UGANDA: TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT 2009

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 12 KAMPALA 000163

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP-RYOUSEY, G, INL, DRL, PRM, IWI, AF/RSA
PASS TO USAID

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KTIP KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB PGOV
UG
SUBJECT: UGANDA: TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT 2009

REF: A. 07 STATE 132759 B. KAMPALA 27

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1. 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,
political assistant Gracie Jaasi spent 15 hours, and DOJ Police
Advisor spent 10 hours.


2. Following responses are keyed to ref A paras 23-27.


3. Overview of Uganda's TIP Situation:

23A: There are sources available on trafficking in persons in
Uganda. A number of international organizations and local
non-governmental organizations partner with the Government to do
assessments on various aspects of trafficking. We have found these
sources to be reliable. These studies make estimates of numbers of
victims, but basically provide descriptions of trafficking trends,
types of victims, how trafficking occurs, and profiles of
traffickers. The Government of Uganda (GOU) established its
anti-trafficking unit in February 2008, which will be responsible
for documenting trafficking cases.

In 2008, the African Network for the Prevention and Protection
Against Child Abuse and Neglect (ANPPCAN) published its "Report on
Child Trafficking in Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Tanzania." The
report's objective was to gain a thorough understanding of child
trafficking in the four countries to guide the development of
advocacy strategies and programs to respond to the problem. The
methodology consisted of 1,500 interviews at the household level and
at border posts. The key finding is the lack of awareness among
adults on child trafficking (38%) compared to children (80%). The
report found that children learn about trafficking in their schools,
from other children, or from public campaigns. This finding is
salient because in Uganda, parents unknowingly traffic their
children to urban areas for work and education. This movement of
children for labor is considered "normal" practice and a means of
family survival. The report recommended community sensitization and
addressing the "push" factors that lead to children being
trafficked; training for government and local officials on
trafficking, particularly in border areas; and development of strong
networks of civil society organizations to raise awareness and
provide victim protection.

The Ugandan Government's Ministry of Gender, Labor, and Social
Development (MGLSD) and the UN Fund for Population Activities
(UNFPA) Gender Project published a study on "Gender Issues in
Trafficking of Human Persons in Uganda." Rogers Kasiyre, the
Director of the Ugandan Youth Development Link (UYDEL) and a recent
U.S. International Visitor Program participant, led the research
team. The research was conducted in October 2007. The report was
published in 2008. The report methodology consisted of interviews
with over 30 adult and child trafficking victims and eight focus
group discussions in Kampala. The report notes recent progress made
in Uganda: the drafting and tabling of the Bill to Prohibit
Trafficking in Persons, U.S. Government support to various
stakeholders, UN Office of Drugs and Crime efforts to train various
government officials and non-governmental actors on trafficking, and
the inception of victim support programs through the International
Organization for Migration (IOM) and local NGOs.

The report showed that trafficking in Uganda is poverty-driven and
that deep-seeded gender discrimination makes women and girls more
vulnerable to trafficking than males. It highlighted the need for
victim-support networks, public awareness campaigns that utilize the
experiences of former victims, and livelihood and vocational skills
training for former victims and to prevent others from falling prey
to traffickers.

Prior to these two reports, the most comprehensive studies on
trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children were
conducted in 2004 and 2006 by the MGLSD and the International Labor
Organization's International Programme on the Elimination of Child
Labor (ILO-IPEC). The 2004 report on Commercial Sexual Exploitation
of Children (CSEC) estimated that 7,000-12,000 children in Uganda
were sexually exploited for commercial purposes. The study noted

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that 28% of the trafficked children in the sample were assisted by a
third party.

The 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 GOU 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 is a coping mechanism in response to
insecurity resulting from an ongoing disarmament program.

23B: 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 and adults
trafficked for labor. CSEC occurs internally in Uganda and victims
generally move from rural villages to border towns and urban
centers, where they are exploited. The GOU pushed the Lord's
Resistance Army (LRA) out of northern Uganda in late 2005, though
some abductions took place to August 2006. There have been no LRA
abductions in Uganda since then, but the LRA continued to abduct
children and adults to serve as sex slaves, porters, and combatants
in southern Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),and
Central African Republic. The UN Office of the Coordinator for
Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) reports that between December 2007 and
January 2009, the LRA killed 900 people and abducted 711 women and
children in the DRC, CAR, and southern Sudan. Three LRA leaders
were indicted in 2005 for crimes against humanity, including forced
recruitment of children to serve as sex slaves and child soldiers.
On December 14, 2008, after LRA leader Joseph Kony failed several
times to sign a peace deal, the Governments of Uganda, DRC, and
southern Sudan launched a joint military operation to capture or
kill the LRA leadership. The operation is ongoing. The allied
forces have rescued 280 abductees from the LRA to date.

With the exception of these military operations, there have been no
major changes in Uganda's trafficking situation. The studies done
on the trafficking problem do not give estimated numbers of each
type of victim.

23C-D-E: Unwitting families send their children to urban centers,
where they are exploited for sex or labor. 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, MSLSD, UYDEL,
and the Ugandan Police Force (UPF) have identified traffickers as:
pimps, bar and brothel owners; employment bureaus and recruitment
agencies; formerly trafficked victims who recruit others; peers and
friends; intermediaries in villages; farmers and fishermen at
landing sites, churches and religious people, transporters, document
forgers, and non-governmental organizations, such as orphanages.
Many children are enticed into prostitution by their friends, who
benefit financially from recruiting others.

Girls and boys between the ages of 8 and 18 are the most vulnerable
to trafficking.

The head of Uganda's newly established anti-trafficking unit reports
trafficking of Pakistani, Indian, and Chinese workers by importers
and construction firms. Police confirm the existence of trafficking
rings in which Indian minors are forced into prostitution or
pornography by Indian traffickers. When discovered, the
perpetrators of these rings are generally charged with obtaining
money under false pretenses, defilement, and sex with a minor.

Immigration and Police officials continue to follow trafficking in
Uganda that involves 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 an education or a

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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," require the passport office to issue
the child a passport. The children may become victims of organ
harvesting or other forms of exploitation. Immigration officials
have a taskforce to examine this trend and make recommendations to
the Ministers of Internal Affairs and Justice on ways to stop the
movement of children out of the country for illicit purposes through
legal means. The children may become victims of organ harvesting or
other forms of exploitation.

However, Ugandan justices use the same procedures to facilitate
legitimate inter-country adoptions, granting legal guardianship to
foreign citizens and permitting them to reside with the child abroad
for full and final adoption abroad. Some Ugandan Government
officials opposed to inter-country adoption of Ugandan orphans for
cultural and other reasons will sometimes mention these types of
cases when discussing trafficking. Regardless, the practice of
granting legal guardianship to foreign residents has very little
oversight and is problematic.

Employment agencies are receiving extra government scrutiny through
the External Labor Unit (ELU) at the MGLSD. Emboffs have met with
the ELU and a number of security companies in Uganda recruit
Ugandans to serve as security guards for U.S. facilities in Iraq.
Two of these companies are sub-contractors for U.S. companies. The
Commissioner for Labor and Parliament meet regularly with companies
exporting labor to Iraq. Over 1,500 Ugandans are serving as
security guards, drivers, and medical personnel at U.S. facilities
in Iraq. The ELU follows up on and discusses complaints it receives
from the Ugandan recruits about withholding travel documents and
withholding or deducting pay against the terms of the contract. The
Government suspended the license of one company for dubious
recruiting practices.


4. Setting the Scene for the Government's Anti-TIP Efforts:

24A: The GOU fully acknowledges the country's TIP problem. 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 advance the draft
comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation in Parliament. The bill
has moved quickly through Parliament and was reviewed by the
Committee on Defense and Internal Affairs from October to November

2008. On November 13, 2008, Committee Chairman Mathias Kasamba
tabled a USG-funded documentary and U.S.-provided documents,
including the annual Trafficking in Persons Report and the
Department of Justice's annual report on U.S. anti-trafficking
efforts, when presenting the bill to the entire house. During the
tabling, a procedural issue prevented Parliament from voting on the
bill. The issue was resolved and the legislation will be re-tabled
for passage on February 24.

President Museveni spoke out against child sacrifice and trafficking
during several appearances over the holiday season. On January 5,
Minister of State for Internal Affairs Matia Kasaija and Kayihura
held a press conference to publicize law enforcement's response.
Kayihura announced the establishment of an anti-human trafficking
police unit to be housed under the Child and Family Protection
Department. This move comes in advance of the passage of the
anti-TIP law, which legally provides for its creation. On February
3, 2009 the 15-member inter-ministerial committee was formally
established. It is housed in the Criminal Investigation Division of
the UPF, is headed by a detective assistant commissioner in
conjunction with the head of the Child and Family Protection Unit of
the UPF. It is comprised of police, immigration, and MGLSD
officials.

The police have begun proactive law enforcement measures to counter
trafficking, according to Kayihura. This includes placing
investigators with uniformed officers at checkpoints on roads
leading into Kampala to identify potential victims and human
traffickers beginning in January. The IGP plans to train the
Community Policing Unit to develop public awareness strategies and
procedures for the gathering and sharing of information between the
police and the public on trafficking issues.

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The police established a hotline for tips from the public on
trafficking and announced the hotline telephone numbers on February

3. In addition, Kayihura is in the process of establishing an
"Amber Alert" system, which will allow the transmission of missing
children alerts on cellular telephones. He will be presenting a
plan to make these alerts regional at the upcoming East African
Police Chief's meeting. (Note: The cellular phone companies cover
all the East African countries. End Note.) Kayihura invited the
head of Tanzania's anti-trafficking unit to conduct training in
Uganda from February 15-20.

The UPF developed a 25-page anti-trafficking first responder pocket
manual which was distributed to each of the 2,010 law enforcement
personnel during the training programs. The manual contains the
United Nations Protocol and current Ugandan laws, the duties of a
first responder, and victim/suspect interviewing questions.

The media, including the Government newspaper, have conducted
investigations and are reporting more on trafficking cases.

24B: The Ministry of Internal Affairs, which oversees the Ugandan
Police Force, Immigration, and the Criminal Investigation Division,
has the lead on law enforcement efforts to combat trafficking. The
MGLSD has the lead on the development of policy.

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.

24C: Lack of resources continues to hamper the Government's
protection efforts. A G/TIP-funded police training program,
however, has kick-started a significant push by Government to have
all police, immigration officers, and labor inspectors trained to
identify and investigate trafficking. Trainers were trained and the
GOU is now using them and trained officers of the UPF's Child and
Family Protection Unit (CFPU) to conduct additional training. The
Government lacks resources to provide assistance to victims, but
refers victims to non-governmental organizations. The Minister of
Internal Affairs has granted permission for victims of trafficking
to remain in Uganda when needed for an investigation. The UPF has a
memorandum of understanding with 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 NGO reports that the system is working
well. The UPF's CFPU continued training of police constables on
child rights, protection issues, and trafficking during the
reporting period. Ugandan Government officials continued to assist
returning abductees from the LRA. The Government, in conjunction
with non-governmental organizations, transferred Karamojong children
from Kampala to shelters in Karamoja.

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.

24D: In January 2008, the Government launched a public campaign on
child sacrifice and child trafficking and made public its statistics
on the disappearance of children. (See Section 24A). The newly
established anti-trafficking unit will be responsible for tracking
and publicizing trafficking statistics and trends. We expect the
first report in January 2010. Uganda immigration officials have a
watch list and a computerized system, which allows border officials
to stop individuals on the list. Within Immigration, there is a
task force that monitors the issuance of passports to children and
has blacklisted several NGOs and orphanages for possible trafficking
offenses.

The Government more systematically monitors anti-trafficking efforts
in the northern conflict as it processes former abductees among LRA

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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. From 2008 to date, there were approximately
60 former abductees and ex-combatants processed by the UPDF and
international organizations. The Government and donors also provide
financial, medical, psychological, and rehabilitation services to
ex-abductees, including child soldiers, for resettlement into
Ugandan society. The UPF's CFPU at the national police headquarters
monitors sex crimes involving children and local police efforts to
rescue children from exploitative forms of labor. The DPP 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. Once the
TIP law is passed, statistics on trafficking will be kept by the
anti-TIP unit.


5. Investigation and prosecution of traffickers:

25A. Uganda does not have a comprehensive anti-trafficking law, but
draft anti-trafficking legislation is expected to pass in March

2009. Parliamentary committee hearings on The Bill to Prohibit
Trafficking were completed in November 2008. The bill was tabled on
the floor of Parliament for passage on November 13, but a procedural
technicality meant it had to be sent back to committee just before
Parliament adjourned for recess. The bill has been re-tabled and
must wait three weeks before passage.

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.

25B-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.

25D: 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 seven
years imprisonment) or for dealing in slaves (up to 10 year's
imprisonment).

25E: The following TIP cases occurred during the reporting period.
In October 2008, the Joint Anti-Terrorism Squad (JAT) and Rapid
Response Unit of the police arrested Ibrahim Ali Adan, a Swede of
Somali origin, on suspicion of trafficking and obtaining money by
false pretense. Fifteen Somalis file complaints against Adan,
saying he had fleeced them of over $100,000. Adan reportedly
promised his victims new permanent resident visas to Italy, Germany,
France, the United Kingdom, and The Netherlands. He charged between
$5,000 and $12,000 for the false documents. The Criminal

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Investigation Division continues to investigate to see if there were
others involved in the operation. He is being charged with
obtaining money by false pretenses.

On November 24, 2008, police in Rakai District arrested Scovia
Mbabazi, a Rwandan national when she attempted to sell Frank
Hagirimaana, also a Rwandan national. Mbabazi was on remand at
Luzira Prison in Kampala while the case was pending before the
court. In February 2009, Ugandan authorities extradited Hagirimaana
to Rwanda.

In 2008, there were 18 suspected ritual murder cases. These
primarily involved children, believed to be trafficked or kidnapped.
Fifteen of these cases were investigated and the cases are now in
the High Court. During the same period, the police investigated 256
cases of child disappearance. There were two convictions.

On January 4, police in Gulu District arrested Pastor Florence
Gerinya on charges of related to trafficking. A parent, who was
enticed by Gerinya to give her two children to the pastor,
complained to police that she had not seen her two children since
April 2007. Pastor Gerinya allegedly promised to educate the
children in Kampala. On January 5, police in Gulu arrested Pastor
Experito Bulaamu on charges of trafficking 25 children from Gulu
under the pretext of providing them with education. On January 14,
Gerinya and Bulaamu were charged with abduction and granted bail.
The case was pending before court. On January 10, the police traced
the families of the 25 children in this case and returned 16 other
children found with the pastors to their homes.

On January 7, 2009, police in Kayunga District arrested Sylivia
Kampiire, a Rwandan national on allegations of stealing a
three-month old baby Diana Nyokiti. Nyokiti was handed over to the
Rwandan authorities in February.

On January 27, 2009, police in Mubende District arrested Florence
Nyamwize for attempting to sell a six month-old child. The police
also arrested Edison Kanoweri who was allegedly assisting Nyamwize
to find a buyer. The case is pending in court.

The Immigration's Legal and Inspection Services Department was
investigating several cases of illegal trafficking in persons during
the reporting period, but could not give the details of an ongoing
investigation. Another case involved the recovery of 12 Tanzanian
children, who had been brought to Uganda by an individual who
promised to pay their school fees. The suspect and children were
handed over to Tanzanian authorities.

25F: The GOU provided specialized training for government and law
enforcement officials on who to recognize, investigate, and
prosecute trafficking case. U.S. Department of Justice ICITAP
trainers provided the initial training for 27 Ugandan instructors
from the UPF, Immigration Department, and MGLSD, who then trained
over 2,000 of the colleagues in November and December 2008 (ref B).
The IGP has mandates that all Ugandan police officers receive
specialized TIP training and it is being incorporated into the
curriculum at the Masindi Police Training Academy. The CFPU
completed training for 50 police officers on human trafficking,
domestic violence, and child abuse in January.

25G: The GOU has cooperated with the governments of Rwanda, Burundi,
DRC, Kenya, Tanzania, Yemen, Botswana, and Poland on trafficking
cases. The GOU, DRC, and southern Sudanese governments are working
together in a joint military operation to capture or kill LRA
leaders and rescue abductees. 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. The head of Tanzania's anti-trafficking unit
will be in Kampala from February 15-20 assisting the UPF in setting
up its anti-TIP unit and providing guidance and training.

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25H: The GOU extradited two traffickers to Rwanda in 2008. The GOU
belongs to INTERPOL and has in the past, in other crime cases,
honored extradition warrants. The EAPCO is currently developing an
extradition treaty for the nine member countries that should
facilitate the extradition of criminals. Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi,
and DRC have developed a draft common extradition treaty.

25I: Post continues to investigate allegations that a prominent
Indian businessman has bribed a government official to allow him to
bring Indian workers into Uganda. We have no evidence to
substantiate the claims, but are following up with law enforcement
authorities to get more information. We have no indications of
government collusion with traffickers at an institutional level.

25J: Once the pending legislation is passed, if a police officer or
other government official is involved in trafficking in persons,
they may receive a sentence of life imprisonment.

25K: 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.

25L: Uganda has 1,700 peacekeepers in Somalia. The Ugandan Peoples
Defense Forces (UPDF) reports no cases of trafficking involving
peacekeepers in Somalia. Human rights groups in Uganda collaborate
the UPDF's assertion. The UPDF investigated a case in which a
Somali woman and child came to Uganda after the re-deployment of a
Ugandan soldier back home. The investigation determined that she
was not trafficked. She had traveled voluntarily on her own to
Uganda.

In August 2008, Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special Representative of the
UNSG for Children in Armed Conflict, issued a press statement
regarding child soldiers in Uganda during her visit to Kampala.
Coomaraswamy condemned the LRA's recruitment and use of children.
She stated that she found that the Ugandan Government had no
conscious policy, program, or project to specifically to recruit
children. She claimed that children were being absorbed into the
UPDF and local defense units. In her meeting with President
Museveni, it was agreed that the GOU and UNICEF would work out an
Action Plan for the prevention, removal and reintegration of any
child soldier found in the UPDF or local defense units. The plan
includes disciplinary action against any soldier that knowingly
recruits children, access for UNICEF, the UN Office for the High
Commissioner on Human Rights, and the Uganda Human Rights Commission
to UPDF facilities.

On January 16, 2009, the GOU finalized the Action Plan for the
Uganda Country Task Force on Monitoring and Reporting Regarding
Children Associated with Armed Forces in Uganda. The Action Plan
sets the stage for Uganda to be removed from the UN list of
countries with child soldiers. The UNICEF-led verification teams
are currently visiting UPDF facilities and monitoring recruitment
exercises. UNICEF provides reports every four months to
Coomaraswamy and stated that there have been no reports of child
soldiers in its quarterly reports. There was only one case reported
in 2007 of a 17-year old who falsified documents to get into the
army. He was identified and removed. UNICEF is confident that the
current verification mission will not find any children in the UPDF
and that Uganda will be "de-listed" from UNSC 1612 when the
committee meets on February 16.

25M: Uganda does not have an identified problem of sex tourism. The
anti-TIP law draft has an extraterritorial provision to allow
prosecution of Ugandans for trafficking-related offenses in another
country.


6. Protection and Assistance to Victims:


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26A: Uganda does not currently have a formalized witness protection
program; however, in some cases they are able to relocate a victim
within the country. Currently, the UPF is providing protection to a
victim of an attempted child sacrifice as the child received death
threats from the suspects. Additionally, the IGP has advised that
he plans to develop a witness protection program in anticipation of
the passage of the anti-TIP law.

During the reporting period, the UYDEL, a local NGO, received 60
victims of trafficking in persons for protection. The UPF referred
six of the victims.

The Government assisted the International Organization of Migration
(IOM) in repatriating two female trafficking victims, one from Yemen
and the other from Botswana. Both victims and their children needed
government travel documents to return to Uganda. Staff members of
the President's Office and Immigration were instrumental in ensuring
that the travel documents were received. In 2008, IOM repatriated
88 Congolese women together with 124 dependents to DRC. These women
were brought to Ugandan by soldiers returning from the war in Congo
(1998-2003).

26B: The GOU 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.
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 MGLSD, two transit shelters for internally displaced
Karamojong, including those children who were used for begging or
trafficked to Kampala, were established in Karamoja. In February
2009, there were 50 Karamojong at the Mpigi facility near Kampala
awaiting transfer to one of the two facilities in Karamoja. 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.

26C: The CFPU provides limited counseling services once a victim
has been identified. They then refer the victim to available NGO's
for additional services.

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.

26D: 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. However, in
most cases, victims are returned to their home 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.

26E: The GOU lacks the resources to provide longer-term shelter or
housing benefits to trafficking victims. The Government, in
conjunction with NGOs, provides vocational training and other
services to victims of the LRA in the north.

26F: 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

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identifying victims. A U.S. non-governmental organization placed
5,000 children at risk for trafficking or other worst forms of child
labor into schools. District labor committees assisted in
identifying vulnerable children and following up with parents if the
children did not go to school. Another program targeting 11,000
children is set to begin in northern Uganda. NGOs and the local
district officials are currently identifying at risk children.

The Ugandan Police Force refers trafficking victims to NGOs. The
UPF's CFPU works closely with UYDEL, which has placed social workers
in the Central Police Station in Kampala and in two other locations
to provide legal, medical, and psychological assistance to victims.
The UPF has referred six victims to UYDEL's shelter in Kampala.

26G: The number cannot be identified at the present time as the bill
has not been passed. Once passed, the UPF has committed to
documenting these offenses in their statistics. The UPF
investigated 103 cases of child disappearances and ritual murders in
2007, recovered 7 children, and secured no convictions. In 2008,
321 cases were investigated, 146 children recovered, and two
convictions secured. Over the next year, the statistics will be
disaggregated further pursuant to the new TIP law.

26H: The GOU does not have formal system of identifying victims
from high risk groups. Hwever, it is proactively trying to
identify victims at entry/exit points into Uganda and Kampala.

26I: The rights of victims are generally respected in Uganda.
Child victims of criminal activity are referred to the CFPU and
social workers within police stations. Sometimes victims are
detained, particularly when police conduct sweeps to remove street
children or prostitutes from bars. Potential victims are sometimes
prosecuted for immigration or prostitution violations. The GOU can
detain individuals for 48 hours. Prostitutes are sometimes fined.

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.

As part of the ongoing reform program, IGP Kayihura has initiated
changes that will improve respect for the rights of victims and
at-risk individuals. He has decided that the UPF hold regular
meetings on gender-based violence for its personnel to sensitize
police officers on a range of issues, including gender-based
violence, domestic violence and child abuse. These in-house
meetings aim to reinforce the UPF's commitment to protecting the
rights of women and children.

26J: The GOU encourages victims to assist in the investigation and
prosecution of trafficking through referrals to NGOs, which can
provide shelter and counseling while investigations proceed.
Victims can get restitution through the Ugandan Human Rights
Commission. Under the new law, a victim's fund will be established.


In northern Uganda, the government has offered amnesty to LRA rebels
who renounce rebellion. The amnesty program is strongly supported
by the civilian communities subject to LRA abductions and attacks.
Returnees receive non-food items and a small some of money for
resettlement ($50).

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

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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.

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.

26K: In November 2008, an ICITAP trainer and the G/TIP-funded
resident Police Advisor provided a two week train-the-trainer course
with participants from the UPF, Immigration, Directorate of Public
Prosecutions (DPP),and the MGLSD. The course emphasized the
process of human trafficking, current and pending Ugandan
legislation, victims' rights, and duties of a first responder. The
27 participants were tasked with preparing a portion of the training
materials to customize it for the Uganda environment. Thirteen of
the newly trained instructors hit the road to provide a series of
one-day sessions on "Combating Human Trafficking: First Responder
Courses" in four locations throughout Uganda. The new trainees from
the four core law enforcement agencies, with strong support from the
Minister of Internal Affairs, Inspector General of Police,
Immigration Director, DPP, and MGLSD enthusiastically worked
together to teach the course to 2,010 trainees in Kampala, Masindi,
Mbarara, and Mbale, which had been identified as top priority areas
for training. One of the Ugandan trainers was so committed, he
participated despite being hit by a car and seriously injured days
before training others.

The UPF has begun to institutionalize the training within its
in-service training bureau. Between January and February 2009, CFPU
trainers trained an additional 50 officers on being a first
responder in human trafficking cases. The CFPU conducted the class
in Kampala, but it contained participants from various districts
within Uganda. The second course iteration was conducted in Mbale,
and included officers from Karamoja. Godfrey Sasagah, Director,
Citizenship and Immigration Control, informed post in writing that
he has noticed significant progress "in the enhancement of skills
and creating awareness about aspects of human trafficking." He
noted that his newly trained officers are helping their colleagues
identify trafficking cases.

Upcoming USG training includes a two week criminal investigation
course beginning in February 2009. The goal of this training is to
enhance the skills of law enforcement in investigating and
prosecuting human trafficking related offenses. Furthermore,
beginning in March 2009 for five consecutive months, ICITAP will
provide training to 150 trainers at the Masindi police academy in
combating Human Trafficking Instructor Development.

The Government provides training to its military troops through its
Child Protection Units, which are included in every unit. Ugandan
troops deploying outside Uganda receive additional training,
including on trafficking in persons (see 27G). On a regular basis,
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.

The Ugandan Embassy in Cairo assisted the three victims with travel
documents in 2007. The GOU assisted victims found in Yemen,
Botswana, and Poland in 2008-2009. The GOU does not offer training
in trafficking of persons for its foreign service officers, but
there immigration officers posted in Ugandan embassies are being

KAMPALA 00000163 011.2 OF 012


trained as part of current training programs. Ugandan embassies are
called upon to assist in the tracking of cases when needed and
provide necessary travel documents to repatriate victims.

26L: The GOU provides assistance, including medical aid, to former
abductees returning from LRA captivity.

26M: UNICEF, Save the Children, World Vision, International
Organization for Migration, International Labor Organization,
Kitgum, Gulu, and Kira's Concerned Women's Associations, Gulu
Support the Children Organization, 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, children in
situations of commercial sex exploitation, and other at risk
individuals. These organizations provide food, shelter,
psychosocial counseling, and vocational training. The Government
support fully with these activities.


7. Prevention.

27A: The Parliamentary Committee on Defense and Internal Affairs
conducted extensive and well-publicized hearings on the Bill for the
Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons in October and November 2008.

The joint Government-Population Services International's (PSI)
campaign against "sugar daddies" and cross-generational sex appears
to be having an impact. The campaign is focusing on decreasing both
supply and demand. At Makerere University, intermediaries locate
young students for older men for sexual relationships. The
intermediaries are paid between $100 and $200 to recruit students.
The campaign has several objectives, which include embarrassing men
from recruiting younger sexual partners with promises of a better
standard of living, including education, money, mobile phones, and
clothes. It is educating students about the health and emotional
risks to cross-generational sex. PSI reported that incidences of
cross-generational sex had been reduced from 7.6% in March 2007 to
5.3% in July 2008.

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. The GOU dropped flyers to LRA
abductees in eastern DRC directing them to report to the nearest
churches, military, or police units for rescue. 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.

27B: 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.

27C: Coordination mechanism in government. 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 policy efforts.

27D: 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.

The Ministry of Labor is working with police, local governments, the
Ministries of Justice and Immigration, and non-governmental and

KAMPALA 00000163 012.2 OF 012


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.

27E: In October 2007 the GOU 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 witness.
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 continues community awareness-raising
efforts to target poor rural areas where girls and women are most
likely to be recruited.

27F: On February 29, 2009, the Minister of Ethics and Integrity
announced that the Government will soon table the Anti-Pornography
Bill 2009 in Parliament. According to the Bill, individuals found
guilty of the act risk being sentenced to prison for 10 years or to
pay a fine of $5,000.

27G: The Ugandan Peoples Defense Forces (UPDF) provides
anti-trafficking instruction as part of its human rights and child
protection training for Ugandan troops deploying overseas. From
2007 to 2008, two Ugandan battalions (2,400 troops) serving in the
African Union Mission in Somalia received human rights training and
instruction on trafficking in persons from the UPDF's Human Rights
Desk and Child Protection Unit personnel prior to deployment. In
addition, the State-Department's ACOTA training package, which
trained the second Ugandan battalion and subsequent battalions,
provided Command and Staff Operations Skills training to prepare the
battalion commander and thirty members of his staff for the Somalia
mission. The senior leadership of the Ugandan battalions was taught
the specific duties and principle responsibilities of senior
officers to protect human rights, understand gender-based violence,
eliminate of sexual exploitation, provide protection for children,
and prevent of trafficking in persons. This training was mandated
by the U.S. Congress for all USG-funded peace support operations.

Ugandan forces deployed to the DRC in December 2008 for "Operation
Lightening Thunder" received refresher briefings on the treatment of
children and others abducted by the LRA. Each Ugandan unit that
deployed contained two to five Child Protection Unit officers. The
UPDF, UNICEF, Save the Children, and IOM developed a protocol to
protect victims that it has rescued from the LRA. The UPDF and
Congolese military rescued over 280 former abductees between
December 14, 2008-February 13, 2009 and turned them over to UNICEF,
COOPI (an Italian NGO),and IOM.
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