Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06MAPUTO441
2006-04-14 07:41:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Maputo
Cable title:
MOZAMBICAN POLICE ON "MAXIMUM ALERT" FOR HUMAN TRAFFICKING CRIMES
how-toVZCZCXRO3287 RR RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR DE RUEHTO #0441 1040741 ZNR UUUUU ZZH R 140741Z APR 06 FM AMEMBASSY MAPUTO TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5268 INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY RUEAHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHDC RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP WASHINGTON DC
UNCLAS MAPUTO 000441
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
AF/S - HTREGER, G/TIP - RYOUSEY, AF/RSA - MHARPOLE, INL/HSTC
- MGORELICK
STATE PASS USAID
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KCRM, PHUM, KWMN, SMIG, KFRD, ELAB, MZ
SUBJ: MOZAMBICAN POLICE ON "MAXIMUM ALERT" FOR HUMAN
TRAFFICKING CRIMES
REF: MAPUTO 242
UNCLAS MAPUTO 000441
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
AF/S - HTREGER, G/TIP - RYOUSEY, AF/RSA - MHARPOLE, INL/HSTC
- MGORELICK
STATE PASS USAID
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KCRM, PHUM, KWMN, SMIG, KFRD, ELAB, MZ
SUBJ: MOZAMBICAN POLICE ON "MAXIMUM ALERT" FOR HUMAN
TRAFFICKING CRIMES
REF: MAPUTO 242
1. (U) During the April 10 opening session of the Interior
Ministry's sixteenth annual meeting, Minister Jose Pacheco
identified cross-border trafficking-in-persons as a criminal
focus area in which the Mozambican police are on "maximum
alert." He said police were working to neutralize and
punish organized human trafficking networks and, to that
end, were concentrating law enforcement efforts in key
border areas, particularly on the South African frontiers.
Minister Pacheco highlighted the recent arrests of six human
traffickers in mid-February (reftel) as a successful example
of the "maximum alert" policy, which also covers trafficking
of narcotics and illicit firearms.
2. (U) Other important political players are citing
trafficking as a growing problem as well. In his April 11
three-hour annual report to the legislature, Attorney
General Joaquim Madeira said that cross-border trafficking
of Mozambican minors persists for the purposes of forced
labor and sexual exploitation, and even acknowledged that it
in some cases occurs with the knowledge and/or connivance of
relatives. He said that trafficking is an act that clashes
with the international conventions to which Mozambique is a
signatory, and mentioned the need to strengthen existing
legislation for prevention and prosecution.
3. (U) COMMENT: While it's true that human trafficking is an
issue relatively new in the Mozambican political
consciousness, the above-cited occasions mark the first time
both a Mozambican interior minister and an attorney general
have publicly acknowledged trafficking-in-persons as a
national problem and have cited it as a law enforcement
priority. The obstacle that continues to hamper
Mozambique's fight against human trafficking is a critical
lack of resources, the result of competing national
priorities which include eliminating absolute poverty,
providing sufficient classrooms, restoring degraded
infrastructure, and, most serious, battling the ever-growing
HIV /AIDS pandemic. Fortunately, a strong and relatively
well-organized group of civil society organizations is
pushing hard on human trafficking, spurring government
players to do more.
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
AF/S - HTREGER, G/TIP - RYOUSEY, AF/RSA - MHARPOLE, INL/HSTC
- MGORELICK
STATE PASS USAID
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KCRM, PHUM, KWMN, SMIG, KFRD, ELAB, MZ
SUBJ: MOZAMBICAN POLICE ON "MAXIMUM ALERT" FOR HUMAN
TRAFFICKING CRIMES
REF: MAPUTO 242
1. (U) During the April 10 opening session of the Interior
Ministry's sixteenth annual meeting, Minister Jose Pacheco
identified cross-border trafficking-in-persons as a criminal
focus area in which the Mozambican police are on "maximum
alert." He said police were working to neutralize and
punish organized human trafficking networks and, to that
end, were concentrating law enforcement efforts in key
border areas, particularly on the South African frontiers.
Minister Pacheco highlighted the recent arrests of six human
traffickers in mid-February (reftel) as a successful example
of the "maximum alert" policy, which also covers trafficking
of narcotics and illicit firearms.
2. (U) Other important political players are citing
trafficking as a growing problem as well. In his April 11
three-hour annual report to the legislature, Attorney
General Joaquim Madeira said that cross-border trafficking
of Mozambican minors persists for the purposes of forced
labor and sexual exploitation, and even acknowledged that it
in some cases occurs with the knowledge and/or connivance of
relatives. He said that trafficking is an act that clashes
with the international conventions to which Mozambique is a
signatory, and mentioned the need to strengthen existing
legislation for prevention and prosecution.
3. (U) COMMENT: While it's true that human trafficking is an
issue relatively new in the Mozambican political
consciousness, the above-cited occasions mark the first time
both a Mozambican interior minister and an attorney general
have publicly acknowledged trafficking-in-persons as a
national problem and have cited it as a law enforcement
priority. The obstacle that continues to hamper
Mozambique's fight against human trafficking is a critical
lack of resources, the result of competing national
priorities which include eliminating absolute poverty,
providing sufficient classrooms, restoring degraded
infrastructure, and, most serious, battling the ever-growing
HIV /AIDS pandemic. Fortunately, a strong and relatively
well-organized group of civil society organizations is
pushing hard on human trafficking, spurring government
players to do more.