AF: INSTRUCTIONS FOR 2009 TIP INTERIM ASSESSMENT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 STATE 112432 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KCRM KTIP KWMN PGOV PHUM SMIG AO BY CM CT CG CF IV DJ, EK, GB, GH, GV, PU, SG, ML, NI SUBJECT: AF: INSTRUCTIONS FOR 2009 TIP INTERIM ASSESSMENT REF: NONE ¶1. (U) This is an action cable; action request in paras 5 and ¶6. 2.(SBU) The Trafficking Victims Protection Act, as amended in 2003, requires the Secretary of State to submit a "Special Watch List" of countries on the TIP Report that either 1) had moved up a tier on the TIP Report over the last year or 2) were ranked on Tier 2 but a)had not shown evidence of increasing efforts to address severe forms of TIP from the previous year, b) were placed on Tier 2 because of commitments to carry out additional future actions over the coming year, or c) had a significant or significantly increasing number of victims of severe forms of TIP. ¶3. (SBU) The "Special Watch List" has been submitted to Congress, as required, along with the President's determinations for sanctions of Tier 3 countries. The TVPA, as amended, now requires the Secretary to submit to Congress an Interim Assessment on the Special Watch List countries no later than February 1, 2010. 4.(SBU) The Interim Assessment, which the Department plans to release on January 5, 2010, will serve as a narrowly-focused progress report, assessing a country's progress on key recommendations highlighted in the June 2009 TIP Report. Measuring progress or lack of progress in addressing these deficiencies is the main purpose of the Interim Assessment. This will not/not serve as a large-scale analysis of anti-trafficking efforts in the relevant country. Similarly, it will not describe the trafficking problem in that country (readers can refer to the 2009 TIP Report for that). Finally, it will not mention Tiers or allude to progress in achieving a higher tier or, conversely, forecast a fall to a lower tier. ¶5. (U) Action Request for Action Addressees: Please answer the questions addressed to your Post in para 6 in concise analytical terms, citing examples of the progress (or lack thereof) sparingly. Post's submission should not exceed four or five paragraphs. The final Interim Assessment will include a narrative of no more than half a page on each country's progress. Please provide these responses to the Department via front-channel cable -- slugged for AF/RSA and G/TIP -- no later than November 16. ¶6. (U) Interim Assessment Requirements: ¶A. FOR EMBASSY ABIDJAN: Please summarize the progress, or lack thereof, the Government of Cote d,Ivoire has made in: (a) increasing efforts to investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers; (b)developing systematic procedures for identifying trafficking victims among women and girls in prostitution; (c)stepping up efforts to educate government officials about trafficking, particularly child sex trafficking; (e)intensifying efforts to provide care to trafficking victims by making available funds allocated for construction of victim shelters; and (f)ensuring that trafficking victims are not penalized for acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked. Please report on any other significant developments. ¶B. FOR EMBASSY ABUJA: Please summarize the progress, or lack thereof, the Government of Nigeria has made in: (a) continuing strong efforts to prosecute and convict trafficking offenders; (b) reconsidering the practice of interrogating suspected traffickers in Lagos in the same building where trafficking victims are sheltered; and (c) ensuring that victims, rights are respected and that they are not detained involuntarily in shelters. Please report on any other significant developments. STATE 00112432 002 OF 004 ¶C. FOR EMBASSY ACCRA: Please summarize the progress, or lack thereof, the Government of Ghana has made in:(a)increasing efforts to prosecute and convict trafficking offenders, including those who subject children to forced labor in the Lake Volta fishing industry and those who force foreign women into prostitution; (b)establishing additional victim shelters, particularly for sex trafficking victims; (c)continuing to apply Trafficking Victim Fund monies to victim care; and(d) training officials to identify trafficking victims among women in prostitution and to respect victims' rights. Please report on any other significant developments. ¶D. FOR EMBASSY BAMAKO: Please summarize the progress, or lack thereof, the Government of Mali has made in: (a) investigating and prosecuting trafficking offenses, including cases of traditional slavery, and convicting and punishing trafficking offenders under existing laws; (b)criminalizing the trafficking of adults for all purposes, including slavery; (c)developing a system for collecting data on trafficking crimes and the number of victims identified and referred by government authorities to service providers for care; and(d)increasing efforts to raise public awareness about trafficking and traditional hereditary slavery. Please report on any other significant developments. ¶E. FOR EMBASSY BANGUI: Please summarize the progress, or lack thereof, the Government of the Central African Republic has made in: (a)Passing and enacting the 2006 anti-trafficking law; (b)developing procedures through which police and social workers may identify trafficking victims among vulnerable populations - such as females in prostitution, abandoned and street children, and Pygmies ) and training police and social workers to implement these procedures; (c)ending the practice of jailing children who are victims of sex trafficking; (d)providing care to children in commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor, in collaboration with NGOs and the international community as appropriate; and (e)increasing overall efforts to educate the public about the dangers of trafficking. Please report on any other significant developments. ¶F. FOR EMBASSY BRAZZAVILLE: Please summarize the progress, or lack thereof, the Government of the Republic of Congo has made in:(a) training law enforcement officials to identify traffickers and arrest them under relevant laws; and (b) training social workers and law enforcement officials to identify trafficking victims among vulnerable populations and to refer them to foreign government consulates, foster families, international organizations, faith-based groups, or NGOs for care. Please report on any other significant developments. ¶G. FOR EMBASSY BUJUMBURA: Please summarize the progress, or lack thereof, the Government of Burundi has made in: (a)utilizing the anti-trafficking provisions of the newly passed criminal code amendments to prosecute and convict trafficking offenders; (b)establishing an official process for law enforcement and social welfare officials to interview potential trafficking victims and refer them for assistance; (c) taking steps to remove children trafficked into prostitution and domestic servitude and providing them with protective services; (d)launching a nationwide anti-trafficking public awareness campaign; and (e) providing training on human trafficking to new police and border guards. Please report on any other significant developments. H.FOR EMBASSY DAKAR: Please summarize the progress, or lack thereof, the Government of Senegal has made in: (a) intensifying efforts to prosecute and convict trafficking offenders; (b) ensuring that the Ministry of the Interior's Special Commissariat Against Sex Tourism and the Tourism Ministry's sex tourism police unit arrest suspected sex tourists and rescue their victims; and(c) increasing efforts to raise awareness about trafficking. Please report on any other significant developments. ¶I. FOR EMBASSY DAKAR (GUINEA-BISSAU): Please summarize the STATE 00112432 003 OF 004 progress, or lack thereof, the Government of Guinea-Bissau has made in: (a) enacting the draft law prohibiting trafficking in persons; (b) increasing efforts to prosecute and punish trafficking offenders under forced labor and trafficking-related laws; (c)investigating establishments where children are subjected to commercial sexual exploitation in order to rescue child victims and arrest trafficking offenders; (d)investigating whether girls are trafficked to Senegal for domestic servitude; and (e)finalizing and enacting the draft anti-trafficking national action plan. Please report on any other significant developments. ¶J. FOR EMBASSY DJIBOUTI: Please summarize the progress, or lack thereof, the Government of Djibouti has made in: (a)continuing to enforce the anti-trafficking statute through the successful prosecution of trafficking offenders; (b)launching a nationwide campaign to educate all levels of government officials and the general public on the issue of human trafficking; (c)developing a plan for providing training on the anti-trafficking law and its provisions to law enforcement and social welfare officials, including judges, lawyers, police, immigration officers, and social workers; (d) establishing mechanisms for providing increased protective services to trafficking victims, possibly through he forging of partnerships with NGOs or civil society. Please report on any other significant developments. ¶K. FOR EMBASSY KINSHASA: Please summarize the progress, or lack thereof, the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has made in: (a)increasing efforts to prosecute and punish trafficking offenders, particularly those who conscript child soldiers, utilize forced labor, or control children in prostitution;(b)punishing military and other law enforcement personnel found unlawfully using local populations to perform forced labor or mine for minerals;(c) working in partnership with NGOs or religious entities to ensure the provision of short-term protective services to children who are trafficking victims; and (d)working with concession holders to educate mine operators and workers about the illegality of utilizing forced labor. Please report on any other significant developments. ¶L. FOR EMBASSY LIBREVILLE: Please summarize the progress, or lack thereof, the Government of Gabon has made in: (a)increasing efforts to prosecute trafficking offenses and convict and punish trafficking offenders; (b)drafting and enacting legislation prohibiting the trafficking of adults; (c)investigating reports of government complicity in trafficking; (d)developing formal procedures to identify trafficking victims among females in prostitution; (e) ending the practice of placing victims in jail, even temporarily; and (f) taking steps to combat the forced labor of Pygmies. Please report on any other significant developments. ¶M. FOR EMBASSY LUANDA: Please summarize the progress, or lack thereof, the Government of Angola has made in: (a)enacting laws to prohibit and punish all forms of trafficking in persons; (b)increase the capacity of law enforcement officials to identify and protect victims; (c)systematically collect data on offenses, victims, and prosecutions; and (d) reporting on these activities. Please report on any other significant developments. ¶N. FOR EMBASSY MALABO: Please summarize the progress, or lack thereof, the Government of Equatorial Guinea has made in: (a) making greater use of the country,s 2005 anti-trafficking law and law enforcement and judicial personnel to investigate, prosecute, and convict trafficking offenders; (c)training additional law enforcement officials and Conciliation Delegates to follow formal procedures to identify trafficking victims among child laborers, illegal immigrants, and women and girls in prostitution; (d)establishing a formal system for providing trafficking victims with assistance; (e)ceasing deportation of any foreign trafficking victims from Equatoguinean territory without providing them with care and safe and voluntary repatriation; and(f) increasing efforts to raise public STATE 00112432 004 OF 004 awareness about trafficking. Please report on any other significant developments. ¶O. FOR EMBASSY MBABANE: Please summarize the progress, or lack thereof, the Government of Swaziland has made in: (a) intensifying efforts to prosecute and punish trafficking offenders, especially public officials complicit in or facilitating human trafficking; (b)increasing investigation into potential labor trafficking situations; (c)continuing to increase victim assistance and shelter services; (d) providing greater legal protections for undocumented and foreign trafficking victims; (e)increasing prevention and demand-reduction efforts; (f)increasing efforts to identify and care for all trafficking victims; and (g)increasing anti-trafficking training for government and judicial officials. Please report on any other significant developments. ¶P. FOR EMBASSY PORT LOUIS: Please summarize the progress, or lack thereof, the Government of Mauritius has made in: (a) utilizing newly passed anti-trafficking legislation to investigate and prosecute trafficking offenses and convicting and punishing trafficking offenders; (b) designating an official coordinating body or mechanism to facilitate improved anti-trafficking communication and coordination among the relevant ministries, law enforcement entities, working groups, and NGOs; and (c)increasing protective services available to victims of child commercial sexual exploitation, particularly in regard to safe shelter and educational opportunities. Please report on any other significant developments. ¶Q. FOR EMBASSY YAOUNDE: Please summarize the progress, or lack thereof, the Government of Cameroon has made in:(a)increasing efforts to prosecute and convict trafficking offenders; (b)educating police, judges, lawyers, and social workers about the law against child trafficking;(c)finalizing and enacting the draft law criminalizing the trafficking of adults;(d) investigating reports of hereditary slavery in the Northern Province; and(e) developing and implementing formal procedures through which law enforcement and victim protection officials may systematically identify trafficking victims among vulnerable populations and refer them for care. Please report on any other significant developments. CLINTON