Cablegate: Knesset Speaker Itzik Details Goi Anti Trafficking
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Leza L Olson 09/01/2006 08:42:00 AM From DB/Inbox: Leza L Olson
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SUBJECT: KNESSET SPEAKER ITZIK DETAILS GOI ANTI TRAFFICKING
EFFORTS
REF: TEL AVIV 2784
1. (SBU) SUMMARY In follow-up to their July 12 meeting,
Speaker of the Knesset Dalia Itzik sent Ambassador Jones a
letter detailing Knesset anti-trafficking actions, including
two new laws that strengthen enforcement and provide
trafficking victims the right to legal aid provided by the
state. Itzik also wrote about amendments to the Israeli
Criminal Code that, if passed as anticipated, will broaden
the definition of trafficking in people to include labor
trafficking, involuntary servitude and trafficking in body
parts, and sent the Ambassador an English translation of a
Parliamentary report on trafficking in women. END SUMMARY.
2. (SBU) Itzik described two laws related to trafficking
that were passed during the 16th Knesset. The first was an
amended 2003 Law against Trafficking in People that applies
the Israeli criminal code to crimes committed by Israelis in
countries where trafficking in people is not considered a
crime; imposes minimum four-year sentences for trafficking in
people, with increases up to 16 years if the victim is a
minor; accelerates the court process to take early testimony
from victims in order to allow -- not require -- their
repatriation as soon as possible; and gives trafficking
victims the right to legal aid provided by the state. The
second law enables law enforcement authorities to shut down
brothels.
3. (SBU) Itzik's letter also discussed two amendments
prohibiting trafficking in people in ways other than for
prostitution. The bills, which passed on first reading in
November and December 2005, would criminalize forced labor,
baby trafficking, and organ trafficking; establish maximum
sentences up to 20 years; add additional measures, such as
confiscating property and using the proceeds to finance
enforcement efforts and protection of victims; authorize
special conditions for hearings, such as proceedings in
camera; and establish assistance programs for victims of
trafficking, such as enabling the Minister of the Interior to
allow a trafficking victim to remain legally in Israel for
humanitarian reasons. Itzik wrote that discussion of the
combined bill has been given priority by the Knesset
Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, and that the
committee chairman has stated his intention of completing the
legislation process on human trafficking by the end of the
summer recess. The bill was passed by committee August 23,
although an objection on expanding legal aid to all
trafficking victims -- due according to GOI sources to budget
issues -- has been raised. Once the legal aid question is
resolved, the bill will be put in plenary for first reading,
probably in October.
4. (SBU) Emphasizing that the Knesset takes a "very serious"
approach to eliminating human trafficking, Itzik asserted
that the parliamentary inquiry committee on trafficking in
women established in 2000 -- which became a parliamentary
sub-committee in 2005 -- has greatly reduced trafficking in
women. In conclusion, Itzik wrote that the committee is now
expanding its scope to include the other forms of trafficking
described earlier, and reiterated that -- along with
enforcement -- protection of victims is a priority.
5. (SBU) Itzik also sent an English translation of the
January 2006 report of the Knesset Sub-Committee on
Trafficking in Women chaired by Zehava Galon. The "Report on
Implementation of the Recommendations of the Parliamentary
Inquiry Committee on Traffic in Women 2000-2004" details
responsibilities of various agencies in combating
trafficking, and highlights recent GOI accomplishments in
combating trafficking, some of which were included in Itzik's
letter and already noted.
-- The GOI appointed an inter-ministerial coordinator for
government efforts to combat trafficking.
-- The Legal Aid Department of the Ministry of Justice
expanded legal aid to include all trafficking victims,
including women being held in Immigration Authority Detention
Centers or Prisons.
-- The estimated number of women smuggled into Israel for
prostitution declined from 3,000 to "a few hundred."
6. (SBU) The report also offered a number of
recommendations.
-- The GOI must take the next step and make the coordinator
position permanent. (This has been done since the report was
written.)
-- Reduce the number of plea bargains and increase the length
of sentences and the amount and number of compensation awards.
-- The police should "work at wiping out the attitude that
prostitution and pimping are necessary evils, since this
approach often prevents law enforcement."
-- All victims of trafficking should be sent to a shelter,
whether they testify or not, and authority to determine which
women will be sent to a shelter should be removed from the
police.
7. (U) The government agencies responsible for various
elements of GOI anti-trafficking efforts also offered
responses to the recommendations and brief summaries of their
actions.
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