COTE D,IVOIRE: TIP TIER 2 WATCH LIST ACTION PLAN

UNCLAS STATE 102729

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (ADDING SENSITIVE CAPTION)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KTIP PREL KCRM KWMN PHUM SMIG IV
SUBJECT: COTE D,IVOIRE: TIP TIER 2 WATCH LIST ACTION PLAN
(2009-2010)

REF: A. A. 2008 STATE 132759

B. B. 2007 STATE 150188

C. C. 2009 STATE 005577

D. D.2009 STATE 62182


1. (U) This is an action request (see paras 2-4).


2. (SBU) Begin action request: Drawing from points in para
8, Post is requested to approach appropriate host government
officials to highlight the United States' strong commitment
to continue to work with the Government of Cote d,Ivoire to
help strengthen its efforts to combat and prevent trafficking
in persons (TIP) and to assist victims. Post is requested to
convey the recommendations in para 9 as a non-paper and draw
from the talking points in para 8 to explain to the host
government the need for prompt action on the first set of
recommendations for a positive review in the interim
assessment that the Department will release to Congress by
February 2010 and for movement out of the Tier 2 Watch List
in next year's Report. Additional recommendations are also
included in para 9 to aid the host government in making
progress in its overall anti-TIP efforts. The notes
indicated in brackets in the action plan are for post,s
background only and may be omitted from the non-paper. The
&Implementation Guidelines8 referenced in the action plan
notes are contained in reftel B. These guidelines provide
guidance to posts on how the Minimum Standards of the
Trafficking Victims Protection Act, as amended, (TVPA) are
implemented, and have been cleared by regional bureaus.


3. (SBU) Action request continued: Post is further
requested to emphasize to the Government of Cote d,Ivoire
that the first set of recommendations is designed to help
remedy the specific shortcomings identified in the 2009 TIP
Report that resulted in the placement of Cote d,Ivoire on
the Tier 2 Watch List. These recommendations are often
referred to as "high-priority" items for Tier 2 Watch List
removal. However, sustained and significant anti-trafficking
efforts by the government throughout the year will remain the
basis for determining next year's tier placement. The
interim assessment for Special Watch List countries (to
include Tier 2 Watch List countries) will provide a progress
report regarding the government's actions to address the
short list recommendations designed to address the concerns
that resulted in the country's placement on the Tier 2 Watch
List in the 2009 TIP Report (high-priority items),but there
will be no changes in tier ratings at that time. We will
reconsider the government's tier placement when we conduct
our annual full assessment for the March 2009-2010 reporting
period next spring.


4. (SBU) Action request continued: The Department
recognizes that Post may choose to use this opportunity to
provide additional recommendations, beyond the
recommendations for moving out of the Tier 2 Watch List. In
such a case, we request that Post make clear to the
government which are the "high-priority" items to move off of
the Tier 2 Watch List. The non-paper in para 9 includes both
"high-priority" recommendations for Tier 2 Watch List removal
and further-reaching goals for longer-term success in
combating trafficking in persons in all 3 P areas:
Prosecution, Protection, and Prevention. (For posts,
background information: G/TIP will be asking for posts to
report on the country's progress in meeting these
recommendations by no later than November 15, 2009, in order
to compile narratives for the interim assessment.)


5. (SBU) In preparation for the interim assessment and 2010
TIP Report, the Department is asking posts to work with host
governments throughout the year to collect as many statistics
as possible on law enforcement actions and judicial
proceedings related to TIP crimes, specifically the
Department requests data on investigations, prosecutions,
convictions, and sentences (e.g., fines, probation, length of
prison sentences imposed, asset seizure information when
available). Whether a government collects and provides this
data consistent with the government's capacity to obtain such
data is considered in determining whether the government
qualifies for Tier 1. Law enforcement statistics, when
available, are a good way of highlighting how well a
government enforced its law and demonstrates strengths and
weaknesses in various approaches. Please note that host
governments and embassies must interpret data terms provided
by host governments such as indictments, charges, cases
disposed, cases submitted for prosecution, etc., to ensure
that they fit into one of the following categories:
investigations, prosecutions, convictions or sentences.

The Department cannot accept "trafficking-related" law
enforcement statistics (e.g, statistics on prostitution or
smuggling offenses) because their direct correlation to
trafficking crimes is not clear. The Department will accept
only law enforcement data that fall into the following
categories: (1) investigations, prosecutions, convictions,
and sentences for offenses that are explicitly defined as
trafficking; and (2) investigations, prosecutions,
convictions, and sentences for offenses that are not defined
explicitly as trafficking but in which the competent law
enforcement or judicial authority has specific evidence
indicating that the defendant was involved in trafficking.


6. (SBU) The Department is also asking Posts to engage with
host governments on efforts to address amendments made by the
2008 Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act
(TVPRA). As indicated in reftel C, the TVPRA of 2008
contains a provision requiring that a country that has been
included on Tier 2 Watch List for two consecutive years after
the date of enactment of the TVPRA of 2008 be ranked as Tier

3. Thus, any automatic downgrade to Tier 3 pursuant to this
provision would take place, at the earliest, in the 2011 TIP
Report (i.e., a country would have to be ranked Tier 2 Watch
List in the 2009 and 2010 Reports before being subject to
Tier 3 in the 2011 Report). The new law allows for a waiver
of this provision for up to two additional years upon a
determination by the President that the country has developed
and devoted sufficient resources to a written plan to make
significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with the
minimum standards.



7. (SBU) Please keep in mind the TIP Report measures host
government efforts. In order for anti-trafficking activities
financed or conducted principally by parties outside the
government to be considered for tier placement purposes, Post
needs to demonstrate a concrete role or tangible value-added
by a host government in such activities carried out by NGOs,
international organizations, or posts.


8. (U) Background Points:

Begin talking points:

-- The Obama Administration views the fight against human
trafficking, both at home and abroad, as a critical piece of
our foreign policy agenda. We are committed to making
progress on this issue in the months ahead by working closely
with partners in every country.

-- The U.S. Government's Trafficking Victims Protection Act
requires the State Department to submit an annual report to
Congress on the status of foreign governments, efforts to
combat trafficking in persons. Pursuant to the Trafficking
Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2003 (TVPRA),the
Department created a special category for Tier 2 countries
that do not show increasing efforts from the previous year,
have a very significant number of victims, or whose Tier 2
rating is based on commitments to take additional steps over
the next year.

-- Also as mandated by the TVPRA, by February 2010 the
Department will submit to Congress an interim assessment. At
the end of 2009 in preparation for that submission, the
Department will conduct an assessment of Tier 2 Watch List
countries' progress in responding to the specific issues of
concern that resulted in the Tier 2 Watch List rating.

-- Cote d,Ivoire was placed on Tier 2 Watch List in this
year's Report because of a lack of evidence of increasing
efforts to combat severe forms of trafficking in persons from
the previous year.

-- We offer the following recommended actions (Action Plan
for the Short-term) to tackle specific shortcomings
highlighted in the 2009 TIP Report. We believe these to be
within the reasonable ability of your government to fulfill
in the near-term and encourage you to take prompt action for
a positive narrative in the interim assessment. New tier
evaluations will not occur at the interim assessment. We
will reconsider a government,s tier placement when we
conduct our annual full assessment for the 2009-2010
reporting period next spring. Prompt, appropriate, and
significant actions will lead to a more favorable tier
placement; conversely, failure to address the issues
mentioned above may lead to a Tier 3 placement.

-- We would welcome the Government of Cote d,Ivoire,s
comments on these recommendations and any other ideas you
might have to advance our common struggle against trafficking
in persons.

-- In addition to the short list of recommendations
corresponding to our concerns that resulted in your
government,s placement on the Tier 2 Watch List in the 2009
TIP Report, we offer additional suggestions of actions that
your government may choose to take (Action Plan for the Long
term). These further measures would be in addition to Cote
d,Ivoire,s continuation of its current efforts to combat
trafficking in persons.

End talking points.


9. (SBU) Begin Action Plan for Cote d,Ivoire:

Action Plan for the Short-Term: The following are recommended
measures for a positive interim assessment in January 2010
and in the broader assessment of government efforts during
the reporting period:


1. Increase efforts to prosecute, convict, and punish
trafficking offenders, particularly traffickers of
children for prostitution or forced labor. Although Penal
Code Article 378 prohibits forced labor and Penal Code
Articles 335 to 337 criminalizes recruiting or
offering children for prostitution, these laws are not yet
strongly enforced. In particular, we encourage the
government to investigate suspected child trafficking cases
and consider application of forced labor laws.



2. Develop and implement policies and procedures to
identify trafficking victims among vulnerable
populations, including women and children in prostitution.
Ensure that law enforcement officials conducting raids of
brothels systematically screen females in
prostitution to identify women forced or coerced into
prostitution and minors in prostitution as
trafficking victims.

According to the Trafficking Victims Protection Act and the
UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in
Persons, children in prostitution are considered to be
victims of trafficking where a third party facilitates, or
profits from, this exploitation even absent evidence of the
use of force, fraud or coercion. A child is defined as any
person below the age of eighteen.


3. Step-up efforts to assist trafficking victims by either
collaborating with NGOs and international
organizations to provide victims with shelter, security,
food, rehabilitation, and reintegration
assistance, or by establishing a government shelter for
trafficking victims.

Progress on this item will be measured by an increased number
of reports of victims benefiting from government-provided
care.

II. Action Plan for the Long-Term: Other measures the
government should consider to boost its overall
anti-trafficking efforts:

Prosecution:

-- Develop a centralized crime database to record the number
of trafficking cases investigated and the number of suspected
traffickers arrested, prosecuted, and convicted in Cote
d,Ivoire. For those convicted, the database should record
the length of sentences imposed.

-- Incorporate into the national law enforcement curricula a
course on trafficking. The course should cover techniques
for a) investigating trafficking cases; b) arresting
traffickers and collecting evidence for their prosecution; c)
rescuing victims and referring them for care; and d)
interviewing victims to obtain testimony for prosecution.

Protection:

-- Consider developing a trafficking victim database that
records the number victims identified by police and referred
to NGOs for care. The database should, to the best extent
possible, record the type of trafficking the victim
experienced, the age and gender of the victim, and the place
of origin of the victim.

-- Increase efforts to interview rescued victims of
trafficking in order to gather evidence to assist in
prosecution of their traffickers. Ensure that victims are
interviewed in a timely manner before they return to their
countries of origin.

Prevention:

-- Seek increased collaboration with the Governments of
Ghana, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Togo to combat trafficking of
children from these countries to Cote d,Ivoire.

-- Increase efforts to raise public awareness about
trafficking through radio broadcasts and visits by government
officials to communities throughout Cote d,Ivoire to educate
the population about these crimes.

End Action Plan.


10. (U) Department appreciates post's continued assistance
and efforts in the fight to eliminate trafficking in persons.
CLINTON