SWAZILAND -- 2009 TIP REPORT: PRESS GUIDANCE AND

UNCLAS STATE 060535

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KTIP ELAB KCRM KPAO KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG WZ
SUBJECT: SWAZILAND -- 2009 TIP REPORT: PRESS GUIDANCE AND
DEMARCHE

REF: (A) STATE 59732 (B) STATE 005577


1. This is an action cable; see paras 5 through 7 and 10.


2. On June 16, 2009, at 10:00 a.m. EDT, the Secretary will
release the 2009 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report at a
press conference in the Department's press briefing room.
This release will receive substantial coverage in domestic
and foreign news outlets. Until the time of the Secretary's
June 16 press conference, any public release of the Report or
country narratives contained therein is prohibited.


3. The Department is hereby providing Post with advance press
guidance to be used on June 16 or thereafter. Also provided
is demarche language to be used in informing the Government
of Swaziland of its tier ranking and the TIP Report's
imminent release. The text of the TIP Report country
narrative is provided, both for use in informing the
Government of Swaziland and in any local media release by
Post's public affairs section on June 16 or thereafter.
Drawing on information provided below in paras 8 and 9, Post
may provide the host government with the text of the TIP
Report narrative no earlier than 1200 noon local time Monday
June 15 for WHA, AF, EUR, and NEA countries and OOB local
time Tuesday June 16 for SCA and EAP posts. Please note,
however, that any public release of the Report's information
should not/not precede the Secretary's release at 10:00 am
EDT on June 16.


4. The entire TIP Report will be available on-line at
www.state.gov/g/tip shortly after the Secretary's June 16
release. Hard copies of the Report will be pouched to posts
in all countries appearing on the Report. The Secretary's
statement at the June 16 press event, and the statement of
and fielding of media questions by G/TIP,s Director and
Senior Advisor to the Secretary, Ambassador-at-Large Luis
CdeBaca, will be available on the Department's website
shortly after the June 16 event. Ambassador de Baca will
also hold a general briefing for officials of foreign
embassies in Washington DC on June 17 at 3:30 pm EDT.


5. Action Request: No earlier than 12 noon local time on
Monday June 15 for WHA, AF, EUR, and NEA posts and OOB local
time on Tuesday June 16 for SCA and EAP posts, please inform
the appropriate official in the Government of Swaziland of
the June 16 release of the 2009 TIP Report, drawing on the
points in para 9 (at Post's discretion) and including the
text of the country narrative provided in para 8. For
countries where the State Department has lowered the tier
ranking, it is particularly important to advise governments
prior to the Report being released in Washington on June 16.


6. Action Request continued: Please note that, for those
countries which will not receive an "action plan" with
specific recommendations for improvement, posts should draw
host governments' attention to the areas for improvement
identified in the 2009 Report, especially highlighted in the
"Recommendations" section of the second paragraph of the
narrative text. This engagement is important to establishing
the framework in which the government's performance will be
judged for the 2010 Report. If posts have questions about
which governments will receive an action plan, or how they
may follow up on the recommendations in the 2009 Report,
please contact G/TIP and the appropriate regional bureau.


7. Action Request continued: On June 16, please be prepared
to answer media inquiries on the Report's release using the
press guidance provided in para 11. If Post wishes, a local
press statement may be released on or after 10:30 am EDT June
16, drawing on the press guidance and the text of the TIP
Report's country narrative provided in para 8.


8. Begin Final Text of Swaziland,s country narrative in the
2009 TIP Report:

--------------
Swaziland (TIER 3)
--------------


Swaziland is a source, destination, and transit country for
women and children trafficked internally and transnationally
for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation, domestic
servitude, and forced labor in agriculture. Swazi girls,
particularly orphans, are trafficked internally for
commercial sexual exploitation and domestic servitude in the
cities of Mbabane and Manzini, as well as to South Africa and
Mozambique. Swazi boys are trafficked for forced labor in
commercial agriculture and market vending. Some Swazi women
are forced into prostitution in South Africa and Mozambique
after voluntarily migrating to these countries in search of
work. Chinese organized crime units acquire victims in
Swaziland and traffic them to hubs in Johannesburg, where
they &distribute8 victims locally or send them on to be
exploited overseas. Traffickers force Mozambican women into
prostitution in Swaziland, or else transit Swaziland with
their victims en route to South Africa. Mozambican boys
migrate to Swaziland for work washing cars, herding
livestock, and portering; some of these boys subsequently
become victims of trafficking.


The Government of Swaziland does not comply with the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not
making significant efforts to do so. The government believes
that trafficking probably does occur, but does not know the
extent of the problem. Its limited resources were directed
towards other issues because the government does not judge
trafficking to be an &important8 problem, a judgment which
significantly limited the government,s current efforts to
eliminate human trafficking, or to plan anti-trafficking
activities or initiatives for the future.


Recommendations for Swaziland: Enact and implement
comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation; prosecute
trafficking offenses under existing laws; train law
enforcement officials to recognize human trafficking
situations; proactively identify victims; institute a formal
system to refer victims for assistance; work with NGOs and
international organizations as appropriate, to better
determine the nature and extent of Swaziland,s trafficking
problem; implement a comprehensive law-enforcement
record-keeping system; and conduct visible campaigns to
educate the public about the dangers and risks of trafficking
in Swaziland.

Prosecution
--------------
The government made no effort to investigate or prosecute
trafficking offenses during the year. While Swaziland has no
law specifically prohibiting trafficking, existing statutes
prohibiting acts such as kidnapping, forced and compulsory
labor, confiscation of passports, aiding and abetting
&prohibited immigrants8 to enter the country, brothel
keeping, procurement for prostitution, sex or solicitation of
sex with an underage girl, and employing children under the
age of 15 could be used to prosecute trafficking offenses,
but were not. Under traditional Swazi law, many such cases
are resolved within the chiefdom via customary, rather than
civil law, and cases reviewed under customary law are not
generally reported to civil authorities, or the media. As
plaintiffs in these cases tend to be reluctant to bring
additional civil or criminal charges against the suspected
offender, the government has no information whether any of
these cases do or could involve trafficking. A draft bill
now in its fourth year of review -- the Sexual Offenses and
Domestic Violence Bill -- would criminalize sex trafficking
and mandate psychological services for victims. It has not
yet been presented to parliament. In the past year, law
enforcement officials made no effort to proactively identify
cases of children trafficked for labor.

Protection
--------------
The Swaziland government made inadequate efforts to protect
victims of trafficking over the reporting period. There were
no government programs which provided services specifically
to victims of trafficking, and the government continued to
depend on NGOs to provide shelter, referral, counseling, and
other care for victims. A government-run center in Manzini
provides medical and social services to victims of abuse,
which would be made available to trafficking victims.
Swazi law did not protect victims from prosecution for crimes
committed as a direct result of trafficking. Under the
Immigration Act, a person entering Swaziland for the purpose
of prostitution, even as a victim of trafficking, is subject
to deportation, although it is not automatic. The government
did not provide legal alternatives to the removal of foreign
victims to countries where they would be at risk of hardship
or retribution.

Prevention
--------------
There were no government-run anti-trafficking campaigns
during the reporting period. In late 2008, the Ministry of
Home Affairs, Gender Unit again worked with NGOs to organize
the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence campaign,
which addressed human trafficking and other abuses against
women and children. Movement across the borders with South
Africa and Mozambique are not well-controlled; undocumented
crossings of illegal migrants and trafficking victims are
common. Although the authorities lack the personnel to
patrol Swaziland,s borders adequately, they claim that they
made some efforts to monitor them for trafficking during the
year. The government also made some effort to reduce demand
for commercial sex acts during the year. Swaziland has not
ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.

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



9. Post may wish to deliver the following points, which offer
technical and legal background on the TIP Report process, to
the host government as a non-paper with the above TIP Report
country narrative:

(begin non-paper)

-- The U.S. Congress, through its passage of the 2000
Trafficking Victims Protection Act, as amended (TVPA),
requires the Secretary of State to submit an annual Report to
Congress. The goal of this Report is to stimulate action and
create partnerships around the world in the fight against
modern-day slavery. The USG approach to combating human
trafficking follows the TVPA and the standards set forth in
the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in
Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the
United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized
Crime (commonly known as the "Palermo Protocol"). The TVPA
and the Palermo Protocol recognize that this is a crime in
which the victims, labor or services (including in the "sex
industry") are obtained or maintained through force, fraud,
or coercion, whether overt or through psychological
manipulation. While much attention has focused on
international flows, both the TVPA and the Palermo Protocol
focus on the exploitation of the victim, and do not require a
showing that the victim was moved.

-- Recent amendments to the TVPA removed the requirement that
only countries with a "significant number" of trafficking
victims be included in the Report. Beginning with the 2009
TIP Report, countries determined to be a country of origin,
transit, or destination for victims of severe forms of
trafficking are included in the Report and assigned to one of
three tiers. Countries assessed as meeting the "minimum
standards for the elimination of severe forms of trafficking"
set forth in the TVPA are classified as Tier 1. Countries
assessed as not fully complying with the minimum standards,
but making significant efforts to meet those minimum
standards are classified as Tier 2. Countries assessed as
neither complying with the minimum standards nor making
significant efforts to do so are classified as Tier 3.

-- The TVPA also requires the Secretary of State to provide a
"Special Watch List" to Congress later in the year.
Anti-trafficking efforts of the countries on this list are to
be evaluated again in an Interim Assessment that the
Secretary of State must provide to Congress by February 1 of
each year. Countries are included on the "Special Watch
List" if they move up in "tier" rankings in the annual TIP
Report -- from 3 to 2 or from 2 to 1 ) or if they have been
placed on the Tier 2 Watch List.

-- Tier 2 Watch List consists of Tier 2 countries determined:
(1) not to have made "increasing efforts" to combat human
trafficking over the past year; (2) to be making significant
efforts based on commitments of anti-trafficking reforms over
the next year, or (3) to have a very significant number of
trafficking victims or a significantly increasing victim
population. As indicated in reftel B, 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.

-- Countries classified as Tier 3 may be subject to statutory
restrictions for the subsequent fiscal year on
non-humanitarian and non-trade-related foreign assistance
and, in some circumstances, withholding of funding for
participation by government officials or employees in
educational and cultural exchange programs. In addition,
the President could instruct the U.S. executive directors to
international financial institutions to oppose loans or other
utilization of funds (other than for humanitarian,
trade-related or certain types of development assistance)
with respect to countries on Tier 3. Countries classified as
Tier 3 that take strong action within 90 days of the Report's
release to show significant efforts against trafficking in
persons, and thereby warrant a reassessment of their Tier
classification, would avoid such sanctions. Guidelines for
such actions are in the DOS-crafted action plans to be shared
by Posts with host governments.

-- The 2009 TIP Report, issuing as it does in the midst of
the global financial crisis, highlights high levels of
trafficking for forced labor in many parts of the world and
systemic contributing factors to this phenomenon: fraudulent
recruitment practices and excessive recruiting fees in
workers, home countries; the lack of adequate labor
protections in both sending and receiving countries; and the
flawed design of some destination countries, "sponsorship
systems" that do not give foreign workers adequate legal
recourse when faced with conditions of forced labor. As the
May 2009 ILO Global Report on Forced Labor concluded, forced
labor victims suffer approximately $20 billion in losses, and
traffickers, profits are estimated at $31 billion. The
current global financial crisis threatens to increase the
number of victims of forced labor and increase the associated
"cost of coercion."

-- The text of the TVPA and amendments can be found on
website www.state.gov/g/tip.

-- On June 16, 2009, the Secretary of State will release the
ninth annual TIP Report in a public event at the State
Department. We are providing you an advance copy of your
country's narrative in that report. Please keep this
information embargoed until 10:00 am Washington DC time June

16. The State Department will also hold a general briefing
for officials of foreign embassies in Washington DC on June
17 at 3:30 pm EDT.

(end non-paper)


10. Posts should make sure that the relevant country
narrative is readily available on or though the Mission's web
page in English and appropriate local language(s) as soon as
possible after the TIP Report is released. Funding for
translation costs will be handled as it was for the Human
Rights Report. Posts needing financial assistance for
translation costs should contact their regional bureau,s EX
office.


11. The following is press guidance provided for Post to use
with local media.

Q1: Why is Swaziland placed on the Report and ranked on Tier
3?


A. Swaziland was placed on the TIP Report because there is
evidence that it is a country of origin, transit, or
destination for victims of severe forms of trafficking. The
government of Swaziland does not comply with the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not
making significant efforts to do so. The government believes
that trafficking probably does occur, but does not know the
extent of the problem. Its limited resources were directed
towards other issues because the government does not judge
trafficking to be an &important8 problem, a judgment which
significantly limited the government,s current efforts to
eliminate human trafficking, or to plan anti-trafficking
activities or initiatives for the future.

Q2: What is the nature of the trafficking problem in
Swaziland?


A. Swaziland is a source, destination, and transit country
for women and children trafficked internally and
transnationally for the purposes of commercial sexual
exploitation, domestic servitude, and forced labor in
agriculture. Swazi girls, particularly orphans, are
trafficked internally for commercial sexual exploitation and
domestic servitude in the cities of Mbabane and Manzini, as
well as to South Africa and Mozambique. Swazi boys are
trafficked for forced labor in commercial agriculture and
market vending. Some Swazi women are forced into
prostitution in South Africa and Mozambique after voluntarily
migrating to these countries in search of work. Chinese
organized crime units acquire victims in Swaziland and
traffic them to hubs in Johannesburg, where they
&distribute8 victims locally or send them on to be
exploited overseas. Traffickers force Mozambican women into
prostitution in Swaziland, or else transit Swaziland with
their victims en route to South Africa. Mozambican boys
migrate to Swaziland for work washing cars, herding
livestock, and portering; some of these boys subsequently
become victims of trafficking.

Q3: How can Swaziland show progress in its anti-trafficking
efforts?


A. The government could enact and implement comprehensive
anti-trafficking legislation; prosecute trafficking offenses
under existing laws; train law enforcement officials to
recognize human trafficking situations; proactively identify
victims; institute a formal system to refer victims for
assistance; work, with NGOs and international organizations
as appropriate, to better determine the nature and extent of
Swaziland,s trafficking problem; implement a comprehensive
law-enforcement record-keeping system; and conduct visible
campaigns to educate the public about the dangers and risks
of trafficking in Swaziland.


12. The Department appreciates posts, assistance with the
preceding action requests.
CLINTON