishable.  The maximum penalties for trafficking will be 
raised to 12 years in case of serious physical injury and 15 
years in case of death. 
 
Immediately after Cabinet approval, the bill was sent for 
review to the Council of State, the highest advisory body to 
the government, as is the mandatory procedure for new 
legislation.  The text will not become public until approved 
by the Council and submitted to the Dutch Parliament.  It is 
too early to tell when the Second and First Chambers of 
Parliament will debate the bill, but there is no doubt that 
legislation will be passed and in place before the August 
2004 deadline for ratification of the EU Framework on 
Trafficking. 
 
3.  Other Parliamentary Activity 
-------------------------------- 
In reply to recent questions by the Labor (PvdA) and 
Calvinist Reformed (SGP) parties about U.S. State Department 
concerns about TIP in the Netherlands, Justice Minister 
Donner noted that the 2002 U.S. TIP report does not take 
into account recently proposed legislation (described above 
in Para 2) which expands the definition of TIP and raises 
penalties so that they are comparable to those for multiple 
rape, which was a point for U.S. criticism. 
 
Donner felt U.S. concerns were prompted by the rise in the 
number of TIP prosecution cases.  He emphasized that this 
only proves the Dutch government has made TIP a priority 
issue.  With respect to U.S. criticism on support for 
foreign victims, Donner emphasized that many victims are 
operating in "hidden or less visible" sectors of 
prostitution making it difficult for the government to 
assist them.  According to Donner, the Dutch police have 
invested a great deal in the detection of victims.  He 
pointed to the B-9 immigration law regulation allowing 
victims to remain in the country while pursuing prosecution, 
noting that, within Europe, only Italy and Belgium have 
comparable procedures. 
 
On September 4, 2003, the Second Chamber's Standing Justice 
Committee will discuss the results of the first assessment 
of the November 2000 lifting of the ban on brothels, carried 
out by the Justice Ministry's Scientific Research and 
Documentation Center (WODC) in October last year, as well as 
the 2002 TIP reports recently published by the National 
Rapporteur.  We expect the committee will: 1) recommend 
continued monitoring of legalized brothels by the WODC until 
2005, and 2) urge the GONL to support the Rapporteur's 2002 
recommendations.  We expect funding levels to remain the 
same for TIP despite overall GONL budget cuts. 
 
4.  Outreach to National TIP Rapporteur Office 
--------------------------------------------- - 
Embassy's Global Issues officers recently met with senior 
staff members of the National TIP Rapporteur's office to 
discuss follow-up action on the three P's: prosecution, 
prevention and protection.  The Rapporteur staff members 
first wanted to emphasize that the independent status of 
their office enables them to make critical observations and 
recommendations about all aspects of the TIP problem and 
solutions.  They expressed concern that in the past these 
honest observations and recommendations have been repeated 
negatively in U.S. reports - in a sense, "used against us 
and the GONL."  This makes it "more difficult for us to 
continue our independent work."  Embassy officers agreed to 
relay the point to appropriate USG Department officials. 
 
Prosecution: 
With respect to prosecution statistics, the staffers 
admitted that data collection is slow because of limited 
manpower (three staff members).  The Rapporteur's 2003 
annual report, which will be published this December, will 
have 2002 law enforcement statistics.  Realizing the 
importance of the most up-to-date information, our 
interlocutors are committed to discuss the issue with other 
parties involved (police, ministries and NGOs) and try to 
find ways to share more current data. 
 
Prevention: 
The Rapporteur staffers noted several ongoing prevention 
initiatives including the Travel Agent's Association 
distribution of warnings about trafficking and sex with 
minors and ECPAT (End Child Prostitution, Child Porn and 
Child Trafficking) Netherlands public awareness campaigns 
aimed at Dutch tourists and travel agencies, which are meant 
primarily to combat sexual exploitation of children.  ECPAT 
and the Dutch branch of Defense for Children International 
have just completed a study on child sex tourism, which was 
funded by the Dutch government. The Rapporteur's office has 
promised to send us a copy and we will forward one to G/TIP. 
 
The Netherlands also plays an active role in the EU "La 
Strada" program for the prevention of trafficking in women, 
which was expanded in 2002 to include twelve (from six) 
Central and Eastern European countries.  GONL funding for La 
Strada (1.5 million USD over 2001-2004) is channeled through 
the Dutch Foundation against Trafficking in Women (STV). 
 
The Justice Ministry's WODC has been asked to initiate a 
study into various forms of modern-day slavery in the 
Netherlands (other than exploitation in prostitution).  The 
National Rapporteur is involved in the formulation of the 
research project. 
 
On the issue of sex tourism, our interlocutors noted that 
the Public Morality Act was amended in 2002 to add a 
provision that "citizens and persons having a permanent 
residence in the Netherlands, who abuse minor children in 
foreign countries, can be tried and convicted in the 
Netherlands, even if the offense is not a crime in the 
country where it took place."  To date, two persons have 
been prosecuted under this new provision. 
 
The Rapporteur's staff was puzzled by our questions about 
sex tourism in The Gambia (Ref A) as there are reports of 
only a few isolated incidents of Dutch traveling to that 
country for sex with minors.  According to them, there is no 
evidence of The Gambia as a significant destination or even 
indications of a trend. 
 
Protection: 
In June 2003, the STV and the Dutch Interchurch Organization 
for Development Cooperation (ICCO) launched a study of TIP 
repatriation programs.  The study will gather information 
from NGOs in "source" countries, consider best practices and 
pitfalls and prepare a plan of action for the Netherlands. 
The Rapporteur's office plans to host a meeting, planned for 
early February 2004, of 25 repatriation experts from these 
countries.  Other Dutch NGOs involved in repatriation 
programs are IOM-Nederland, Bonded Labor in the Netherlands 
(BLIN), and Religions against Trafficking in Women (SRTV). 
IOM-Nederland has begun to modify its current database of 
repatriated persons to distinguish TIP victims - an IOM head 
office initiative which the Dutch are out front on. 
 
The Rapporteur staffers also reminded us that the 
Netherlands will chair the Council of Europe in 2004.  The 
Council, which has made TIP a priority issue, is currently 
drafting its own convention on victim assistance and human 
rights and the GONL intends to further this effort. 
 
With respect to concerns about sufficiency of shelters for 
victimized women (Ref A), STV is optimistic that this 
problem will be solved shortly by a new directive by GONL to 
give battered women priority for subsidized housing in order 
to free more shelter capacity for TIP victims.  The STV and 
local minority integration networks have also started a 
discussion on the need for separate shelters for TIP victims 
and victims of household violence. 
 
5.  Arrests/Prosecutions 
------------------------ 
Since February, 2003, the Amsterdam and military police 
forces have arrested 46 Dutch and Romanian nationals on 
suspicion of participating in a network of trafficking and 
forced prostitution.  During the investigation, the police 
seized false driver's licenses and passports, forged Dutch 
residence permits, money and weapons.  The network is 
suspected of having recruited Romanian women and girls under 
the pretense of working as waitresses in Dutch restaurants. 
Once in the country, their passports were taken away and 
they were told they owed the traffickers large sums of money 
on expenses made.  This way, they were forced to work as 
prostitutes.  Most of the victims have meanwhile been 
repatriated.  Prosecution of suspects is currently being 
prepared. 
 
In July 2003, the Breda district court sentenced the female 
manager of a sex club to 18 months in prison, of which six 
months suspended.  The woman was accused of having smuggled 
at least 14 women, including four underage girls, from the 
former East Bloc to the Netherlands in 2001 and forced them 
to work as prostitutes.  The prosecutor suspects a link to 
between the sex clubs in Noord Brabant and Zeeland provinces 
to the Bulgarian mafia. 
 
6.  Visitors Raise TIP 
---------------------- 
EUR A/S Jones raised the TIP issue in meetings with the 
National Rapporteur for Trafficking Korvinus and Justice 
Ministry Secretary-General Demmink in The Hague on July 15, 
2003 (Ref B).  Dutch officials emphasized to Jones that TIP 
will be a priority of their European Union and Council of 
Europe presidencies in 2004, as it has been with their OSCE 
presidency.  All agreed it is essential to focus political 
and multilateral attention on the problem. 
 
On July 21, 2003, the Embassy arranged a meeting for Shared 
Hope International Director Linda Smith and Michele Clark, 
Co-Director of the Protection Project of the Foreign Policy 
Institute, with the National Rapporteur who pledged support 
for an initiative described by Smith to hold a regional 
conference in the Netherlands to establish international 
networks for repatriated women.  The two agreed to remain in 
close contact; the Rapporteur's office has not yet received 
further details of Smith's conference proposal (not to be 
confused with the STV and ICCO project launch meeting 
described above in para 4, Protection). 
 
7.  Comment 
----------- 
The activities described above by the GONL, the Rapporteur 
and NGOs demonstrate that the GONL takes TIP seriously and 
commits significant time, funding and resources to 
eradicating this type of crime and assisting victims.  There 
is healthy cooperation between public and private 
organizations to combat the problem, and increasing 
inclusion of neighboring and source countries in planning. 
When passed, the new TIP legislation in Parliament should 
meet USG concerns set out in Ref A.  The GONL is seizing 
opportunities to spotlight TIP and make it an international 
priority as it leads multilateral institutions (OSCE 
presidency, Council of Europe and EU presidency).  We are 
particularly intrigued with the STV/ICCO repatriation study 
and conference proposed for February 2004 (para 4 above) and 
hope to find an opportunity for meaningful bilateral 
cooperation there.  Embassy The Hague welcomes the visit of 
G/TIP Senior Advisor John Miller to the Netherlands in late 
September and plans to use that visit to conduct more 
outreach and advocacy to police, ministries and NGOs 
involved in TIP issues and to engage the Rapporteur further. 
 
Russel