NAMIBIA -- 2009 TIP REPORT: PRESS GUIDANCE AND

UNCLAS STATE 060606

SIPDIS

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

--------------
NAMIBIA (TIER 2)
--------------

Namibia is a source, transit, and destination country for
children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and
commercial sexual exploitation. Namibian children are
trafficked within the country for domestic servitude and
forced agricultural labor, cattle herding, vending, and
commercial sexual exploitation. In some cases, Namibian
parents may have unwittingly sold their children into
trafficking conditions, including child prostitution. There
have been reports of Namibian children being trafficked to
South Africa, typically by truck drivers, for the purpose of
sexual exploitation. Zambian and Angolan children are
trafficked to Namibia for domestic servitude, agricultural
labor, and livestock herding. There is evidence that a West
African labor trafficking syndicate transports West African
adults through Namibia to Angola to work under false
pretenses.

The Government of Namibia does not fully comply with the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The
Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare,s (MGECW)
distribution of anti-trafficking brochures and commissioning,
with foreign funding, of a baseline study on human
trafficking in Namibia demonstrates the government,s
increasing awareness of the issue and commitment to
addressing it. The government also hosted the ninth annual
INTERPOL working group meeting on trafficking in persons in
September 2008.

Recommendations for Namibia: Draft and enact
anti-trafficking legislation that prohibits and punishes all
forms of trafficking; implement already enacted legislation
against forced labor to prosecute trafficking offenses and
convict labor trafficking offenders; launch a national
anti-trafficking public awareness campaign, particularly in
the border areas; provide further training to law enforcement
and social services officials on the identification and
provision of assistance to trafficking victims; and begin
maintaining statistics on specific human trafficking offenses.

Prosecution
--------------
The Government of Namibia,s anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts were moderate during the reporting period. The
Prevention of Organized Crime Act of 2004 has a provision
that criminalizes trafficking in persons and prescribes up to
50 years, imprisonment or fines of up to $140,000 for those
convicted. This act was implemented in May 2009. Section 4
of Namibia,s Labor Act of 2007, which was signed into law in
2007 and came into force in November 2008, prohibits forced
labor and prescribes penalties of up to four years,
imprisonment or a fine of up to $2,000, or both. Section 3
of the Labor Act prohibits various forms of exploitative
child labor, prescribing penalties equal to those for forced
labor offenses. Existing laws prohibiting child
prostitution, pimping, and kidnapping could also be used to
prosecute trafficking cases. Prescribed penalties for the
above crimes are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with
those prescribed for other grave crimes. The government did
not prosecute any cases of human trafficking during the
reporting period. In mid-2008, before the November 2008
implementation of the Labor Act which prescribes criminal
penalties for forced and child labor, the Ministry of Labor
issued three administrative compliance orders to potential
child trafficking offenders under the 2004 Labour Act.
Though an August 2008 case involving Angolan children forced
to herd cattle was slated to be reopened in 2009 under the
Act,s new criminal penalties, the Ministry of Labor
discovered in March 2009 that the suspect, a farmer, had
disappeared. Police initiated various investigations during
the year into suspected cases of pimping and brothel-keeping,
but the lack of appropriate anti-trafficking legislation
prevented the prosecution of alleged perpetrators.

Protection
--------------
Though the Women and Child Protection Unit of the police and
the MGECW,s gender liaison officers attended a half-day
workshop on trafficking during the reporting period,
government officials did not identify any trafficking cases.
The government lacked the financial resources and capacity to
provide direct care to victims. NGOs and other civil society
entities provided short-term shelter facilities to which
government authorities referred victims of crime for
assistance; however, shelters are often full and cannot
accommodate all victims of abuse referred. Neither long-term
shelter facilities nor services specifically tailored to the
needs of trafficking victims exist in Namibia. MGECW social
workers are assigned to the Namibian Police,s 15 Women and
Child Protection Units; these units implemented a formal
referral agreement with a local NGO that offers counseling to
victims of trauma, but there is no record they have ever
referred a trafficking victim to this organization. The
Namibian legal system provided protection to victims who wish
to testify against their abusers, as well as a legal
alternative to foreign victims, removal to countries where
they faced hardship or retribution in the form of a
comprehensive asylum policy.

Prevention
--------------
Understanding of what constitutes human trafficking remained
limited in Namibia, though the government made efforts during
the year to raise awareness throughout the country. There
were, however, no discernible efforts made to reduce the
demand for commercial sex acts during the reporting period.
In 2008, the MGECW designed, printed, and distributed 13,000
brochures explaining human trafficking to local populations
in the country,s 13 regions through its gender liaison
officers, community liaison officers, social workers, and
officials from each Regional Council. In addition, the
Ministry of Labor conducted a national public awareness
campaign to introduce the new labor legislation that included
radio and television programs, visits by Ministry of Labor
and Social Welfare officials to all regions, and the
production and distribution of 300,000 copies of a 12-page
pamphlet explaining the act,s provisions, including those
prohibiting exploitative child labor.



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 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 Namibia ranked in the 2009 TIP Report?

A: Namibia was ranked in the 2009 TIP Report because it is a
source, transit, and destination country for children
trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and commercial
sexual exploitation. Namibian children are trafficked within
the country for domestic servitude and forced agricultural
labor, cattle herding, vending, and commercial sexual
exploitation. There have been reports of Namibian children
being trafficked to South Africa, typically by truck drivers,
for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Zambian and Angolan
children are trafficked to Namibia for domestic servitude,
agricultural labor, and livestock herding.

Q2: What progress did Namibia make in combating trafficking
during the year?

A: The Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare,s
distribution of anti-trafficking brochures and commissioning,
with foreign funding, of a baseline study on human
trafficking in Namibia demonstrates the government,s
increasing awareness of the issue and commitment to
addressing it. The Ministry also designed, printed, and
distributed 13,000 brochures explaining human trafficking to
local populations in the country,s 13 regions through its
gender liaison officers, community liaison officers, social
workers, and officials from each Regional Council. The
government hosted the ninth annual INTERPOL working group
meeting on trafficking in persons.

Q3: What can Namibia do to further the fight against
trafficking in persons?

A: To improve the effectiveness of its fight against human
trafficking, Namibia could: Draft and enact anti-trafficking
legislation that prohibits and punishes all forms of
trafficking; implement already enacted legislation against
forced labor to prosecute trafficking offenses and convict
labor trafficking offenders; launch a national
anti-trafficking public awareness campaign, particularly in
the border areas; provide further training to law enforcement
and social services officials on the identification and
provision of assistance to trafficking victims; and begin
maintaining statistics on specific human trafficking offenses.



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