No human for sale – international co-operation in a field of combating trafficking in humans

Materials from conference

Project of the Warsaw Metropolitan Police Headquarters implemented with financial assistance of the European Union under “Prevention of and fight against crime”

No human for sale – international co-operation in a field of combating trafficking in humans

Materials from conference

17-19 March 2009 Warsaw

Ladies and Gentlemen,

For ages human trafficking was considered as something natural and neither shocked nor surprised anyone. Human beings were treated merely as a commodity. A woman was used as means of payment already in primitive tribes. Nowadays, slavery is unacceptable around the world. International legal acts – both those issued by the UN and regional ones – outlaw slavery and forced labour and consider this ban as an inherent human right that cannot be violated under any pretext whatsoever. And yet, human trafficking, especially women and girls, continues to flourish. It was this burgeoning criminal activity that inspired us to create a project entitled: “No human for sale – international co-operation in a field of combating trafficking in humans”, which was implemented with the European Union’s financial assistance. The publication I have the honour to present to you contains the proceeds of a conference which took place in Warsaw on 17-19 March 2009. I do hope that it lives up to your expectations and that it might prove to be helpful in your everyday operations. I wish to thank both our Polish and foreign partners for the assistance and efforts they have contributed in preparation of the substance for our conference. It is my sincere hope that providing this publication with texts translated into languages of all the involved partners can be conducive to better popularisation of the conference output among persons and institutions directly involved in the fight against human trafficking. I hope you enjoy reading our publication.

Adam Mularz

Chief of Warsaw Metropolitan Police

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Grzegorz Korsan: Actions of the Central Investigation Office of the Main Police Headquarters in fight against the crime of human trafficking ...... 5 Marek Wyszkowski: The fight against human trafficking in the context of the Polish legal system...... 8 Katarzyna Fenik: Outline of the phenomenon of child trafficking: psychological portrait and identification of children – victims of trafficking...... 10 Katarzyna Kmieć: Project for counteracting forced prostitution and human trafficking “HOPE”...... 12 Michał Czyżewski: Searching for missing persons and the human trafficking phenomenon...... 16 The role of Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection in Dorota Krzysztoń: assistance actions addressed at victims of human trafficking...... 18

Irena Malinowska: Operating methods of offenders in human trafficking...... 22 Janusz Bryk: Crimes associated with human trafficking...... 25 Mark Loader: Operation Harmony……………………………………………… 32 Christine Chassard: Structure and Tasks of the Office...... 35 Emilie Moreau: Sexual exploitation of children...... 36 Chantal Bredin: Structure and tasks of the office ...... 38 Rodrigo Montero Sánchez: General outline of illegal immigration in Spain ...... 39 Marcelo Gómez Chao Thomas Menzel: Alexandra Klein: The concept of combating “trafficking in human beings”...... 41 Jens Wrischke: Andrej Afanasjev: INFORMATION about combating human trafficking in Ukraine...... 45

Grzegorz Korsan Central Investigation Bureau of the Main Police Headquarters

Actions of the Central Investigation Office of the Main Police Headquarters in fight against the crime of human trafficking

As a strict correlation exists between the crime of human trafficking and organised crime, its combating has become one of the principal tasks of the Central Investigation Bureau of the Main Police Headquarters. In its fight against organised crime the Central Investigation Office applies methods and means that are permissible under valid legal regulations. The selection and effectiveness of the applied methods depends on the specific nature of each case. The specificity of persecuting of the phenomenon of human trafficking and the international nature of this type of crimes give rise to a need for cooperation with foreign law enforcement agencies in other countries, the level of which is currently quite high. Knowledge of the Central Investigation Bureau related to the phenomenon itself and to the recorded incidents has been based primarily on information compiled during execution of own operations and cases, including preparatory proceedings. At present the Central Investigation Office of the Main Police Headquarters is handling investigations related to human trafficking in two principal areas: 1. trafficking for forced labour, in which case the victims are frequently used to commit common offences and misdemeanours; 2. human trafficking, primarily women, for purposes of sexual exploitation, which comprises approximately 90 percent of all cases. There are also individual cases of the organised sale of Polish children outside the territory of the Republic of Poland contrary to provisions of the act on adoption. Human trafficking for forced labour is a relatively new phenomenon in Poland. In this crime the Polish citizens are recruited so that they can be later forced to work on the area of European Union member states, including first of all Italy, Holland, Great Britain, Sweden and Norway. The operation of a criminal group as a rule comprises human trafficking, committing frauds and beguilement of property and money, as well as forcing the victims to commit shoplifting and other common petty crimes and offences, with this entire criminal activity being executed on an international scale. The victims are recruited primarily from among the unemployed under the pretext of finding well paid jobs abroad. Frequently all identity cards and all other identity documents are taken away from such persons while still in Poland. Following arrival in the target country the perpetrators keep the victims confined to their dwellings or other premises rented specially for the purpose, and practically shut them off from the external world. During the stay the perpetrators obtain forged certificates of non- existent employment and certificates of income on the basis of real documents earlier collected from the victims. This procedure allows setting up bank accounts, handling all necessary formalities related to issuance of credit cards or extending loans for the final benefit of the group members. The Poles are then forced to begging and shoplifting, and to committing other common crimes and offences. Results of conducted research clearly show that the principal factors that lead to a decision of going abroad in the case of victims of this particular type of crimes include the following:  difficult economic situation,  an attempt to hide from the judicature (wanted persons),  addiction or other factors that determine susceptibility to manipulations on the part of members of criminal groups. This criminal activity is executed by citizens of Poland (including frequently those of Roma nationality) in strict cooperation with the so-called „residents‟, i.e. the Poles, or with citizens of other countries, who reside both in transit countries and in the target place. The compiled information indicates that the typical criminal group specialising in this particular criminal activity comprises on average 20 to 30 persons. The top management of such a criminal group remains permanently in the target country, from where orders are issued to specific group members. Sometimes leaders of a criminal group stay on the territory of Poland and from there personally manage the entire group operation. They seldom go to the target country, and if so, for a short period of time only. A few members occupying medium level positions in the group hierarchy are assigned with organisation of transport and stay of the victims, falsification of stay documents, employment certificates or income statements and opening bank accounts, from which subsequently money is paid out. In Poland the group has a network of the so-called “recruiters" – i.e. the lowest level group members, who at a charge lure unemployed persons with various promises to make them want to leave the country. The group assures strict cooperation of fences specialised in selling stolen goods. The next area in which this crime is being combated by the Central Investigation Office is human trafficking of mainly women and girls, for purposes of sexual exploitation. This type of cases constitutes on average 90 percent of all handled cases. The illicit market of sexual services on the territory of Poland has been dominated by local criminal organisations, which in many cases include also foreigners who come frequently from Eastern, Western or Southern Europe. Those groups develop a network of extensive contacts in other countries. They execute full control over human trafficking and their operation is of a complex nature, from recruitment of the victims, through to their exploitation. Unfortunately, Poland‟s role in this respect has not changed, and it remains a country of origin, a transit country and a destination place for victims of human trafficking. The majority of female victims brought to Poland still include women coming primarily from Ukraine, Belarus and from the Balkan countries. The main destination countries are Germany, Austria, Holland, Spain and Greece. The compiled information indicates that the procurers are “remunerated” for women recruited to work abroad as prostitutes by the sum of approximately EUR 1000 per person. Some of the women voluntarily agree to undertake this kind of work, lured by the promises of well paid jobs, unaware of the fact that they would be forced to work to pay back the debt after their arrival on the place of employment (as a rule this period lasts 1 to 2 months). The other women are recruited among young girls, mainly from dysfunctional or abusive families, girls being on the run, in conflict with the law or in conflict with their families. The approach to this kind of women is slightly different. Initially they are offered help in the form of accommodation, food, and in many cases also brand clothes, alcohol, drugs. After a few months the time comes to pay back the debt by undertaking work in a brothel. Immediately after arrival those women are stripped of all identification documents they might have. Leaving the area of the escort agency is possible only in the presence of persons trusted by the employer. As a rule, such women seldom notify law enforcement agencies after their return home. In most cases this is due to strong addiction to alcohol and drugs. What is more, they are not willing to cooperate with law enforcement agencies in their investigations. Victims brought to Poland come mostly from Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania, and increasingly frequently from Moldova, as well as Belarus. The women are followed by their pimps who arrive in Poland to locally organise and then “secure" the entire criminal activity. Such persons frequently cooperate closely with the Polish citizens (in many cases these include the so-called “intermediaries”, assigned to facilitate transport, rental of apartment or a house, securing false documents, etc.). Women are transported out of the country using legitimate passports. If such a victim has real documents, once the border has been crossed the “procurers” immediately take them away under the pretext of necessary formalities connected with the woman‟s stay in the given country. In practice the documents are transferred directly to the recipient, who as a rule is an owner of a night club or an escort agency, along with the pimped victim. Then the real reason of the arrival is revealed to the woman, as well as the type of actual work she would have to do, i.e. prostitution. It is a common practice that to overcome any resistance the victim is threatened, beaten up, raped, drugged, or compromising materials are prepared (pictures or movies containing drastic pornographic material in which the victim took part). It is naturally desirable that the candidate should be naïve and gullible in her approach to the offered work. A relatively new trend is that the criminal groups have started to transfer their operation to countries outside the EU member states (e.g. Croatia). There they open exclusive brothels and escort agencies in agreement with local criminal groups. As we have managed to find out, women, including those from Poland, voluntarily agree to work in such establishments, as they are lured by very high income. They are well treated, and are regularly being paid for their work. Consequently, they do not feel mistreated in any way and after their return home refuse to cooperate with the law enforcement agencies in their investigations. Furthermore, recently obtained information suggests that on the area of voivodships situated along the Polish southern border a dominating role in women trafficking is being gradually taken over by Bulgarian organised criminal groups. Those groups specialise in organising smuggling of women from Turkey, Bulgaria and Ukraine to Poland. Some of the women are taken to escort agencies that cooperate with those criminal groups on the territory of Poland, Italy or Germany. Other women are sold to other criminal groups that comprise Bulgarian citizens operating on transport routes according to previously assigned territories. There the victims are forced to provide sexual services on roadside parking lots and in roadside motels. After some time, women providing sexual services are being exchanged between particular groups. A natural camouflage for the operation of criminal groups and for stay of their members on the area of a given country is officially run bazaar trade, which provides an excellent place for exchange of information, flow of cash and people turnover, and where transactions can be carried out. In many cases recently abducted victims are initially distributed among the bazaar traders for the so-called “quarantine" period, when they are “checked out" and exploited under the ongoing trade operation, and after some time they are forwarded for purposes of sexual exploitation. It may be presumed that Bulgarian organised criminal groups would in the near future be strengthening their position on the “market” of human trafficking of the European Union member states and might gradually force out the competitive criminal groups or enter their hitherto structures. The Central Investigation Office receives information about this particular crime both from official notifications about committed crimes, and in its operational work. The trafficking victims are frequently not interested in persecution of a crime committed to their detriment. This may be due to the fact that the crime was committed with their consent, or may arise from personal reasons, shame or fear for their own life, as the identity of the victims is well known to members of criminal groups, and the criminal activity is often accompanied by elements of intimidation. In such cases the Central Investigation Office, as well as the entire Police force, can benefit from special measures. Should such a need arise, the victims may obtain psychological assistance. In specific cases there is a possibility of participating in the special „Programme of assistance/protection of victim/witness of human trafficking”, implemented under an agreement concluded with the Ministry of Interior and Administration by the “La Strada” Foundation. In 2008 the Central Investigation Office detained 52 persons, who have been accused of human trafficking (Article 253 of the Civil Code). In addition, the majority have been charged with management or participating in an organised criminal group.

Marek Wyszkowski The Main Police Headquarters

The fight against human trafficking in the context of the Polish legal system

In view of the preponderance of this type of crime, the complexity of the detection process, methods of acquiring and compilation of evidence, specific nature of handling victims and witnesses and to the organised character of criminal groups that frequently operate on an international scale, fighting human trafficking gives rise to the necessity of adopting system solutions focusing on identification and effective combating of this type of crime. Consequently by decision of the Police Commander in Chief dated 5 September 2006 a special Central Team for Fight against Human Trafficking was established, which comprised police officers from four offices of the Main Police Headquarters: the Criminal Office, the Criminal Investigation Office, the Prevention Office and the Central Investigation Bureau. On 23 July 2007 by decision of the Police Commander in Chief the Central Team for Fight against Human Trafficking was transformed into a full employment structure and located in the Criminal Unit of the Criminal Office in the Warsaw Metropolitan Police Headquarters. At the same time Voivodship Teams for Fight against Human Trafficking consisting of 2 to 4 police officers were established in the Voivodship Police Headquarters and in the Warsaw Metropolitan Police Headquarters. Their task is to coordinate actions related to the fight against human trafficking, paedophilia and child pornography in the Internet on the area of relevant subordinated Police garrisons.

From th methods generally applied by criminal groups specialised in human trafficking, attention ought to be drawn to three specific aspects which are convergent with Poland being perceived as a country of origin of trafficked persons, a transit country, and in the past few years also the target country. When speaking of Poland as a target country it has to be borne in mind that the majority of victims of human trafficking come from such countries as Ukraine, Bulgaria, Moldavia, Belarus, Russia, Latvia, and Mongolia. As regards human trafficking for purposes of sexual exploitation the most common method is recruiting women by criminals of the same nationality as the victims, who subsequently organise transport of those women abroad to „apparently‟ legal work in escort agencies, e.g. as barmaid or receptionists. What is characteristic in this particular case, is the full legalisation of the stay of such female victims in the escort agencies, and avoiding crossing the border together with the trafficked victim by persons selling or buying them. In most cases the woman is brought to the border by a person who does not cross the state border physically, and on the Polish side another person is already waiting to take over the purchased victim after she has crossed the border on her own. Such conduct of persons involved in human trafficking is designed to create the impression that the victim has arrived in Poland to undertake work voluntarily, in response to an advertisement published in the country of origin; it suggests that nobody else was responsible for bringing the victim, and the victim herself had no personal contact with the seller or the buyer. An in-depth analysis of the scale of this phenomenon in the context of Poland being perceived as a country of origin of the victims has indicated that organised criminal groups more seldom use human trafficking as a source of prostitutes for brothels on the area of the European Union member states. This is partly caused by the fact that EU member state law enforcement agencies are involved much more effectively in combating the crime of human trafficking. Recently a new trend is that criminal groups tend to transfer their operation to countries from outside the EU (e.g. Croatia), where in agreement with local criminal groups exclusive brothels and escort agencies are established. Women agree to work in such places of their own free will, lured in addition by very high remuneration. In such cases no means of constraint are applied, quite to the contrary – due remuneration is paid out on a regular basis. For this reason after their return to Poland such trafficking victims do not feel harmed in any way and are consequently not interested in aiding the law enforcement agencies in their investigations. As regards Poland being a transit country for trafficking victims, the prevailing trend is bringing victims to the territory of Poland under the pretext of “invitations” to tests lasting a few weeks which are to take place in sport clubs. This strategy is especially popular among criminal groups from African countries, which specialise in transporting female victims on the basis of legal travelling documents (primarily visas) allowing their crossing of the border, for their later sexual exploitation. Transport usually takes place via Turkey to the territory of Poland, and subsequently farther on to western countries of the European Union. Information compiled with respect to the described criminal activities indicated that attempts of obtaining visas authorising the entry and stay on the area of various European countries by citizens of African countries have already been known for the past few years. Apart from sport groups the issuance of such visas has also been requested in the past by musical bands (Germany, Holland), dance groups (Germany, Finland, Holland) or circus groups (Holland).

In 2008 the Main Police Headquarters commenced works to establish a Polish-German Joint Investigation Team (JIT). On the Polish side, apart from officers from the Central Team for Fight against Human Trafficking, also involved in those works were representatives of the National Public Prosecutor‟s Office from the Office for Organised Crime and the Office of Preparatory Proceedings. The initiative to establish a joint team was brought forward by the German party, which via the Liaison Officer turned to the Main Police Headquarters with the above proposal, encouraged by successes achieved by the Polish Police in combating the international human trafficking, and in addition to the planned organisation of UEFA Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine. Meetings of involved parties led to working out a model agreement that established a German-Polish JIT in human trafficking. An initial choice was made of a specific case that could be used as grounds for the establishment of a joint team. Unfortunately due to problems of a formal and legal nature, i.e. the difference between the German and Polish penal legislation as regards formal premises for the existence of a crime in human trafficking, the joint team has not been established after all. During ongoing preparatory proceedings related to human trafficking, voivodship teams remain in continuous contact with Police Liaison Officers of involved countries via the Central Team for Fight against Human Trafficking in the Main Police Headquarters. Furthermore, the Central Team for Fight against Human Trafficking is executing intense information exchange via the Office of Criminal Investigation of the Main Police Headquarters with EUROPOL, INTERPOL and Police forces from other countries with respect to trafficking in human beings, child pornography disseminated primarily via the Internet, and paedophilia. The execution of such actions having an international nature may be conducive to the future establishment of joint international investigation teams, which would provide a special form of cooperation in persecution of organised crime on the area of the European Union.

When considering the issue of combating human trafficking in the aspect of begging, it ought to be emphasised that begging represents not only a social dysfunction, but it may also be connected with activity of international organised criminal groups specialising in human trafficking, especially as regards forcing juveniles to begging. Investigations carried out by the Polish Police imply that the principal perpetrators of this type of crime are in most cases citizens of Moldavia, who promise employment to women from Moldavia and Ukraine as caregivers for the elderly, bring them to Poland together with small children, and then force them to beg. The biggest risk of such criminal activity exists in the largest Polish cities, like Warsaw, Kraków, Wrocław, Poznań, Gdańsk or Rzeszów. From among foreigners begging is dominated primarily by citizens of Moldavia, Ukraine and Romania. When it comes the Poles, young persons prevail who beg on their own or who force other juveniles to beg for them, and spend the obtained money for buying alcohol or drugs. The compiled information also indicates that persons involved in this type of criminal activity are correlated with other areas of criminal activity, with the dominating one still being human trafficking.

Katarzyna Fenik Nobody’s Children Foundation

Outline of the phenomenon of child trafficking: psychological portrait and identification of children – victims of trafficking

Analyses of the phenomenon of child trafficking require making an examination of the problem and working out an identification system of potential trafficked victims, which would be focused on the currently recorded trends in human trafficking. Preventive measures comprise dissemination of information about this phenomenon and training numerous professional groups which may come in contact with a group at risk of child trafficking.

Legal, psychological, and social assistance, providing safe accommodation, protection against perpetrators are the tasks connected with reintegration of victims, which is an obligation of the government. A task of specific importance is fight against child trafficking.

Child trafficking is a crime which has been frequently recorded on the area of numerous countries. Countries of origin are those countries through which children are transported, target countries – countries in which the buyer is staying or living. In many situations the transit country ultimately becomes the target country – i.e. a country to which the child is sold; in other cases this is just an element of the journey.

Two risk groups

1. Foreign children staying outside their countries of origin

2. Polish children being trafficking victims on the area of Poland and/or abroad

Two characteristic features of the phenomenon of child trafficking is the low detectability of this type of crime (late identification) and insufficient access to trafficking victims.

The risk group of children who are trafficking victims may comprise:

 children staying outside their country of origin,

 children under the care of other persons than their legal guardians,

 children crossing state borders on their own,

 children forced to work,

 children from education establishments, centres for foreigners,

 children who are either lost or deprived of adult care.

Children are sold to: forced labour, sexual exploitation, begging, criminal exploitation – commitment of crimes and offences, illegal adoption, extortion of benefits and financial gratification, trafficking in body organs.

Profile of a child – trafficking victim

Children who are trafficking victims are in many cases citizens of countries, which:  have serious social dysfunctions that lead to deep crisis in the institution of a family – as an effect of the state economic and political crisis;  lack of legal regulations to protect the child – this leads to disregarding the rights in widely understood protection of juveniles;  have culturally accepted the early involvement of the child in work;  have armed conflicts or natural disasters, as a consequence of which children are deprived of full protection of their rights (loss of parents, accommodation, and no access to education).

In the psychological and social portrait a child who is a trafficking victim:

 comes from an incomplete dysfunctional family, in a very difficult economic situation;  experienced physical, sexual or emotional abuse in the past;  is deprived of the „care‟ of its parents (remains under the care of distant relatives, in an institution, lives on the street, crosses state borders on its own);  comes from an ethnic minority;  may be addicted to stimulants, intoxicants;  is in a poor health condition (parasitic diseases, tuberculosis, venereal diseases, AIDS);  has a low intellectual development level – absence from school;  is involved in actions of a criminal group: thefts, robberies.

Katarzyna Kmieć “Caritas” Catholic Charity Organisation of the Warsaw Archdiocese

Project for counteracting forced prostitution and human trafficking “HOPE”

In the period from January 2004 until 12 November 2007 the Caritas of the Warsaw Archdiocese implemented its “Hope” Project for Counteracting Forced Prostitution and Human Trafficking, developed and coordinated by the former director of Caritas Warsaw – Father Mirosław Jaworski and Sister Ewa Ranachowska. The project assumed providing assistance to adult and juvenile females, from Poland and from abroad, unwed mothers and pregnant women – victims of forced prostitution. The structure of the “Hope” Project comprised the following elements: An Information Centre offering the following functions:  Helpline,  Consultation and information centre,  Diagnostic centre. “Safe Haven” shelters which provide:  Free shelter,  Meals,  Readaptation,  Work at home as a form of therapy and preparation for vocational activation,  Assistance and company according to needs,  Feeling of safety and full discretion.

Twenty so-called “Safe Haven” shelters have been set up on the area of entire Poland in houses belonging to convents. Assistance Centres providing free of charge the following:  Assistance in taking over and transport of project participants,  Medical assistance,  Psychological assistance,  Psychiatric assistance,  Legal assistance,  Vocational activation,  Spiritual guidance.

All services under the “Hope” project were provided by volunteers. Caritas Warsaw started preparations for the Project in October 2002. In the first stage a Caritas representative participated in a 3-day seminar organised by Caritas Poland and the Higher Police School in Szczytno. The seminar was directly followed by a period of actions aimed at establishing contacts and benefiting from experience of organisations which had long experience in providing assistance to persons forced to prostitution or sold. The La Strada Foundation trained the first employees to serve the helpline (a psychologist and a lawyer), and shared its long-term experience and facts found during work with prostitution victims. In 2003 Caritas turned to the Consulta of Governors of Female Religious Congregations in Poland, asking for cooperation of female congregations in this project, similarly as it had been the case for over twenty years in Italy. The Consulta expressed its readiness to cooperate on the territory of Poland, and also offered assistance in acquiring the necessary contacts in other countries. In January 2004 at the request of the Polish Consulta, the Consulta of Governors of Female Religious Congregations in Italy invited representatives of Caritas Warsaw to a meeting with representatives of twenty Catholic organisations and institutions working in this particular sector. During the meeting an outline of the scale and nature of this phenomenon in Italy was presented, and a visit was made possible to facilities in Rome in which readaptation, resocialisation or therapy is provided to victims of this criminal activity. Ways of running those facilities, methods of working with female victims and effects of undertaken measures were studied. Caritas Warsaw has also taken up cooperation with a German Catholic organisation called Solwodi (Solidarity with Women In Distress), which has been offering assistance on the area of Germany in an organised and professional way to girls and women of different nationality, victims of trafficking and of forced prostitution. This cooperation allowed bringing over from Germany three female Poles, trafficking victims (along with their children) back home and their allocation in “Safe Haven” shelters. Furthermore, cooperation was also established with the Dutch STRV (Dutch Foundation of the Religious against Trafficking In Women). Right from the very beginning of the project implementation, Caritas of the Warsaw Archdiocese cooperated with the Polish Police Headquarters, the Main Police Headquarters – Prevention Department and the Criminal Department, the Main Headquarters of the Border Guards and the Citizens Affairs Department and the Migration Department at the Mazovian Voivodship Office. Information and educational campaigns were organised in cooperation with the daily paper Gazeta Wyborcza and the Loretto Sisters Publishing House, under which leaflets addressed at victims of forced prostitution were printed in Polish, Romanian, Russian and Bulgarian, containing assistance and a contact number in case of need. The leaflets were disseminated in a regular way in the years 2004-2005 on the territory of the Mazovian Voivodship, and as a one-off action on the area of the Pomorskie, Zachodniopomorskie, Kujawsko-Pomorskie and Lubuskie voivodships. A regular information campaign was implemented on the entire territory of Poland in the years 2006-2007 thanks to financing of preventive materials by the Ministry of Interior and Administration. The objective of this campaign was to disseminate information about human trafficking in the society to the widest extent possible. Posters, leaflets and visiting cards with information related to human trafficking for purposes of sex business, slavery and forced labour were sent to all voivodships, to all higher schools, colleges, dormitories, boarding houses, and to institutions specialising in widely understood social welfare. Contacts with schools (headmasters and teachers) and follow-up in the form of workshops for the pupils brought feedback as to what the reaction was to the issue of human trafficking and what was the level of awareness of this activity and its escalation. Generally, the observations made by Caritas Warsaw from the contacts with Warsaw schools (2005-2006) indicated the existence of a low level of interest from headmasters, and a low awareness level of the potential risk manifested by the youth. Knowledge concerning the criminal activity was higher in vocational schools and in a correctional facility, and a lack of any knowledge or interest in this issue was found in a general secondary school. Caritas Warsaw joined the cooperation in 2006 at the request of non-governmental German and Dutch organisations (Solvodi, Renovabis and SRTV). Its tasks comprised taking over and distribution of preventive materials, in connection with the anticipated increase in demand for sexual services during the UEFA Euro in 2006. In cooperation with the Polish Police Headquarters, the Warsaw Metropolitan Police Headquarters, the Main Headquarters of the Border Guards and the Religious Female Congregations the materials were successfully distributed all over Poland. Materials prepared in Polish were handed over to Voivodship and Poviat Job Offices, social welfare institutions, and also to universities, dormitories, boarding houses, and to places in which this criminal activity was generally taking place. Materials prepared in Polish, Russian, Bulgarian, Romanian and English were provided to border crossings. Under the “Hope” project Caritas Warsaw cooperated in the years 2004-2007 with the media, mainly with the radio (Polskie Radio – Department of Features and Documents of the Polish Radio, radio stations: Radio Dla Ciebie, Warszawskie Radio Józef, Radio Viktoria) and the press (daily papers: Gazeta Wyborcza, Gazeta Stołeczna, Wysokie Obcasy, Gazeta Pomorska, Niedziela, Zielony Sztandar). In addition, Caritas Warsaw took part in an International Conference on Human Trafficking– Prevention and Persecution, which took place on 29-31 May 2006 in the Higher Police School in Szczytno; in promotion of a book entitled “Handel Ludźmi-Zapobieganie i ściganie” (Human Trafficking – Prevention and Prosecution) edited by professor Zbigniew Lasocik that took place in the U.S. Embassy on 6 July 2006; in the International Conference of Experts on Fighting of and Preventing Human Trafficking for Purposes of Forced Labour, organised by the Ministry of Interior and Administration on 9-10 November 2006; in a conference entitled “Human Trafficking – A Challenge for a Civil Society of Europe” organised by the Information Bureau of the Council of Europe, Human Trafficking Centre and the Polish Section of the International Lawyers Committee, on 18 December 2006. As of 1 November 2006 Caritas of the Warsaw Archdiocese became a part of the Team for the Fight of and Prevention of Human Trafficking at the Ministry of Interior and Administration and participated in works of the Working Group of that team. During implementation of the “Hope” project in 2007, Caritas Warsaw took part in the 2nd Polish Conference on the Fight of and Preventing Human Trafficking, and also joined the campaign that disseminated information about the European Day against Human Trafficking (distribution of 5 thousand posters on the territory of Poland). In August 2007 Caritas Warsaw volunteers launched preventive measures in cooperation with officers of the Prevention Department of the Voivodship Police Headquarters in Gorzów Wlkp. during the Woodstock 2007 rock festival by disseminating leaflets informing about the existence of the potential risk and about the “Hope” project, and providing on-call services in the Police Village in the Woodstock Field. The “Hope” project helpline was available 24 hours a day in the period from 1 January 2004 until 12 November 2007. All calls were duly registered, the contents of the more important calls were described, and some of the calls were passed on to the Police. In many cases the callers were redirected to welfare institutions, centres of emergency intervention, or even to those with higher competencies (in relation to legal issues, languages), e.g. La Strada.

The case of M., female victim of human trafficking for exploitation in sex business

One of the female victims who benefited from assistance offered by the “Safe Haven” facility was M. Her life became complicated when she met a man of Turkish origin with a German nationality in one of the Polish towns. They were together for six months, after which he offered to take her to Germany, where she could find employment in his shop. He also promised to find her a two room apartment for her use. Two months later they planned to bring over a two year old child of M., who until that time was supposed to stay with M.‟s mother. Once M. has crossed the border, she was stripped of all documents, repeatedly raped in the car, and then at night time put out at an exit from a motorway in the vicinity of a large industrial city. The man she planned to spend her life with gave her accommodation in a facility that looked like a warehouse, where she had to sleep on the floor. After a month of cruelty, which comprised beating, raping, starving and providing sexual services to various men, she was sold to a colleague who was running a sex club. After two weeks spent in that sex club, during one of routine police inspections, M. called out asking for help. This word cried out in a pleading voice has saved her life. The woman testified against the perpetrators in Germany. She was brought together with her child to one of the “Safe Haven” shelters in Poland. The child was the decisive argument for taking up a completely new life despite the horror she had experienced in the past. Initially her behaviour was characterised by considerable oversensitivity and difficulties in social relations. After six months she decided to continue her education and started to attend a secondary school for adults. For a period of approximately one year she benefited from a therapy financed by Caritas Warsaw. Thanks to all those measures and to her stay in the “Safe Haven” shelter a significant improvement took place in her social functioning, and she started to become interested in other people and dared to approach them. As an effect M. has left the “Safe Haven” facility and has managed to become independent.

Michał Czyżewski ITAKA Centre for Missing People

Searching for missing persons and the human trafficking phenomenon

The ITAKA Foundation  the only non-government organisation in Poland, which handles the problem of missing people,  the problem of disappearances is dealt with in a comprehensive way:

o we look for missing persons o we provide support to families of missing persons o we strive to counteract further disappearances

The ITAKA Foundation  conducting search  search and support  conducting search  support for families  legal support: - management of joint property, declaring a person dead, divorce, drawing up complaints and pleading letters, issues related to inheritance proceedings, exhumations, etc.  social support: - assistance in contacts with social welfare to obtain allowances, one-off financial assistance, etc.  psychological support (individual or in groups): -psychological reactions to disappearance -coming to terms with the decision of abandoned contacts with the family -mediations -support at the time of mourning  prevention  information campaigns “Do not Run Away” Workshops  Internet

Persons missing abroad:  the majority of cases are solved (79%),  the biggest number of missing persons involves males (67%),  the biggest number of Poles vanishes in: Great Britain, Italy, Germany, Spain, and Greece.

Safe work: Objective  counteracting the phenomenon of human trafficking and forced labour, and  reducing the number of disappearances among persons going abroad to take up jobs

Method  media campaign in cooperation with Gazeta Praca (a supplement to the Gazeta Wyborcza daily): - how to avoid potential threats - how to avoid being cheated - where to look for help

Information campaign  Information brochures for persons leaving the country,  insert in Gazeta Praca, a supplement to the Gazeta Wyborcza daily (650 000 copies - April 2007)  Posters, leaflets sent to regional Labour Offices (of a Voivodship and Poviat rank)

Human Trafficking – what are the possible symptoms?  cheated and left without means for living  forced labour  slavery work  escort agencies Missing person – trafficking victim? information received from:  family, acquaintances  the police  an informant  another victim

Circumstances and disquieting signs:  the employer fails to pay wages  the employer has withheld documents  forced excessive labour  known recruiters (unreliable ones)  disappearance after a work shift  information from missing persons/victims

Searching abroad  the Police, Interpol  Polish diplomatic posts  organisations that look for missing persons in other countries: the Missing Children Europe federation  La Strada  the Polish diaspora centres and media  the Polish Church

Difficulties  could human trafficking be the cause of the disappearance?  difficulty in appraisal of the magnitude of this phenomenon  found person/trafficking victim fails to report the crime: - fears revenge - fears psychological burdens  found person/trafficking victim does report the crime, but is ignored.

Dorota Krzysztoń Head Coordinator for the Assistance Programme for Crime Victims

The role of Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection in assistance actions addressed at victims of human trafficking

The main objective of the Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection (Ombudsman) is guarding the human and civil freedoms and rights specified in the Constitution and in other legal acts. This task can be achieved both by undertaking actions in individual cases (i.e. interventions made in the event of violations of the rights and freedoms of specific persons), as well as by postulating legal and institutional changes aimed at streamlining the functioning of institutions and the legal system in our country. This may be attributed to the fact that the tasks of the Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection comprise not only the protection of human rights within the existing law and order system, but also assessing that law and order from the viewpoint of social coexistence rules and justice.

Consequently each time the Commissioner becomes aware of violation of human or civic rights, or that as a consequence of action or omission in legislative, executive or judicative power specific individuals are unable to assert their due rights, appropriate measures are undertaken to change the existing state of affairs.

Janusz Kochanowski, PhD., the Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection, is implementing the basic task of guarding the human and civil freedoms and rights in two tracks: by providing clarifications and running the reported individual cases undertaken ex officio on the one hand, and by inspiring changes of a system nature, which are to render impossible the occurrence of similar violations in the future, or which would assure a higher standard in rights protection or the possibility of their actual implementation, on the other hand. The Commissioner has at his disposal an operational tool comprised by his statutory competencies, which include among others the capacity for independent explanatory proceedings, possibility of examining files of each penal case, commissioning the examination of a case related to a given institution, or applying to the Sejm with a request to commission the Supreme Chamber of Control to carry out an examination of a specific case or of its part. The Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection has the right to challenge legally binding court decisions (related to cases of an individual character) and the right of the so- called legislative inspiration (related to cases of a general nature).

The growing number of complaints received by the Commissioner provides evident proof that his activity has gained social recognition. In 2008 the Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection received 61 522 cases. The Commisioner has undertaken 1007 of the cases on his own initiative.

However, requests received by the Commissioner include only rare individual cases related to the subject of today‟s conference. Victims of human trafficking do not report to the Commissioner, and non-government organisations specialised in this respect apply to the Commissioner in specific cases extremely seldom.

Nevertheless, in view of the fact that human trafficking by its essence violates the fundamental human rights and freedoms on the one hand, and on the other hand poses a threat to public security and order due to its criminal nature, the Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection undertakes on his own initiative several actions connected with suppressing this criminal activity. The Commissioner endeavours to have changes introduced to legal regulations in favour of human trafficking victims and is interested in system measures in favour of this category of crime victims.

It is worth emphesising that the Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection has granted his support to the establishment of the National Programme for the Fight against and Prevention of Human Trafficking (from which, among others, the victim support programme stems and which allowed combining the operation of various institutions in prevention of and the fight against human trafficking), and postulated that non-government institutions should be included in its implementation and in the related decision making process. Both the Polish and international legal regulations, which are mutually interdependent, refer to the fight against human trafficking. Its seems that in the past few decades human trafficking has flourished, because for many years there was no awareness of the existence of such interdependencies and because no decisive consistent actions in this respect were undertaken. Thanks to the endeavours of the Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection, who kept applying to the Polish Sejm Speaker, the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (the so-called Warsaw Convention) of 16 May 2006 was ratified in 2008, which contains the following:

 Definition of human trafficking in line with the Palermo Protocol, which nonetheless does not associate human trafficking exclusively with a crime committed by an organised crime group or relate it to crossing of a border.

 Provisions enforcing better protection of victim‟s rights than those specified in UN and EU documents.

 Proposal for penalisation for the use of services provided by victims of human trafficking.

 The unpunishability clause for victims of human trafficking.

Following ratification by Poland of the optional Protocol to the Convention on the rights of a child, and also the Palermo Protocol and the Warsaw Convention, definitions of the sale of children and human trafficking contained in those documents have automatically become a part of the Polish legislation and may be directly cited by the courts. Although definitions of human trafficking and child trafficking contained in international documents ratified by Poland should be applied by Polish courts in a direct way, it is not yet clear how to interpret previous regulations contained in the Penal Code which were related to human trafficking. Consequently, with additional pressure of the Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection, works were instigated to have the definition of human trafficking introduced in the Polish penal regulations. I wish to emphasise that the Commissioner is endeavouring to have the definition of child trafficking treated separately in the definition of human trafficking. Furthermore, the Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection has applied to the Minister of Justice – Public Prosecutor General and referred the necessity of separate penalisation for trafficking in adult persons and in children. Grounds for that postulate comprise among others Poland‟s commitment to penalisation of child trafficking by means of appropriate sanctions, which have to take into consideration the extremely serious nature of this crime. The Commissioner also addressed the relevant responsible institutions with respect to child trafficking for commercial adoption, with respect to forcing small children to beg, and emphasised the necessity of assuring appropriate responses of various services to reported cases of begging children.

In the opinion of the Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection some regulations contained in the Penal Code related both to human trafficking as such and to crimes which might accompany that particular crime, still remain vague and might as a consequence hinder protecting children from harm.

Furthermore, the Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection has also addressed the problem of inadequate development of a behaviour algorithm and of a support model for the child victim and child witness on various forums, through me, including in works of an interministerial team responsible for working out the National Programme for the Fight against and Prevention of Human Trafficking for subsequent periods.

Postulates of the Commissioner in this scope were taken as significant recommendations of the 3rd Polish Conference on human trafficking, organised by the Ministry of the Interior and Administration in 2008.

In response to this inquiry the Minister of Justice – Public Prosecutor General informed the Commissioner that works were underway in the Ministry on a bill amending the Penal Code with respect to assuring due legal and penal protection against the criminal activity of human trafficking. The Article 115 of the Penal Code is to introduce the definition of human trafficking based on alternatively determined ways of causative conduct for exploiting of such a person, by setting up an open catalogue containing various forms of exploitation, such as for example forcing to prostitution, slavery, obtaining cells, tissues and organs. The definition of human trafficking should unquestionably comprise also child trafficking. The planned amendment may also comprise introduction of the definition of slavery to the Penal Code.

In the recent general address to the Minister of the Interior and Administration, the Commissioner has also pointed the fact that the support programme for trafficking victims failed to relate to Polish citizens. In response the Minister assured among others that issues raised in the Commissioner‟s address would be covered by this year‟s works of the interministerial Team for the Fight against and Prevention of Trafficking in Human Beings, aimed at working out appropriate solutions in this respect.

At the beginning of my speech I have pointed the principal objective of the operation of the Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection, namely guarding the human and civil freedoms and rights specified in the Constitution and in other legal acts. You are already aware of possibilities for implementation of this objective, which are based on statutory competencies of the Commissioner. In my speech I have already pointed out several times specific methods in which the Commissioner strives for changes in legal regulations to the favour of the victims of human trafficking, and stressed his interest in system actions in favour of the victims of this crime category.

Finally, in my opinion, it is also worthwhile to emphasise, that another vital objective of the Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection, which is indubitably connected with the preceding one, is supporting the growth of a civic society – organised structures of the citizens that operate for the common good. For this reason, the Commissioner readily cooperates with non-government organisations, supports their development, and participates in actions convergent with the chief objective of the institution of the Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection. As regards acting in favour of trafficking victims, non-government organisations that grant assistance to victims of this crime may count on the Commissioner‟s support.

Last year the Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection drew attention of the Minister of the Interior and Administration to the problem of insufficient means being allocated to operation of organisations that assist Polish citizens, but has also instigated actions aimed at assuring genuine assistance to the Girls and Women Aid Association under the Patronage of the Immaculate Mary.

Furthermore, in his recent address to the Prime Minister, the Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection has supported the plans of establishing the Polish Crisis Intervention and Consultation Centre for Trafficking Victims in Warsaw. The plans have been devised by the La Strada Foundation against Trafficking in People and Slavery; this Foundation, which is currently experiencing problems with running their centre for trafficking victims, has no status of a centre operating on a national scale, although it is in fact operating as such.

Naturally this address was not only meant to outline the actions undertaken by the Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection related to counteracting human trafficking; its principal objective was to draw your attention to the issues which are handled by the Commissioner and which remain within your competencies as well. I would also like to use this occasion to appeal to you – and particularly to representatives of particular ministries and non-government institutions – to support the Commissioner‟s actions.

Irena Malinowska The Higher Police School in Szczytno

Operating methods of offenders in human trafficking

Human trafficking is a social and political phenomenon, but first of all it is a crime that is punishable by imprisonment for a term of at least 3 years, the suppression of which lies in the competencies of numerous institutions, among others the Police. 1Human Trafficking is undeniably a contemporary form of slavery, a phenomenon, which has excellent conditions for flourishing in the era of globalisation, and which gives rise to ever increasing alarm on the part of international institutions, first of all the UN, as well as OSCE, the Council of Europe and, naturally, the European Commission. According to the UN data, human trafficking has become – after firearm and drug trafficking – the biggest source of income for organised crime. Recently, a lot of legal acts have been approved on the European Commission forum, which were aimed at more effective combating crimes connected with human trafficking, as well as better protection of persons who become victims to this crime. The biggest challenge is to have the above cited agreements and structures implemented. A key role is played here by the so-called the Hague Programme, agreed during the European Commission summit in December 2004 in Brussels. In the opinion of the European Commission, measures undertaken by member states should be focused on three principal subjects, namely:  prevention,  protection of victims,  effective prosecution and punishment of perpetrators. Human trafficking has to be perceived as an element of organised crime and identified as a priority task by the law enforcement agencies. This requires enhancing the cooperation between Europol and the European Union‟s Judicial Cooperation Unit (Eurojust) and the Frontex office for border protection (editor’s note: the FRONTEX European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union) based in Warsaw. The present cooperation, which also includes data exchange, is clearly insufficient, especially when the crime groups that benefit from globalisation tend to act very quickly. Proper recognition of the magnitude of organised crime is crucial for working out appropriate preventive means.2 In Poland the crime of human trafficking is defined by the penal law in the Article 253§1 of the Penal Code. Along with this type of behaviour there is also penalisation of behaviour connected with human trafficking, such as for example: enticing another person into prostitution, profiting from the prostitution of another person, enticing or abduction of another person for prostitution abroad. In 2008 in Poland 60 criminal cases were investigated, and charges were made against 16 suspects. This constituted only a small part of the entire scale of the problem, as some involved persons have never revealed the fact of being human victims. Operating methods of perpetrators in this type of crime are focused on selecting a victim, recruiting, crossing the border, assuming control over the victim and keeping the victim from testifying.

1 Address of Ms. Marzenna Guz-Vetter, PhD. – Representative of the European Commission in Poland to the 2nd National Conference on the Fight against and Prevention of Huamn Trafficking. 2 www.mswia.gov.pl, www.policja.gov.pl Insufficient knowledge on operating methods of offenders involved in human trafficking and mechanisms behind it is an important barrier in preventing this phenomenon and its combating. The lack of research on this issue, prompted the Higher Police School in Szczytno to closely study the subject. In the years 2007-2008 employees of the Institute of Crime Combating Services of the Higher Police School in Szczytno, Ms. Irena Malinowska, subinspector, and Mr. Janusz Bryk, subinspector, implemented a study project entitled Operating Methods of Perpetrators Involved in Human Trafficking. The study was to compile specialist knowledge concerning operational methods of perpetrators, as well as technical, operational and legal opportunities for disclosing this type of crime and revealing their perpetrators. Results of the study were presented in a publication entitled Human Trafficking – Prevention and Combating. Guidebook for Policemen and in post-seminar materials entitled Operating Methods of Perpetrators Involved in Human Trafficking. The publications present issues connected with disclosing and combating the crime of human trafficking. Moreover, the publication Human Trafficking – Prevention and Combating. Guidebook for Policemen contains a description of procedures used in combating the crime of human trafficking and provides a compilation of the knowledge related to effective methods in counteracting this criminal activity. The trafficker – the recruiter or later the exploiter are generally men, but increasingly frequently they also include women, the majority of which were in the past trafficking victims. They look for persons in a difficult material situation, such as the unemployed, persons with problems, with debts, single mothers with a low income. As a rule the perpetrator prefers a woman who does not ask where and why she is to go, and is desperate enough to accept the offer for leaving gullibly. Generally the offenders tend to look for young and poor persons. A lot of victims are forced to prostitution or have to take up work in the erotic show business. Human trafficking may also comprise forced work as household help, seasonal farm workers or in establishments that resemble sweatshops. When recruiting women, men and children for this purpose the traffickers use violence, deception or coercion. The brutal methods used comprise raping, beating or imprisoning the victims to gain their full submission. Violence is used primarily in the initial phase of repression, which is known as the “adaptative period”, first of all to overcome the victim‟s resistance and gain control over that person. The fraud usually lies in offering faked employment. Women respond to published advertisements that offer jobs abroad as waitresses, household help or dancers, and upon arrival in the destination country are forced to prostitution. Coercion comprises making violent threats or limiting the physical freedom of the victims. That is the general contrived plan or type of conduct, the aim of which is to convince the victim that failing to do what is demanded of that person would have serious consequences. Coercion may constitute abuse or lead to power abuse. Trafficking victims are frequently faced by various types of financial obligations, which are, for example, connected with costs of transport to the destination country. The traffickers frequently threaten the victims with injury or death, or blackmail them by threatening the safety of their families, which remain in their home country. In many cases, the victims are not aware of the fact that the forms of debt repayment imposed by their traffickers are illegal. In many cases they fall victim to a vicious circle of constantly growing debts, because apart from having to cover initial expenses connected with transport to the target country, they have to pay bills for current expenses. Some companies specialising in human trafficking punish their victims for insufficient daily earnings for the services provided by the victim or for “bad” behaviour, which entails further increase of the value of the debt. The majority of victims never gets to see the money they have apparently earned, nor do they know the accurate sum of their “debt”. Even if the victims feel that such dependence arising from the extended loan is unjust, finding any assistance proves to be difficult because of the language, social and physical barriers, which hinders them from seeking assistance. Human trafficking is not the same as people smuggling. There are a few significant differences between smuggling and human trafficking. Smugglers transport their victims under duress. Even if the victim grants his or her consent, such consent is as a rule granted unconsciously owing to measures undertaken by the traffickers; exploitation of the victims is designed to bring an illegal profit to the trafficker. Human trafficking must not necessarily lead to change of the place of residence of the given person (but it must comprise an element of exploitation of such a person for forced labour or for commercial sexual acts), while immigrants grant consent to their smuggling. Such smuggling always takes place between two countries. Traffickers and pimps consist of persons of various ages, with different levels of social status and education, who focus mainly on making easy and quick profits without having to work. Their majority works in organised crime, but because of the legal structure of prostitution, they are also connected with legal operation as owners of night clubs, strip clubs, brothels, etc. The study of files from preparatory proceedings3, disclosed the structure of a criminal group, which turned out to be as follows:  recruiter – a person who remains in the home country of the candidates, commonly a person who runs some kind of own operation/establishment (tourist agency, job office, import-export company), which provides cover for the actual operation,  accessories – couriers – carriers, persons who specialise in trafficking (illegal) across the border, document forgers,  employers – pimps or owners of brothels (escort agencies), night clubs – are the real employers who send “orders” and finance costs of departure and of travel. 4Effective measures aimed at counteracting and fight against human trafficking, especially in women and children, require undertaking versatile efforts on an international scale in countries of origin, transit and destination, which would comprise actions that prevent such trafficking, aimed at punishing the perpetrators and protecting trafficking victims, also by assuring protection to their human rights that are recognised on a global arena. Human trafficking is a crime which has primarily a transnational nature – all people who undertake some endeavours on an international area, who strive to enhance legal tools and streamline practical cooperation in combating this criminal activity are aware of this fact. Nevertheless, an effective international cooperation requires the existence of domestic mechanisms to coordinate the measures aimed at combating human trafficking and supporting its victims.

3 Human Trafficking – Prevention and Combating. Guidebook for Policemen 4 The PROTOCOL to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children supplementing the United Nations’ Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime Janusz Bryk, PhD. The Higher Police School in Szczytno

Crimes associated with human trafficking

Human trafficking represents a multidimensional threat: it deprives people of the rights and freedoms they are entitled to, poses a global threat to life and health, and is one of the forms of organised crime. It affects not only the individuals who fall victim to it; it reduces the security and quality of social protection of all nations it involves, and poses a threat to public law and order. The fight against human trafficking is one of the priority tasks faced nowadays by the international community. The magnitude of this phenomenon proves that the 21st century is not free of slavery or forced labour. Human trafficking involves sexual exploitation, but also forcing victims to work in conditions that resemble slavery, as well as child pornography. Trafficking victims are subjected to violence and particular psychical cruelty, coercion and intimidation. The phenomenon of human trafficking is not a new trend, characteristic merely to the modern day reality. Human trafficking started to be perceived as a problem of a wider than local magnitude at the end of the 19th century. In 1800, the first international congress took place in London, dedicated to white slave traffic5. It was at that time that the international community started to cooperate in combating this crime, and that cooperation is being continued still today in a more or less intense way. Cooperation with respect to legal regulations gave rise to numerous treaties of an international nature6. The most common and consequently also the best identified phenomenon is trafficking in women for prostitution. The phenomenon of child trafficking for their sexual exploitation is also very widespread. Human trafficking started to flourish on a disquieting scale in the 1990s. This trend was evidently caused by social, economic and political changes taking place in Europe, especially in Central and Eastern Europe, opening of borders, unemployment, and as a result the population migrations. All this led to an increased interest in this activity, not only on the part of minor criminals, but also organised crime groups, the operation of which was hitherto focused on drug, arms or art objects trafficking. It is commonly believed that human trafficking is currently the third biggest source of profit, after drug and firearms trafficking, for international criminal groups7.

5 E. Zielińska (ed:); Combating human trafficking and sexual exploitation of children (in:) The European Community law and Polish Law. Penal Documents, vol. 3, Warsaw 2000, p. 352. 6 See: International Agreement of 18 May 1904 and the International Convention for the Suppression of the White Slave Traffic of 4 May 1910 (Journal of Laws (JoL) from 1922, No. 87, item 783); Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Women and Children of 30 September 1921 (JoL from 1925, No. 125, item 893); International Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic In Women of Full Age of 11 October 1933 (JoL from 1938, No. 7, item 37); Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others of 2 December 1949 (JoL from 1952, No. 41, item 278); Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women of 18 December 1979 (JoL from 1982, No. 10, item 71); Convention on the Rights of a Child of 20 November 1989 (JoL from 1991, No. 120, item 526); the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children supplementing the United Nations‟ Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime adopted by the UN General Assembly of 15 November 2000 (JoL from 2005, No. 18, item 160); Council Framework Decision of 19 July 2002 on combating trafficking in human beings. (2002/629/JHA) (Official Journal L 203 dated 1 August 2002, p.1); Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings of 16 May 2005 – open for signing (www: Europa.eu.int/eur-lex). 7 K. Laskowska; Human trafficking as legal and criminal problem, Military Review of Law 2004, No. 2, p. 37 It is impossible to determine the accurate number of persons who have become victims of trafficking. Data provided by diverse organisations and institutions are merely estimates, and fail to reflect the actual state of affairs. There are many causes for this. It seems that the most important one is that a specific case of human trafficking is known to traffickers and victims, and the latter ones, who in many cases are the only witnesses of the crime, are not interested in undertaking further actions to reveal the perpetrators, which may be due to lack of knowledge, shame or fear. For this reason identification of the magnitude of this phenomenon is so difficult. The estimated data of the International Organisation for Migration from the year 2000 suggest that annually ca. 10 000 Polish females are transported, depart and become victims to trafficking in women8. However, the data provided by the police based on cases reported to the Police specify a maximum of 100 females that annually become victims of trafficking9.

The studies of the current state of criminal activity, conducted on the basis of ongoing preparatory proceedings, suggest that a change is taking place in the trend and role of Poland in human trafficking. Poland, which up to now has been a country of origin of trafficking victims, is gradually becoming a target country, through which females are “trafficked”, mainly from the countries of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Lately the subsequent stage in the transformation of this phenomenon is becoming more and more visible. The new phenomenon is “importing people” and Poland is the target country. Organised crime groups specialising in human trafficking “gain” women among others from Bulgaria and from countries of the former Soviet Union; the role of those women is sexual labour in escort services, massage parlours and along highways. Apart from the territorial aspect of human trafficking in Poland, the subjective aspect was also distinguished, which indicates the involvement of Polish citizens in human trafficking outside the territory of Poland. Presently, human trafficking is associated with forced labour. Forced labour camps in southern Italy and in Spain are a characteristic example. It turned out that a large international criminal organisation is involved there, which operates both in Poland and abroad.

In an international Polish-Italian operation with codename “Promised Land” an international crime group was broken up, which comprised citizens of Poland, Ukraine, Italy and Algeria. The organisation had established forced labour camps on the area of the Italian province Puglia, in which Polish citizens were kept in a state of slavery. These people had been lured into Italy by a promise of employment and high wages. The victims were recruited in Poland and transported to labour camps, where they were deprived of money and all other property and then exploited in forced labour, and kept in conditions of pure slavery. Reportedly violence was used against them, they were tortured, beaten, raped and dogs were set on them. Several suicides were recorded among the victims. There were also murders.

The most drastic crimes comprise the disclosed cases of child trafficking for their illegal adoption. In this case Poland is a country of origin of the “goods”. Reportedly, the Polish citizens are also quite active abroad in this type of crimes. The phenomenon of human trafficking was already recognised as a crime in Poland in the interwar period. Subsequently, Poland ratified the first international legal acts in this respect10, and penalisation of specific

8 The report related to the problem of prostitution and trafficking in women in the Podlaskie Voivodship of 3.10.2000 prepared by the La Strada Foundation branch office in Białystok 9 The report on prostitution and the phenomenon of trafficking in women in Poland in the years 2000-2002 prepared by the Crime Department of the Criminal Service Office of the Main Police Headquarters. 10 International Agreement of 18 May 1904 and International Convention for the Suppression of the White Slave Traffic of 4 May 1910 (JoL from 1922, No. 87, item 783); Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Women and Children of 30 September 1921 (JoL from 1925, No. 125, item 893). behaviour was introduced to the Penal Code. It should be emphasised that in the penal law doctrine of the interwar period trafficking in human beings was inseparably associated with the phenomenon of prostitution, which remained consistent with the spirit of international legal acts of that time. This particular approach was reflected in the first Polish penal classification – the Penal Code from 1932.11 In the currently valid Penal Code from 1997 the Polish legislator has included two regulations related to human trafficking: Article 204§4 of the Penal Code, and Article 253§1 of the Penal Code, although the phrase “trafficking in human beings” may only be found – without a relevant definition – only in Article 253§1 of the Penal Code12. The first one was contained in chapter XXV which comprised crimes against sexual freedom and propriety, and the second one in chapter XXXII that groups crimes against the public order.

Regulation of Article 204§4 of the Penal Code assumes punishment of imprisonment from one year to ten years for a person who entices or abducts a person into prostitution abroad. Yet the legislator has not used the term “trafficking”. This regulation refers to a situation when travelling abroad is connected with:  the use of deception or disinformation of the victim, or of a person being his or her statutory representative (luring) by the perpetrator, or  the use of violence or threat,  Abuse of power (abduction). Abductions also include the case of a juvenile person, who may leave on the basis of his or her own consent, but without the consent of a person being his or her legal guardian. It should be borne in mind that this crime is to a certain extent a counterpart of Article IX§1 in introductory regulations to the Penal Code from 1969. Yet contrary to the above cited regulation, the currently valid Article 204§4 of the Penal Code does not assume punishability for “delivery” of the victim, as in the opinion of the Supreme Court association of this phrase with a human being should be considered as not very correct13. Also the phrase “even with their consent” was deleted, through which the legislator endeavoured to withdraw from erroneous regulation suggesting that abduction of a person could be possible based on conscious consent granted by the said person14. Consequently, the question arises what legal good is the subject of protection against the crime defined in Article 204§4 of the Penal Code? The crime in question was contained in the chapter “Crimes against sexual freedom and propriety”, which suggests that the generic subject of protection is sexual freedom and propriety, i.e. two equivalent legal goods. Nevertheless, besides the generic subject of protection there is also an individual subject of protection, which in relation to Article 204§4 of the Penal Code is sexual freedom. Sexual freedom should be comprehended as freedom of the individual to unrestricted disposal of own sexual life, to free choice of a sexual partner. According to J. Warylewski, sexual freedom may be perceived in different planes. In the psychical plane this would entail independence in making the desired choices, feeling of freedom or event spontaneity in implementation of sexual needs and desires, as well as possibilities of behaving according to own will and within the approved system of values. On the other hand, in the legal plane, sexual freedom would suggest the possibility of selecting forms of behaviour of a sexual nature approved by legal standards, as well as

11 JoL from 1932, No. 60, item 571. 12 JoL from 1997, No. 88, item 553, E. Zielińska, The prohibition of human trafficking in Polish penal law, in: Human Trafficking. Prevention and Combating, Z. Lasocik, ed.; Warsaw 2006, p. 219. 13 Supreme Court Ruling of 17.03.2000, I KZP 1/2000, OSP 2000, vol. 9, item 126 including glose of J. Warylewski. 14 K. Karsznicki, p. 68. protection of objective freedom against abuse of other individuals and against possible interference of the state15. Sexual freedom may be negative, i.e. “freedom from something” or positive – “freedom to something”. “Sexual freedom from” is implied when freedom zone of an individual is intruded by another individual or individuals or by the state. “Sexual freedom to” may be construed as an independence of an individual in making decisions related to his or her own sexual life only if it may be reconciled with the independence of those individuals in the same matter. The crime under Article 204§4 of the Penal Code means luring or abduction of another person for prostitution abroad, i.e. in any place outside Poland. It should be pointed out that fulfilment of features of this criminal offence would also take place when luring or abduction is “within the national borders”. Nevertheless, the purpose of perpetrator‟s activity must be a designation for prostitution broad of the lured or abducted person16. It is also important that any individual may be the victim of the crime, the object of a deed, regardless of the gender, age or any sexual services already provided17. The phrase “for prostitution” is crucial for the existence of a criminal offence. There would be no features of this type of criminal offence if consent had been granted by the victim to the purpose of operation implied by the perpetrator. This arises from the fact that verbal features that define the causative act “lures” and “abducts” as such suggest the lack of consent of the lured or abducted person. Luring implies that an individual was misled or that use was made of such misleading in relation to the real purpose of the departure abroad18, for example a promise of an honest work as a waitress. Nevertheless, a view may be noted in the doctrine that this mistake may refer not only to the purpose of departure abroad, but even to conditions in which prostitution takes place abroad19. On the other hand, abduction implies kidnapping of a person, causing a change in the place of stay contrary to the will of another person20. With view to the objective aspect of the criminal offence, it should be stressed that this is a directional crime which requires a direct intention. In line with contents of the cited regulation, the purpose of the perpetrator is to deliver a person for prostitution abroad. Statutory features of this criminal offence do not comprise features of the consequence, and hence this is an effectless (formal) criminal offence. Its existence does not require the lured or abducted person to commence or continue sexual labour abroad pay, it only counts that the perpetrator should have this in his intentions. The second crime related to the discussed issues was penalised in Article 253§1 of the Penal Code. Any person “who trafficks in human beings even at their consent” shall be deemed to be the perpetrator. This is a crime punishable for imprisonment of a term of at least 3 years.

15J. Warylewski; The crimes against sexual freedon and morality. Chapter XXV of the Penal Code. Comments. C.H. Beck Publishing, Warsaw 2001, p. 13 16J. Warylewski, (in:) A. Wąsek (ed.); The Penal Code. Special Part, vol. 1. Comments. C.H. Beck Publishing, Warsaw 2004, p. 934 17 B. Kunicka – Michalska, J. Wojciechowska; The crimes against freedom, liberty of conscience and faith, sexual freedom and morality and reverence and bodily inviolability. Comment, C.H. Beck Publishing, Warsaw 2001, p. 134 18 M. Rodzynkiewicz, (in:) A. Zoll (ed.); The Penal Code. Special Part. Comments, vol. 2, Zakamycze Publishing 1999, p. 596. 19 M. Filar; Sexual crimes in the new Penal Code, (in:) New Penal Codification. The Penal Code. Short comments, The Publishing of Ministry of Justice, Warsaw 1997, vol. 2, pp. 54-55. 20 B.Kunicka – Michalska, J. Wojciechowska; The crimes against freedom…, p. 134. The title of the chapter in which this crime was included implies that the generic object of protection is the public order. In the light of Article 253§1 of the Penal Code this is the freedom of an individual and his or her dignity. This is due to the fact that by essence no human being may be subject to any kind of trafficking, regardless whether such trafficking brings any profits to any person whatsoever, or whether it is associated with incurring a loss21. The causative deed lies in “trafficking in human beings”. The use of the phrase “trafficking” by the legislator should be simply interpreted in the same way as “trading”, which in turn may entail certain difficulties in accurate identification of the scope and sense of this term for needs of Article 253 of the Penal Code, especially as there is no legal definition for “trafficking in human beings”. The penal law doctrine assumes that any behaviour that involves buying and selling transactions is a subject to penalisation, but it also consideres other types of civil legal transactions, i.e. lien, exchange or lending22. It is crucial that the transactions in question concern “human beings” as objects of trafficking. It should be emphasised that an accurate definition of the term “trafficking in human beings” was specified for the first time by The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children23, supplementing the United Nations‟ Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime from 2000. In line with Article 3 item (a) of the Protocol, “trafficking in human trafficking” means “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by the means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation”. This exploitation comprises at least prostitution or other forms of sexual exploitation, work or services of an enforced nature, slavery or practices similar to slavery, constrain or removal of organs. The consent of the trafficking victim to intended exploitation is of no importance whatsoever if use was made of any of the above described methods. Furthermore, in line with Article 3 item (c) it is also considered that “trafficking in human beings” includes in addition “recruitment, transport, transfer, harbouring or receipt of a child, and namely a person under 18 years of age for its exploitation, even if none of the above mentioned methods is employed”. The appearance of a definition of the term “trafficking in human beings” that has such a broad application should undoubtedly be considered to be very positive. Nevertheless, a question arises whether Poland‟s ratification of this Protocol allows assigning to the term “trafficking in human beings” specified in Article 253§1 of the Penal Code the meaning it has been given in Article 3 of the Protocol? It seems that the answer to this question is negative. In line with Article 91 of the Polish Constitution – following its publication in the Dziennik Ustaw (Journal of Laws), a ratified international agreement becomes a constituent of the domestic legal order and is directly applicable, unless its application depends on issuance of an act. An international agreement ratified with prior consent expressed in the act has precedence over a common domestic act if those acts contain solutions which are irreconcilable. The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children of 2000 is addressed at the state, which is party to the agreement, and which undertakes to undertake measures, including legislatory ones, to implement obligations

21 Z. Ćwiąkalski, (in:) A. Zoll (ed:); The Penal Code. Special Part. Comments vol. 2, Zakamycze 2006, p. 1141. 22 E. Pływaczewski, (in:) A. Wąsek (ed:); The Penal Code. Special Part, vol. 2. Comments to articles pp. 222- 316, Warsaw 2004, p. 342. Advocates of a narrower interpretation of the term “trafficking in human beings” – a human being as an object in a purchase/sale transaction, include: O. Górniok, S. Hoc, S. M. Przyjemski; The Penal Code. Comments, vol. 3, Gdańsk 1999, p. 296; M. Kalitowski (in:) O. Górniok (ed:); The Penal Code. Comments, Warsaw 2004, p. 728. 23 JoL from 2005, No. 18, item 160. entailing from it, which it had agreed to voluntarily when signing the said Protocol. Thus the state undertakes to introduce to the domestic legal system relevant legal standards which would recognise deeds specified in Article 3 of the Protocol as criminal offences. Another international act which also comprises the definition of “trafficking in human beings” is the Council Convention on actions against trafficking in human beings from 2005. Apart from repeating in Article 4 item (a) the definition of “trafficking in human beings” contained in Article 3 of the Protocol, the Convention specifies in item e of this article who should be considered to be a victim of this criminal activity. Any person being an object of human trafficking as defined in this article24 shall be deemed to be a victim. Also, the European Union has become aware of the problem of “trafficking in human beings”, which was expressed in the Council Framework Decision of 19 July 2002 on combating trafficking in human beings25. Under Article 1 “trafficking in human beings” shall mean: the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring, subsequent reception of a person, including exchange or transfer of control over that person, where: use is made of coercion, force or threat, including abduction, or use is made of deceit or fraud, or there is an abuse of authority or of a position of vulnerability, which is such that the person has no real and acceptable alternative but to submit to the abuse involved, or payments or benefits are given or received to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person for the purpose of exploitation of that person's labour or services, including at least forced or compulsory labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery or servitude, or for the purpose of the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, including in pornography. The consent of a human trafficking victim to exploitation, either intended or real, is not taken into account if any of the above specified means has been used. And if a child is a trafficking victim, it is also of no importance whether any means of coercion has been used against it. A review of contents of Article 253§1 of the Penal Code allows the presumption that there is no consistency in the doctrine as to whether a single-off civil legal transaction fulfils features of a criminal offence? Some representatives of the doctrine are of the opinion it does not, on the argument that the phrase “trafficks” was used in the regulation by the legislator and that the object of criminal offence was stated in the plural as “human beings”26. Yet others reply to this question in the affirmative, arguing that in Polish the word “ludzie” („people‟) has no singular form, and the use of the plural by the legislator to define the object of the crime is more pertinent with view to the language and logic, and what is more any differing arguments would be contrary to the common feeling of justice and would consequently put into question the protection of an individual person in this respect27. Such standpoint should be accepted without limitations. It should also be emphasised that for the existence of this particular crime the victim‟s consent to trafficking is of no importance. The use of the phrase “even at their

24 www: Europa.eu.int/eur-lex 25 OJ 2002 L 203/1. 26 E. Pływaczewski; op. cit., p. 342, O. Górniok, S. Hoc, S. M. Przyjemski; op. cit., p. 296. 27 Z. Ćwiąkalski; op. cit., p. 1142; A. Sakowicz; op. cit., Resolution of the Supreme Court of 21.11.2001, I KZP 26/01, OSNÓW 2002, No. 1-2, item 4. consent” implies that consent of the victim to commitment of the crime may not be granted effectively28. The offender‟s penal responsibility occurs when there is a consent of the victim, or even request of a person being the object of trafficking. The criminal offence of “trafficking in human beings” is a crime which may be committed exclusively by intent. The term “trafficking” implies that the perpetrator implements a reality covered by features of the aspect of the offence as to the deed, in connection with which this may only be done under a direct intent29. The purpose of human trafficking is of no importance for the occurrence of a criminal offence. Consequently, a provision of this regulation may cover behaviour of the offender which involves for example delivery (to Poland or abroad) of another person for prostitution at consent granted by that person. And if the perpetrator effects the sale or another civil legal action of a person, and its sole purpose is prostitution abroad, the necessity arises of cumulative legal qualification of the criminal offence pursuant to Article 253§1 of the Penal Code with reference to Article 204§4 of the Penal Code30. On the other hand, the fact that the legislator has not specified the purpose of human trafficking, the specified more severe sanction and also placing this criminal offence in the Penal Code may point to the legislator‟s will to have cases of human trafficking for other purposes than prostitution qualified under this regulation31. Despite numerous construal problems related to the analysed crimes, divergences as regards assessment of relationship of regulations that penalise specific deeds, the lack of legal definition of the term “trafficking in human beings”, and consequently the absence of a uniform standpoint in the doctrine in this respect, the fact that the crime of human trafficking has been included in the Penal Code should be perceived as a positive phenomenon. This clearly implies that the Polish legislator is aware of the importance of the issues covered by our analysis.

28 K. Laskowska; op. cit., p. 32. 29 E. Pływaczewski; op. cit., p. 344. 30 Ibid; p. 345. 31 K. Laskowska; op. cit., p. 33. Mark Loader West Mercia Constabulary

Operation Harmony

4 strategic objectives –

 To target the higher echelon of OCG;  To liberate and empower victims;  To pursue the financial assets of traffickers;  Most probably importantly to improve our knowledge of the Crime / Problem;

Crime Triangle I have utilised (John Eck‟s) crime triangle to break down the three components of the crime.  Victim – Capable Guardian to protect  Offender – Handler to control offenders activities  Place – Manager responsible for controlling behaviour of both.

VICTIM

 It‟s unusual for Pro-Active Investigation to focus on victims. However, Harmony was different, victim welfare took primacy. People think prostitution / Escorts have a glamorous life of romance, silk stockings and money. This is portrayed in the initial footage you are about to see. Lifted directly from the traffickers adverts, followed by the stark reality of the footage we took at a Walsall brothel.

WHY NOT RUN?

During the surveillance we could not understand why the girls did not run. Somsri had been broken The traffickers were careful not to harm the girls. Treating them like a green grocer treats apples. No one wants to buy bruised apples. The duress was psychological, not physical.

WHAT SERVICE DID WE DELIVER FOR SOMSRI?

 Multi-Agency Victim focused strategy  We had been told by the UKHTC that the victims would not talk. We wanted that to change.  Provided dedicated female officers who had received both Cultural awareness / Welfare briefing from UKHTC  Each victim with an IPod impregnated with a safety message in their native tongue  Treated as vulnerable witnesses  Provided support regarding sexual health  Provided a safe, secure environment for Somsri to reflect  Achieving overarching strategy to liberate and empower the victim.

CRIME TRIANGLE

Whilst we have empowered the victim to make choices about their future, this does not replace the protection granted by a capable guardian.

OFFENDER  Fei Zhang created a convincing façade of family man, helping his wife build a legitimate business. He was actually the Chairman of sophisticated criminal network  Using the web to advertise his regional network of brothels.  On a more local basis placing adverts in the free magazines and newspapers.  With the call centre being managed by his mistress and 2nd in command Su Zehn Xu

What did we do for ZHANG:

 West Mercia Headed a Multi-Agency enforcement operation  We literally scoured the 4 corners of the earth to gather evidence against Fei Zhang  Break through came when we intercepted conversations between the head of the organisation and his second in command, whilst she was on remand in prison.  However, there was another twist in the tale; the language used was a remote “chang le” language, Fuchou province. (Not multi intelligible with other dialects)  Through SOCA we were introduced to a company called Metlang Inc. in New York who provides a translation service for the FBI, DEA, Home Land Security and Secret service.  Sensitive negotiation between the Ministry of Justice, CPS, British Consulate and WMC as this was the first time that such sensitive material had left the country and this proved pivotal to the prosecution case.

RESULT  Achieved strategy to target high echelons and dismantle the OCG  Still pursuing the assets of the traffickers  We are currently seeking a Confiscation Order under the Proceeds of Crime Act for £650,000.00. from Fei ZHANG.  Zhang soon to be arrested for the laundering of £3.8 Million to china.

CRIME TRIANGLE Returning to work of John ECK and his theory, it is difficult for us to influence or take on the role of the handler by exerting control of the offender. Therefore I suggest we focus on the place and attempt to manage / control the behaviour of both victims and offenders within the UK and WMC

Why UK / West Mercia Constabulary?  History of immigration / China Town in the West mids draws the community towards this area.  We have no ID system in the UK (Xu 27 alias‟)  Employment vacuum for cheap labour  Easy - Letting Agents – Cash Payments / False ID‟s / Scantily clad girls. LETTERS  Adverts – Do not leave much to the imagination. Post trail Newquest removed all such adverts. What if we ignore the problem

Whilst in New York took the opportunity to visit colleagues in China Town, and established that we were approx. 5/10 years behind. They warned us that if we did not nip the problem in the bud. Soon to follow would be an increased amount of ruthless Mainland Chinese Crime.

Are we ready?

 YES  WMC dismantled an OCG  We liberated the victims  Secured convictions on the heads of the organisation,  Commended by HHJ McCreath  Cited as Best Practice.  The challenge is how we continue to improve service and evolve to match criminals' guile.

How could we improve?

 Legislation (Jacqui Smith) Review / New legislation to prosecute the punter.  UKHTC Action Plan: Core business Officer awareness – UKHTC  No regional Poppy Project (Refuges) Poppy Project 35 Beds all in London  Force process and policy. (Very fragile area of business. The service we deliver must be right first time.)

Are we ignoring the sign

UKHTC‟s Blue blindfold campaign. The video questions whether we are missing the signs of trafficking whilst going about our daily business.  Adverts My eyes were opened to the trafficking some 2 years ago with this exact advert and I was challenged me to solve the problem; this was the catalyst for Op. Harmony. Around the perimeter are adverts that we have collected in the past few months, in fact the bottom two adverts are the subject of operation Assam. 3 victims of trafficking liberated / 7 offenders on remand.

In conclusion (Crime Triangle) I do not believe that we can fully protect the victim or curtail the activities of the offender, however we can positively influence and manage what happens in the location. West Mercia.

Christine Chassard

Structure and Tasks of the Office

Central Directorate of Criminal Police, Department of Combating Organised Crime and Financial Crime (S.D.L.C.O.D.F)

8 offices     Central Office for Persecution of Violence towards People (O.C.R.V.P.)   Central Office for Combating Smuggling of Culture Goods (O.C.L.T.B.C.)  Central Office for Combating Crime Related to Informat



Missions  compilation of information concerning prostitution and pimping on domestic and international levels,  review and assessment of the evolution of criminal networks and changes taking place in their behaviour,  ,  coordination of combati ,  investigation and breaking up of criminal networks.

Results for 2008

1436 persons summoned to third party proceedings for enticing to prostitution 555 persons summoned to third party proceedings for pimping 822 victims identified 23 international criminal networks broken up French legislation

Articles 225-5 and subsequent ones in the Penal Code (of 23 December 1958) “On pimping and on the consequent criminal acts”

Sentence of deprivation of liberty for 7 years and serving in a prison, life sentence and financial penalties to the amount of EUR 150 000 to EUR 4 500 000. Victim protection.

Emilie Moreau Central Office for Persecution of Violence against People (O.C.R.V.P.)

Sexual exploitation of children

IN THE LIGHT OF THE FRENCH LAW  Combating sexual exploitation of children worldwide is a central task of the international community, the importance of which has been growing in the period of the past 20 years. Growth of sex tourism and internet crimes. International cooperation is indispensable.

Scopes of operation:

Combating grave criminal offences committed on persons, and in particular:  murders, attempted murders and other grave crimes against physical of psychical integrity of a person,  rape and sexual violence or attempts to commit those crimes,  child pornography,  illegal confinement and kidnappings.

This office is also accountable for actions related to:  searching for adult and minor persons, who have vanished in unclear circumstances, regardless of the cause of that disappearance. This search is conducted under the procedure stipulated in Article 26 of the Act dated 21 January 1995 or in a criminal investigation,  finding bodies of unidentified persons,  identification of sect-like behaviour treated as a criminal offence.

Missions of Central Office for Persecution of Violence towards People:

 expanding and coordination of investigations falling within the competencies of the Office,  evaluating the behaviour of authors of particular crimes within competencies of the Office, and suggesting possible preventive measures,  centralisation and streamlining the information flow,  assistance to the police or gendarmerie sections in need of operative support, within competencies of the Office  granting assistance to foreign services under international cooperation and giving priority to information flow abroad.

Presentation of the Central Group for Underage Victims of Crimes  historical outline: Central Group for Underage Victims of Crimes was established in 1997 in response to the growing number of sexual offences committed on children and disseminated via the Internet.  composition: the Group comprises eight investigation officers.  scope of competencies: competencies on the domestic level, Central National Office in France (BCN France), permanent contacts with Europol, Interpol, G8.

Missions of Central Group for Underage Victims of Crimes:  identification of French citizens who download from the Internet or exchange materials with pornographic and paedophile contents (operations with codenames Falc ,  identification of French citizens suspected of sex tourism: connection to the juvenile prostitution abroad,  summons to make a statement, proceedings,  partnership cooperation with foreign institutions aimed at effective combating sexual exploitation of children. Examples:  establishing a control system in the Internet, counteracting dealings with pornographic and paedophile images,  training policemen in France and in other countries,  organising patrols in the Internet.

OBJECTIVE: Identification and finding victims and authors of acts of sexual violence. operates in France. In international cooperation: International Child Sexual Exploitation database (I.C.S.E.). Establishment of a listing of pornographic and paedophile images available in the Internet. Removal of pictures, the author and victim of which have already been identified. Compilation of pictures belonging to the same series. Review of all pictures in an endeavour to notice any detail which could assist in locating the depicted place (country, town, dwelling), (the same place and many victims, a single victim in various locations . Marking dates of pictures. Definition and combating sex tourism Sex tourism applies when a French citizen or person living on the French territory commits a sexual criminal offence abroad, the victim of which is a juvenile under 15 years of age. A perpetrator who commits this crime shall be a subject to the French law. The Penal Code stipulates that such crimes shall be persecuted, and their penalisation depends on the degree of the crime (rape, sexual acts...). RECORDS OF SEXUAL OFFENDERS Undertaking preventive penal measures, which are to prevent the return to crime. As of 1998 the perpetrators are entered into the records once the final verdict has been made sentencing for a sexual offence. This also concerns French citizens staying abroad.

Chantal Bredin Central Office for Combating Illegal Work (O.C.L.T.I.)

Structure and tasks of the office

ESTABLISHMENT The Central Office for Combating Illegal Work (O.C.L.T.I.), established in 2005 pursuant to a Regulation of the Minister of Internal Affairs and Physical Development, is subordinated to the General Directorate of the National Gendarmerie.

MISSION  Animation and coordination on a national level and under operational programmes of investigations conducted by the criminal police in cases of criminal offences covered by the scope of its competencies.

SCOPE OF COMPETENCIES The Office participates in combating all forms of criminal offences related to illegal labour. Recognising the authority of other central offices of the criminal police, the Office cooperates in particular with the Central Office for Persecution of Illegal Immigration and Employment of Foreigners without Work Permit (O.C.R.I.E.S.T.) and with the Central Office for Persecution of Trafficking in Human Beings (O.C.R.T The Office also works with the National Directorate for Combating Smuggling in issues comprised by the scope of its competencies.

SCOPE OF COMPETENCIES The Office operates in the following areas:  illegal labour, in which operation or employees are concealed, and in which illegal work is demanded,  work conditions and/or accommodation in inhuman conditions,  employment of foreigners without a valid work permit,  frauds related to remuneration for stand-in work,  combining of different work posts,  operation of foreign companies in France (criminal offences typical for the French legislation). HUMAN TRAFFICKING Criminal offences persecuted by the Central Office for Combating Illegal Work (O.C.L.T.I), are related to the term “contemporary slavery”. Work conditions unbefitting the dignity of a human being:  hiring employees to work in conditions that are hazardous for the health or dangerous,  hiring employees who are unable to file a complaint about fraud (deprivation of identity documents by the employer, no language knowledge, remaining in a situation that is illegal...). HUMAN TRAFFICKING Accommodation in conditions beneath human dignity:  living in the work establishment in conditions that are absolutely inconsistent with the basic everyday needs (lack of necessary equipment, conditions hazardous to health, lack of adequate sanitary conditions, noise...),  dwellings that fail to meet the basic requirements rented by profiteering owners who make use of the poverty of their tenants (persons staying in the country illegally, evicted persons, etc.). This form of offence is referred to as “Dream Sellers”. Rodrigo Montero Sánchez Marcelo Gómez Chao Directorate General of the Police and Civil Guardia

General outline of illegal immigration in Spain One of the principal tasks of the National Police is combating trafficking in human beings who are sold for their subsequent sexual exploitation and forced labour in Spain. Consequently, in the first half of the 1990s UCRIF (Central Unit of Immigration Smuggling and Fraudulent Documentation) was established, which is directly subordinated to the General Headquarters For Foreigners and Frontiers; its principal task is supervision and coordination of police activity in this scope on the entire territory of Spain. UCRIF specialises among others in coordinating cooperation and provides assistance to diverse police units, both provincial and local ones, specialised in issues related to foreigners and tasks connected with active combating of persons, groups or networks responsible for recruitment and subsequent exploitation of citizens of other countries.

Spain has become a target or transit country for thousands of persons who are seeking a better future in Europe, where immigrants arrive from all countries of the world. Particularly marked is the inflow of immigrants from Southern America, with which Spain has numerous ties, including a common language, among others. Criminal organisations specialise in providing persons interested in entering Europe with all the necessary documents to allow them to arrive on that continent as tourists; those documents include invitations, fraudulent job offers and other numerous tricks aimed at helping the immigrants to avoid border control points.

A top position is occupied in this respect by trafficking in people from Africa, which results primarily from the proximity of that continent: thousands of people try to get to the Spanish coast on boats, barges and the so-called „slave boats‟, and subsequently move farther on to various European countries, where their relatives and friends live who have managed to get to Europe earlier on.

After arrival in Spain, a lot of trafficking victims are exploited in prostitution or in forced labour.

Each year Spain gets a profit of over EUR 12 million from prostitution; according to available data over 350 000 women work as prostitutes over the entire territory of Spain, mainly in brothels, escort agencies and on the streets.

The structure of a typical organisation specialising in sexual exploitation of women includes a person that finances its operation, usually a Spaniard, owner of an establishment that profits from sexual exploitation, who lives with a female foreigner. Together with other persons in her home country this female recruits young women, who are on a low cultural level, experiencing financial difficulties, who are ready to take up any type of work at all to gain some earnings to be able to cope with their problems.

Once preparations for the arrival of such a woman to Europe have been completed (visas, money to pay costs of living for the period of stay, hotel bookings, etc.) she is taken to an establishment, in which she will be exploited for prostitution, and her earnings are then used to repay the debt incurred by the organisation, which increases every day by current costs of living and accommodation of that person. The offenders and other persons associated with them (managers of various establishments, waiters, and former prostitutes working as brother keepers), do not hesitate to apply psychical or physical violence to force the women to prostitution.

As regards forced labour, particularly noticeable is the number of frauds to which foreigners fall victim; they are offered fraudulent employment contracts at a very high price, on the basis of which prospective immigrants would be able to apply for a Stay and Work Permit.

Nevertheless last year several organisations were successfully broken up, which were recruiting people to work in the country of their origin (as a rule the same one as the country of the offenders); such persons are then transported and placed in overcrowded facilities (which fail to meet the basic health and sanitary requirements), and subsequently exploited as seasonal workers on farms during harvests of various crops.

It should be stressed that pursuant to the Spanish legislation persons harmed as a consequence of trafficking and unlawful treatment are considered to be victims and may apply for the status of a Protected Witness, and in addition they may gain the right of temporary stay in Spain provided they are willing to cooperate actively with the police and with the court authorities to assist in instigation of appropriate proceedings against persons responsible for the victims‟ situation.

As regards assistance granted to the victims, there are various non-government organisations and religious associations, which are able to satisfy all the fundamental needs of such persons.

Finally it is important to stress the necessity of strengthening and expanding cooperation between particular countries, to which the problem of illegal immigration applies, primarily via diverse liaison officers, to make the enhancement of information exchange between such countries possible.

Bilateral agreements on cooperation and repatriation, as well as Agencies established in various locations (e.g. in Romania and Bulgaria), play an important role in combating human trafficking.

Thomas Menzel Alexandra Klein Jens Wrischke Police - Hamburg The concept of combating “trafficking in human beings”

Legal situation:  prostitution is not forbidden in Germany and  it is not considered to be a transaction in conflict with moral norms

Amendment to the act (18.02.2005) new distinction done for trafficking in human beings: for purposes of:  sexual exploitation (§232 of the German Penal Code) and  exploitation in forced labour (§233 of the German Penal Code) and also

 penalisation for any support to the trafficking in human beings (§ 233a of the German Penal Code)

Objective of the police operation:

not preventing prostitution but

prevention and persecution of all the associated phenomena of a criminal nature

Data/Outline of the situation (State as on: 02.03.09):  ca. 2300 women work as prostitutes  in which ca. 1250 are foreigners (1100 from Eastern Europe)

Those women work in:  ca. 165 brothels/similar facilities,  ca. 290 facilities with residential dwellings/345 private apartments  and in addition providing their services “at home and at a hotel“

Including women Place Women in total Foreigners acting illegally Private accommodation 860 560 60

Services provided at home/hotel 250 225 150

Clubs 270 190 20

Street prostitution 300 75 20 the St. Georg quarter

Street prostitution St. Pauli 320 30 15 Süderstraße

Brothels in St. Pauli 110 50 15

Others 190 120 30

Main assumptions of the concept:

 combating violence that is predominant in this milieu as well as  minimising profits of offenders who benefit from exploiting other persons

Features of a criminal deed in the context of the combating concept:

 exploitation of prostitutes  human trafficking for sexual exploitation  supporting human trafficking  pimping

 assistance in violating regulations of the act on stay, gainful employment and integration of foreigners on the area of Germany

 strategically and comprehensively taking into consideration all aspects related to prostitution

Starting points in the investigation:  victim  perpetrator  and location Balanced and sustainable combating based on a complex approach, i.e. combination of starting points in investigations. Objectives:  reducing the magnitude of the phenomenon of “human trafficking” in Hamburg and of the associated phenomena, which are predominated by violence  improving the situation of persons working as prostitutes, especially trafficking victims  increasing the risk of persecution for all perpetrators  assuring effective investigation/permanent penal sanctions  limiting opportunities for the commitment of a crime (influencing the “market”)  hindering investments made with illegally gained assets by offenders in other legal undertakings or those of a criminal nature  consistent confiscation of assets

Measures:  systematic and focused on the objectives inspections on all vital areas related to prostitution, especially in the identified hot spots, on a pre-determined target  investigation focused on perpetrators involving all participants of the given criminal action who exploit and derive material benefits  active gaining of information through open and covert actions  determined striving at obtaining cooperation of more witnesses, and enhancing their readiness to making testimony by offering a confidence based approach and care  intense care over witnesses

Measures:  determined expelling of illegal foreign prostitutes who are not trafficking victims  close cooperation with other bodies / institutions  robust cooperation with the press to assist operating activities and related to relevant issues  closing down clubs (indirect) in justified specific cases etc., withdrawal of concessions and focusing on the market of dwellings used in a way that is inconsistent with their purpose  intensification of measures aimed at minimising profits (confiscation of assets, instrumentalities of the crime such as for example expensive cars, property etc.)

Protection / care over witnesses:

With the objective of assuring stabilisation and providing support to witnesses-victims in all possible situations in life they may face during their stay on the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany and during sending back to countries of their origin.

 testimony of witnesses is the fundamental force of evidence during the main hearing

Procedure in case of readiness to testifying:

 safe shelter  financial assistance  control / regulation of the foreigner status  potential return to the country of origin (threat)  return to participate in the main hearing and  return to the home country

Important: particular importance and tasks of KOOFRA (The Unit against the Trafficking of Women)

Perspectives:

 reducing the number of prostitutes staying illegally in Hamburg owing to accession to the EU of Romania and Bulgaria (2007)

 despite that, high values are still characteristic to Hamburg‟s prostitution milieu, and consequently high number of exploited women

 identification of prostitutes as victims/injured parties in crimes detected exclusively thanks to actions of the police (Kontrolldelikte) and improving their living situation, would also continue to pose difficulties in the future

 identification of all places that employ prostitutes as brothels

 their concessioning, and

 proposal to recognise prostitution as one of the various types of economic activity, with all the rights and obligations entailed by this solution

Criterion for success – cooperation:

 Cooperation in this particular scope of criminal activity on a domestic and international level is of particular importance.  Success in combating depends, to a large extent, on the standard of this cooperation.

Andrej Afanasjev

INFORMATION about combating human trafficking in Ukraine

According to data provided by the Ukrainian law enforcement agencies, 322 crimes specified in Article 149 (Human trafficking or another illegal transaction related to a human being) of the Ukrainian Penal Code were revealed last year, 342 trafficking victims, which included 37 juveniles, were found and assisted in their return to Ukraine, and concurrently 18 organised crime groups specialising in this particular crime were taken down. In the same period in Kiev the case of 5 crimes, specified in Article 149 of the Ukrainian Penal Code, were solved. This significant difference arises from the following factors:  the high living standard and a wide offer of well paid jobs – a decisive factor that significantly discourages offenders from seeking potential victims in Kiev;  90-95 percent of all trafficking victims are inhabitants of other Ukrainian regions, who report to local law enforcement agencies in their permanent place of residence;  operation of international organisations (International Organisation for Migration and also La Strada), frequent information campaigns addressed at the society against trafficking in human beings, regular publicity of the given issue in the media – all those measures enhance the awareness of Kiev‟s inhabitants, and make them very cautious as regards dubious job offers in Ukraine and abroad. Furthermore, employees of the Department for Combating Crimes related to Trafficking in Human Beings in the Main Office of the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs in Kiev continuously execute all kinds of measures aimed at preventing human trafficking among groups of citizens most exposed to such crimes. Thanks to those preventive measures persons, who are unable to present to the editorial office valid documents to certify their right of conducting the specific type of operation have no right to publish adverts in the print media containing offers of work abroad;  regular inspections made in companies that offer services of job finding abroad and in tourist agencies allow reducing the number of potential perpetrators.  taking into consideration the high awareness of the Kiev inhabitants and the widespread use of telecommunications, an increasing number of offenders create new methods for recruitment and trafficking of the victims based on mobile networks and the Internet, with the help of which the perpetrators provide adverts about job offers abroad, keep the contacts with potential victims, conclude agreements, arrange visas and tickets without having to come into direct contact with any victim, which as an effect helps reduce considerably the evidence available against those perpetrators. The law enforcement agencies have carried out a review of functioning of the revealed channels of recruitment and trafficking of Ukrainian citizens abroad for their exploitation. Results of this study have shown that the main destination countries for trafficking victims are: the Russian Federation, Turkey, Poland, Israel, the Czech Republic, Spain, United Arab Emirates, Italy, Greece, Liban and Germany. Recently, a criminal activity of a female citizen of Ukraine was put to an end in Kiev. She recruited and organised departures to St. Petersburg in the Russian Federation, of four young women for their exploitation in paid sexual services. Penal proceedings have been instigated in connection with this case pursuant to Article 149§2 of the Ukrainian Penal Code, and the case was then taken to court. In March 1998 penal responsibility was introduced for human trafficking, and since then 2344 such criminal offences have been disclosed (in 1998 - 2 criminal offences, in 1999 - 11, in 2000 - 42, in 2001 - 90, in 2002 - 169, in 2003 - 289, in 2004 - 269, in 2005 - 415, in 2006 - 376, in 2007 - 359, in 2008 - 322 criminal offences). Concurrently a growing number of offenders are being penalised for human trafficking. In 2003 Ukrainian courts convicted 53 persons, in 2004 - 69, in 2005 - 115 offenders were convicted, in 2006 - 86, in 2007 - 100 perpetrators. According to the Ukrainian legislation, during the execution of criminal cases the Ukrainian law enforcement agencies are obliged to grant any assistance to trafficking victims which may be required and assure appropriate protection on the part of the police, as well as legal assistance. For this reason the Department for Combating Crimes related to Trafficking in Human Beings is closely cooperating with international and non-governmental institutions specialising in protecting the rights and legal interests of transnational trafficking victims, assist the victims of various crimes with respect to reintegration, rehabilitation, and in addition provide them with financial, psychological and medical assistance. The Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs is working particularly closely with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the Organisation for Security and Co- operation in Europe (OSCE), with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), with the International Women‟s Right Centre “La Strada - Ukraine” and many other organisations. This cooperation comprises assuring financing for translations of requests for granting international legal assistance in penal cases related to offenders in human trafficking, conducting joint studies, working out bills, as well as analytical materials and methodological recommendations, information booklets, organisation of seminars and trainings, bilateral and multilateral consultations, and professional trainings for employees directly handling the combating of this type of criminal offences. For example in 2008, to advance professional skills of policemen specialising in combating crimes connected with human trafficking, a scientific and methodological guide entitled “Aktualne aspekty międzynarodowej współpracy organów ścigania Ukrainy w sprawach zwalczania handlu ludźmi” (Present aspects of international cooperation of the Ukrainian law enforcement agencies in issues of combating trafficking in human beings) was prepared and published with support of the Office of the Coordinator of OSCE Projects in Ukraine; this publication is also addressed at students of higher schools in the structure of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The policy implemented by the Ukrainian government is focused on effective cooperation with the Interpol International Criminal Police Organisation, SECI Regional Centre for Combating Transnational Crime of the Southeast European Cooperative Initiative (SECI), the GUAM Organisation for Democracy and Economic Development, other international and non-governmental organisations, as well as law enforcement agencies in other countries with respect to combating and preventing criminal offences related to trafficking in human beings. During international cooperation the Ukrainian police keep exchanging operating information with law enforcement agencies from other countries, and also carry out joint operating actions, inquiries and investigations to allow full and appropriate documentation of this type of criminal offences and to eliminate channels for recruitment and transport of Ukrainian citizens abroad for their exploitation. In Kiev an Israeli citizen was arrested, who used to recruit and traffic young women from Ukraine to Greece and Croatia for their exploitation for proivision of paid sexual services. Consequently a criminal case was instigated which at present is in the stage of court proceedings. Compilation of documents related to the criminal operation of the suspect was possible thanks to close cooperation with law enforcement agencies from Israel, Croatia and Greece implemented with the assistance of the Interpol, and also with the assistance of representatives of embassies of the above mentioned countries. To be able to assure homogenous practices in determining a common definition of human trafficking, the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs came up with the initiative of applying to the General Assembly of Judges of the Supreme Court of Ukraine to review the possibility of introducing a uniform court practice in this type of penal cases. At present, the Supreme Court is working on issuing a decision of an appropriate resolution in this respect. In addition, works are being implemented with respect to changes in the Ukrainian legislation in connection with ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on combating human trafficking.