US embassy cable - 04YEREVAN2647

UNCLAS YEREVAN 002647 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR G/TIP, DRL AND EUR/CACEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, KCRM, KWMN, PHUM, AM, KTIP 
SUBJECT: JANUARY-NOVEMBER 2004 DATA ON TIP PROSECUTION 
AND CONVICTIONS 
 
 
Sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly. 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1. (SBU) According to data on Trafficking in Persons 
(TIP) provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) 
for the period between January 1, 2004 and November 1, 
2004, there have been 15 cases of trafficking in 
Armenia involving 26 defendants.  While most of those 
people were sentenced to prison, the Article of the 
Criminal Code on Trafficking was applied only in one 
case.  Comparison with data for 2003 shows a 25 percent 
increase in cases investigated.  End Summary. 
 
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LEGISLATIVE BACKGROUND 
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2. (U) Trafficking in persons was defined as a crime 
August 1, 2003 when the new Armenian Criminal Code 
entered into force.  TIP crimes committed prior to this 
date were prosecuted on charges of organization of 
prostitution (i.e., pimping).  Law-enforcement bodies 
have used the term "pimping abroad" in order to 
simplify statistics and differentiate trafficking from 
traditional forms of pimping.  The Criminal Code 
contains the following provisions:  trafficking in 
persons covered under Article 132; involvement in 
prostitution under Article 261; organization of 
prostitution (pimping) under Article 262. 
 
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CASES AND CONVICTIONS 
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3. (SBU) Based on data provided by the Information 
Center of the Republic of Armenia (RA) Police, in the 
first eleven months of 2004 the Prosecutor's office and 
the Police have investigated 24 criminal cases of 
sexual exploitation of women involving 37 defendants. 
Fifteen of these cases (involving 26 people) were 
determined to be related to trafficking.  Those 26 
defendants received the following sentences: 
 
-- Imprisonment        --16 people (61.5 percent); 
-- Fines               -- 4 people (15.4 percent); 
-- Suspended sentences -- 4 people (15.4 percent); and 
-- Corrective Labor    -- 2 people ( 7.7 percent). 
 
These cases were prosecuted under Articles 261, 262 and 
132 of the Criminal Code. 
 
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ARTICLES APPLIED 
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4. (SBU) Article 132 on Trafficking was invoked only in 
one case involving 3 persons, who were all sentenced to 
prison (for terms ranging from 2 years to 4.5 years). 
Article 261 on Involvement into Prostitution was also 
applied once.  In this case the defendant was penalized 
in the amount of approximately USD 390.  Article 262 
was applied in 13 criminal cases involving 22 persons: 
13 of those were sentenced to jail (for terms ranging 
from 6 month to 3 years), 3 persons were penalized 
approximately USD 650, and 2 were sentenced to 
corrective labor. 
 
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COMPARISON WITH 2003 DATA 
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5. (SBU) Compared with data from 2003 (TIP Report 2004) 
these reports indicate a roughly 25 percent increase in 
the number of cases investigated.  In addition, 
traffickers prosecuted in 2004 received harsher 
punishments than during 2003.  In 2003 the police 
initiated 2 cases under Article 132 and 17 cases under 
Article 262.  Of the latter, however, only nine were 
trafficking cases (for a total of eleven cases).  The 
sentences handed down ranged from fines and 
correctional labor to one-year imprisonment. 
EVANS