by * » Fri Jun 09, 2006 10:14 am
<br><br> Talk about yer <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>catch 22</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->: under Canadian law the perps <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>can't </em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->be charged but the victims <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>can</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--></em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> be ! "Oh Brave New World, that hath such people in it..."<br><br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_PrintFriendly&c=Article&cid=1149630613279&call_pageid=971358637177">TheStar</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>3 charged with human trafficking in Israel<br>Women brought to GTA to work as prostitutes<br><br><!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>Toronto `investors' not arrested based on legal loop</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--></strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END-->[/i]<br>Jun. 7, 2006. 01:00 AM<br>MITCH POTTER<br>MIDDLE EAST BUREAU<br><br>JERUSALEM—The reward: a life of riches beyond their wildest dreams in lovely Toronto.<br><br>The requirements: youth, beauty and a willingness to sleep around for the first month in Canada and not a single day more.<br><br>Once the ladies of Israel paid back the cost of the journey by working as prostitutes in Toronto nightclubs, they would be free to do as they pleased. Free to proceed to a life of riches and happiness in Canada. Because everyone in Canada is rich and happy, after all.<br><br>Such was the modus operandi described yesterday by police in Tel Aviv, as they revealed details of the first human trafficking ring charged with the selling of Israeli women abroad.<br><br>"We've uncovered many sex-slave operations in the past five years, but this is the first one that preyed on naïve young ladies with the promise they would be exported from Israel," said Gadi Eshed, deputy chief of the Tel Aviv Police, Central Unit.<br><br>"For every one of these women, the destination was Toronto, where there appears to be a very large market, from what we have learned."<br><br>Tel Aviv police yesterday charged three suspects following early morning raids in Israel, laying single counts of human trafficking relating to the export of at least 10 young Israeli women aged 18 to 27 to Toronto during the past six months.<br><br>The Israeli suspects, who are alleged to have "international criminal ties" extending to Canada, the U.S. and Russia, face maximum sentences of 16 years each under the Israeli criminal code.<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>The ring's Toronto "investors," according to Israeli police, may not face any sanction whatsoever due to a loophole in Canadian law that stipulates human trafficking is a crime only if the victim is lured under false pretenses or coercion.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br>RCMP Inspector Glenn Hanna acknowledged the loophole, saying Canadian law "follows along with the United Nations definition of human trafficking."<br><br>According to Canadian law, "if someone comes to Canada, knowing full well what is expected of them, and there is no force, no coercion, it is not human trafficking," said Hanna, citing Section 279.01 of the Criminal Code.<br><br>Hanna, an officer in charge of the Greater Toronto Area immigration and passport section, said the RCMP first knew of the Israeli case in April.<br><br>"Our information that we had from Israel was very clear to us that these women all knew that the job (on arrival in Canada) was prostitution," said Hanna. "As a result of that, our determination was this is not a trafficking case but a morality case or prostitution-related case. And that was passed to Toronto police service for their information."<br><br>In Tel Aviv, Eshed said they "were disappointed and embarrassed to learn that what is a crime in Israel may not actually be a crime in Canada."<br><br>"The fact is, these women knew what they were getting into. They knew they were going to work as prostitutes. But they were also very naïve. They really wanted to believe that, after a few weeks, they would be able to break away and start a new life, instead of being trapped in a meat market," he said.<br><br>"In Israel, the law is strict on these matters. Human trafficking is a crime, period.<br><br>"But if we want to develop a case against the traffickers in Toronto we have a problem because the Canadian law is more liberal. If the girls know, it appears not to be an issue."<br><br>Eshed said Toronto police were working to track down the Israeli women. "They will check on their well-being to find out if they are still enjoying their VIP status in Toronto."<br><br>All of the women in question, and the alleged ringleaders charged yesterday, are Israelis of Russian descent. Although the Tel Aviv police unit credited with the bust is the Russian Organized Crime Squad, Eshed stopped short of labelling the ring as a component of a larger Russian mafia.<br><br>"It is premature to declare this a specific organized crime group. But we know for a fact this is a very well-developed organization with strong connections between Canada, Russia and Israel," he said.<br><br>Eshed said the investigation began several months ago when police became aware of Russian-language newspapers in Israel running ads offering work in Canada for "young, beautiful girls." The ads touted salaries of up to $10,000 (U.S.) per month.<br><br>Several Israeli policewomen subsequently launched a "honey trap," working undercover in the guise of job applicants, Eshed said.<br><br>Applicants were met by "initiators" at an Israeli office, Eshed said, where they underwent humiliating scrutiny, including being photographed nude from various angles. The photographs were sent to Canadian counterparts, who would then send messages indicating which women warranted further interest. The Israeli ring finished the process for each woman, arranging travel documents and air tickets to Toronto.<br><br>"This is an international network for selling women," said Tel Aviv Police Supervisor Zvika Stoklov. "This is a slave trade. They take the women and check them, their bodies, as if they were checking slaves."<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Hanna said that if the Israeli women were found working as prostitutes they could face charges under soliciting for the purpose of prostitution, living off the avails of prostitution, or running a bawdy house.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br>"These things are all against the law," said Hanna.<br><br>Yesterday's arrests came just one day after a U.S. State Department report gave Israel mixed grades on its approach to human trafficking.<br><br>While crediting Israel for making headway in a campaign against the trafficking of women, the annual report downgraded Israel's overall status, saying it was failing to ensure the welfare of as many as 20,000 foreign workers subjected to forced labour in Israel.<br><br>With files from Dale Ann Freed<br><br><br><br><br> <p></p><i></i>
