CONGO/B: UPDATED 2005 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 KINSHASA 000198

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPT PLEASE PASS TO JUSTICE, HOMELAND SECURITY, DEPT OF
LABOR, DEPT OF TREASURY AND USAID

PARIS PLEASE PASS TO AFRICA WATCHER

FROM BRAZZAVILLE EMBASSY OFFICE

DEPT FOR G/TIP, AF/C - C. BARGERON, AF/RSA, INL, DRL,
PRM, IWI

E.O.12958: N/A
TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB CF
SUBJECT: CONGO/B: UPDATED 2005 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS
REPORT


Ref: A) 2004 State 273089 B) 2004 Kinshasa 1615 C)
Zuehlke 1/25/05 email


1. Embassy Brazzaville submits the following updated
Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report. Responses are
keyed to the questions in Ref A and C with very little
change from Ref B.

Republic of Congo (Congo/B)
Overview of activities to eliminate trafficking in
persons:


A. Congo/B is not believed to be an origination
country. There are unconfirmed reports that it could
be a destination country for minor children of West
African immigrants. There is no evidence that the
government is complicit or intentionally allowing TIP.
There is evidence, however, that West African
residents, mostly from Togo and Benin, do bring
"minors" who they claim and show documentation for as
family relatives. At the present time, there are no
statistics or evidence that these minors are
trafficked. However, a local NGO is investigating the
issue and is preparing a survey to examine the status
of these minor children. The survey is scheduled to be
finished sometime in 2005. There is also no evidence
of trafficking in men or women (Ref B).


B. As stated in point A, there is no evidence or proof
men or women are trafficked but there are unconfirmed
reports that "minor relatives" of West African
immigrants may be the victims of trafficking. More
investigation needs to be done to determine the status
of "minor relatives" documented from Benin and Togo. A
survey on this issue is being conducted by a local NGO.


C. No, there has not been any change of direction in
the past two months since the investigative efforts by
the Mission in August 2004 (Ref B) and subsequent
updated information since then from NGOs.


D. A local NGO, Association Panafricain Thomas Sankara
(APTS) is undertaking a survey on this issue. There
was no survey conducted last year. Since Congo-
Brazzaville is a post-conflict country coming out of
six years of civil conflict where the infrastructure
was destroyed, there are no government archives,
statistics or reports on this issue.


E. We will need to see the results of APTS's survey to
determine the status of the "minor relatives"
documented here from Benin and Togo. Several NGOs,
such as Obsevatoire Congolese des Droits de l'Homme
(OCDH),Aide l'Enfance, and APTS reported that Beninese
and Togolese documented children between 14-16 years
old work in the markets in Brazzaville and Pointe
Noire. They reportedly are here as "family members" of
resident Beninese and Togolese immigrants.


F. Congo/B is not a country of origin. There has never
been any evidence, even anecdotal, of Congo/B being a
country of origin. As noted in the Human Rights
Report, there are isolated cases of child prostitution
connected to DRC street children, but no evidence that
this is linked to forced or organized prostitution, or
forced child soldiers either to or within ROC.
According to international and local NGOs, there are
street children from the Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC) who reportedly are active in isolated cases of
prostitution for economic means to buy food or other
items, but the DRC street children are not trafficked
to or within the ROC. There is no evidence that any of
these street children are from ROC.


G. Despite its post-conflict status, the government is
making a good effort to follow this issue. The
Ministry of Foreign Affairs has engaged the Ministry of
Security to ensure that they view documentation with
this in mind. In addition, the Ministries of Social
Affairs and of Labor are devoting resources and
attention to this issue. In 2003 the Ministry of
Social Affairs participated with APTS in workshops and
seminars on trafficking in children. In November 2004
the Ministry of Labor along with the Office for
Reinsertion of Ex-Combatants, launched a program to
assist with training and socialization of child
soldiers from the 1997-early 2002 conflicts using USG
funds provided by the International Labor Organization
(ILO). In addition, the Commission on Ex-combatants
along with an NGO implementing partner has trained 350
ex-combatants in vocational trades. Overall, the
government's stated policy is it supports anti-
trafficking and other anti-crime measures as it can,
given its limited resources as a post-conflict country.


H. There is no evidence that, as a matter of government
policy, trafficking is condoned or facilitated.


I. Congo/B is a post-conflict country in the process of
rebuilding, and resources for most governmental
activities, such as the police and the judicial system,
are insufficient to address general needs. No
resources are reserved specifically to combat
trafficking in persons. However, key government
Ministries, when provided with resources, have been
responsive in flagging the importance of this issue.
In 2004, Congo/B made an effort to improve immigration
and border controls, but overall border control outside
the main cities of Brazzaville and Pointe Noire remains
inadequate. Overall corruption remains a problem, but
the government inaugurated an anti-corruption office in
2004 in order to address this issue, and has held
several anti-corruption workshops in partnership with
donors, including the USG. The government lacks
resources to aid victims, but some NGOs, such as APTS
and the Center to Combat the Violence Against Women and
Children (CCVAWC),provide limited assistance as part
of a wider mission.


J. The Ministries of Security, Social Affairs, and
Labor as well as the Chief of the Gendarmes are
responsible for monitoring these issues, but they lack
the resources to devote exclusively to anti-
trafficking. The local NGO community will be the best
venues to collect statistics. The pending survey by
APTS should help address some of these issues.


K. All prostitution and related activities are illegal
throughout Congo/B. The issue is enforced as part of
the country's overall standard anti-crime campaign.

PREVENTION


A. Government recognizes the importance of the issue,
and at least three Ministries - Security, Labor and
Social Affairs - are responsible for following
trafficking issues, as is the Gendarmerie.


B. The Ministries of Security, Social Affairs, Labor,
as well as the Gendarmerie are responsible for
following trafficking issues.


C. To date there has not been any government run
information campaigns, primarily as a result of lack of
resources and that trafficking has not been identified
yet as a problem in ROC. The survey being conducted by
APTS - if it demonstrates that the West African "minor
relatives" are subjected to trafficking - will
encourage more organization by the government on this
issue as well as a recommendation by APTS for a anti-
trafficking law.


D. Yes, the Ministry of Social Affairs as a matter of
policy supports efforts by NGOs to address this issue,
but given that Congo/B is a post-conflict country,
there are no direct government resources that can be
provided to the NGOs.


E. No, due to lack of resources. However, government
policy supports efforts by NGOs.


F. There is a good relationship among the government,
NGOs, and others focused on this issue.


G. Outside of the major cities of Brazzaville and
Pointe Noire, the government does not adequately
monitor its borders. The Chief of the Gendarmerie
stated that the government wants to improve in this
area, but given the country's post-conflict status
there are not enough available resources for specific,
ongoing monitoring of trafficking or verification of
documentation.


H. The government does not have a specific anti-
trafficking task force. The Ministry of Plan is tasked
with coordinating efforts involving multiple government
Ministries. The Anti-Corruption Office, which reports
to the Office of the Presidency, coordinates government-
wide anti-corruption efforts.


I. The government is working with ILO on child soldiers
issues, mostly as regards to reintegrating former child
soldiers involved in the 1997 - 2001 civil conflicts.
In addition, there are programs with UNICEF focused on
street children who come over to Congo/B voluntarily
from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on the
daily ferry. The street children from DRC are not
trafficked to ROC - they seek refuge in Congo/B from
the pressures of life in DRC.


J. The government has no national action plan to combat
trafficking in persons. However, the Ministry of
Social Affairs, Labor and Security are responsible for
this issue and would coordinate efforts in this area.


K. The Ministries of Social Affairs, Labor, Security
and Gendarmerie follow this issue, but there is no
mandate to develop an action plan. However, if the
government was presented with evidence of the issue,
they would likely support suggestions to develop a
plan.

INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION OF TRAFFICKERS


A. There is no law specifically prohibiting trafficking
as a separate criminal offense. However, activities
associated with trafficking can be prosecuted under
existing criminal code provisions on rape, illegal
entry, forced labor, child abuse, defilement, extortion
and fraud. There are specific laws against slavery and
prostitution. As a post conflict country, ROC has no
statistics on this or any other issue. However, the
laws indicated above, according to one NGO, APTS, do
not cover the full scope of trafficking. When APTS
submits its survey and report to the government, one
recommendation will be for the government to promulgate
laws specifically to criminalize trafficking. At
present, the laws cited above would cover many of the
offenses under trafficking, but not all.


B. As indicated above, trafficking is not a separate
criminal offense.


C. The penalty for rape is long-term imprisonment. As
noted earlier, trafficking is not a separate criminal
offense, but there are laws for rape and forcible
sexual assault under which perpetrators can be
prosecuted.


D. The government has never prosecuted a case against
traffickers since this is no specific trafficking law,
and to date on one here has been accused of
trafficking. No statistics are available on
trafficking or any other crimes because archives were
destroyed (mostly burned) during the war. Also, as
stated earlier, trafficking is not a distinct offense
in the current criminal code. As a post conflict
country, Congo continues to lack human and financial
resources to rebuild archives from scratch.

E. There is no evidence of involvement of Congo/B
government officials. It is also not believed that
trafficking profits, if any, are being channeled to the
Republic of Congo. As stated in the overview, there is
evidence that documented minor children 14-16 are
brought to Congo by "relatives" mostly from Benin and
Togo, but also from Mali and Senegal. As stated
earlier, APTS is conducting a survey to determine
better information on the documented "minor relatives."


F. The government does not specifically investigate
trafficking cases, due to the lack of a specific anti-
trafficking law. To the extent that resources are
available, it could investigate other crimes associated
with trafficking, for which criminal laws exist, as
described in paragraph A (Investigation and
Prosecution) above if a person were to be found
trafficking.


G. No special training in trafficking issues is
provided by the government to its officials. However,
the government would be open to such training.


H. No, the government does not currently have a
cooperative agreement with other governments on
investigations and prosecutions of trafficking.
However, there is a cooperative relationship between
the DRC and Congo/B Labor Ministries on former child
soldiers from the 1997-early 2002 period as part of USG
funds to ILO to address this issue. In addition, as a
member of two Central African Regional bodies - CEEAC
and CEMAC - there is a focus on protection of citizens
including women and children. Under CEMAC there is a
specific overall extradition agreement being drafted.


I. As far as Post can determine there is no record of
any extradition of anyone charged with trafficking
since to date there is no evidence or record of
trafficking, or any pending extradition request on the
issue. Laws exist that could be used to extradite
traffickers. Congo/B and other members of CEMAC, the
Association of Central African States, recently worked
on extradition treaties among member states. Therefore
any CEMAC national (Gabon, Chad, CAR, Equatorial
Guinea, ROC and Cameroon) arrested on trafficking-in-
persons charges could be extradited under these new
agreements once they are in force. As stated in point
A, there are other laws under which the traffickers can
be prosecuted.


J. No evidence exists of government involvement in or
tolerance of trafficking on a local or institutional
level.


K. Government officials are not known to be involved in
trafficking.


L. Congo/B does not have a child-sex tourism problem.


M. The Republic of Congo signed Convention 182 on 23
August 2002; Convention 29 on 10 November 1960;
Convention 105 on 26 November 1999. Congo/B acceded to
the optional protocol to the Convention of the rights
of the child on the sale of children, child
prostitution and child pornography on 14 October 1993,
but has not yet ratified it. Also Congo/B signed the
protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in
persons supplementing the UN Convention against
transnational organized crime on 14 December 2000, but
has not yet ratified. In 2004 they acceded to the UN
Convention against Inhuman Treatment and the ICC.

PROTECTION AND ASSISTANCE TO VICTIMS:


A. The government does not provide social assistance to
trafficking victims since there have not been any
confirmed cases of trafficking to date. For other
abuses such as rape, etc., the Ministry of Women's
Affairs provides assistance to victims of rape such as
counseling and seeking assistance from NGOs. As stated
earlier, there are unconfirmed and anecdotal reports of
"minor relatives" of West African immigrants who may be
victims, but more investigation needs to be done. One
local NGO is conducting a survey on the status of these
children to ensure their well being. The report is
expected sometime in 2005. Some NGOs, such as the
CCVAWC, provide assistance as part of a larger mission.
The country has no care or health facilities
specifically for trafficking or any other victims of
any other crime. CCVAWC offers HIV/AIDS testing.


B. No. Victims of trafficking or any other crime if
found in the country, receive no special government
help, except through NGOs such as the CCVAWC.


C. CCVAWC is contacted by or law enforcement officials
when abuse or rape cases are presented to them. These
abuse cases to date have not been related to
trafficking. They are connected mostly to spousal
abuse.


D. For abuse cases noted in C above, victims generally
are not treated as criminals. NGOs such as APTS,
CCVAWC, and International Rescue Committee (IRC),work
to ensure the rights of these victims' are protected.
The authorities will contact NGOs that provide shelters
for abuse victims. NGOs state that there is good
cooperation in this regard.


E. The government does not actively encourage victims
to participate in investigations or prosecution because
trafficking cases have not yet presented themselves as
an issue here. In addition, as stated above, there is
no law specifically against trafficking. If victims of
trafficking were present, they could file civil suits
if they have the resources to do so. They also could
file criminal complaints under other provisions of
Congolese law. There is no victims restitution program
for any crime. There is no information whether victims
of trafficking or any other crime are able to obtain
other employment or leave the country since there is no
factual evidence to date that trafficking is an issue.


F. Given the post-conflict status and lack of
resources, the Congo/B government is not able to
provide assistance to abuse victims or fund shelters.
However, NGOs such as CCVAWC does assist abused women
and their children and provide training.


G. The government does not have the resources to
provide training, but would be open to such training.


H. As far as Post can determine the government has no
plans to address the needs (medical, financial,
shelter) of victims because trafficking has not
presented itself here as a problem. The survey by APTS
should assist in this area. There have not been
reports, factual or anecdotal, which indicated that a
ROC national has ever been the victim of trafficking or
repatriated for such.


I. Several local NGOs, APTS, OCDH and CCVAWC, have, as
part of their larger mission, a focus on trafficking.
APTS is conducting the first Congolese study of
trafficking in persons, and CCVAWC tries to provide
HIV/AIDS testing, psychological assistance, and provide
training in income-generating activities for abused
women (mostly spousal abuse) and children. However,
thus far, there is no evidence that the abused women or
children are connected with trafficking. In order to
maintain its independence as a Human Rights
organization, APTS receives no assistance from the
government, but the government does not impede or
oppose its work, nor does it impede the work of CCVAWC
or OCDH. CCVAWC works closely with law enforcement in
the cases of abused women (spousal abuse) and children.
The pending survey by APTS on trafficking will be
presented to the government. The survey is expected to
be completed in 2005.


2. Brazzaville Embassy Office - Sanders
MEECE