US embassy cable - 05ATHENS634

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ATHENS 000634 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/SE, EUR/PPD, G/TIP, DRL, ECA/PE, INL/CTR 
 
C O R R E C T E D C O P Y  -  (T E X T) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO, PREL, PHUM, SMIG, GR, TIP 
SUBJECT: ATHENS TIP CONFERENCE RAISES AWARENESS ON NEED TO 
COORDINATE AGAINST TRAFFICKING 
 
REF: THESSALONIKI 0014 
 
1. SUMMARY:  An embassy-organized Athens TIP symposium on 
February 23 raised awareness on the need for better 
cooperation among law enforcement and justice officials to 
fight trafficking in Greece.  Following the February 15-16 
training seminar for Greek judiciary and police officers in 
Thessaloniki (reftel), the Athens event, under the title 
"The Role of the Judiciary in Combating Trafficking," 
attracted approximately 200 judges, prosecutors, police and 
NGO representatives.  Ambassador Ries and Justice Minister 
Papaligouras opened the symposium, while Ambassador Verros, 
the Greek National Coordinator for Anti-Trafficking, 
actively participated in all sessions.  Following lively 
discussions, the conclusion of the symposium was that Greek 
officials need more training and better communication among 
their respective agencies, as well as assistance by 
specially-trained social workers, psychologists and 
translators.  Although the work of NGOs was recognized as 
important, especially in identifying TIP victims, questions 
were raised about how to verify their reliability. END 
SUMMARY. 
 
2. At a February 23 Embassy-organized TIP symposium co- 
sponsored by the National Commission of Administrative 
Courts, Hellenic Aid (the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' 
foreign aid agency), and the International Organization for 
Migration (IOM), Justice Minister Papaligouras discussed the 
key role of the judiciary in identifying TIP victims and in 
raising public awareness about the nature and extent of 
trafficking.  Ambassador Ries congratulated the Greek 
government on the National Action Plan and Inter-Ministerial 
Coordinating Committee.  He stressed the importance of the 
combined efforts of the government, international 
organizations, and NGOs in the face of changing trends in 
trafficking.  U.S. Embassy Sofia Resident Legal Advisor Tom 
Peebles participated in the symposium, noting that 
trafficking is a key business for international crime 
syndicates, that trans-border cooperation is paramount in 
combating it, and that the U.S. is committed to providing 
assistance to countries in the region to deal with this 
problem. 
 
3. Every official (Greek and American) mentioned the need 
for a collective effort at the local, bilateral and 
international level in order for the phenomenon to be 
eradicated.  The speakers, each involved in the judicial 
process against trafficking in a different capacity, 
identified weaknesses of the current Greek system.  Maria 
Malouhou, prosecutor at the Athens First Instance Court and 
special prosecutor for TIP, made suggestions for 
strengthening and implementing the anti-trafficking law. 
Daniel Esdras, head of IOM in Greece, highlighted the new 
forms that trafficking has taken in Greece.  Victims less 
frequently appear in Greece as illegal immigrants but often 
hold legal visas and travel documents, which may be held by 
their traffickers.  Victims have limited freedom, and might 
possess cellular phones, creating the impressions that they 
are voluntary prostitutes, he noted. 
 
4. Conclusions of the conference were that a) more training 
is needed for the parties involved at all levels in the 
fight against trafficking; b) the lack of expert assistance 
(social workers, psychologists, translators) for anti-TIP 
authorities often results in ineffective identification of 
trafficking victims; and c) there is a lack of coordination 
and communication at the working level between the police, 
judiciary and other government entities involved in the 
process.  The shortcomings of the current anti-trafficking 
system were further confirmed, according to one of the 
speakers, by the fact that shelters in Greece and other 
European countries remain empty.  Several speakers made the 
point that traffickers continuously adjust their practices 
and render law enforcement and judicial methods obsolete 
very quickly.  They stressed that this makes the need for 
collaboration between the various branches of government, as 
well as trans-border collaboration, all the more critical. 
 
5.  Though stressing the necessity of NGOs, an Athens 
prosecutor mentioned the lack of information from the state 
regarding the reliability of NGOs.  When she dealt with a 
child repatriation case last year, she had no resources to 
find "reputable" NGOs in Greece and in Albania as partners. 
The National Coordinator for Anti-Trafficking responded that 
the MFA keeps a list of legitimate NGOs, and commitments 
were made to address this issue.  The conference brought 
NGOs and justice officials together to start building these 
essential working-level connections. 
 
6. One of the highlights of the symposium was the 
presentation by IOM attorney Eleni Glegle.  Glegle, a recent 
International Visitor grantee, told the audience that 
"Greece needs to adopt the U.S. model of networking between 
the government and the NGOs."  Acting as prosecutor's 
counsel, Glegle recently won a landmark trafficking trial in 
northern Greece, where a local man was convicted of 
trafficking a Ukrainian woman, despite a parade of community 
witnesses who testified to the trafficker's standing in the 
village.  In her comments to the symposium, Glegle thanked 
U.S. Justice Department attorney Luis DeBaca, whom she met 
during her IV trip and who advised her throughout the trial. 
She has been tapped by the Greek Ministries of Justice and 
Foreign Affairs to work on projects regarding trafficking 
issues in Greece. 
 
7. COMMENT:  The presence of the Minister of Justice and the 
large number of participants at the symposium point to a 
greater Greek interest in fighting trafficking.  As Greece 
focuses more on addressing TIP issues, officials involved 
have started to understand the inadequacies of the system 
and the need for improvement.  According to several 
speakers, the GoG must continue to build trust between 
competent authorities and NGOs and to promote TIP training 
and lateral cooperation among the bodies of government 
involved in combating trafficking.  END COMMENT.