MAURITANIA 2009 TRAFFICKING IN PERONS (TIP) REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 NOUAKCHOTT 000158 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR G/TIP, G-ACBLANK, USAID, AF/RSA, AF/W, INL, DRL, PRM, AND G-ACBLANK E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ELAB KCM KTIP KFRD KWMN PGOV PHUM PREF SMIG ASEC MR SUBJECT: MAURITANIA 2009 TRAFFICKING IN PERONS (TIP) REPORT ¶1. (SBU) Per reftel instructins, post submits the following information on Mauitania for the Ninth Annual Trafficking in Persos (TIP) Report. POC for this report is Political fficer Nitza Sola-Rotger, phone: (222) 525-2660 xt 4404, sola-rotgern@state.gov. ¶2. (SBU) MURITANIA'S TIP SITUATION ¶A. Mauritania is a souce and destination country for children traffickd for forced labor and sexual exploitation. Slavey, rooted in a traditionnal caste system and ancetral master-slave relationships, continues to exst in pa rts of the country. Mauritanian boys called talibe are trafficked within the country by religious teachers for forced begging. Children are also trafficked by street gang leaders within the country and forced to steal, beg, and sell drugs. Girls are trafficked internally for domestic servitude and sexual exploitation. There were reports that girls as young as six years old were married to wealthy men in Gulf states, where they are subject to domestic servitude or sexual exploitation. Mauritanian children may also be trafficked for forced agricultural and construction labor, herding, and for forced labor in the fishing industry within the country. Boys from Mali and Senegal are trafficked to Mauritania by religious teachers for forced begging. Senegalese and Malian girls are trafficked to Mauritania for domestic servitude. Senegalese, Malian, Ghanaian, Chinese, and Nigerian women and girls may be trafficked to Mauritania for sexual exploitation. ¶B. The Government of Mauritania does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making modest efforts to do so, despite limited resources. In 2007, the Mauritanian government took the significant step of enacting new anti-slavery legislation; however, efforts in 2008 to enforce the new law remained limited. Government victim protection programs need to be developed. Awareness-raising initiatives should be strengthened and expanded. ¶C. Recommendations for Mauritania: Increase efforts to prosecute trafficking and slavery offenses; revise the 2007 anti-slavery law to facilitate the filing of complaints by slaves, such as by permitting NGOs or other advocates to file written complaints on their behalf; increase efforts to train police to identify trafficking victims among females in prostitution and children in conflict with the law; place greater emphasis on investigating and combating sex trafficking, particularly that involving children; and educate local government officials about the importance of enforcing laws prohibiting slavery and trafficking. ¶3. (SBU) Prosecution ¶A. In 2008, the Government of Mauritania made limited progress in the enforcement of trafficking and anti-slavery legislation. Mauritania prohibits all forms of trafficking through its 2003 Law Against Trafficking in Persons, which prescribes penalties of five to 10 years imprisonment -- penalties that are sufficiently stringent and exceed those prescribed for rape. In August 2007, Mauritania's National Assembly unanimously adopted a law criminalizing slavery, which entered into force in February 2008. This law defines slavery and prescribes an adequate penalty of five to 10 years' imprisonment. It supplements a 1981 anti-slavery ordinance that failed to prescribe penalties or define slavery and it repeals a provision in the ordinance compensating slave owners for the liberation of their slaves. To date, the new legislation has yielded no prosecutions. The new law requires that a slave file a legal complaint before a prosecution may be pursued. The law does not permit such complaints to be filed on behalf of slaves by NGOs or other advocates. Because many slaves are illiterate and unable to complete the paperwork to file a legal complaint, such provisions, which apply to civil actions as well, severely handicap the law's effectiveness. Moreover, NGOs report that since the passage of the new law, local officials with knowledge of slavery cases have failed to enforce it or have manipulated the system to protect masters from prosecution. Victims were pressured by masters, family members and law enforcement officials to withdraw their accusations and return to their master's home. Others broke free from the slave-master relationship but their masters were never prosecuted and the government did not grant victims any compensation, protection, or assistance. ¶B. In 2008, the government established special courts to try trafficking cases and a police brigade dedicated to investigating crimes against children, especially trafficking. Nevertheless, according to the Ministry of Justice, there were no trafficking prosecutions in 2008. ¶4. (SBU) Protection ¶A. The Government of Mauritania engaged in limited efforts to protect trafficking and slavery victims. The $7.5 million promised by the Prime Minister in 2007 to enhance the 2008 budget for combating slavery and to assist former slaves' reintegration into society has produced no visible results. In 2008, the government did not provide shelter, food, limited medical care, and job training to former slaves as promised in 2007. Slavery victims only received protection and shelter from NGOs. ¶B. The six Nouakchott centers funded jointly by UNICEF and the government to provide care to indigent children, many of whom were talibe, have closed. The government recognizes the exploitation of talibe children but has no national strategy to combat it. It is also aware of the trafficking of talibe children into Mauritania from other regions but is not taking any measures to curtail it. ¶C. January 2008 marked the completion of a Ministry of Justice program conducted in partnership with UNICEF and the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to compensate and repatriate Mauritanian children trafficked to the UAE as camel jockeys. According to UNICEF, the UAE -- with the cooperation of the Mauritanian government -- compensated 497 child jockeys with amounts between 260,000-1,560,000 ouguiyas ($1,000-$6,000) per child. ¶D. The government does not encourage victims to assist in trafficking investigations or prosecutions. ¶E. Mauritania does not provide legal alternatives to the removal of foreign victims to countries where they face hardship or retribution. ¶F. There were reports of networks of traffickers profiting from illegal immigrants wishing to enter Europe. Many victims were lured into Mauritania under false pretenses and abandoned in the country. Illegal immigrants were placed in a detention center in Nouadhibou where conditions are extremely harsh. ¶G. Victims are inappropriately incarcerated, fined, or otherwise penalized for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked. The government places children in jail for stealing or engaging in commercial sexual activity, while many of them are likely trafficking victims who have been forced into these activities. ¶H. There is no national strategy to address the problem of girls working as domestic servants as well as their sexual exploitation. The government does not recognize the problem of girls trafficked to Gulf states through child marriage. ¶5. (SBU) Prevention ¶A. The Government of Mauritania engaged in limited efforts to raise awareness of trafficking during the last year. The Ministry of Justice stated that it conducted and funded a nationwide public awareness campaign about slavery with a focus on educating judges and law enforcement officials about the new anti-slavery law. As part of this campaign, the Ministry of Justice sent a directive to officials ordering them to bring slavery cases before the law and sent delegations to each region of Mauritania to meet with local officials, explain the new law, and raise awareness about administrative, civil and penal sanctions for not enforcing it. Local NGOs said they were not aware of such a campaign. They were also critical of government efforts. According to them, the government has reverted to the use of euphemisms like "slavery-related practices" and "the consequences of slavery" instead of "slavery." For them, this terminology denies the problem of slavery in Mauritania. ¶B. In May 2008, the Ministry of Justice and UNICEF hosted a trafficking in children seminar to raise awareness about this problem among judges and law enforcement officials. ¶C. The child jockey compensation program has a prevention component that provides 260,000,000 ouguiyas ($1 million) towards a social reinsertion and poverty reduction program for the children and their communities. The program is funded by the UAE but implemented by the government in cooperation with UNICEF. ¶D. In November 2008, the Ministry of Labor and the International Labor Organization organized a National Forum on Fundamental Labor Principles and Rights to promote action plans for the adoption of the International Labor Organization Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. WALSH