The Intersection of Trafficking in Persons and the Presence of Third-Party Interveners: A

Content Analysis of TIP Reports about Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Iraq

by Carrie Sue Casey

GMU Graduate ThesisPeace Operations Policy Program 2008

Approach and Goal

• Content analysis of reporting on TIP incidents in three 3rd party, post-conflict interventions: BiH, Kosovo, and Iraq

• Wanted to learn:– How/if interventions affected TIP reporting – What reports revealed about TIP type, victims, and

perpetrators

Methodology: TIP DEFINITIONThe U.N. protocol on “trafficking in persons,” adopted by the GeneralAssembly in 2000, defined TIP as:

the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by 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, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.

• Distinction between TIP and smuggling: was coercion or force involved?

Case Selection: BiH , Kosovo, and Iraq

• Rules:– Had to be country or protectorate– TIP had been discovered there– 3rd party intervention– AND some TIP reports coincide with intervention

Time Frames2 Years BEFORE Intervention to June 30, 2006

• BIHBaseline Jan. 1994-Dec. 1995Post-intervention Jan. 1996-June 2006• KosovoBaseline June 1997-May 1999Post-intervention June 2001-May 2003• IraqBaseline June 2001-May 2003Post-intervention June 2003-June 2006

The Three Cases• Kosovo (Baseline June 1997-May 1999/Post-intervention June 2001-May

2003)– Prolonged and unique status as de facto U.N. protectorate– Interveners’ powerful role– 10 years – long enough to demonstrate trends and patterns

• BiH (Baseline Jan. 1994-Dec. 1995/Post-intervention Jan. 1996-June 2006)– Even longer -- over 12 years

• Iraq (Baseline June 2001-May 2003/Post-intervention June 2003-June 2006)– Middle Eastern environment– Different form of intervention – Constituted an ongoing stabilization effort– Approx. decade after BiH and Kosovo interventions began

TIP Incidents

• Units of analysis were TIP incidents

• Uncovered any and all mentions of TIP, and/or perpetrators of TIP, and/or TIP victims in conjunction with a case name

FINDINGS: Incidents BiH (Baseline Jan. 1994-Dec. 1995/Post-intervention Jan. 1996-June 2006) • Total: 169; all post-intervention

Kosovo (Baseline June 1997-May 1999/Post-intervention June 2001-May 2003)

• Total: ~105• 1 dated pre; 5 straddled; 100 post-intervention

Iraq (Baseline June 2001-May 2003/Post-intervention June 2003-June 2006)

• Total: 2 pre; 2 straddled; 18 post-intervention

FINDINGS

• TIP reporting increased in all the post-conflict, post-intervention time frames.

• Reporting trends supported link between TIP and third-party interventions

TIP Types

• 13 different types– sex, domestic servitude, dancing, bar work, cohabitation,

care-giving, labor, waitressing, organ harvesting, agricultural work, marriage, begging, and abandonment.

• Sex and labor: common denominator• Iraq: predominantly labor TIP • BiH and Kosovo typically sex-related TIP• BiH: significant number of labor-related TIP

BiH TIP Types12 types:• sex• domestic servitude• dancing• bar work• cohabitation• care-giving• labor• waitressing• organ harvesting• agricultural work• marriage• begging• Sex-related most prevalent; Labor 2nd most

Kosovo TIP Types

5 types• Sex• Labor• Organ-harvesting• Marriage• Begging

• Sex-related appeared most (in all 3 time frames)

Iraq TIP Types

4 types• Dancing• Sex• Labor• Abandonment

• Labor most prevalent

Victims

• BiH and Kosovo: – young– Eastern European– overwhelming female victims– sex trafficking

• Iraq:– South Asian– mostly (but only slightly mostly) male victims– labor trafficking

BIH Victims

-Females, under 18 (none over 30**)-Part of small groups (under 5 ppl)-3 main E. European nationalities (Moldovan,

Romanian, Ukrainian)-Provided sex services

Kosovo Victims

-female, very young (none over 20)-part of small group (under 5 ppl)-4 E. European nationalities (Moldovan,

Ukrainian, Romanian, and some form of Albanian)

-provided sex services

Iraq Victims

• Male but not overwhelmingly so• South Asian (India or Nepal)• Could be a wide age range but reporting rarely

mentioned age• Worked for/planned to work for US/Coalition

Forces • No particular sized groups

Perpetrators

• Operating in small groups• Descriptions of perpetrators as contractors

appeared in all three cases • Tended to be Asian, European, South/Central

American, and American• Only nationality in all three cases: American

BiH Perps

• Adults (31-50 yrs old)• Male• American or Bosnian• Small groups– Police: “Local police” affiliations or IPTF– Bar/brothel owners or employees– NATO SFOR

Kosovo perps

• Adults (18-50 yrs old)• Male• Form of Albanian• Small groups– Internat’l Police, esp. UNMIK or UN, but involved

local KPS• Sex clients, forced victims to provide sex,

inflicted abuse on victims

Iraq Perps

• No age info• Male or female• Jordanian or Turkish• Small groups: affiliated with USG or US mil as

contractors• Lured victims under false pretenses (labor

oriented)

Examples

Why do we care? Because TIP threatens peace and security.

•Develops underclass of victims (displaced persons, refugees)

•Perpetrators undercut rule of law, feed corruption, fuel organized crime, and perpetuate underclass of TIP victims: generate instability

•Can cause distrust of peacekeepers

•Damage and trauma to local population

Prevention: the more we know, the more we can prevent and address TIP

Recommendations

• Training should make USG aware of risks TIP poses to their mission

• Clearinghouse that tracks defense contractors and their involvement with TIP

• Adapt methodology to develop/update profiles of TIP victims/perpetrators – then develop training programs

THANK YOU!

BACK-UP SLIDES

DETAILED FINDINGS: Kosovo TIP Types

Pre-intervention: 1 incident (sex type; Kosovar F victim)Straddle:Post-intervention:5 types showed up in 62 incidents.• Sex-related most prevalent

– unspecified (43) – Sex (60)– Organs (1) – Begging (2) – Marriage (1) – Labor (2)

EXAMPLES OF INCIDENTSKOSOVO• We have been very active this week in acting against the trafficking of

women for prostitution…On 2 October, three Kosovo Albanian males were arrested in Lipjan for trafficking in women…On 5 October, five persons were detained at Gate 3 of the Serbian-Kosovo boundary as they attempted to enter Kosovo…A 31-year-old Kosovo Albanian and a 27-year-old Serbian were arrested for their involvement in trafficking three women from Moldova, Romania and Bosnia into Kosovo and the club was closed.

• On 4 October we raided the PLAYBOY Club in Ferizaj/Urosevac. Inside the

crowded club, five women, the youngest only 18 years, were found entertaining a large number of men. One Kosovo-Albanian male was arrested for controlling the women. All five were removed to Ferizaj Police Station.”

Methodology: Data Collection

• Reviewed 377 raw data excerpts using criteria (date, perp, or victim mention) and dividing into specific incidents

• Handwritten sheets to examine for type, victims, and perps

SOURCES

BiH: 61 sources (0 pre)• Newspaper articles (34); Reports (12); DoS cables (5); Journals (0)

Kosovo: 47 sources (1 pre; rest post)• Newspaper (36); Reports (6); UN (4); DoS cables (1); Journals (0)• 4 data sources addressed same incident; 12 addressed multiple

incidents each; 35 sources addressed just 1 incident each

Iraq: 16 sources (2 pre)• Newspaper articles (14); Book review (1); HRW report (1)

Limitations

• This study only focused on three post-conflict environments in just two geographic areas. Because of these limitations, the findings did not capture TIP reporting trends or attendant details for the many other geographic areas where TIP exists. The time frames were also restrictive because they limited the universe of reports from which findings could be pulled.