UPDATE ON DOW CHEMICALS, TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS,

UNCLAS BAMAKO 000876 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR G/TIP E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM KTIP KCRM EINV ELAB ML SUBJECT: UPDATE ON DOW CHEMICALS, TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS, AND SLAVERY CASES IN MALI REF: A. BAMAKO 00243 ¶B. BAMAKO 00759 ¶C. BAMAKO 00702 1.(U) On October 30 the Embassy met with the Justice Ministry's Secretary General Badou Hasseye Traore and technical advisor Boubacar Sidiki Samake to inquire about the status of Dow Chemicals' property rights infringement case, two child trafficking cases, and five cases of alleged slavery in northern Mali. 2.(U) The Dow Chemicals case has been pending before the Malian Supreme Court since 2007. The Embassy last discussed the case with Secretary General Traore in March 2008 (Ref. A). Toure said he continued to follow the case but noted that the Supreme Court operated independently of the Justice Ministry and that it often took a year or more for the Court to hand down a decision. 3.(U) Traore's said he was aware of recent decisions by judges in the towns of Kita and Sikasso to release several child trafficking suspects on their own recognizance pending trial but said he did not view these decisions as problematic. Officials at the Ministry for the Promotion of Women, Children and Families (MPFEF) previously expressed disappointment with these decisions as the rulings seemingly undercut MPFEF efforts to combat child trafficking (Ref. B). Traore defended the decision to release the suspects, saying that such decisions were within the authority of local judges. He said the Ministry of Justice had no indication that any of the five suspects (three in Kita and two in Sikasso) who were released had disappeared or attempted to flee, even though four of the five liberated suspects were not from the towns where they were captured. The two suspects released in the southern town of Sikasso were both Ivoirian nationals. 4.(U) The Embassy also asked Traore about five cases involving allegations of slavery that are currently pending before courts in northern Mali. Three of these cases are in Menaka and one is in Gao. A newly introduced fifth case involves the September 2007 abduction of a child in the town of Kidal (Ref. C). Even though these cases have received a significant amount of press coverage in local Malian newspapers, including the official government newspaper L'Essor, Traore maintained that he had never heard of any slavery allegations in Mali. We provided a brief resume of the cases in Gao and Menaka, and referenced the recent ECOWAS decision ordering the Government of Niger to pay approximately USD 20,000 in damages to a victim of slavery. 5.(U) Qraore, who is from the town of Gao, acknowledged that he needed to learn more about the slavery cases in Mali but said he supported the idea of taking alleged slave-owners to court and that if anyone was guilty of practicing slavery in Mali they should be punished accordingly. "We don't need to go to ECOWAS," said Traore; "we can deal with these cases here in Mali." 6.(SBU) On October 31 the president of the black Tamachek association Temedt and Mali's main anti-slavery advocate, Mohamed ag Akeratane, told the Embassy that the ECOWAS decision had opened the door for Malian victims of slavery and that Temedt was actively considering whether to bring the cases already filed in Mali to ECOWAS as well. On November 4 Temedt's vice president, Ibrahim ag Baltanat, said Temedt was moving ahead with these plans. He also said that Temedt briefed the Justice Minister in 2007 on slavery issues in Mali. While expressing surprise that this information had not filtered down to the Ministry's Secretary General, ag Baltanat said the Minister supported Temedt's strategy to publicize and combat slavery in Mali. 7.(SBU) Comment: Traore's lack of concern regarding the liberation of child trafficking suspects was disappointing. The amount of time it takes to bring suspects to trial, coupled with the fact that four of the five suspects who were released have no ties to Kita or Sikasso, does not bode well. Traore's expression of support for legal cases brought by Malian victims of slavery, on the other hand, was welcome given that several other Malian officials have dismissed the slavery complaints as political stunts designed to complicate ongoing negotiations with Tuareg rebels. MILOVANOVIC