Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06COTONOU1212
2006-12-13 12:09:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Cotonou
Cable title:  

BENIN: GOB DIP NOTE ON GOB EFFORTS TO COMBAT CHILD

Tags:  PHUM PGOV PREL KCRM SMIG KWMN BN 
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VZCZCXRO3975
PP RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHCO #1212/01 3471209
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 131209Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY COTONOU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9089
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1020
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 COTONOU 001212 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/W:DBANKS, G/TIP:VZEITLIN AND ALEMAR-MEREDITH,
AF/RSA:MHARPOLE, AND INL/HSTC
DEPT PASS TO USAID:CGARRETT
PARIS FOR D'ELIA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL KCRM SMIG KWMN BN
SUBJECT: BENIN: GOB DIP NOTE ON GOB EFFORTS TO COMBAT CHILD
TRAFFICKING

COTONOU 00001212 001.2 OF 003


UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 COTONOU 001212

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/W:DBANKS, G/TIP:VZEITLIN AND ALEMAR-MEREDITH,
AF/RSA:MHARPOLE, AND INL/HSTC
DEPT PASS TO USAID:CGARRETT
PARIS FOR D'ELIA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL KCRM SMIG KWMN BN
SUBJECT: BENIN: GOB DIP NOTE ON GOB EFFORTS TO COMBAT CHILD
TRAFFICKING

COTONOU 00001212 001.2 OF 003



1. On October 5 the Embassy received a diplomatic note from the
Government of Benin, which presented the government's comments on
the June, 2006 Trafficking in Persons Report. Post views this note
as a positive development, because it demonstrates that the GoB
remains attentive to the issue, and is keenly aware of USG interest
in it. While in certain aspects (see para 4) the GoB's report puts
a positive spin on the situation, it also provides a useful update
on Benin's continuing efforts to address trafficking issues.


2. Begin unofficial translation of diplomatic note.

Diplomatic Note N:0651

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Benin presents its compliments to
the Embassy of the United States of America in Cotonou and,
referring to its diplomatic note N:103 dated June 14, 2006, has the
honor of bringing to its attention the following:

Beninese authorities reviewed with great interest the sixth annual
report on trafficking in persons made public by the Secretary of
State of the United States of America on June 5, 2006. In the report
Benin was ranked in tier (II) Category (2),whereas it was on the
watch list last year. This progress may be attributed both to
suppression efforts made by Benin to combat TIP and the passage of a
bill outlawing child trafficking. Though U.S. authorities have
recognized the continued efforts of Beninese authorities to curb
this scourge, they have declared that Benin has not yet fully
complied with the required minimum standards to stop the scourge.

In response to various concerns expressed in the report by U.S.
authorities, the Ministry would like to provide some elements of
clarification in the attached document, which details actions
implemented within the framework of fight against TIP.

Therefore, the Ministry would like to request that the Embassy pass
the comments and observations in the attached documents to the U.S.
authorities so that they may be taken into account during work on

the next annual report.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Benin thanks the U.S. Embassy in
Cotonou for its kind cooperation and avails itself of this
opportunity to renew the assurances of its highest consideration

End unofficial translation of diplomatic note.


3. Begin unofficial translation of diplomatic note attachment.

Comments and remarks of Beninese officials on the 6th annual TIP
report on Benin

The comments and remarks made by the concerned GOB officials on the
sixth TIP report aim to provide their American counterparts with
information related to the current efforts of the GOB to combat
Trafficking in Persons and those to be made in the near future.


I. Comments and remarks on the Report

a. The issue raised in the report about the promulgation of the
anti-child trafficking legislation is incorrect since on April 5,
long before the report was issued, the GOB promulgated Act No
2006-04 relating to the transportation of minors and the suppression
of child trafficking in the Republic of Benin following ruling
DCC-06-040 of April 4, 2006 by the Constitutional Court that the new
legislation was consistent with the constitution.

b. With support from UNICEF, the Government of Benin provided
training for law enforcement agents working in all the departments
of Benin. It also provided training for local authorities. On the
whole, 438 district chiefs ["Chefs d'Arrondissement] were trained
and were given free copies of legislation related to the rights of
children and child trafficking.

In addition, with the support of UNICEF and through the Minors'
Protection Brigade and the National Police Academy, the Government
organized a training session for future Police Commissioners in the
third class of the National Police Academy on the rights of the
child, in general, and on the struggle against child trafficking, in
particular. During the course of the same year, the Minors'
Protection Brigade and the National Police Academy provided the same
training for law enforcement officers in the departments of
Atacora-Donga and Borgou-Alibori.

So the assertion that "the government has not initiated trafficking
training for law enforcement" is not accurate.


COTONOU 00001212 002.2 OF 003


c. The report states "a shelter built in Benin by a foreign donor
over a year ago with the capacity to hold 160 victims remains
unused." The Government is not aware of the existence of this
center, unless this statement refers to the Minors' Protection
Brigade shelter that the Government of Benin built through the
Priority Investment Program without foreign donor support. This
shelter will be operational soon.

d. The report underlined that "victims... are interviewed... by law
enforcement officials without the involvement of skilled
counselors." In response to this assertion it is worth mentioning
that the Minors' Protection Brigade is specialized in procedures for
minors, especially their interviewing. They know the characteristics
of this type of hearing and cooperate with social workers and
experts in each field.


II. Concerns raised in the report regarding how Benin can move into
Tier I

The U.S. Authorities have urged Benin to improve further its
performance in the fields of protection, prevention and suppression,
if Benin wants to reach Tier I next year and avoid a possible
downgrade to the watch list (Tier III) [sic]. For this purpose, the
following actions are required:

1) Confirmation of the promulgation of the new law on child
trafficking and its implementation;

2) Updating the statistics on continued efforts to combat child
trafficking (arrests, prosecution and imprisonment of traffickers);

3) Elaboration and implementation of a new national child protection
strategy.


The following clarifications should be made.

-- Law on child trafficking

The National Assembly of the Republic of Benin passed the law on the
transportation of minors and the suppression of child trafficking in
the Republic of Benin. The Head of State promulgated the law on
April 5, 2006. Its provisions may be used to curb the child
trafficking phenomenon.

In addition, the Ministry of Family, Woman and Child has established
and presides over a technical committee to elaborate drafts of the
implementation decrees of the above-mentioned law. These draft
decrees will be sent to the Government's National Codification
Commission as the next step in the process leading to their
adoption.


-- Updated statistics indicating continued efforts in combating
child trafficking (arrests, prosecution and imprisonment of
traffickers)

To facilitate the assessment of actions taken to protect children
vis-`-vis the judicial system, an office for judicial statistics has
been created at the Ministry of Justice, Relations with
Institutions, and Public Affairs. This office works closely with the
department of programming and planning to train specialized agents
throughout the judicial system (technical services, court officials,
etc.) in data collection, including data related to combating child
trafficking.

Moreover, National Police agents intercepted 140 victims and
repatriated 15 children to Togo and Nigeria. Based on information
gathered and a number of trips to rural areas, the Minors'
Protection Brigade was able to recover 198 trafficking victims, of
which:

- 82 were en route to Nigeria, of which 14 were Togolese and 68
Beninese;
- 29 to Cote d'Ivoire;
- 16 to Niger;
- 8 to Togo;
- 4 to Nigeria;
- 1 Nigerian on the way to Burkina Faso (transferred along with the
trafficker to NAPTIP in compliance with the Cooperation Agreement
between Nigeria and Benin on the Prevention and Suppression of
Trafficking in Persons, and Women and Children in particular, signed
on June 9, 2005);
- 22 repatriated from Gabon;

COTONOU 00001212 003.2 OF 003


- 32 repatriated from Nigeria;
- 3 repatriated from Ghana;
- 1 repatriated from Cote d'Ivoire.

These statistics do not take into consideration those of gendarme
brigades and other police stations in some rural areas of the
country.

-- Development and implementation of the new national child
protection strategy

With the financial support of UNICEF, the appropriate Beninese
authorities have drafted a children's code, which may further
contribute to child protection. The principal stakeholders on
children's protection issues have reviewed this document.

At the same time a consultant has been hired, also with UNICEF
support, to develop a policy strategy document concerning child
protection. The elaboration of this document will commence in
November 2006.

Aside from that, with ILO support an action plan to curb child labor
is being developed.

Finally, to assure improved coordination between the various actors
in the field of child protection, in a directive dated March 15,
2006 (Order N:503/MFPSS/SGM/SPEA/SA) the Ministry of Family, Woman
and Child put in place a National Monitoring and Child Protection
Coordination Unit. This unit, which is made up of representatives
from government offices, national and international NGOs, and
development partners is tasked with centralizing all information
related to child protection activities, assuring the coordination
and monitoring of activities of various actors, and proposing
solutions to the problems these actors face.

Since this unit was put in place, it has already organized two
ordinary sessions and two extraordinary sessions. Members debated a
number of issues pertaining to the installation of technical
committees. As a result, three technical committees have been set
up to study specific issues regarding child protection. These are
"Child trafficking and protection", "Juvenile justice", and
"Violence and harmful practices affecting children." Members of
these committees meet on monthly basis to discuss specific issues
pertaining to their areas of concern after elaborating the terms of
reference and annual work plans of their activities.

End unofficial translation of diplomatic note attachment.


4. COMMENT: Concerning point I.a. above, the embassy was unable to
confirm promulgation of the anti-child trafficking law until after
the release of the 2006 TIP report. Obtaining precise and accurate
information from officials responsible for TIP at various ministries
(Justice, Family, and Interior) is difficult and time-consuming.
Concerning point I.c. above, the embassy has confirmed that the GOB
used its own resources (via the Priority Investment Program) to
finance the construction of the shelter, however, the European
Commission and UNICEF provided funds to build a parking lot,
auxiliary structures, and properly furnish the shelter (including
providing computer equipment). To date, the shelter is still vacant
and will remain so until the Minister of Labor and Public Function
authorizes the creation of new positions at the Ministry of
Interior's Children's Protection Brigade to staff and operate the
shelter. End comment.

HOLTZAPPLE