LIBERIA -- 2009 TIP REPORT: PRESS GUIDANCE AND

UNCLAS STATE 060560

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KTIP ELAB KCRM KPAO KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG LI
SUBJECT: LIBERIA -- 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 Liberia 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
Liberia, 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 Liberia 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 Liberia,s country narrative in the
2009 TIP Report:

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

Liberia (TIER 2 )
--------------

Liberia 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
trafficked within the country, primarily from rural to urban
areas for domestic servitude, forced street vending, forced
begging by religious instructors and sexual exploitation in
brothels or private apartments. Children may also be
trafficked for labor on rubber plantations and in alluvial
diamond mines. Some children in Liberia are subjected to
sexual exploitation by international peacekeeping troops and
personnel from international organizations. A January 2009
UN report indicates, however, that such abuses are declining.
Internationally, children are trafficked to Liberia from
Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Cote d,Ivoire and from Liberia to
Cote d,Ivoire, Guinea, and Nigeria for domestic servitude,
street vending, sexual exploitation, agricultural labor, and
forced begging.

Liberia continues to struggle to rebuild after 14 years of
civil conflict that crippled the nation,s economy and
institutions and increased the vulnerability of children to
being trafficked. During its period of reconstruction,
Liberia has taken some steps to address trafficking, but more
needs to be done.

The Government of Liberia 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. Although the government made limited
progress in its efforts to combat trafficking through law
enforcement and victim protection measures, its overall
anti-trafficking performance remained low.

Recommendations for Liberia: Increase efforts to prosecute
and punish trafficking offenders; allocate increased funding
for basic anti-trafficking law enforcement and victim
protection needs; combat the trafficking complicity of
government personnel in the criminal justice system; educate
judges about the law prohibiting trafficking; and increase
efforts to educate the public about trafficking.

Prosecution
--------------
The Government of Liberia demonstrated slightly increased law
enforcement efforts to combat trafficking over the last year.
Liberia,s 2005 Act to Ban Trafficking prohibits all forms
of trafficking, prescribing a minimum penalty of one year,s
imprisonment for labor trafficking of adults, six years,
imprisonment for child labor trafficking, and 11 to 16
years, imprisonment for child sex trafficking. These
penalties are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with
other grave crimes, such as rape. No trafficking offenders
have yet been convicted or sentenced under this law. The
government reported investigating 18 cases of trafficking and
arresting nine suspects. Four child trafficking suspects are
being tried and five are awaiting trial. During the year,
the government extradited two traffickers to Guinea. The
criminal justice system remains handicapped by shortages in
human and material resources: police lacked vehicles to
respond to trafficking reports, and courts lacked
prosecutors. Police officers were sometimes required to play
the role of prosecutor, and judges were often unaware of the
law against trafficking. NGO reports also indicate that
police, many of whom are poorly or infrequently paid, asked
victims for compensation in exchange for bringing charges
against suspected traffickers. Moreover, trafficking
suspects reportedly bribed police in return for the dropping
of criminal charges. The government adopted a revised
national action plan to combat trafficking that expands the
role of the National Human Trafficking Task Force, which had
previously focused on awareness-raising, in investigating and
prosecuting trafficking crimes. Established in 2006, the
Task Force is chaired by the Ministry of Labor (MOL) and
consists of government ministries, the Inspector General of
Police, and the Commissioner of Immigration. Implementing
this plan, in late 2008, Task Force members, including
representatives from the Ministries of Labor and Heath,
accompanied the Liberia National Police on trafficking
investigations of religious schools where children are often
subjected to forced begging. An MOL attorney, whose position
is funded by a donor, also accompanied government officials
to court to provide guidance in prosecuting trafficking
offenders during the year. Through the Joint Program on
Sexual and Gender-based Violence, developed by the government
and the UN in June 2008, a court was established to address
sexual and gender-based violence offences, including sexually
exploitive activities by peacekeepers.

Protection
--------------
Liberia demonstrated minimal efforts to protect trafficking
victims during the year. The government did not operate its
own victim shelters or provide direct assistance to victims
due to resource constraints. The Liberian National Police
rescued 50 Liberian, Sierra Leonean, and Guinean children
from a religious school in Lofa, where they were being forced
to beg. Police referred the children to an NGO-operated safe
house for care and the government has shut down the school.
Immigration officials worked with the Task Force to ensure
the entry back into Liberia of a 17-year-old male victim, who
was repatriated from Niger. Once back in Liberia, the
Ministry of Heath reunited him with his family. The
government worked with Guinean officials to repatriate a
child victim back to Guinea.

The MOL used its operational funds to provide training for
government immigration officials, police commanders, and the
Police Women and Children Protection Section in identifying
victims. The government did not encourage victims, all of
whom are children, to assist in trafficking investigations or
prosecutions. Law enforcement officials did not employ
formal procedures for identifying trafficking victims among
females in prostitution. The government did not provide
legal alternatives to the removal of foreign victims to
countries where they might have faced hardship or
retribution. Victims were not, however, inappropriately
incarcerated, fined or otherwise penalized for unlawful acts
committed as a direct result of being trafficked.

Prevention
--------------

The Government of Liberia made modest efforts to educate the
public about trafficking. The MOL conducted multiple
anti-trafficking awareness campaigns aimed primarily at
parents and community leaders during the year, the majority
of which it funded. The National Human Trafficking Task
Force continued to raise awareness about trafficking through
radio broadcasts funded by the MOL and broadcast on
UN-donated air time. In an effort funded by the MOL and
NGOs, the Task Force also went into local communities to hold
one-day workshops to explain the effects of trafficking on
communities. The Task Force met monthly and more frequently
if required by newly developed cases. The government did not
take steps to reduce demand for forced labor or for
commercial sex acts.



9. Post may wish to deliver the following points, which offer
technical and legal l 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 Liberia on Tier 2?

A: The Government of Liberia 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. Although the government made limited
progress in its efforts to combat trafficking through law
enforcement and victim protection measures, its overall
anti-trafficking performance remained low.


Q2: What progress has Liberia made in the past year?

A: The government reported investigating 18 cases of
trafficking and arresting nine suspects. Four child
trafficking suspects are being tried and five are awaiting
trial. During the year, the government extradited two
suspected traffickers to Guinea. The government adopted a
revised national action plan to combat trafficking that
expands the role of the National Human Trafficking Task
Force, which had previously focused on awareness-raising, in
investigating and prosecuting trafficking crimes. In late
2008 representatives from the Ministries of Labor and Heath
accompanied the Liberia National Police on trafficking
investigations of religious schools where children are often
subjected to forced begging. The Liberian National Police
rescued 50 Liberian, Sierra Leonean, and Guinean children
from a religious school in Lofa, where they were being forced
to beg. Police referred the children to an NGO-operated safe
house for care and the government has shut down the school.
Immigration officials worked with the Task Force to ensure
the entry back into Liberia of a 17-year-old male victim, who
was repatriated from Niger. The National Human Trafficking
Task Force continued to raise awareness about trafficking
through radio broadcasts funded by the Ministry of Labor.

Q3: What can Liberia do to further the fight against
trafficking in persons?
A: Increase efforts to prosecute and punish trafficking
offenders; allocate increased funding for basic
anti-trafficking law enforcement and victim protection needs;
combat the trafficking complicity of government personnel in
the criminal justice system; educate judges about the law
prohibiting trafficking; and increase efforts to educate the
public about trafficking.



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