CHAD: TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS 2010 REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 NDJAMENA 000105 SIPDIS SENSITIVE STATE FOR AF/C, G/TIP, G-Pena, INL, DRL, PRM STATE PASS USAID LONDON FOR POL - LORD PARIS FOR POL - KANEDA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KTIP ELAB KCRM KWMN PGOV PHUM PREF SMIG KMCA CD SUBJECT: CHAD: TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS 2010 REPORT REFTEL: STATE 2094 ¶1. (U) This is Post's submission for the 2010 Trafficking in Persons report. Answers are keyed to questions in reftel. -------------- THE COUNTRY'S TIP SITUATION -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Paragraph 25: ¶A. Government entities, international organizations, and international and indigenous non-governmental organizations are all credible sources on human trafficking in Chad. ¶B. Chad is a minor source, destination, and transit country for trafficking, mainly in children. The significant change since last year's TIP report is the government's positive actions to eliminate child soldiers from its military ranks and to reintegrate into civil society children captured from rebel military ranks (see para 7 below). Chad's trafficking problem is primarily the internal trafficking of children as herders, child soldiers, child apprentices and laborers, domestic servants, beggars, and prostitutes. Herders follow traditional routes for the grazing of cattle and often cross international borders into Cameroon, Central African Republic, and Nigeria. Underage girls travel voluntarily or are brought to bigger towns seeking work but often end up in abusive domestic servitude positions. In the southwestern region of Mayo-Kebbi, children are kidnapped and trafficked across the border for purposes of ransom. Bandits target children from the Peul tribe as their families are seen as wealthier and therefore able to pay for their children's return. Some children have returned safely while others have been killed by bandits or in law enforcement operations to free them. There was one high-profile case in October 2009 in which a female was arrested in Chad for trafficking a pregnant Burkinabe woman. The ultimate destination was Italy, where the baby was to be sold, according to local reports. The Burkinabe woman returned home and the trafficker escaped from an N'Djamena detention center. ¶C. Child herders and laborers live the same lifestyle, nomadic or sedentary, as adults to which they sold or apprenticed. Conditions for domestic servants are poor, with girls being forced to live in overcrowded spaces, although servants' circumstances not dissimilar to conditions under which their masters and most Chadians live. ¶D. Children are the most vulnerable to trafficking of any group in Chad. Chad is an extremely poor country, and selling or bartering children into a domestic work situation is seen as a survival tactic by families seeking to reduce the numbers of mouths to feed. In the past, boys in refugee camps have been in danger of recruitment by armed opposition groups for use as child soldiers, although recent attempts by Chad and Sudan to pursue a lasting peace and to retract support for each other's armed opposition groups may reduce this threat over time. There have been no permanent changes in the direction of trafficking, and there are no reports of adults being trafficked for labor or sexual exploitation. ¶E. For the most part, Chadian law enforcement officials have not identified any one group as a sponsor of trafficking in persons. The majority of trafficking involves parental consent in situations where children are given to intermediaries or relatives in exchange for education, apprenticeships, cattle, or sum of money. While child prostitution is apparent in N'Djamena, there is no evidence of third-party involvement. However, there are intermediaries involved in arranging child herding contracts. Herders benefit from inexpensive labor. Poor families benefit by receiving livestock in exchange for the labor of their children. Intermediaries find children for herders and receive small sums of money in exchange. NDJAMENA 00000105 002 OF 008 -------------- GOVERNMENT'S ANTI-TIP EFFORTS -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Paragraph 26: ¶A. The government acknowledges that trafficking of children is a problem and has designated specific governmental points-of-contact for trafficking issues at the ministerial and regional (Department) levels. ¶B. The Ministries of Justice, Public Security, Social Action and Family, Labor, and Human Rights are involved in anti-trafficking efforts. The Ministry of Justice has been most active in coordinating with other ministries and organizations. During the past year, the GOC increased to twenty-two the number of technical regional committees charged with addressing the worst forms of child labor. These committees are composed of representatives from the ministries of Justice, Social Affairs and Family, Education, Public Works, Human Rights and a representative from the Judicial Police, who investigates and implements court decisions. The government continues to support efforts to remove children from situations of forced labor, herding and abuse. ¶C. The central government in N'Djamena is politically and publicly willing to address trafficking issues. On the practical side, its limitations are great and chronic: political instability, extreme poverty, weak educational and judiciary sectors, lack of capacity and resources, and lack of state control at the local level. The country does not have a consistently functioning judicial system; this impairs the state's ability to effectively prosecute many offenses, not just those related to trafficking. The GOC does not have adequate funds to provide assistance to victims. The country is at a stage of development where it needs international assistance even to pave roads connecting major cities. Corruption is endemic and, as with the weak judicial system, not related specifically to trafficking or indicative of governmental laxity on the issue. ¶D. The GOC is hampered in its efforts to manage data by lack of qualified officials to collect and compile statistics. Lack of paved roads, electricity, and computers in most parts of the country make it difficult for the government to coordinate anti-trafficking efforts and collect information. Case documentation is kept in paper files, and the ability to replicate and distribute is also constrained by sporadic electricity outages. The capital, N'Djamena, often lacks electricity. Only the privileged have generators. ¶E. The Ministry of the Interior is responsible for issuing birth certificates and national identity documentation. ¶F. As in previous years, the government's ability to collect information and prosecute cases in a timely manner is limited by the fact that there are only 150 judges in Chad and they must hand-write all court documents. Government investigative techniques are unsophisticated, consisting mostly of interrogations. The government lacks the resources, equipment, and training to employ more sophisticated techniques. Government security operatives are permitted to use covert operations in investigations. Labor inspectors and other enforcement officials report that they are not provided with means, such as funds for transportation, needed to identify and investigate trafficking cases. -------------- INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION OF TRAFFICKERS -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Paragraph 27: ¶A. Chad does not have a law specifically prohibiting movement of persons for purposes of exploitation, although Chadian officials argue that existing laws banning kidnapping, slavery, indentured servitude, bonded labor, child labor, prostitution and other types of labor exploitation have the effect of outlawing trafficking. NDJAMENA 00000105 003 OF 008 Chadian law makes no distinction between trafficking for sexual exploitation and trafficking for labor, although sexual exploitation and many types of labor exploitation are outlawed. In July 2009, Chadian President Deby ratified both the United Nations Conventions against Transnational Organized Crime and the Additional Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially against Women and Children. Prior to this reporting period, the Ministry of Labor completed a comprehensive draft Executive Decree aimed at harmonizing Chad's Labor Code with ILO Articles 182 and 138. To strengthen the text of the draft Decree, the Ministry of Labor hired an international legal expert to review existing Chadian law with respect to those international conventions on child labor signed by the GOC, and to revise the draft Executive Decree to specify the GOC's responsibilities under the conventions. The ministry is awaiting the final report of the international legal expert and the revised Decree. Once received, the document will be resubmitted for Presidential signature. The decree is self-implementing, that is, it automatically adds to the list of infractions in Labor Code article 190, contains penalties, and gives judges authority to address such violations. Separately, the Ministry of Justice, with the support of UNICEF, has drafted revisions to Chad's Penal Code to explicitly protect children. The draft revisions are pending before Supreme Court judges for constitutional review. When approved, the revisions will make up a new and separate Child Protection Code containing provisions and penalties to address trafficking in persons, and will strengthen the government's ability to perform investigations, arrests, and prosecutions of perpetrators of trafficking. The draft Child Protection Code also includes measures to protect and ensure the safety of victims. In a publication dated November 2009 and entitled "Recueil de Textes sur les Droits de l'Enfant," Chad's current laws relating to the rights of children were collected together with the various international conventions relating to children that Chad has adopted. These conventions include the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention banning worst forms of child labor, the African Charter on the rights and well-being of children, UN regulations on protection of minors in detention, the Hague Convention on international child adoptions, ILO Article 182, and other international texts, plus Chadian national laws that make them operative. Trafficking cases are generally prosecuted under the existing Penal Code using charges of kidnapping, sale of children, and violations of labor statutes. To punish child trafficking, prosecutors also use an article in Chad's Labor Code that prohibits the employment of children under 14 years of age. ¶B. Prostitution and related activities are illegal. The law prohibits prostitution, pimping, and owning brothels. The Child Protection Code provides for prison terms of between two months and two years and a fine of between 99 and 985 USD (50,000 to 500,000 FCFA). (Note: The maximum fine is the equivalent of two years' income for the average Chadian. End Note.) The penalty for prostitution of a minor by a relative or guardian is punishable by five to ten years in prison and a fine of USD 200 to 2,000 (100,000 to 1,000,000 FCFA). ¶C. Some forms of labor trafficking are among the types of labor forbidden in Chad's Labor Code. For employing children under 14, the Labor Code prescribes fines of 147,000 to 294,000 FCFA (245 to 490 USD). Repeat offenders may be fined up to 882,000 FCFA (1470 USD) and jailed from six days to three months. ¶D. The prescribed penalties under Chadian law for rape and forcible sexual assault include hard labor for life if the victim is less than 13 years old. ¶E. There are no publicly available law enforcement statistics, although there are individual examples of arrest and prosecution. The government has told us that it will not discuss cases that are NDJAMENA 00000105 004 OF 008 still pending, although there is little anecdotal evidence to suggest the government is prosecuting traffickers. Informally, arresting officials have released herders or intermediaries after the detained paid a fine. Regarding child soldiers, the government has not yet taken a decision to prosecute military officials, although it warned the military chain of command in 2009 that it would use the weight of the law if it found further instances of use of child soldiers. ¶F. The government made no funding available this year to provide specialized training to law enforcement officials. During the year, Chad's National School of Administration and Magistracy graduated its first-ever class of labor inspectors, with twenty-eight students participating in the program. ¶G. Chad has signed cooperation agreements with Cameroon, Nigeria, Central African Republic, and Sudan concerning trafficking and other cross-border issues. Unless requested to do so by those seeking information about victims, Chadian officials generally do not take the initiative to investigate reports of missing children alleged to have been taken to neighboring countries. ¶H. Chad has extradition reciprocity with ten other West and Central African countries. Chad will consider extradition requests put forward by other countries. ¶I. There continue to be reports that some local authorities who own cattle herds use intermediaries to recruit child herders. Frequent shuffling of government officials inhibits the Ministry of Justice's ability to investigate complaints. Senior Chadian military officials have likely been complicit in the use of child soldiers, although the government's 2009 campaign put military officers on notice that the practice would not be tolerated. ¶J. The GOC launched an intensive campaign in late 2009 among military and law enforcement entities to create awareness of the disadvantages of using child soldiers in military ranks, to underscore the illegality of using child soldiers and to announce the government's intolerance of the practice. ¶K. Chad has a few gendarmes deployed with the UN. One was killed in the Haiti earthquake while on deployment. There have been no allegations of trafficking or exploitation against any of Chad's nationals on UN assignments. ¶L. Sex tourism is not an issue in Chad. Further, the government signed the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Specifically Women and Children, in July 2009. -------------- PROTECTION AND ASSISTANCE TO VICTIMS -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Paragraph 28: ¶A. Chad's social and developmental challenges are so extreme that the government is unable to provide protection for victims or witnesses of crimes. ¶B. In general, the government lacks shelters and functioning health care facilities for victims of crimes. The GOC, in conjunction with UNICEF and other international NGOs, provides rehabilitation facilities for former child soldiers. The Ministry of Social Action runs a transit center for demobilized children when they are first released. Then UNICEF, through its INGOs partners, places the children in rehabilitation centers for psychological counseling and job skill training. For other victims of trafficking, there are few services. GOC officials and members of local human rights organizations have often resorted to personally providing shelter and care. The GOC simply does not have the resources to create, staff, or manage this type of assistance. ¶C. Through its joint agreement with UNICEF, the government provides some in-kind contributions and social services for victims. The government has difficulty providing legal, medical, or psychological NDJAMENA 00000105 005 OF 008 services to victims of all crimes, not only victims of trafficking. ¶D. Chad's trafficking problem is primarily internal. If victims are found and repatriated from foreign countries, the Government of Chad is in theory responsible for making necessary arrangements for medical assistance or shelter. ¶E. Lack of financial resources limited the ability of the government to provide longer-term shelter or housing to victims, or to offer other resources to aid victims in rebuilding their lives, although INGOs provided job skill training to demobilized child soldiers. ¶F. Currently, the judiciary police or other local authorities are to notify the Ministry of Justice's Child Protection Department, UNICEF, and local NGOs when there is a case of child trafficking or child abuse. In most cases, the local police or gendarmerie are first points of contact. ¶G. There are no government statistics available. ¶H. The GOC has local-level committees to identify and refer TIP victims to appropriate officials. The committees include members from the judiciary, police, labor inspectors, educators, and social services providers. ¶I. The government does not arrest or detain victims. According to the Ministry of Justice, child victims are not prosecuted for violations of other statutes, such as those outlawing prostitution. ¶J. Government committees at the local level encourage victims to file charges and to assist in investigation and prosecution of traffickers. Victims can file civil suits to seek damages from traffickers but this is rarely done because victims cannot generally afford lawyers. In cases involving child herders, local officials and/or NGO advocates have sometimes negotiated settlements with employers for damages or fulfillment of contract terms on behalf of victims' families. There is no official victim restitution program. ¶K. The government has provided some training for its officials in the past, but did not plan or allocate any resources for this purpose in 2009. Lack of funding for such training was a source of tension between officials at the Ministry of Labor, who felt it was necessary, and those approving final government budgets. ¶L. Chad's trafficking problem is primarily internal. There were no reports of Chadian victims of trafficking in other countries, except for cases of child soldiers who were associated with Chadian armed opposition groups. When members of the armed opposition voluntarily returned to Chad, the GOC assumes responsibility for underage solders and releases them to the care of UNICEF, according to a GOC-UNICEF agreement. The majority of former child soldiers demobilized in 2009 were from armed opposition groups. These children benefitted from rehabilitation services established by UNICEF and its implementing partners. ¶M. The government, local communities and international and non-governmental organizations cooperate in combating trafficking. The Government's primary international partner is UNICEF. International organizations such CARE International, World Vision, Catholic Relief Services and Oxfam participated in campaigns launched both by government agencies or local non-governmental organizations to combat trafficking of children. Non-governmental organizations and human rights groups are active in helping to identify cases, raise public awareness, and in some cases informally assist victims. The only consistently-available information on services to victims relates to services provided to returned child soldier. Local human rights organizations raise awareness and provide assistance as they are able. Key groups include: the Chadian League of Human Rights (LTDH),Human Rights without Borders (DHSF), Association for Justice and Peace (AJP),Catholic Relief Services (CRS),Fight Against Trafficking of Children (LCTE),African NDJAMENA 00000105 006 OF 008 Evangelical Youth (JEA),Union of Young Christians(UJC),Diocesan Commissions on Justice and Peace (CDJP),Youth Association Against Divisions (AJAC),Association for Assistance to Street Children of Moyen Chari (AAERMC),Chadian Association for Family Welfare (ASTBEF),Association for the Supervision and Recovery of Children in Distress (ARED),Baptist Churches and Youth of Chad (JEBT), Christian Assemblies Youth of Chad (JEACT),Union of Women's Groups (UGF),Islamic Committee (IC),Liaison and Information Unit of Women's Organizations (CELIAF),Association of Women Jurists in Chad (AFJT),Association for Community Initiatives in Africa (APICA), Research and Liaison Department for Catholic Action for Development (BELACD),Local Catholic Radio (Radio Lotiko),Women's Freedom Radio (Femme Liberte),Village Associations (AV),the Notre Temps news service, Chadian Association for Mediation of Conflicts Between Farmers and Herders (AMECET),Association for the Promotion of Documentary Information (APIDO),Association for Traditional Chiefs in Chad (ACTT),and Youth Scout Movement (KEMKOUGUI). -------------- PREVENTION -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Paragraph 29: ¶A. The Government acknowledges that trafficking of children and violence against women are problems. During this reporting period, UNICEF and UNFPA, partnering with other international agencies, sponsored nation-wide campaigns against trafficking and forced labor of children and violence against women and girls. Activities included large, high visibility kick-offs, distribution of printed materials, and placement of posters and billboards around the country. GOC and international organization officials have told us they are happy with the initial impacts of the campaigns and are committed to ensuring their continued outreach and effectiveness. Indigenous NGOs also conducted sensitization campaigns in specific regions on child herdin,g and helped create an association of parents and victims of child herding to continue outreach and awareness. ¶B. The government lacks capacity and resources and therefore depends to a significant degree on UNICEF, religious institutions, and non-governmental organizations to raise public and official awareness. ¶C. There is a National Committee to Fight against Trafficking, comprised of several government agencies. In addition, there are regional technical committees to act against instances of child labor. Chadian bureaucracy is generally small enough that inter-agency communication is straightforward and collaborative. The Director for Children's Issues at the Ministry of Social Action is responsible for overall monitoring of situation. ¶D. The National Committee to Fight Trafficking drafted a "Guide for the Protection of Child Victims of Trafficking." The Directorate for Children within the Ministry of Justice, with support from UNICEF, developed an "Integrated Action Plan to Fight the worst form of labor, exploitation, and trafficking (2008-2010)." Neither document has formally been adopted by the government, although GOC officials consistently work toward the goals of the action plan and update it on an annual basis. UNICEF hopes the Action Plan will be adopted formally in 2010 and describes tangible, if slow, GOC progress toward the goals. ¶E. Chad's trafficking problem primarily relates to child labor. There is little governmental focus on commercial sex, although prostitution is illegal, as is pimping and running brothels. The GOC campaign to raise awareness of violence against women and girls addresses issues including rape, early marriage, wife-beating, FGM, job discrimination against women, exploitation of girls, and other types of abuse. ¶F. There is no substantial evidence that Chad is involved in international sex tourism or that its nationals engage in this illicit activity. NDJAMENA 00000105 007 OF 008 -------------- PARTNERSHIPS -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Paragraph 30: ¶A. The GOC works and coordinates closely with UNICEF, its major partner in addressing trafficking in Chad, as the trafficking problem mainly concerns children. The GOC and UNICEF have worked together for more than five years on issues related to child exploitation and children's rights in Chad, and since 2007, have collaborated closely on the specific issue of child soldiers. Local human rights organizations also work with government officials to raise awareness of conditions at the local level, especially in remote villages where the government's presence is minimal. ¶B. Local-level government officials may work informally with counterparts in neighboring countries when trafficking issues cross borders. -------------- NEW REQUIREMENTS FOR THE CHILD SOLDIERS PREVENTION ACT -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Paragraph 33: During the reporting period, Chad was actively engaged in fighting anti-government armed opposition groups that crossed into Chadian territory from neighboring countries and attacked Chadian people and interests. Each side used children, both as combatants and in non-armed positions. According to traditional initiation rights, children come of age around 14 or 15 in Chad. At that age, those without schooling options often seek to begin work as they see their peers do in trading, farming, or other sectors. Some underage boys choose a military life. Many are placed in non-combatant positions. In other cases, family members bring boys into military ranks alongside older males so as to protect them from recruitment as individuals and to shield them from having to engage in combat. The government fully recognizes that these practices are not in line with international norms, and such activities are indeed illegal according to Chadian law. Senior Chadian military officers will be the first to say, however, that they themselves began their careers as "child soldiers," according to the modern international definition. The government has accepted that it must take a leading role in ending the practice, and signed a 2007 agreement with UNICEF to hand over any child soldier, whether from a military organizations or opposition groups. While the government only modestly honored the agreement in previous years, GOC officials became much more active during the reporting period. 2009 witnessed a marked increase in returns of opposition fighters, and the GOC was fairly prompt in releasing underage opposition fighters to UNICEF for rehabilitation. Toward the end of 2009, the GOC undertook a country-wide campaign to visit Chadian military institutions and bases to raise awareness of the issue and make clear the definition of child soldiers. During these visits, GOC officials, accompanied by diplomatic and international organization representatives, educated military officials about the GOC's intolerance for underage soldiers, actively looked for minors and immediately turned over to UNICEF's responsibility those few suspected of being under 18. The government intends to continue this campaign along with developing an action plan for keeping minors out of the military ranks in the coming period. Separately, Sudanese rebel groups are alleged to have conscripted underage Sudanese boys from refugee camps in Eastern Chad for fighting in Darfur. The GOC supported efforts by the international community, led by the UN, to increase protection for this population and stop military recruitment in refugee camps. -------------- EMBASSY POCS -------------- NDJAMENA 00000105 008 OF 008 ¶8. (U) Post's trafficking in persons Point of Contact is Pol/Econ Officer Andrea Tomaszewicz, reachable via +235 251 70 09 or tomaszewiczaj@state.gov. BREMNER