CONGO/B: TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 KINSHASA 000088

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

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

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: TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT


Ref: A) 2004 State 273089 B) 2004 Kinshasa 1615



1. Sensitive but unclassified - entire text.



2. Embassy Brazzaville submits the following
Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report. Responses are
keyed to the questions in Ref A.

Republic of Congo (Congo/B)

Overview of activities to eliminate trafficking in
persons:


A. Congo/B is not believed to be an origination or
destination country for trafficking in persons (TIP).
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 can
show documentation for as family relatives. There are
no statistics or proof that the minors are trafficked.
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
that children, men or women are trafficked. More
investigation needs to be done to determine the status
of "minor relatives" documented from Benin and TOGO.


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


D. With resources from Mission's DHFR, 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 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 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.


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 addition, 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 using USG funds provide to the
International Labor Organization (ILO). Overall
Congo/B 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 DHRF funded
survey by APTS should help address some of these
issues.


K. All prostitution and related activities are illegal
throughout Congo/B.

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 involved in following
the country's anti-trafficking efforts.


C. To date there has not been any government run
information campaigns, primarily as a result of lack of
resources.


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 soldier
issues, mostly as regards to reintegrating those
involved in the 1997 - 2001 civil conflicts. In
addition, there are programs with UNICEF focused on
street children who mostly 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 - 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, it has assigned the
Ministry of Social Affairs to 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, extortion and fraud.
There are specific laws against slavery and
prostitution. 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 crimes, because many archives were
destroyed during the war and also because trafficking
is not a distinct offense in the current criminal code.
In general, statistics on crime are unreliable, as many
were destroyed during the war. Current records are
poorly maintained due to lack of funding, staffing and
resources.


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. Mission has
funded a survey to determine better information on the
documented "minor relatives."


F. The government does not actively 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-government 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 Ministries on child soldiers 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. 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. An 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. 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 victims. CCVAWC offers HIV/AIDS
testing.


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


C. CCVAWC is contacted by or contacts law enforcement
officials when abuse 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.


E. The government does not actively encourage victims
to participate in investigations or prosecution because
these 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 can file civil suits if
they have the resources to do so. They also can file
criminal complaints under other provisions of Congolese
law. There is no victims restitution program. There
is no information whether victims 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 of victims because
trafficking has not been identified here as an issue,
including medical aid, shelter or financial help.
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 the 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 dose 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.



3. Brazzaville Embassy Office - Sanders

MEECE