UGANDA: TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT 2008

UNCLAS KAMPALA 000351 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP-RYOUSEY, G, INL, DRL, PRM, IWI, AF/RSA PASS TO USAID E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB UG SUBJECT: UGANDA: TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT 2008 REF: A. STATE 2731 B. KAMPALA 2730 ¶1. (U) Embassy POC for Trafficking In Persons (TIP) issues is Political/Economic Chief Kathleen FitzGibbon, Tel: 256-41-306-214, Mobile: 256-772-220-030, Fax: 256-41-345-144. To prepare this report, P/E Chief Kathleen FitzGibbon (FS-02) spent 30 hours and political assistant Gracie Jaasi spent 15 hours. ¶2. (SBU) Following responses are keyed to reftel paras 27-30. ¶3. Overview of Uganda's activities to eliminate trafficking in persons: 27A: Uganda is a country of origin, transit, and destination for trafficked children and adults. The major types of trafficking were children exploited for commercial sex and forced labor. Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) occurs internally in Uganda and victims generally move from rural villages to border towns and urban centers. The most recent studies of trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children were conducted in 2004 and 2006 by the Ministry of Gender, Labor, and Social Development (MGLSD) and the International Labor Organization's International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC). The 2004 report on CSEC estimated that between 7,000-12,000 children in Uganda were sexually exploited for commercial purposes. The study noted that 28 percent of the children in the sample were assisted by a third party. The recent ILO-IPEC Rapid Assessment Report on child trafficking in 2006 (released in 2007) noted an increase in cross-border trafficking. Save the Children Uganda reported on child trafficking from Karamoja in northeastern Uganda. Another NGO, OASIS, also conducted research in Karamoja in 2006. All of the studies on trafficking indicated that statistics that determine the scope and magnitude of the problem were difficult to obtain. Instead, the reports focused on trends in trafficking and recommended actions for the government and non-governmental organizations. These studies indicated that girls were at a higher risk of being trafficked than boys. Trafficking in persons from Karamoja was tied to the distortion of seasonal migration patterns and coping mechanism insecurity resulting from an ongoing disarmament program. Uganda's prosecution efforts took major steps forward in 2007. On July 3, 2007, Uganda's 102 female parliamentarians introduced the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons Bill on the floor of Parliament. It was unanimously received on the foor. The bill remained on a fast track and was one of the first pieces of legislation to receive its first reading when Parliament reconvened after the budgetary session in December 2007. The bill is currently with the Defense and Internal Affairs Committee and will be reported to the floor within 45 days. It is a private members' bill, but the Minister of Internal Affairs Ruhakana Rugunda strongly supports it. His Ministry will house the interagency anti-trafficking department when the bill passes. Immigration Department officials formed an internal task force to address the problem of trafficking in children by non-governmental organizations using court orders to require immigration to give children passports. Police, immigration, labor, and judicial officials assisted a U.S. Department of Justice team in designing a training program that will commence in 2008. Lack of resources continues to hamper the Government's protection efforts. Nonetheless, the Minister of Internal Affairs granted permission for victims of an Asian trafficking ring to remain in Uganda. The Ugandan Police Force (UPF) allowed a prominent non-governmental organization to place its social workers in Central Police Station and in stations in two other districts to assist children and other trafficking victims. The UPF's Child and Family Protection Unit continued training of police constables on child rights, protection issues, and trafficking. Ugandan Government officials continued to assist returning abductees from the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). The Government, in conjunction with non-governmental organizations, transferred Karamojong children from Kampala to shelters in Karamoja. 27B: Children trafficked for sex or labor often were put into situations of exploitation by their own families. For children under 12 years of age, the traffickers used the consent of the parents, sold on promises of a better life. In most situations, the parents placed their children with an intermediary known to the community. The intermediaries were mostly relatives, peers or well-established individuals. In addition to family members, the ILO's Rapid Assessment identified transporters, document forgers, middlemen and women, corrupt border officials, and the childrens' peers as involved in or benefiting from trafficking. Many children are enticed into prostitution by their friends, who benefit financially from recruiting others. A relatively new trend discovered by police in 2006 was the trafficking of Pakistani, Indian, and Chinese workers by importers. In addition, the police found trafficking rings in which Indian minors were forced into prostitution or pornography by Indian traffickers. Police also uncovered a few trafficking cases in which Ugandan children were trafficked to Canada, Lesotho, Egypt, and United Arab Emirates. The children or their families were offered better job opportunities for their children. In the Egyptian case, the female victims were university or high school graduates promised jobs in 2005 as accountants or business professionals. Instead, they were forced into prostitution and other illicit activities. The sister of one of the victims contacted the Ugandan Embassy in Cairo and the victims were repatriated to Uganda. In the Canadian case, young victims were enticed with job opportunities. In both cases, the victims' travel documents were seized and they were held in isolation at their destinations. In the UAE case, the victim was trafficked for labor exploitation to Dubai. He is now 21-years old and his family is demanding his repatriation from Dubai. However, the prince who trafficked him--and is reportedly holding some 20 other African children in his household and those of his families--has allegedly used UAE officials to block Ugandan efforts to repatriate him. The prince reportedly seized his travel documents. The victim had not been repatriated at year's end. Immigration and Police officials highlighted an alleged new trend in trafficking in Uganda involving the use of legal means to take children out of Uganda for illicit purposes. A non-governmental organization reportedly locates children and gains the agreement of their families by telling them the children will get education or a better life. An expatriate then comes into Uganda on a tourist visa for a few weeks and gets a guardianship order through the courts, usually with the permission of the family. The magistrates, at the insistence of the "guardian," would require the passport office to issue the child a passport. In one case involving two young boys taken to South Africa, immigration learned that one had allegedly died after his kidneys were harvested for a transplant. The Ugandan Government discovered this after it ordered a post-mortem prior to paying for the repatriation of the body. Immigration officials formed a task force to examine the trend and make recommendations to the Minister of Internal Affairs and Justice on ways to stop the movement of children out of the country for illicit purposes through legal means. Employment agencies have attracted increased government attention. A number of security companies in Uganda--some U.S. contractors--recruit Ugandans to serve as security guards for U.S. facilities in Iraq. The Commissioner for Labor and parliament began investigating some of these agencies for withholding travel documents, withholding or deducting pay against the terms of the contract, and other complaints raised by Ugandan guards. 27C: The Ministry of Internal Affairs, which oversees the Ugandan Police Force, Immigration, and Criminal Investigation Division has the lead on trafficking issues. Proposed new legislation will create an office/department within the Ministry to prevent and combat trafficking. The Ministry of Justice and the Directorate for Public Prosecutions (DPP) prosecutes trafficking cases. The Ministry of Gender, Labor, and Social Development takes the lead on labor and child trafficking cases. In northern Uganda, the military, which still provides security in most of the region, is the lead agency on assisting victims of LRA abductions. The military still processes returning victims of the LRA. During the reporting period, there were no abductions in northern Uganda by the rebel organization Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in northern Uganda. The LRA abductions had represented the majority of trafficking victims in Uganda until peace talks began in July 2006. UNICEF estimates that more than 20,000 children had been abducted E since the LRA began its insurgency in the mid-1980s. Currently, defectors from the LRA report that there are only 800 LRA in Garamba National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo, 300 of which may be women and children. The LRA abductions occurred in the context of a 22-year war and were outside the government's full control. The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued indictments for five LRA leaders in October 2005 on charges that included sexual slavery. The Ugandan military pushed the LRA out of northern Uganda and southern Sudan in December 2005. As a result of military pressure, the difficulties of maintaining large forces in DRC, and the ICC indictments, the LRA agreed to peace talks with the Government in July 2006. The talks are ongoing. On October 2, 2007, LRA leader Joseph Kony killed his deputy, Vincent Otti, an ICC indictee. Only three LRA indictees remain alive: Kony, Okot Odhiambo, and Dominic Ongwen. Over the past year, the absence of LRA attacks and ongoing peace process has resulted in relative peace in northern Uganda. Approximately one-third of internally-displaced persons have returned home, and hundreds of thousands are near home in transit sites. The phenomenon known as "night commuting" has ended. Thousands of children known as night commuters in northern Uganda walked each night from internally displaced persons camps, cities, and villages to the night commuter centers avoid LRA abduction. The numbers of "night commuters" peaked in 2005 when approximately 23,500 of these children sought refuge in NGO-run shelters. Children who continued to seek protection assistance in 2007 did so for reasons other than fear of abduction, such as difficult home situations or the desire to be in well-lit areas with other children. 27D: The Government's efforts and amnesty program have succeeded in reducing the strength of the LRA in northern Uganda. The UPDF and international NGOs are receiving and processing LRA defectors, most of whom had been abductees. More generally, lack of government resources has constrained the ability to provide adequate funds for efforts on social issues. As a result, outside the rehabilitation centers for LRA victims in northern Uganda, there are few resources for victim protection. The Government relies on donor aid to feed and provide minimal social services to hundreds of thousands of displaced persons in northern Uganda. Forty-six percent of the Ugandan national budget is provided by donors. Uganda has successfully reduced its HIV/AIDS prevalence rate to 6.2 percent from 18 percent, and sustaining this progress in combating the disease remains a top priority for government and donor funds. Inadequate resources and significant court backlogs also constrain efforts of prosecutors and the judiciary to pursue convictions against internal traffickers involved in child prostitution. Corruption is a serious problem in government institutions in Uganda. However, there is little indication that officials were bribed or otherwise improperly influenced by traffickers. In 2006, the Ugandan police dismissed over 300 police officers for corruption, unrelated to trafficking. On January 12, Mbarara police arrested three suspected traffickers and rescued 11 children. The children from Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Cong, were being taken to Australia, Canada and the United States. District Police Commander Ivan Nkwasibwe said the victims were between 15 and 21 years. The traffickers appeared in Court on February 1. One of the suspects, a Rwandan citizen, pleaded guilty. He was sentenced with a caution and released. Another, a Burundian was charged with illegal entry into Uganda. He was co-accused with a Ugandan woman of charges of robbery. Both were remanded in jail. Police handed over the victims to the UNHCR Regional office in Mbarara. Ex-presidential aide Catherine Aisha Naava Nabagesera and her accomplice Moses Nsubuga Ssempebwa appeared in court on February 20 and were charged with obtaining money by false pretense. The two reportedly duped over 300 Ugandans that they would get them jobs abroad through a company named Global Link. However, later none went abroad yet they had paid money for their air tickets, visas, passports, health verification certificates and police reports. The money totaled over 58,497 USD (100,000 million shillings). The next hearing of the case is on April 20. The trial of Nabagesera and Ssempebwa began on August 6, 2006. Ugandan judicial officers say the passage of a comprehensive anti-trafficking law and expanded training in enforcing trafficking crimes would boost their prosecution efforts. There is political will at the highest levels of government to stop trafficking in persons. The Minister of Internal Affairs worked with Uganda's 102 female parliamentarians to make changes to the draft comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation. The Prevention of Trafficking in Persons bill was introduced into parliament on July 3, 2006. It received its first reading on December 19, 2007, only two weeks after parliament re-opened for regular business after the budget session and the Commonwealth Heads of State Meeting (CHOGM). The bill is now with the Committee on Defense and Internal Affairs. Government officials, including the Deputy Director for Public Prosecution, participated in a Committee of Experts Meeting on January 11 in preparation for the bill's first committee hearing. The bill is expected to pass with little or no opposition within the first session of parliament, which ends in July 2008. The Ugandan Government, which now chairs the Commonwealth, raised anti-trafficking issues as a priority for members at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in November 2007. Inspector General of Police Kale Kayihura, currently the head of the East African Police Chiefs Organization, also raised TIP as a priority issue within the federation and co-hosted the U.N. Office of Drugs and Crime conference on trafficking in Kampala in June ¶2007. Meanwhile, the media, including the Government newspaper, have conducted investigations and are reporting more on trafficking cases. 27E: The Government systematically monitors anti-trafficking efforts in the northern conflict as it processes former abductees among LRA defectors. The military's Child Protection Unit in Gulu is the first stop for rescued or escaped children. In 2007, the military processed 546 victims before turning them over to NGO-run rehabilitation centers. The military's figures were the most accurate over the last year. NGOs told Embassy officers that their own systems of counting were non-functional throughout the year. The Government and donors also provide financial, medical, psychological, and rehabilitation services to ex-abductees, including child soldiers, for resettlement into Ugandan society. The Child and Family Protection Unit at the national police headquarters monitors sex crimes involving children and local police efforts to rescue children from exploitative forms of labor. The Director of Public Prosecutions for the national government maintains statistics on the number of prosecutions and convictions on the crime of sex with a minor, which includes trafficking victims. Since comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation has not yet passed, trafficking cases are charged under other statutes, and specific trafficking statistics are not broken out. Uganda cooperates with INTERPOL and with regional law enforcement initiatives. The Ministry of Gender, Labor, and Social Development worked with ILO-IPEC to carry out a rapid assessment of the child trafficking problem in 2006. ¶4. (SBU) Investigation and Prosecution of Traffickers: 28A: Uganda does not have a comprehensive anti-trafficking law, but draft anti-trafficking legislation was introduced into Parliament on July 3, 2007, receiving unanimous support on the floor. It received its first reading and referral to the Committee on Defense and Internal Affairs on December 19, 2007. A Committee of Experts meeting was held on January 11 to prepare the bill for its first committee hearing. The bill, when enacted, will cover both internal and external trafficking. It also will domesticate the U.N. Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children. East African Parliamentarian Dora Byamukama, with U.S. assistance through the American Bar Association (ABA),adapted a model anti-trafficking law developed in the U.S. to the Ugandan context and solicited input from Ugandan stakeholders. Byamukama and Winnie Masiko, who heads the Uganda Women's Parliamentary Association, continue to lead the private members' bill through the legislative process. Both women are receiving U.S. assistance to raise awareness on the bill within Parliament, other government agencies, and the public. The bill is expected to pass during this parliamentary session. Uganda does have statutes under which trafficking can be prosecuted. The Penal Code Act contains penalties for several trafficking-related offenses including procurement of a woman to become a prostitute, detention with sexual intent, sex with a minor girl (defilement),dealing in slaves, and compelling unlawful labor. Taken together, these laws cover the full scope of trafficking in persons. However, lack of investigative resources and technical capacity in the criminal justice system limit effective enforcement of the different laws. 28B-C: Trafficking cases are usually prosecuted under the following statutes; Section 131 of the Penal Code Act, which prohibits the procurement of any woman or girl to become a common prostitute or to work in a brothel, either in Uganda or elsewhere. The penalty for this offense is up to seven years imprisonment. Section 134 prohibits the unlawful detention of another person for the purpose of sexual intercourse, including in a brothel. The penalty for this offense is up to seven years imprisonment. Section 249 prohibits the import, export, purchase, sale, receipt, or detention of persons as slaves. The penalty for such activities is imprisonment for up to 10 years. Section 250 prohibits the compulsion of any person to labor against his or her will; however, this is a misdemeanor offense. Acting Commissioner for Labor Harriet Luyima said that there have not been any convictions for labor violations because the labor inspectors are being used to raise awareness of labor regulations and are not yet in a position to conduct full-scale enforcement without training. A February government report cleared three labor export agencies of fraud. The report stated that the firms had not breached any labor export statutory instrument. The firms continued to operate during the reporting period. 28D: Rape carries a maximum penalty of death. This sentence is sometimes imposed but has not been carried out in many years. Defilement (sex with a minor girl even if consensual) likewise carries a maximum penalty of death. These penalties are more severe than those for procuring a woman to be a prostitute (up to 7 years imprisonment) or for dealing in slaves (up to 10 years imprisonment). 28E: Section 139 of the Penal Code Act prohibits any person from practicing or engaging in prostitution. The penalty for prostitution is up to seven years imprisonment. Similarly, Section 137 prohibits any person from operating a brothel with a penalty of up to seven years imprisonment. Section 136 prohibits any person from living on the earnings of a prostitute, which includes aiding, abetting, or compelling prostitution. The penalty for this offense is also up to seven years imprisonment. On occasion, the police will conduct "sweeps" in urban centers where prostitutes commonly work and arrest as many prostitutes as they encounter. 28F: In the case of LRA abductions, most rescued rebels or defectors--which include child abductees--apply for and receive amnesty. The Government has offered blanket amnesty to ex-combatants since 2000 as a means to induce defection and surrender of rebels. Amnesty also recognizes abductees as victims who were forced to commit atrocities. The Amnesty Commission was created by the government to process amnesty requests. In 2006, 2,490 former LRA combatants applied for and received amnesty. Many of these had been abducted as children. As a result of the amnesty process, the Government has not arrested, prosecuted, or convicted LRA rebels (most of whom were also victims of abduction) for trafficking-related offenses. At the request of the Ugandan Government, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued warrants in October 2005 for the arrest of the top five commanders of the LRA for crimes against humanity including murder, enslavement, and rape in October 2005. One of the indictees, Raska Lukwiya, was killed on August 12, 2006 by the Ugandan military. LRA leader Joseph Kony executed his deputy, another indictee, Vincent Otti, on October 2, 2007. The Government and LRA negotiation teams held separate, nationwide consultations with Ugandan stakeholders from August until December 2007 on the accountability and reconciliation mechanisms as part of the peace negotiations. Ugandans, overwhelmingly, voiced their preference for a mixture of legal and local, traditional mechanisms of justice for the LRA, including its leadership. Ugandans largely called for the ICC indictments to be lifted to pave the way for a peaceful resolution to the conflict. During peace talks in Juba, Southern Sudan, the GOU and LRA signed an agreement on February 29, 2008 in which the Government would request a suspension of the ICC warrants when the LRA had fully assembled. The GOU would establish a Special Division of the High Court to try the LRA in Uganda. Under traditional mechanisms, LRA members would have to admit guilt, asking of forgiveness, and pay compensation to victims. Over the past year, police have discovered at least two trafficking rings. One involved young Indian girls trafficked into Uganda for prostitution and pornography. Immigration officials identified two of the victims to help with the investigation. They were granted dispensation to stay in Uganda by the Minister of Internal Affairs. Immigration regulations required that the government deport the others. The trafficker fled but is believed to be in Uganda. The second ring involved Indian, Chinese, and Sri Lankan workers trafficked as forced laborers. In these cases, the perpetrators were charged with kidnapping and making threats with menace and deported. The monitoring of evening flights to Dubai has uncovered the trafficking of children to U.A.E, Saudi Arabia, and possibly the Gulf states. Security at Entebbe International Airport busted a base of operations near the airport. Immigration officers intercepted and picked up two Asians who were implicated in trafficking at the airport. The children were recovered and the traffickers charged with document fraud. Immigration and security officials estimate that ten children per month may be trafficked through Dubai. Beginning in July, police checkpoints on roads leading in and out of Karamoja stopped numerous vehicles transporting young children being trafficked to Kampala. Four girls were rescued from traffickers on July 11, 2006 and police continue to question passengers on these roads to determine if they are being trafficked. The government enforces a law that punishes any person who has sex with a minor. In 2007, the Government arrested 3,689 people on charges of defilement. Of these, 861 were convicted. Many defilement cases are settled out of court through agreements reached between the perpetrator and the victim's family. A police report summary stated that there were 54 recorded cases of child abduction and disappearances in 2007. Police attributed the decline to increased public awareness of the problem. Of these missing children, 42 were recovered, 4 were killed in child sacrifices, and the rest remain missing. The Labor Commissioner and Parliamentary Committee on Labor began investigating the security guard industry in October 2006. Over 1,500 Ugandans are serving as security guards at U.S. installations in Iraq. The Labor Commissioner has suspended at least three local guard companies for not paying the guards as promised and changing the terms of the contracts after the guards were deployed to Iraq. One of the Ugandan companies was a contractor providing Ugandan security guards at U.S. military bases in Iraq. The U.S. sub-contractor was briefed by the P/E Officer and DATT at the U.S. Embassy in Kampala in October 2006 and was given information on what labor practices constitute trafficking, past DOD contractors that were fined for such practices, and the relevant U.S. regulations against trafficking. The U.S. sub-contractor discontinued the contract with the Ugandan company in December 2006. The Government is drafting regulations for companies sourcing Ugandans for external employment and has blacklisted several firms. Labor inspectors investigate complaints of inappropriate labor practices, including child labor, and have the authority to impose civil penalties on employers. In practice, inspectors in the north lack the resources to adequately cover their entire districts. Local district officials, the inspectors, and ILO-IPEC collaborate on ways to increase the inspectors' mobility and information collection. District child labor committees were one effective mechanism to make up for a lack of resources. 28G: The Government, primarily the police, provides specialized training in trafficking as part of its child protection programs. In January 2008, the Government agreed to an ICITAP police training program and began working with ICITAP to design the program for Ugandan police, immigration, and labor inspectors. The Child and Family Protection Unit of the national police, with assistance from ILO-IPEC, trained 163 police officers and senior commanders on child rights, child labor laws, and definitions of the worst forms of child labor. Local NGOs were invited to the training to present information on the nature and forms of child labor in Uganda, including child prostitution. These police officers have already trained more than 150 additional police officers on child labor rights and crimes and will continue to train other colleagues. 28H: The GOU and Government of South Sudan's joint military operations deprived the LRA of bases in northern Uganda and southern Sudan. The two governments continue to work together to protect both countries from the LRA. The Government cooperates with the Government of Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi, and to a more limited extent with the DRC. The national police also participate in the East African Police Chiefs Organization (EAPCO), which includes nine countries in the region. The organization provides mutual legal assistance, training, and a forum to discuss trans-national crime. The INTERPOL unit of the national police also participates in multilateral investigations of cross-border crimes including drug and firearms trafficking, although none have so far included human trafficking crimes. Through the U.S.-facilitated Tripartite Plus process, the governments of Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, and Rwanda have drafted a common extradition treaty. 28I: The GOU belongs to INTERPOL and has in the past, in other crime cases, honored extradition warrants. There have been no cases of extradition on the basis of trafficking charges in Uganda. The EAPCO is currently developing an extradition treaty for the nine member countries that should facilitate the extradition of criminals. Uganda, Rwanda, Burunda, and DRC have developed a draft common extradition treaty. 28J: There was one report of a border official who may have benefited from the trafficking of an individual in 2006. In general, there are no reports that government officials condone or are involved with traffickers. 28K: No cases reported. No indication of official tolerance of trafficking. 28L: Not applicable for Uganda per reftel. However, in August 2007, Ugandan troops received training on trafficking in persons through the African Contingency Operations and Training Assistance (ACOTA) program in preparation for deployment to Somalia. Uganda police officers have, in the past, headed the child protection unit of the African Union/U.N. Mission in Sudan. 28M: Uganda does not have an identified child sex tourism problem. However, in 2006, Ugandan nationals were noted to be users of child prostitutes in Kenya. The anti-TIP law draft has an extraterritorial provision to allow prosecution of Ugandans for trafficking-related offenses in another country. ¶5. (SBU) Protection and Assistance to Victims. 29A: Currently, Ugandan law does not protect foreign trafficking victims. The Minister of Internal Affairs can allow a foreign victim to remain in Uganda to assist an investigation. In most cases, however, victims are deported to their country of origin. The new legislation will remedy the current limitations on handling foreign victims. The government does not have the resources or services to provide a livelihood or other assistance to foreign victims. 29B: The Government provides assistance to former LRA abductees, including children. The Ugandan military has a Child Protection Unit, which facilitates the reception and debriefing of former child soldiers, as well as their subsequent transfer to NGO-run reintegration centers. Child soldiers who surrender or are captured are provided with shelter and food during the short period (one or two days) before they are transferred to NGO custody. NGOs are notified by the military as soon as the military has a child under its care. In 2007, the UPDF Child Protection Unit rescued and assisted 546 children before transferring them to NGO-run centers for longer term care and support. The GOU grants blanket amnesty, through a law passed in 2000, which absolves returnees (abducted persons and/or former rebels) from criminal liability if they return and renounce rebellion. The amnesty program has been an important method to encourage the surrender of LRA rebels and has led to a significant reduction in LRA strength. Under the Ministry of Gender, Labor, and Social Development there are two transit shelters for internally displaced Karamojong, including those children who were used for begging or trafficked to Kampala. The facilities in Kampala are not specifically for trafficking victims. In February 2007, there were 813 Karamojong at the Mpigi facility. They were transferred as part of a group of two thousand others to two transit centers in Karamoja. These transit centers are predominantly for children and adults who migrated out of the region for better economic opportunities. Many of the children were sent by their families to beg in the major urban areas. 29C: The Government does not have the resources to fund foreign or domestic NGOs for services to trafficking victims. However, the Government works closely with NGOs that assist former LRA abductees at reception centers and Karamojong children removed from the streets. 29D: The Ugandan military's Child Protection Unit screens children who were trafficked by the LRA and refers them to NGO-run assistance programs. National and local level officials, especially district child labor committees, support the efforts of ILO/IPEC by identifying children for withdrawal from the worst forms of child labor. Local governments also have child labor committees to monitor the working conditions of children and to identify at risk children. As previously stated, the police conduct public awareness campaigns and remain in touch with schools, which assist in identifying victims. A U.S. non-governmental organization placed 2,400 children at risk for trafficking or other worst forms of child labor into schools. District labor committees assisted in identifying vulnerable children. 29E: Prostitution is not legal in Uganda. 29F: The rights of victims are generally respected. The majority of children over the age of 12 and others abducted by the LRA are granted amnesty through a government-supported program. After a period of residence at NGO reception centers, generally about six weeks, they are released so that they can be reunited with their families and reintegrated into society. NGOs and others provide limited additional assistance, including psychosocial counseling. Child sex workers rounded up with adult prostitutes during police sweeps are generally released without charge. Under current law, immigration officials are required to deport individuals in violation of the immigration code. The Legal Affairs Department at Immigration recognizes the problem, which will be rectified with the new anti-trafficking legislation. 29G: In northern Uganda, the Government has offered amnesty to LRA rebels who renounce rebellion. Formerly abducted children assisted the government through providing information on the location of weapons caches and rebel camps. The amnesty program is strongly supported by the civilian communities subject to LRA abductions and attack. The government encourages victims in sexually related trafficking cases to testify. A medical exam, which can be conducted by a police physician, is necessary to provide evidence of the crime. However, the police employ few physicians due to resource constraints. As a result, victims of defilement and rape often have to pay for their own medical exams. The cost deters many from following through with legal action. There is also social stigma against victims of sexual crimes in some communities. Other factors believed to inhibit reporting and prosecution of sexual crimes include fear of retribution, lack of support services, and use of alternative restitution procedures. 29H: Rescued victims of LRA trafficking are provided with initial care and support to assist in their rehabilitation and reintegration. After victims are reintegrated into communities, they are not provided any special protection beyond the general Ugandan military action to prevent overall LRA activity. The government can provide safehouses and other forms of witness protection when it is determined that there is a threat. 29I: The Government does make provision in the military for the training of members of the Child Protection Unit. Children's rights are also emphasized in other human rights training programs provided to police and security forces. Ugandan soldiers are given specific training on the rights of children and carry a code of conduct. The code states: soldiers must apply and reinforce all practical and legal measures to protect children and their mother's lives and property before, during, and after conflict; soldiers should inspire confidence and let children know they are protected; soldiers should never neglect child protection issues and know Children's Rights; soldiers should stop the use of child soldiers and never give children ammunition to carry; soldiers should not rape children; soldiers should not maltreat, massacre, or mutilate children or separate them from their families; and soldiers should give children good advice. Police officers are actively participating in a specialized training program on the worst forms of child labor. A wide range of government officials will be trained on human trafficking beginning in May 2008. The Ugandan Embassy in Cairo assisted the three victims with travel documents. 29J: The Government provides assistance, including medical aid, to former abductees returning from LRA captivity. 29K: UNICEF, Save the Children, World Vision, International Organization for Migration, Kitgum Concerned Women's Association, Gulu Support the Children Organization, Concerned Parent's Association, Give Me a Chance, the International Rescue Committee, Uganda Youth Development Link, Busia Compassionate Friends, Kids in Need, Restore International, International Justice Mission, and a number of other NGOs work with formerly abducted children in northern Uganda and children in situations of commercial sex exploitation. These organizations provide food, shelter, psychosocial counseling, and vocational training. The Government cooperates fully with these activities. ¶6. (SBU) Prevention. 30A: The Government acknowledges that the abductions in northern Uganda and the children exploited in the sex industry are problems in Uganda. The Government, at the highest levels, acknowledges that trafficking in persons is a problem and is supporting efforts to strengthen the government anti-trafficking laws. 30B: The Government used the national Labor Day celebrations (May 1, 2007) and the African Day of the Child (June 12) to raise public awareness about child trafficking and promote the new child labor laws. The Government-run press, radio, and television stations ran public service advertisements about trafficking. Government ministers hosted anti-trafficking events nationwide. P/E chief participated with the Minister of State for Labor in launching an NGO-study on the plight of domestic workers in Uganda on Labor Day. The Minister of State for Justice, P/E chief, and NGO victim advocates participated in a panel discussion on trafficking on June ¶12. In northern Uganda, government uses local-language radio programs to attempt to reach abducted children and their captors to persuade them to return from the bush. To date, public awareness campaigns focused on addressing the supply side of trafficking because the GOU identified "ignorance" of the issue as the primary driver. 30C: The GOU, particularly the police, and non-governmental organizations work closely on matters related to children. The national police continue to cooperate with an ILO-IPEC, International Committee of the Red Cross, and Save the Children to carry out programs to train local police officers and senior police commanders on raising awareness in local communities on the nature and dangers of child labor, including child prostitution. NGOs also helped police trainers train 300 local police officers on their responsibility to prevent child exploitation and enforce the related laws. The most recent training of new police constables occurred in Lira in early February 2007. The Child Protection Unit of the police also used community meetings, school visits and radio programs. WBS, a local television station, aired a widely watched television special on child prostitution. The government-run New Vision newspaper ran a victim's story with advice to children who are being sexually exploited on February 25, 2007. Radio networks, which are the primary source of information for most Ugandans, carried several talk show programs about the scope and magnitude of child trafficking and child labor in Uganda. The Government maintains a positive relationship with international agencies, NGOs, and others involved in programs to address various aspects of the trafficking problem. The MGLSD and National Children's Council have an MOU with ILO/IPEC to eliminate child labor. The military and E police turn children over to NGOs and have received training on protection issues for children. The NGOs advise the military on child-friendly tactics. One international NGO arranged a roundtable discussion between the military and former abductees to discuss ways to improve the UPDF's ability to rescue children from the LRA. 30D: Immigration officials discovered trafficking cases through monitoring of passport issuance. In 2000, Uganda required that all children have their own passports as a means to prevent child smuggling and trafficking. This has helped identify potential external trafficking victims. The Government monitors its borders and has cooperated in a US-financed program to increase border security. Traffickers have been apprehended at Uganda's border with Kenya and Rwanda. Uganda's INTERPOL unit disseminates international alerts on suspects to Uganda's border officials for screening immigrants. Immigration officials are monitoring flights to Dubai, which have been used to traffic children. The Uganda police also cooperate closely with their counterparts in the region to investigate and arrest suspects involved in cross-border crime. 30E: The Minister of Internal Affairs through the anti-trafficking department will be tasked with coordinating TIP efforts. Currently, the Ministry of Gender, Labor, and Social Development oversees national efforts. 30G: Government officials have participated in a national anti-trafficking working group formed in 2005. In 2006, the working group participated in the drafting of the anti-trafficking law. The Government has a Minister of State for Ethics and Integrity and an Inspectorate General of Government that are tasked with investigating corruption. 30F: The Ministry of Labor is working with police, local governments, the Ministries of Justice and Immigration, and non-governmental and international organizations to develop a draft National Plan of Action aimed specifically at disseminating anti-TIP resources throughout the country. Different ministries have national action plans that address trafficking problems in Uganda. The Ministries of Defense and Internal Affairs implement plans to end the LRA insurgency. The MGLSD also has a five-year plan that includes assisting children so that they do not become vulnerable to traffickers. NGOs have been consulted in these discussions. 30H: In October 2007 the government started to draft a law to address sexual exploitation. The Ugandan Penal Code prohibits procuring of a female and causing her to become a prostitute, to leave the country to frequent a brothel elsewhere, or become an inmate of a brothel. Punishment for those offenses is imprisonment for up to 7 years. The same punishment applies in cases in which a female below age 21 is procured for the purpose of unlawful carnal connection with any other person in Uganda or elsewhere. The code also prohibits procuring any person by using threats, intimidation, false pretense or false representation or by administering drugs. Owning or occupying premises where a girl younger than 18 years is induced to have unlawful sex with any man is punishable by imprisonment for 5 years. Under the code, no person can be convicted of procurement based on evidence provided by only one collaborating evidence. Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Affairs officials said the law is difficult to implement. Most people who were previously arrested in the act of prostitution were charged with being idle and disorderly. The government embarked on community awareness-raising efforts to target poor rural areas where girls and women are most likely to be recruited. 30H: Not applicable. 30I: Not applicable. BROWNING