US embassy cable - 05SOFIA1874

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 SOFIA 001874 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR INL/AAE (BONE), EUR/SCE (BRANDON) 
DOJ FOR OPDAT & ICITAP (JONES, ALEXANDRE, DELCORE) 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
 
TAGS: SNAR, KCRM, KJUS, EAID, ASEC, PGOV, BU 
SUBJECT: FY 2006 PROPOSALS FOR INL-MANAGED SEED FUNDED 
LAW ENFORCEMENT AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS 
FOR BULGARIA 
 
REF: STATE 183148   SOFIA 766 
 
1.   SUMMARY:  Post herein submits proposals to continue 
four INL-managed projects using FY 2006 funding: 
Resident Legal Advisor (RLA); Forensics Laboratories 
Project; the Criminal Law Liaison (CLL); and Embassy Rule 
of Law Assistant.  Post also proposes transforming the 
Regional Criminal Justice Initiative (RCJI) to the 
National Criminal Justice Training Initiative (NCJTI), 
which will support training initiatives at the Bulgarian 
Police Academy.  Opportunities may also arise to work 
with a new Prosecutor General, to be appointed in 
February 2006.  All projects will focus on reforming 
Bulgarian criminal justice institutions and strengthening 
its law enforcement capabilities.  The total amount of FY 
2006 SEED funding allocated by Post to INL-managed 
projects is USD 2,366,000.  As FY06 will be the last year 
of SEED funding for Post's criminal justice assistance, 
the projects will place particular emphasis on building 
legacies and leaving self-sustaining criminal justice 
institutions.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.   Like many countries in the region, Bulgaria suffers 
from substantial organized crime and corruption, which 
law enforcement and judicial institutions have been 
unable to counter effectively.  Weaknesses in Bulgaria's 
criminal justice institutions represent a grave threat to 
its future democratic development and successful entry 
into the EU, scheduled for 2007.  Reform of Bulgaria's 
judicial system and modernization of its criminal justice 
institutions therefore constitute post's most urgent 
assistance priority.  In our opinion, Bulgaria will 
require additional criminal justice assistance after 
expiration of SEED funding, and our continued support 
will serve important US interests.  Bulgarian criminal 
activity already has a direct and increasing impact on 
the United States, which is unlikely to abate after 
Bulgaria's entry into the EU.  RefTel Sofia 766.  Post 
therefore renews the request, originally made in Sofia 
766, for funding to continue criminal justice assistance 
to Bulgaria after expiration of SEED funding. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
PRIORITY 1 OF 5 - RESIDENT LEGAL ADVISOR (RLA): USD 
885,000 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
3.   Goal(s): Government of Bulgaria (GoB) establishes a 
self-sustaining anti-human trafficking regime; GoB 
manifests long-term capacity to apply criminal justice 
reform legislation; Prosecutor General takes significant 
steps toward reform of prosecutorial function; United 
States rule of law and law enforcement assistance 
activities leave self-sustaining justice-sector 
institutions in place when SEED funding expires. 
 
4.   Background: The DOJ/OPDAT Resident Legal Advisor 
(RLA) stands at the center point of Post's strategy of 
strengthening the rule of law in Bulgaria.  The RLA 
serves as Post's coordinator for USG rule of law and law 
enforcement assistance activities.  In that capacity, the 
RLA chairs Post's Rule of Law and Law Enforcement Task 
Force and provides extensive guidance and oversight to 
Post's INL criminal justice portfolio.  The RLA also 
administers a program of criminal justice assistance, 
focused on combating human trafficking and other forms of 
organized and transnational crime; and on development and 
implementation of criminal justice reform legislation. 
In FY06, the RLA will also develop training modules on 
application of Bulgarian intellectual property law for 
police and prosecutors.  In addition, a new Prosecutor 
General will be appointed in FY06, presenting a window of 
opportunity to work for reform of the prosecutorial 
function in Bulgaria. 
 
5.   Project Description: 
Rule of Law Coordinator -- The RLA will continue to serve 
as overall Embassy coordinator for rule of law and law 
enforcement assistance activities carried out under the 
Embassy's banner, and will serve as in-country Project 
Manager for the RCJI/NCJTI, Priority Project 3. 
Combating Trafficking in Persons -- The RLA will provide 
technical assistance to the National Anti-Trafficking 
Commission.  The RLA will also provide training to 
justice sector personnel on investigation and prosecution 
of human trafficking cases, with an emphasis upon using 
money laundering and asset forfeiture statutes to 
dismantle human trafficking organizations; and on 
identification of and assistance to victims of human 
trafficking.  The RLA will continue to empower a core of 
selected Bulgarians to be the country's primary anti- 
trafficking trainers; and will continue to serve as 
coordinator of an international donors human trafficking 
working group. 
Development and Implementation of Criminal Justice Reform 
Legislation -- The RLA will continue to assist the GOB in 
the drafting, passage and implementation of criminal law 
reform legislation.  Such assistance seems likely to 
include support for development of legislation addressing 
specialized investigative techniques (SITs) and reform of 
the penal code; and implementation of new witness 
protection, probation, and victims' protection 
legislation, and the new criminal procedure code. 
Intellectual Property -- In collaboration with the 
Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) and other 
sections at Post, the RLA will develop training modules 
on investigation and prosecution of intellectual property 
cases. 
Prosecutorial Function:  The RLA will provide technical 
assistance as needed, to a new Prosecutor General, who 
will take office in the second quarter of FY06.  The 
nature of such assistance may be governed, in part, by 
the results of the findings of the ABA/CEELI 
Prosecutorial Function Reform Index, discussed in 
paragraph 27.  Assistance may also include additional 
training for prosecutors in light of such factors as 
institutional changes to the Prosecutorial General's 
office and the new responsibilities of prosecutors under 
the new criminal procedure code, as supervisors of the 
investigation. 
6.   Timeline:  The RLA project will continue until the 
expiration of SEED funding, expected on or around 
September 30, 2007. 
7.   Sustainability:  Successful completion of the 
project should result in more robust and sustainable 
justice sector institutions in Bulgaria.  One of the 
RLA's principal tasks will be to assure that all SEED- 
funded rule of law and law enforcement activities 
concentrate upon leaving sustainable justice sector 
institutions upon expiration of SEED funding.  Further, 
by the end of the project, the National Trafficking 
Commission, and the local commissions it establishes, 
should be a major vehicle for a comprehensive assault on 
human trafficking.  The Bulgarian trainers utilized in 
OPDAT trainings should be in a position to carry the 
responsibility of training fellow Bulgarians on the 
investigation and prosecution of human trafficking cases, 
and on inter-acting with the local anti-trafficking 
commissions and NGOs in providing assistance to 
trafficking victims.  Current increases in the number of 
human trafficking cases coming to trial and resulting in 
convictions should continue, with some traffickers 
convicted on money laundering charges.  By the end of the 
project, Bulgaria should also be implementing a wide 
variety of new criminal justice legislation developed 
with SEED assistance. 
 
8.   Performance indicators: 
 
Combating Human Trafficking: 
 
-- Bulgarian prosecutors return indictments in at least 
three trafficking cases. 
 
-- The National and local Anti-Trafficking Commissions 
develop mechanisms and structures for providing 
assistance to victims of trafficking. 
 
Criminal law reform legislation: 
 
-- Revised criminal procedure code implemented. 
 
-- Revised SITs legislation drafted and entered on path 
toward enactment. 
 
Prosecutorial Function: 
 
-- Prosecutor General implements at least one 
recommendation of CEELI Prosecutorial Function Reform 
Index. 
 
9.   Evaluation:  The RLA will submit weekly activity 
reports and quarterly progress reports to OPDAT HQ, INL 
and the Embassy.  In addition, at the completion of the 
project, the RLA will submit an end-of-mission report to 
the GoB which includes recommendations for sustainability 
of all SEED funded rule of law and law enforcement 
assistance projects. 
 
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PRIORITY 2 OF 5 - FORENSICS LABORATORIES: 550,000 USD 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
10.  Goal(s): Upgrade capabilities to analyze potential 
evidence at the Research Institute for Forensic Science 
and Criminology (RIFSC) in Sofia, and the Basic Forensics 
Laboratories (BFL)and Regional Forensics Laboratories 
(RFL) throughout the country; RIFSC accredited by 
European Network for Forensic Science Institutes 
(ENFSI)and licensed to meet International Standardization 
Organization (ISO) 9000 standards (a series of five 
standards for developing a total quality management 
system, developed by the International Organization for 
Standardization based in Geneva, Switzerland). 
 
11.  Background:  Since 1st quarter FY03, the Forensics 
Laboratories project has focused on upgrading the ability 
of forensic laboratories to analyze potential evidence, 
especially in cases involving counterfeiting, narcotics, 
cyber crime and missing persons.  Through the project's 
activities, Bulgarian law enforcement is already able to 
better investigate complex crimes and provide evidence 
needed to successfully prosecute complex and serious 
crimes.  The project has always sought to complement 
other USG rule-of-law activities, particularly the RCJI 
and the Criminal Law Liaison Program (priorities 3 and 
4). 
 
12.  Project Description:  A TDY contractor, provided by 
DOJ/ICITAP, in close collaboration with the Director of 
the RIFSC, will manage the upgrading of equipment at the 
RIFSC and its satellite labs throughout the country.  The 
contractor will coordinate required training for the new 
equipment and update procedures and processes.  The 
project will work with the RIFSC to achieve full ENFSI 
accreditation and licensing to meet ISO 9000 standards. 
The project will continue to collaborate and complement 
the work of the RCJI/NCJTI and Criminal Law Liaison 
program activities.  Specific activities include: 
 
-- Installation of hardware and software to support an 
operational Laboratory Information Management System 
(LIMS) system at RIFSC. 
 
-- Training of BFL and RFL personnel to be self- 
sufficient in analyzing potential evidence instead of 
sending such evidence to the RIFSC. 
 
-- Attendance by RIFSC representatives at international 
forensic information sharing and workshop conferences and 
annual European Network for Forensic Science Institutes 
(ENFSI) conference. 
 
13.  Timeline: Project activities will be carried out 
throughout FY 2006, with end results expected in FY 2007. 
 
14.  Sustainability: Full accreditation of the RIFSC by 
the ENFSI will help ensure sustainability through regular 
assessments and the enforcement of strict guidelines. The 
automated evidence-tracking LIMS system will provide a 
capability of linking all BFLs and RFLs into a nation- 
wide LIMS. The practice of replacing 2/3-year old 
equipment at RIFSC and sending it to upgrade BFLs or RFL 
will lead to enhanced regional forensic capacities. 
 
15. Performance indicators: 
 
-- RIFSC accredited by the European Network for Forensics 
Science Institutes (ENFSI) and licensed to meet the 
International Standardization Organization (ISO) 9000 
standards. 
 
-- Reduction in the analysis time of potential evidence 
at the RIFSC and in satellite labs. 
 
-- Upgraded equipment transferred by the RIFSC to an 
appropriate BFL or RFL and BFL/RFL personnel trained to 
be self-sufficient in analyzing potential evidence 
 
-- Fully operational Laboratory Information Management 
System at RIFSC accommodating an automated evidence 
tracking system. 
 
-- Further upgrades of RFLs to BFL status. 
 
16.  Evaluation:  Submission of monthly to bi-monthly 
activity reports and quarterly progress reports by the 
technical advisor to ICITAP HQ, INL and the Embassy. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
PRIORITY PROJECT 3 OF 5 - NATIONAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE 
TRAINING INITIATIVE (NCJTI), AS SUCCESSOR TO REGIONAL 
CRIMINAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE (RCJI): 551,000 USD 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
17.  Goal: Nationalize and institutionalize successful 
RCJI police training initiatives at the Bulgarian Police 
Academy, and provide additional technical assistance to 
the Academy. 
 
18.  Background: Beginning in 4th quarter FY03, the RCJI 
worked at the local level, seeking to: 1) encourage 
institutional cooperation in the investigation and 
prosecution of cases; 2) improve case management 
procedures; and, more generally, 3) generate "bottom up" 
criminal justice reform. The program assigned an 
experienced American prosecutor (provided by ABA/CEELI) 
and an experienced American investigator (provided by 
DOJ/ICITAP), to work with local counterparts.  It began 
work in the pilot jurisdiction of Blagoevgrad.  The 
program shifted operations to Plovdiv in FY05, while 
keeping contact with Blagoevgrad authorities.  The RCJI 
will continue to work in these areas in FY06, using FY05 
funding. 
 
19.  The RCJI also developed or is the process of 
developing several important police training initiatives. 
These include: 
 
  -- basic investigative skills for police investigators; 
  -- arson investigation; and 
  -- precinct and crisis management (at the request of 
  the Bulgarian Ministry of Interior). 
 
The RCJI will offer trainings in these areas in the RCJI 
jurisdiction in FY06, using FY05 funding, in 
collaboration with the Bulgarian Police Academy. 
 
In the last year of SEED funding, the NCJTI seeks to 
capitalize upon these training initiatives by 
nationalizing them and incorporating them into the 
curriculum of the Police Academy, and by further 
strengthening the Academy's curriculum. 
 
20.  Project Description:  Based on lessons learned in 
the training initiatives in the areas enumerated in 
paragraph 19 -- basic investigative skills for police 
investigators; arson investigation; and precinct and 
crisis management - the project will institutionalize 
such training on a national basis through incorporation 
into the curriculum of the Police Academy.  The project 
will also provide additional technical assistance to the 
Police Academy, as needed.  The project will place 
particular emphasis upon expanding the scope of in- 
service training available at the Academy, including 
offering travel grants so that officers may come to Sofia 
for training, and selected in-service training in 
regional locations.  In addition, the project will seek 
to develop a more practical, problem-solving approach to 
Police Academy training in selected additional areas, and 
to incorporate the perspective of the public prosecutor, 
the supervisor of the investigation under the new 
Bulgarian Criminal Procedure Code, into the Academy's 
curriculum.  The project will be administered through a 
full-time, in-country DoJ/ICITAP police technical 
advisor, supported by additional international experts as 
appropriate. 
 
21:  Timeline:  The RCJI will complete its activities, 
using FY05 funding, on or about September 30, 2006. 
NCJTI activities should be completed with the expiration 
of FY06 funding, on or about September 30, 2007. 
22.  Sustainability:  All NCJTI training programs will 
have a "train-the-trainers" component to support 
sustainability, and will be integrated into the permanent 
curriculum of the Police Academy.  In addition, the NCJTI 
will collaborate with an EU Phare twinning project whose 
purposes include improving the methodology and practice 
for conducting police investigations, which should 
provide additional external support to secure 
sustainability of NCJTI training initiatives. 
23.  Performance Indicators: 
-- Bulgarian Ministry of Interior (MoI) and Police 
Academy incorporate academy-tested Basic Criminal 
Investigation Course into national curriculum. 
 
-- Bulgarian MoI and Police Academy incorporate academy- 
tested Arson investigative course into its national 
training curriculum. 
 
-- Up-to-date, pragmatic curriculum combined with adult 
learning methodologies in at least two additional areas 
implemented at the Bulgarian Police Academy. 
 
24.  Evaluation: Submission of bi-weekly activity reports 
and quarterly progress reports by the ICITAP technical 
advisor to ICITAP HQ, INL and the Embassy.  Further, the 
NCJTI will use a variety of instruments to evaluate the 
effectiveness of trainings - immediately after the 
training and approximately six months later.  In 
addition, the RLA will act as in-country evaluator of the 
NCJTI program. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
PRIORITY PROJECT 4 OF 5 - CRIMINAL LAW LIAISON (CLL): 
USD $340,000 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
25.  Goal(s):  Increase the capacity of the Bulgarian 
government to combat cyber crime; increase justice sector 
institutions' capacity to provide victim protection and 
compensation in accordance with Bulgarian law. 
 
26.  Background: Since 1998, the Sofia office of the 
Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative (CEELI), a 
public service project of the American Bar Association 
(ABA), has supported criminal justice reform in Bulgaria. 
Presently, CEELI is the only international donor 
organization working to improve Bulgaria's capacity to 
investigate and prosecute cyber crime.  Its Criminal Law 
Liaison (CLL) program has played a key role in several of 
the major criminal justice reform initiatives in 
Bulgaria: it was involved in the early effort to build a 
stronger legislative infrastructure to combat financial 
crime, helping to establish Bulgaria's Financial 
Intelligence Unit and to develop Bulgaria's present money 
laundering statute, "Measures Against Money Laundering 
Act."  CEELI assisted the OPDAT RLA in establishing the 
inter-agency anti-trafficking working group which 
subsequently constructed one of the strongest legislative 
frameworks in the Balkans for combating human 
trafficking. 
 
27.  CEELI also worked with two separate Bulgarian 
prosecutors' associations to gain approval for the first 
Bulgarian Prosecutorial Ethics Code, which is presently 
in force and binding on all prosecutors.  CEELI's work on 
legal ethics led to the inclusion of ethics in coursework 
at law faculties.  CEELI published ethics codes and 
commentaries for judges, prosecutors, investigators and 
police, and there is currently a prosecutor in each of 
Bulgaria's 28 districts who serves as an ethics 
`consultant' as a result of CEELI's work.  Further, at 
the request of Embassy Sofia, CEELI is presently using 
FY05 funding to develop a Prosecutorial Reform Index 
similar to the indices that it has developed for the 
judicial function and the legal profession.  This 
publication will provide international benchmarks to 
assess the prosecutorial function in Bulgaria and 
identify potential areas for future reform. 
 
28.  CEELI's assistance to the GoB on cyber crime has led 
to several successful enforcement actions.  Additionally, 
CEELI facilitated the donation of EnCase software 
licenses to trace suspicious or illegal e-mail messages 
to their source.  The Institute for Computer Technologies 
(ICT) is now fully equipped and trained, and capable of 
using this software during cyber crime investigations. 
Currently, CEELI is preparing trainings for law 
enforcement personnel on routine cyber crime forensic 
work to prevent delays in investigations. 
 CEELI assistance was instrumental in the creation of a 
cyber crime unit within the Bulgarian MoI and in 
development of a cyber crime manual that will soon be 
published. Further, CEELI assisted in the development of 
new Bulgarian cyber crime legislation through the 
involvement of computer experts from the international 
and national private sector, probably the first example 
of such public-private collaboration on legislative 
drafting in Bulgaria. 
 
29.  Project Description: The project will fund a 
Criminal Law Liaison, an experienced American prosecutor, 
and two Bulgarian staff attorneys to promote criminal law 
and criminal procedure reform.  The project will 
coordinate its activities closely with the OPDAT RLA. 
The project will work in the area of cyber crime, 
computer-based intellectual property violations, and 
implementation of Bulgaria's new victims' assistance law. 
 
Cyber Crime - The project will concentrate upon improving 
the capacity of the Bulgarian government to detect, 
investigate, prosecute and prevent cyber crime by: 
supporting trainings based on the cyber crime manual 
developed with CEELI assistance that will set forth 
streamlined guidelines for cyber crime investigation and 
prosecution; providing trainings for law enforcement 
personnel on cyber crime forensic work; developing anti- 
phishing sites and phishing reporting mechanisms 
((phishing is the use of e-mails to procure an 
individual's financial information for purposes of fraud 
and identity theft; promoting continuing cooperation 
between the public and the private sector in combating 
cyber crime via working groups and assistance on specific 
issues of mutual interest; and promoting the inclusion of 
cyber crime coursework in law faculty curricula. 
 
Computer-based intellectual property -- The project will 
also collaborate with the OPDAT RLA in improving the 
capacity of the Bulgarian government to investigate 
computer-based intellectual property violations by 
sponsoring trainings on investigating and prosecuting 
computer-based intellectual property violations; and 
promoting continuing cooperation between public and 
private sector in the area of computer-based intellectual 
property violations. 
 
Victims' Assistance Law -- The project will assist in the 
implementation of the Bulgarian law on victim protection 
and compensation, including: assistance in the creation 
and development of a centralized victim protection unit 
and a victim compensation fund; provision of training on 
protection and compensation; and assistance in drafting 
of secondary protection and compensation legislation. 
 
30.  Timeline:  The CLL project will continue until 
expiration of SEED funding, expected on or around 
September 30, 2007. 
 
31.  Sustainability: The streamlined cyber crime 
investigation and prosecution guidelines for all law 
enforcement units should become part of the internal 
operating rules and regulations of the law enforcement 
units charged with cyber crime enforcement authority. 
The training component of this project is designed to 
replicate itself by teaching criminal justice sector 
personnel how to train their own ranks, and by requiring 
that participants do so as part of their involvement in 
the project. 
 
32.  Performance Indicators: 
 
-- Inclusion of cyber crime courses in the curriculum of 
at least one Bulgarian law faculty. 
 
-- Law enforcement and the Prosecution Service develop 
and implement cyber crime investigation and prosecution 
guidelines. 
 
-- Law enforcement agencies and the Prosecution Service 
include cyber crime investigation and prosecution 
guidelines in internal rules and regulations. 
 
-- 10 % increase in detection, investigation and 
prosecution of cyber crimes and intellectual property 
violations over 2005/2006 baseline. 
 
--At least 1 anti-phishing Web site is developed and 
implemented. 
 
--At least 2 law enforcement personnel in each of the 28 
Bulgarian judicial districts are trained on forensic 
cyber crime investigative techniques. 
 
-- Quarterly meetings of the cyber crime working group 
that spans the public and private sectors. 
 
33.  Evaluation:  The CLL will submit monthly activity 
reports to CEELI HQ, INL and the Embassy. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
PRIORITY PROJECT 5 OF 5 - EMBASSY RULE OF LAW ASSISTANT: 
USD 40,000 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
34.  The Embassy Rule of Law Assistant position began 
early in FY04.  Since that time, the incumbent has proven 
essential to the Embassy's rule of law mission through 
provision of written and oral analyses of rule of law and 
legal issues in Bulgaria for Embassy officials.  The 
incumbent has been a major drafter of cables on key rule 
of law subjects, such as human trafficking, organized 
crime, human rights, and treatment of minorities in 
Bulgaria.  The Rule of Law Assistant has developed 
extensive contacts with the NGO and international donor 
communities, and has served as an important link between 
the Embassy and Bulgarian justice-sector officials.  The 
incumbent will continue to execute these functions using 
FY06 funding. 
 
------------------- 
SUMMARY OF PROJECTS 
------------------- 
 
35.  Total funding for the five projects for FY 2006 is 
USD 2,366,000 in country SEED funds. 
 
PROJECT             FY 2006 FUNDING     FUNDING TO DATE 
-- RLA               USD   885,000       USD 3,388,629 
-- Forensics         USD   550,000       USD 1,486,200 
-- RCJI/NCJTI        USD   551,000       USD 1,406,000 
-- CLL               USD   340,000       USD 1,042,345 
-- Pol/Ec Assistant  USD    40,000       USD   125,000 
TOTAL                USD 2,366,000       USD 7,448,174 
 
BEYRLE