BURKINA FASO -- 2009 TIP REPORT: PRESS GUIDANCE

UNCLAS STATE 060539

SIPDIS

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

REF: A. (A) STATE 59732

B. (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 Burkina Faso 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 Burkina Faso 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 Burkina Faso 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 Burkina Faso,s country narrative in
the 2009 TIP Report:

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

Burkina Faso (Tier 2)
--------------
Burkina Faso is a source, transit, and destination country
for children and women trafficked for the purposes of forced
labor and commercial sexual exploitation. Most victims are
children, trafficked within the country from rural areas to
urban centers such as Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso, for
domestic servitude, sexual exploitation, and forced labor in
gold mines and stone quarries, and the agriculture sector.
Burkinab children are also trafficked for the same purposes
to other West African countries, most notably to Cte
d,Ivoire, where many are subjected to forced agricultural
labor, including on cocoa farms. Children are also
trafficked from Burkina Faso to Mali, Benin, Nigeria, Niger
and Togo, and Ghana. Burkinab children are also trafficked
to Mali for forced begging by religious teachers. In the
past year, children were also trafficked from Burkina Faso to
Sudan. Children from these West African countries are
trafficked to Burkina Faso for the same purposes listed
above. To a lesser extent, Burkina Faso is a source country
for women lured to Europe with promises of jobs as maids, but
who are forced into prostitution after arrival. Women from
Nigeria, Togo, Benin, Ghana, and Niger reportedly are
trafficked to Burkina Faso for forced labor in bars or for
commercial sexual exploitation.

The Government of Burkina Faso does not fully comply with the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so, despite
limited resources. Burkina Faso,s law enforcement efforts
improved with the passage of legislation prohibiting all
forms of trafficking that supersedes a prior law that
criminalized only child trafficking. The government also
investigated and prosecuted an increased number of
trafficking offenders, though sentences imposed on convicted
traffickers remained low. Protection efforts remained solid.

Recommendations for Burkina Faso: Increase penalties imposed
on convicted trafficking offenders; train police and
government social workers to identify trafficking victims
among women in prostitution; ensure that sex trafficking
victims are not penalized under anti-prostitution laws; and
increase efforts to raise awareness about trafficking.

Prosecution
--------------
The Government of Burkina Faso increased its law enforcement
efforts to combat trafficking over the last year. In May
2008, the government passed Law 029-2008 on Combating
Trafficking in Persons and Related Practices that prohibits
all forms of trafficking and prescribes sentences of five
years, to life imprisonment for those convicted of
trafficking offenses. These penalties are sufficiently
stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for rape.
This law supersedes the nation,s 2003 Law No. 038-2003
concerning the Definition of Child Trafficking which
criminalized child trafficking and prescribed a maximum
penalty of 10 years, imprisonment. Burkina Faso,s Penal
Affairs Officer reported that in 2008, the government
arrested 40 child trafficking suspects, 16 of whom were
cleared of all charges and released, and 11 of whom were
prosecuted, convicted, and given sentences of one to twelve
months, imprisonment. Five of these traffickers were given
sentences of far less than one years, imprisonment. Four
traffickers received sentences of six months which the court
considered completed at the time of sentencing due to lengthy
pre-trial detention since 2007. An additional thirteen
suspects are awaiting trial. The government collaborated
with international donors and NGOs to conduct
anti-trafficking training for 165 lawyers, magistrates,
security personnel, social workers, civil society activists,
and local vigilance committee members throughout the country.


Protection
--------------
The Government of Burkina Faso demonstrated solid efforts to
protect trafficking victims over the last year. Due to
limited resources, the government did not provide services
directly to victims. When government authorities identified
victims, however, they ensured that they received access to
necessary services by referring them to NGOs and
international organizations. The Burkinab government
reported that between January and December 2008, its security
forces and regional anti-trafficking surveillance committees
intercepted approximately 691 Burkinab and foreign child
trafficking victims, 438 of whom were boys and 153 of whom
were girls. Two hundred forty-five of these children were
being trafficked from Burkina Faso to neighboring West
African countries, while three of these were being trafficked
to Sudan. The remaining children were victims of internal
trafficking within Burkina Faso. All of these children
received care at one of 23 transit centers jointly funded by
the government and UNICEF. In 2008, the government
contributed over $54,000 to these centers. Assisted by
donor-funding, government personnel helped to supervise the
rehabilitation of 190 trafficking victims and helped to
provide their families with micro-credit programs. After
victims receive care at transit centers, the government
coordinates the repatriation of foreign nationals with
counterparts in the victims, countries of origin, processes
these victims, travel documents, and collaborates with
donors to ensure a safe return. Burkina Faso is a party to
the ECOWAS-ECCAS 2006 anti-trafficking agreement and plan of
action, through which officials in Burkina Faso in 2008
cooperated with counterparts in nearby countries to intercept
and repatriate 248 West African child trafficking victims,
including 51 girls. Police do not exhibit any systematic
effort to identify trafficking victims among women and girls
in prostitution. The government does not provide legal
alternatives to the removal of foreign victims to countries
where they face hardship or retribution. Nationals of ECOWAS
states, including trafficking victims, however, may legally
reside and work in Burkina Faso. Government officials
encourage victims to assist in trafficking investigations or
prosecutions.

Prevention
--------------
The Government of Burkina Faso continued trafficking
prevention efforts over the last year. Government-operated
media broadcast anti-trafficking and child labor radio and
television programs, films, theater, and debates, often in
collaboration with NGOs and reportedly targeting over 300,000
people during the year. In collaboration with NGOs and
international organizations, the government held workshops
and seminars for civil society groups and government
officials on child trafficking, primarily on prevention,
protection, rehabilitation, and reintegration. The
government made a financial contribution to these workshops.
The national action plan against trafficking, which the
government adopted in 2007, has yet to be implemented due to
lack of funding. In the last year, the National
Anti-trafficking Committee met twice. The government made
no discernable efforts to reduce demand for forced and child
labor in the country. The government took some steps to
reduce demand for commercial sex acts in Burkina Faso by
closing a number of brothels in Ouagadougou in July 2008.



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 Burkina Faso on Tier 2?

A: The Government of Burkina Faso does not fully comply with
the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so, despite
limited resources. Burkina Faso,s law enforcement efforts
improved with the passage of legislation prohibiting all
forms of trafficking that supersedes a prior law that
criminalized only child trafficking. The government also
investigated and prosecuted an increased number of
trafficking offenders, though sentences imposed on convicted
traffickers remained low. Burkna Faso,s victim protection
efforts during the last year remained solid.


Q2: What progress has Burkina Faso made in the past year?

A: The Government of Burkina Faso increased its law
enforcement efforts to combat trafficking over the last year.
In May 2008, the government passed Law 029-2008 on Combating
Trafficking in Persons and Related Practices that prohibits
all forms of trafficking and prescribes sentences of five
years, to life imprisonment for those convicted of
trafficking offenses. These penalties are sufficiently
stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for rape.
This law supersedes the nation,s 2003 Law No. 038-2003
concerning the Definition of Child Trafficking which
criminalized child trafficking and prescribed a maximum
penalty of ten years, imprisonment. Burkina Faso,s Penal
Affairs Officer reported that in 2008, the government
arrested 40 child trafficking suspects, 11 of whom were
prosecuted and convicted. The Government of Burkina Faso
demonstrated solid efforts to protect trafficking victims
over the last year. The Burkinab government reported that
between January and December 2008, its security forces and
regional anti-trafficking surveillance committees intercepted
approximately 691 Burkinab and foreign child trafficking
victims, 438 of whom were boys and 153 of whom were girls.


Q3: What can Burkina Faso do to further the fight against
modern slavery?

A: Increase penalties imposed on convicted trafficking
offenders; train police and government social workers to
identify trafficking victims among women in prostitution;
ensure that sex trafficking victims are not penalized under
anti-prostitution laws; and increase efforts to raise
awareness about trafficking.



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