US embassy cable - 05YEREVAN1748

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 001748 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/CACEN, DRL 
G/TIP FOR JENNIFER DONNELLY 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/28/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PHUM, PGOV, AM, KTIP 
SUBJECT: TIP:  UZBEK TRAFFICKING CONVICTION LEAVES CONCERNS 
ABOUT JUDICIAL CONDUCT 
 
REF: YEREVAN 1320 
 
Classified By: DCM A.F. Godfrey for reasons 1.4(b,d) 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1. (C) On September 22, a local-level court in Yerevan 
sentenced Uzbek citizen Natella Saghatelyan to five years 
imprisonment for trafficking and forgery.  The Armenian 
National Security Service (NSS) arrested Saghatelyan in March 
2005 for trafficking Uzbek women, and a minor girl, through 
Armenia to Dubai and Bahrain.  Saghatelyan's conviction marks 
the third instance in which an Armenian court has tried 
defendants under anti-trafficking statutes since Parliament 
adopted a new Criminal Code in April 2003.  Saghatelyan's 
conviction carried the toughest sentence yet.  Though 
Saghatelyan's prosecution is encouraging, Judge Iskuhi 
Vardanyan demonstrated an absolute lack of understanding of 
trafficking issues.  Throughout the trial, Vardanyan made 
inappropriate statements about the victims, denied their 
requests for legal counsel, and brutally cross-examined them 
about their "willing participation."  The United Methodist 
Committee on Relief (UMCOR) has sheltered the victims since 
March and, with help from the International Organization for 
Migration, will soon repatriate them to Uzbekistan.  End 
Summary. 
 
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CRIME AND PUNISHMENT, SOMETIMES 
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2. (SBU) On September 22, Judge Iskuhi Vardanyan sentenced 
Uzbek citizen Natella Saghatelyan to a total of five years 
imprisonment for trafficking (four years) and forgery of 
travel documents (one year).  The conviction carried the 
stiffest sentence meted out by an Armenian court since 
Parliament adopted the Section 132 anti-trafficking statute 
in April 2003.  (Note: Under Armenian law, four years is the 
minimum punishment available for human trafficking 
convictions under aggravated circumstances, such as the 
exploitation of a minor.  End note.)  In addition to 
Saghatelyan, the court charged two local defendants as 
accomplices.  A second defendant, Nshan Zakaryan, sheltered 
the victims in his house and helped to transport them within 
Yerevan.  The court released Zakaryan after suspending his 
four and one half years prison sentence.  Hovsep Ananyan, an 
employee at Yerevan's Zvartnots Airport, was convicted under 
Article 35 of the Armenian Criminal Code (Forgery, Sale or 
Use of Forged Documents) after passing a false passport to 
one of the victims after she exited border control.  Ananyan 
paid a USD 550 equivalent fine, which the prosecutor appealed 
in favor of a harsher sentence. 
 
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CASE DETAILS 
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3. (SBU) According to court reports, Saghatelyan was a link 
in the chain of traffickers that started in Uzbekistan and 
ended in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.  The victims, 
Lola Abdulaeva (age 26), Maria Khmelevo (age 19), and Karina 
Yeremyan (age 17) initially enlisted with the traffickers 
voluntarily, intending "to improve their families' harsh 
financial conditions through prostitution" in Dubai. 
Saghatelyan and other members of the trafficking network, 
however, compelled the victims to turn proceeds over "to 
cover accumulated debts for visas and other costs." 
Saghatelyan received the victims in Yerevan and attempted to 
facilitate their transit to Dubai, where local pimps waited 
at the airport.  Saghatelyan, a citizen and usual resident of 
Uzbekistan, reportedly succeeded in facilitating the transit 
of only one girl, Nigina Majidova, to Bahrain.  (Note:  The 
investigation did not reveal any information about Majidova's 
fate.  End Note.) 
 
4. (SBU) The Armenian National Security Service apprehended 
Saghatelyan after UAE officials deported -- and returned to 
Yerevan -- victims Maria Khmelevo and Lola Abdulaeva for 
traveling on false passports.  Investigators discovered the 
youngest victim, Karina Yeremyan, at Nshan Zakaryan's house 
where they arrested Saghatelyan.  The NSS referred all three 
victims to a USG-supported United Methodist Committee on 
Relief (UMCOR) anti-trafficking shelter.  UMCOR will 
repatriate the victims (with the assistance of the 
International Organization for Migration) for care at a 
shelter in Uzbekistan. 
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COURT PROCEEDINGS HIGHLIGHT INSENSITIVITY AND BIAS 
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5. (C) Over the course of the three-month trial, Judge Iskuhi 
Vardanyan denied the women access to legal counsel by holding 
them as "witnesses" rather than victims, a common practice in 
Armenian criminal cases.  Under Armenian law, witnesses are 
not guaranteed access to legal counsel.  At hearings we 
attended, we noted that the state-provided translator (both 
the main defendant and the victims spoke Russian) selectively 
translated court instructions and frequently interjected with 
her own comments.  Judge Vardanyan permitted the translator 
to respond for the victims without first consulting them. 
Vardanyan also made frequent inappropriate remarks, pointing 
and yelling angrily that "the fight against trafficking 
should start with them (the victims)."  Vardanyan, the 
prosecutor, and the defense attorney cross-examined the 
victims for hours as they stood at a podium in the center of 
the room the entire time. 
 
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COMMENT:  ENCOURAGING CONVICTION, DISCOURAGING CONDUCT 
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6. (C) Though Saghatelyan's conviction is encouraging (most 
trafficking cases here are prosecuted under the lesser charge 
of pimping), the court -- and Judge Iskuhi Vardanyan in 
particular -- demonstrated an absolute lack of sensitivity 
for trafficking victims during the trial.  Though we have 
worked with police, prosecutors, journalists, IOM, and UMCOR 
to press the USG's anti-trafficking benchmarks, Vardanyan's 
courtroom display highlights the long road ahead for the 
judicial sector. 
EVANS