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UNCLAS STATE 060608 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB KCRM KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG KPAO KTIP IC
SUBJECT: ICELAND--2009 TIP REPORT: PRESS GUIDANCE AND 
DEMARCHE 
 
REF: A. 2009 STATE 59732 
     ¶B. 2009 STATE 5577 
 
¶1. This is an action cable; see paras 5 through 7 and 10. 
 
¶2. On June 16, 2009, at 10:00 a.m. EDT, the Secretary will 
release the 2009 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report at a 
press conference in the Department's press briefing room. 
This release will receive substantial coverage in domestic 
and foreign news outlets.  Until the time of the Secretary's 
June 16 press conference, any public release of the Report or 
country narratives contained therein is prohibited. 
 
¶3. The Department is hereby providing Post with advance press 
guidance to be used on June 16 or thereafter.  Also provided 
is demarche language to be used in informing the Government 
of Iceland of its tier ranking and the TIP Report's imminent 
release.  The text of the TIP Report country narrative is 
provided, both for use in informing the Government of Iceland 
and in any local media release by Post's public affairs 
section on June 16 or thereafter.  Drawing on information 
provided below in paras 8 and 9, Post may provide the host 
government with the text of the TIP Report narrative no 
earlier than 1200 noon local time Monday June 15 for WHA, AF, 
EUR, and NEA countries and OOB local time Tuesday June 16 for 
SCA and EAP posts.  Please note, however, that any public 
release of the Report's information should not/not precede 
the Secretary's release at 10:00 am EDT on June 16. 
 
¶4. The entire TIP Report will be available on-line at 
www.state.gov/g/tip shortly after the Secretary's June 16 
release.  Hard copies of the Report will be pouched to posts 
in all countries appearing on the Report.  The Secretary's 
statement at the June 16 press event, and the statement of 
and fielding of media questions by G/TIP's Director and 
Senior Advisor to the Secretary, Ambassador-at-Large Luis 
CdeBaca, will be available on the Department's website 
shortly after the June 16 event.  Ambassador de Baca will 
also hold a general briefing for officials of foreign 
embassies in Washington DC on June 17 at 3:30 pm EDT. 
 
¶5. Action Request: No earlier than 12 noon local time on 
Monday June 15 for WHA, AF, EUR, and NEA posts and OOB local 
time on Tuesday June 16 for SCA and EAP posts, please inform 
the appropriate official in the Government of Iceland of the 
June 16 release of the 2009 TIP Report, drawing on the points 
in para 9 (at Post's discretion) and including the text of 
the country narrative provided in para 8.  For countries 
where the State Department has lowered the tier ranking, it 
is particularly important to advise governments prior to the 
Report being released in Washington on June 16. 
 
¶6. Action Request continued:  Please note that, for those 
countries which will not receive an "action plan" with 
specific recommendations for improvement, posts should draw 
host governments' attention to the areas for improvement 
identified in the 2009 Report, especially highlighted in the 
"Recommendations" section of the second paragraph of the 
narrative text.  This engagement is important to establishing 
the framework in which the government's performance will be 
judged for the 2010 Report.  If posts have questions about 
which governments will receive an action plan, or how they 
may follow up on the recommendations in the 2009 Report, 
please contact G/TIP and the appropriate regional bureau. 
 
¶7. Action Request continued: On June 16, please be prepared 
to answer media inquiries on the Report's release using the 
press guidance provided in para 11.  If Post wishes, a local 
press statement may be released on or after 10:30 am EDT June 
16, drawing on the press guidance and the text of the TIP 
Report's country narrative provided in para 8. 
 
¶8. Begin Final Text of Iceland's country narrative in the 
2009 TIP Report: 
 
-------------------------------- 
Iceland (TIER 2) 
-------------------------------- 
 
Iceland is primarily a destination country and, to a lesser 
extent, a transit country for men and women from the Baltic 
states, Poland, Russia, Bulgaria, Equatorial Guinea, Brazil, 
and China trafficked to and through Iceland to Western 
European states for the purposes of commercial sexual 
exploitation and forced labor in the restaurant and 
construction industries. 
 
The Government of Iceland does not fully comply with the 
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; 
however, it is making significant efforts to do so.  In 2008, 
the Government of Iceland drafted a national action plan to 
fight trafficking.  However, the government did not 
demonstrate significant law enforcement efforts during the 
reporting period.  Victim identification and victim 
assistance was a challenge; some victims of trafficking may 
have been deported without any effort to determine whether 
they were victims.  The government also did not conduct any 
anti-trafficking awareness campaigns. 
 
Recommendations for Iceland:  Amend the criminal code to 
ensure penalties prescribed for sex trafficking are 
commensurate with penalties prescribed for other grave 
crimes, such as rape; increase efforts to investigate and 
prosecute trafficking offenses and convict and punish 
trafficking offenders; provide training for law enforcement 
investigators and prosecutors on trafficking cases; develop 
legal alternatives to the removal of foreign victims to 
countries where they face retribution or hardship; develop a 
victim identification and referral mechanism; consider 
opening a trafficking-specific shelter to ensure that victims 
are adequately assisted; ensure that victims are not 
penalized for acts committed as a direct result of being 
trafficked, including immigration violations; and conduct an 
awareness and prevention campaign focused on both sex and 
labor trafficking and the demand for both forms of 
trafficking. 
 
Prosecution 
---------------- 
 
The Government of Iceland demonstrated modest law enforcement 
efforts over the reporting period.  Iceland prohibits 
trafficking for both sexual exploitation and forced labor 
through Section 227 of its criminal code, although 
prosecutors have never used Section 227 and have instead 
relied on alien smuggling and document forgery statutes to 
prosecute trafficking cases.  Punishments prescribed for 
trafficking under section 227 extend up to eight years' 
imprisonment, which are sufficiently stringent, though not 
commensurate with penalties prescribed for other grave 
crimes, such as rape.  Police conducted one sex trafficking 
investigation and one labor trafficking investigation during 
the reporting period, compared to no investigations in 2007. 
Authorities prosecuted and convicted no traffickers in 2008, 
the same as in 2007. 
 
Protection 
---------------- 
 
Iceland demonstrated limited efforts to assist and protect 
trafficking victims over the last year.  Local governments 
and NGOs identified 20 probable victims of trafficking and 
less than 10 victims received assistance from 
government-funded programs.  Iceland did not provide 
trafficking-specific shelters; instead victims were 
accommodated at a domestic violence shelter.  In 2008, the 
care available under this structure was limited because the 
government did not provide trafficking-specific assistance 
that adequately addressed the unique needs of victims of 
trafficking.  Icelandic authorities did not employ procedures 
to proactively identify victims of trafficking; the lack of 
such procedures increased the risk that victims were 
detained, prosecuted, jailed, and deported for immigration 
violations.  Iceland did not employ a victim referral 
process, though NGOs reported that some law enforcement 
officers referred victims for assistance on an ad hoc basis. 
Victims were encouraged to assist in the investigation and 
prosecution of trafficking offenders; two victims assisted 
law enforcement in 2008. 
 
Prevention 
---------------- 
 
Iceland conducted no substantive trafficking prevention 
efforts, including measures to increase public awareness of 
trafficking, during the reporting period.  The government 
did, however, draft a national action plan to address 
trafficking.  Border police at the country's only 
international airport provided potential trafficking victims 
with information about assistance if they find themselves in 
a future trafficking scenario.  The government adequately 
monitored immigration patterns for evidence of trafficking. 
Iceland has not ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol. 
 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶9. Post may wish to deliver the following points, which offer 
technical and legal background on the TIP Report process, to 
the host government as a non-paper with the above TIP Report 
country narrative: 
 
(begin non-paper) 
 
-- The U.S. Congress, through its passage of the 2000 
Trafficking Victims Protection Act, as amended (TVPA), 
requires the Secretary of State to submit an annual Report to 
Congress.  The goal of this Report is to stimulate action and 
create partnerships around the world in the fight against 
modern-day slavery.  The USG approach to combating human 
trafficking follows the TVPA and the standards set forth in 
the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in 
Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the 
United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized 
Crime (commonly known as the "Palermo Protocol").  The TVPA 
and the Palermo Protocol recognize that this is a crime in 
which the victims' labor or services (including in the "sex 
industry") are obtained or maintained through force, fraud, 
or coercion, whether overt or through psychological 
manipulation.  While much attention has focused on 
international flows, both the TVPA and the Palermo Protocol 
focus on the exploitation of the victim, and do not require a 
showing that the victim was moved. 
 
-- Recent amendments to the TVPA removed the requirement that 
only countries with a "significant number" of trafficking 
victims be included in the Report. Beginning with the 2009 
TIP Report, countries determined to be a country of origin, 
transit, or destination for victims of severe forms of 
trafficking are included in the Report and assigned to one of 
three tiers.  Countries assessed as meeting the "minimum 
standards for the elimination of severe forms of trafficking" 
set forth in the TVPA are classified as Tier 1.  Countries 
assessed as not fully complying with the minimum standards, 
but making significant efforts to meet those minimum 
standards are classified as Tier 2.  Countries assessed as 
neither complying with the minimum standards nor making 
significant efforts to do so are classified as Tier 3. 
 
-- The TVPA also requires the Secretary of State to provide a 
"Special Watch List" to Congress later in the year. 
Anti-trafficking efforts of the countries on this list are to 
be evaluated again in an Interim Assessment that the 
Secretary of State must provide to Congress by February 1 of 
each year.  Countries are included on the "Special Watch 
List" if they move up in "tier" rankings in the annual TIP 
Report -- from 3 to 2 or from 2 to 1 -- or if they have been 
placed on the Tier 2 Watch List. 
 
-- Tier 2 Watch List consists of Tier 2 countries determined: 
(1) not to have made "increasing efforts" to combat human 
trafficking over the past year; (2) to be making significant 
efforts based on commitments of anti-trafficking reforms over 
the next year, or (3) to have a very significant number of 
trafficking victims or a significantly increasing victim 
population.  As indicated in reftel B, the TVPRA of 2008 
contains a provision requiring that a country that has been 
included on Tier 2 Watch List for two consecutive years after 
the date of enactment of the TVPRA of 2008 be ranked as Tier 
¶3.  Thus, any automatic downgrade to Tier 3 pursuant to this 
provision would take place, at the earliest, in the 2011 TIP 
Report (i.e., a country would have to be ranked Tier 2 Watch 
List in the 2009 and 2010 Reports before being subject to 
Tier 3 in the 2011 Report).  The new law allows for a waiver 
of this provision for up to two additional years upon a 
determination by the President that the country has developed 
and devoted sufficient resources to a written plan to make 
significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with the 
minimum standards. 
 
-- Countries classified as Tier 3 may be subject to statutory 
restrictions for the subsequent fiscal year on 
non-humanitarian and non-trade-related foreign assistance 
and, in some circumstances, withholding of funding for 
participation by government officials or employees in 
educational and cultural exchange programs.   In addition, 
the President could instruct the U.S. executive directors to 
international financial institutions to oppose loans or other 
utilization of funds (other than for humanitarian, 
trade-related or certain types of development assistance) 
with respect to countries on Tier 3.  Countries classified as 
Tier 3 that take strong action within 90 days of the Report's 
release to show significant efforts against trafficking in 
persons, and thereby warrant a reassessment of their Tier 
classification, would avoid such sanctions.  Guidelines for 
such actions are in the DOS-crafted action plans to be shared 
by Posts with host governments. 
 
-- The 2009 TIP Report, issuing as it does in the midst of 
the global financial crisis, highlights high levels of 
trafficking for forced labor in many parts of the world and 
systemic contributing factors to this phenomenon:  fraudulent 
recruitment practices and excessive recruiting fees in 
workers' home countries; the lack of adequate labor 
protections in both sending and receiving countries; and the 
flawed design of some destination countries' "sponsorship 
systems" that do not give foreign workers adequate legal 
recourse when faced with conditions of forced labor.  As the 
May 2009 ILO Global Report on Forced Labor concluded, forced 
labor victims suffer approximately $20 billion in losses, and 
traffickers' profits are estimated at $31 billion.  The 
current global financial crisis threatens to increase the 
number of victims of forced labor and increase the associated 
"cost of coercion." 
 
-- The text of the TVPA and amendments can be found on 
website www.state.gov/g/tip. 
 
-- On June 16, 2009, the Secretary of State will release the 
ninth annual TIP Report in a public event at the State 
Department.  We are providing you an advance copy of your 
country's narrative in that report.  Please keep this 
information embargoed until 10:00 am Washington DC time June 
¶16.  The State Department will also hold a general briefing 
for officials of foreign embassies in Washington DC on June 
17 at 3:30 pm EDT. 
 
(end non-paper) 
 
¶10. Posts should make sure that the relevant country 
narrative is readily available on or though the Mission's web 
page in English and appropriate local language(s) as soon as 
possible after the TIP Report is released.  Funding for 
translation costs will be handled as it was for the Human 
Rights Report.  Posts needing financial assistance for 
translation costs should contact their regional bureau's EX 
office. 
 
¶11. The following is press guidance provided for Post to use 
with local media. 
 
Q1: Why was Iceland placed on the Report for the first time 
in 2009? 
 
A:   Iceland was placed on the TIP Report this year because 
there was reliable information that Iceland is a country of 
origin, transit, or destination for victims of severe forms 
of trafficking in persons. 
 
Q2:  What types of trafficking exist in Iceland? 
 
A:  Iceland is primarily a destination country and, to a 
lesser extent, a transit country for men and women from 
Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America for the purposes of 
commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor in the 
restaurant and construction industries. 
 
Q3:  Why is Iceland placed on Tier 2? 
 
A:  The Government of Iceland does not fully comply with the 
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; 
however, it is making significant efforts to do so.  The 
Government of Iceland drafted a national action plan to fight 
trafficking and local governments and NGOs identified 20 
probable victims of trafficking.  However, the government did 
not demonstrate significant law enforcement efforts and 
victim identification and assistance was a challenge; some 
victims of trafficking may have been deported without any 
effort to determine whether they were victims.  The 
government also did not conduct any anti-trafficking 
awareness campaigns. 
 
Q4:  What could the Government of Iceland do to improve its 
anti-trafficking efforts in the coming year? 
 
A:  The Government of Iceland could: increase efforts to 
investigate and prosecute trafficking offenses and convict 
and punish trafficking offenders; provide training for law 
enforcement investigators and prosecutors on trafficking 
cases; develop legal alternatives to the removal of foreign 
victims to countries where they face retribution or hardship; 
develop a victim identification and referral mechanism; 
consider opening a trafficking-specific shelter to ensure 
that victims are adequately assisted; and conduct an 
awareness and prevention campaign focused on both sex and 
labor trafficking and the demand for both forms of 
trafficking. 
 
¶12. The Department appreciates posts' assistance with the 
preceding action requests. 
CLINTON