SAG ATTEMPTING TO TACKLE HUMAN TRAFFICKING

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 RIYADH 001561

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

NEA/ARP JHARRIS AND JBERNDT, G/TIP, DRL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SA
SUBJECT: SAG ATTEMPTING TO TACKLE HUMAN TRAFFICKING

REF: A. RIYADH 984

B. RIYADH 1127

C. STATE 71880

RIYADH 00001561 001.2 OF 004


SUMMARY
--------------


1. (SBU) In meetings on October 20 and November 16,
President of the Human Rights Commission Dr. Bandar al-Aiban,
who chairs the Permanent Committee created to oversee the
SAG's anti-human trafficking efforts, confirmed that a formal
action plan would be launched in January, including a
campaign to raise public awareness about human trafficking.
Al-Aiban said that the biggest hurdles to progress included
ignorance of potential victims regarding their rights, and
harmonizing the new law's terminology with Shari'a law. He
welcomed assistance to further the SAG's efforts in combating
human trafficking. Update summarizing Saudi progress on TIP
Action Plan begins at paragraph 11, with an action request at
paragraph 11.G.1. End Summary.


ANTI-TRAFFICKING A TOP PRIORITY
--------------


2. (SBU) In an October 20 meeting with visiting Saudi Arabia
desk officer Jeremy Berndt and a November 16 meeting with
Poloffs and Department of Homeland Security Immigration and
Customs Enforcement officials (DHS-ICE),President of the
Human Rights Commission (HRC) Dr. Bandar al-Aiban emphasized
how proud he was of Saudi Arabia's new Human Anti-Trafficking
law, asserting that it is "an advanced law tough on those
convicted of human trafficking." Noting that human
trafficking is his "top priority," al-Aiban claimed that the
Permanent Committee created to oversee the SAG's anti-human
trafficking efforts had been given sufficient resources to
carry out its mandate.


3. (SBU) HRC is tasked with playing the lead coordinating
role for the Permanent Committee, and is chaired by al-Aiban.
The Committee also includes representatives from the
Ministries of Interior, Justice, Labor, Culture and
Information, Foreign Affairs, and Social Affairs. Al-Aiban
believes that inter-agency cooperation is "extremely
important" in the promulgation of the new law and raising
public awareness. According to al-Aiban, the SAG is "using
all possible means" to combat human trafficking.


4. (SBU) Per al-Aiban's request, each ministry represented
on the Committee is required to produce a report on how that
ministry is ensuring the implementation of the new law as
well as compiling relevant cases and statistics. (Note:
Al-Aiban says he gave each ministry a one week deadline.
Some of the ministries had already completed their report
which al-Aiban showed to Emboffs. End Note.) Upon
completion, the various reports will be compiled into a
single report, which al-Aiban asserted to Emboffs would be
made available to all embassies by January. Al-Aiban claimed
he wanted to ensure our Embassy received as much
hard-evidence of SAG human anti-trafficking efforts and
statistical data prior to the drafting of the 2010
Trafficking In Persons (TIP) Report.


KINGDOM-WIDE AWARENESS
CAMPAIGN SET FOR JANUARY
--------------


5. (SBU) Additionally, the Permanent Committee is working on
a national "action plan" which will be finalized in December
and put into action in January to jump-start SAG efforts to
combat human trafficking through workshops, training programs
targeting law enforcement, judicial officials, and social
workers, as well as public awareness campaigns targeting the
public.


6. Coinciding with the various human trafficking public
awareness campaigns proposed in the action plan, a four year,
country-wide human rights awareness program approved by the
King will also kick-off in January. Officially referred to
as the Human Rights Culture Promulgation Program, this
program will use all channels of mass media (TV, radio,
print, and education) to expand the notion of human rights in
Saudi Arabia. This program, like the Permanent Committee,
will be based on inter-agency cooperation and communication.


CHALLENGES TO OVERCOME

RIYADH 00001561 002.2 OF 004


--------------


7. (SBU) Although al-Aiban was pleased with the SAG's
efforts thus far to combat human trafficking, he was also
quick to acknowledge that results would not be visible
overnight, and that the SAG was prepared to continue its
efforts long-term. Al-Aiban said the first major challenge
was the ignorance among many, if not most potential victims
of trafficking victims. Domestic workers, in particular,
were generally not aware of their rights and the resources
available to them if they became victims. As a result, many
victims did not come forward. Al-Aiban hoped that the public
awareness campaigns the SAG will begin to roll-out in January
would reduce this problem.


8. (SBU) Another challenge al-Aiban addressed was the
terminology contained in the new law. Under Shari'a, human
trafficking was illegal, but the cases were usually
prosecuted under different criminal statutes rather than as
human trafficking crimes per se. The differences in
terminology were very technical stated al-Aiban, but the HRC
planned to conduct workshops for judges and prosecutors to
help them better understand the new law's legal terminology
and how it correlates to Shari'a terminology. Additionally,
the Permanent Committee appointed Nasser Shahrani, a lawyer
who worked at the Prosecution and Investigation Board for 15
years, to review and identify cases that were prosecuted
under Shari'a law, but that fell into the human trafficking
category. According to al-Aiban, the SAG wanted to
demonstrate that it had been prosecuting cases of human
trafficking before the new law was passed.


9. (SBU) Al-Aiban denounced the practice of employers
withholding passports, and asserted that withholding
passports is illegal in Saudi Arabia. (Note: Although
supposedly illegal, the practice of withholding passports is
widespread, particularly with domestic workers. End Note.)
Al-Aiban acknowledged, however, that increased public
awareness was critical in curbing this widespread illegal
practice, and emphasized the SAG's need to do a better job of
informing domestic workers of their rights. He discussed a
new campaign to notify domestic workers of their rights prior
to and upon their arrival in Saudi Arabia via informational
booklets that would be distributed in various languages.
However, he did not mention when this campaign would be
launched.


ASSISTANCE WELCOMED
--------------


10. (SBU) Al-Aiban welcomed outside assistance, particularly
from DHS-ICE. He also concurred with the idea that human
trafficking is a global issue and therefore, any solution
demands that countries work together and share information
and best practices. Currently, DHS-ICE is planning a 3-day
human trafficking workshop in conjunction with Naif Arab
University (reftel B) which al-Aiban was aware of and fully
supports. He also encouraged additional training programs and
workshops where outside experts could be utilized, and was
supportive of the Embassy's initiative in developing a
voluntary visitor exchange program in February for high-level
SAG officials involved in combating human trafficking.
(Note: This program is also being coordinated in cooperation
with Naif Arab University. End Note.) Post plans to
continue discussions with al-Aiban and the HRC on potential
anti-trafficking training and technical assistance
opportunities.


SAUDI PROGRESS TO DATE ON TIP ACTION PLAN
--------------


11. (SBU) Al-Aiban and others referred repeatedly to Saudi
Arabia's Tier 3 ranking in the 2009 Trafficking In Persons
Report, suggesting that the unfavorable ranking was a primary
motivation behind the SAG's new push to combat human
trafficking. The new law, and the first steps to implement
it are positive developments. Below is Post's assessment of
how these developments relate to the 2009 TIP Action Plan
(reftel c).


A. INCREASE NUMBER OF CRIMINAL PROSECUTIONS

The new anti-trafficking law defines and criminalizes human
trafficking for the first time. Although the Saudi
government asserted that Shari'a law could be used to
prosecute trafficking offenses, in practice there have been

RIYADH 00001561 003.2 OF 004


no prosecutions that the Embassy is aware of to date.
Al-Aiban claimed that a report would be made available to the
Embassy in January 2010 that contains statistics on TIP
prosecutions. Additionally, al-Aiban indicated that training
judges and prosecutors in the new legal terminology of the
anti-trafficking law and how it correlates to Shari'a
terminology, is a key priority.

The law does not specifically note the common practice of
passport holding and exit-visa denial present in most
trafficking cases in the Kingdom and therefore, the actual
cases prosecuted under the new legislation may be limited.
The law does not secure the rights of victims to remain in
Saudi Arabia during the investigation and court proceedings,
a circumstance which may further impede the chances of seeing
any actual convictions.



B. TAKE STEPS TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT A FORMAL PROTOCOL TO
IDENTIFY TRAFFICKING VICTIMS

The Permanent Committee is currently drafting a comprehensive
strategy which includes a systematic process to identify all
types of trafficking victims. (Note: This is part of the
national "action plan." End Note.) Al-Aiban indicted that
the Saudi government is very interested in U.S. assistance in
developing victim identification programs and training law
enforcement and social services personnel. DHS-ICE will
conduct a 3-day TIP workshop December 14-16 at Naif Arab
University. (Note: Although Naif Arab University is an Arab
League institution, many SAG officials will participate in
this workshop. End Note.) DHS-ICE has also discussed
further training programs with al-Aiban, which would directly
engage the SAG in anti-trafficking training programs,
including victim identification. Post is looking into
additional opportunities for assisting the SAG in developing
and implementing their comprehensive TIP
victim-identification strategy.



C. DRAFT AND TAKE STEPS TO ENACT A COMPREHENSIVE
ANTI-TRAFFICKING LAW

The Saudi government enacted a comprehensive anti-trafficking
law in July 2009 which broadly defines and prohibits
trafficking in a way that could potentially be used to
prosecute a wide variety of offenses. (Note: This law became
effective 90 days from its official publication. End Note.)
The Permanent Committee was created to oversee the
implementation of the new law and subsequent SAG efforts to
combat human trafficking. The Committee is chaired by HRC
President al-Aiban, and includes representatives from the
Ministries of Interior, Justice, Labor, Culture and
Information, Foreign Affairs, and Social Affairs. Currently,
the Committee is drafting a national "action plan" to
jump-start SAG efforts to combat human trafficking.
Additionally, key officials from these ministries have been
invited to participate in a State Department Voluntary
Visitor (VOLVIS) program in order to expose these influential
SAG officials to U.S. efforts to combat human trafficking.



D. ENSURE THAT TRAFFICKING VICTIMS ARE NOT DETAINED OR
PUNISHED FOR ACTS COMMITTED AS A RESULT OF BEING TRAFFICKED

The Permanent Committee is responsible for follow up on
victims of human trafficking to ensure that the victims are
not harmed or punished for acts committed as a result of
being trafficked. Additionally, the Committee can make
recommendations to allow victims to remain in the Kingdom or
will coordinate repatriation of such victims to their
countries.



E. CONTINUE TO CONDUCT A BROAD PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN

As part of the new national action plan, a revamped public
awareness campaign is planned, and will kick-off in January
according to al-Aiban. No further details were given,
however. There will also be a new campaign to notify
domestic workers of their rights prior to and upon their
arrival in the Kingdom via informational booklets, although
al-Aiban did not mention when this campaign would be
launched. Coinciding with targeted TIP public awareness
programs will be a four year, country-wide human rights
awareness program. Al-Aiban indicated that the Saudi
government is interested in developing new public awareness
programs in cooperation with the U.S. government. Post is

RIYADH 00001561 004.2 OF 004


looking into potential collaborative opportunities.



F. TAKE STEPS TO REFORM OR ELIMINATE THE CURRENT LABOR
SPONSORSHIP SYSTEM

The Shura Council passed a new domestic workers rights law in
July - something that has been under discussion for years.
Shura Council resolutions are non-binding until passed by the
Council of Ministers and implemented by Royal Decree to have
the force of law. At present, the current protections for
workers offered under the Labor Law do not apply to domestic
workers. Although the new draft law does not eliminate the
labor sponsorship system, it proposes significant reforms to
increase the rights and protections of workers and includes
penalties against abusive employers.


G. TAKE STEPS TO ENSURE THE FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT OF ALL
LABORERS

Although the Saudi government requires exit visas for all
foreigners, this policy creates a major hardship for laborers
and in particular, domestic workers by restricting their
movement in and out of the country. Currently, the exit
visa policy is not under discussion, and the Saudi government
is unlikely to change this policy in the near future.
Additionally, the widespread practice of employers
withholding passports creates an additional impediment
towards free movement.

G.1 ACTION REQUEST: Post requests that Department provide
examples of how the exit visa/passport holding issue has been
addressed elsewhere, to allow us to approach the Saudi
government on this important issue with credible examples of
successful efforts at reform in other countries.
SMITH