Due to the current political instability in Cote d?Ivoire, the efforts of the Government to address trafficking in persons (TIP) have been severely hampered and cannot be adequately assessed. We hope to submit a report on Cote d?Ivoire as part of the 2005 Annual Report.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has made progress in its efforts to demobilize and protect child soldiers. Since October 2003, the Government has demobilized approximately 2,000 children associated with armed groups. Some military commanders have actively assisted in this process. In May, the Government finalized and implemented procedures for issuing official demobilization certificates to children associated with armed groups. Most demobilized child soldiers have received their certificates, offering protection from re-recruitment and allowing them the opportunity to receive assistance from humanitarian organizations and to be reintegrated into their home communities.
The national disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) technical committee is working with UN agencies, donors, and NGOs to ensure that the needs of children associated with armed groups are adequately addressed in the newly-created national DDR plan. The section of the plan focusing on children will be implemented first. In addition, Congolese military and civilian officials responded quickly to NGO and UN agency requests for assistance with child protection issues. For instance, prison officials have worked cooperatively with UN child protection officers to remove children from the general prison population.
The Government also made progress in furthering its anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts. Earlier this year, judicial authorities in South Kivu initiated legal proceedings against a known recruiter of child soldiers.
Ethiopia
The Government of Ethiopia has made progress in furthering its anti-trafficking efforts. It has nearly completed a revision of its penal code, which now contains several provisions that close significant loopholes in the current code. For example, in addition to women and girls, the revised penal code now outlaws trafficking of men and boys for both prostitution and labor. The Ministry of Justice consulted widely with NGOs, relevant ministries, and international organizations while preparing improvements to the draft penal code, even holding meetings in the regional states down to the district level. The Ministry of Justice also began the process of regularly collecting law enforcement statistics on TIP-related investigations, prosecutions, and convictions at the international, national, and regional levels, though no such statistics have yet been produced.
The Government has also made progress in providing protection to victims of trafficking. The Government formed a multi-agency anti-trafficking task force headed by the Ministry of Justice?s Vice Minister. The group, which includes all key governmental organizations, convened and began developing a long-term strategy for providing care to trafficking victims and training law enforcement, judicial and prosecutorial officials in victim care methodologies. The task force also formed three working-level subcommittees for legal issues, data collection, and public awareness and media relations. These committees began examining the nature and extent of the trafficking problem; assembling, distributing, and analyzing existing studies on the issue to serve as a baseline; determining which organizations and institutions have roles to play in anti-TIP efforts; and publicizing TIP-related messages through the local media. The Ministry of Justice has drafted a proposal for anti-trafficking awareness training and outreach workshops and is actively seeking funding for it from international donors.
Gabon
The Government of Gabon made little progress in furthering its anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts. A bill criminalizing child trafficking has been signed into law by President Bongo Ondimba, but has yet to be applied in practice.
The Government made little other appreciable progress in combating human trafficking. The trafficking hotline set up by UNICEF still exists, but is not consistently answered. A 16 year-old trafficking victim from Benin recently sought help at a local police station; her ordeal, and an ensuing police investigation, have received national press coverage. There were no reports of traffickers being detained or arrested, nor of any investigations concerning the circumstances under which children may have become the victims of trafficking. The Government has not publicized its efforts (if any) to protect victims or prevent trafficking from occurring.
Kenya
The Government of Kenya has made noticeable progress in furthering its anti-trafficking efforts. The Kenyan Police Service (KPS) has staffed the Human Trafficking Unit. Ten individuals were assigned to this new unit housed within the Criminal Investigations Division (CID) to lead the operational elements of human trafficking investigations. In addition, the Ministry of Home Affairs seconded two immigration officers to the unit to track the movements of, and share information on, individuals suspected of human trafficking. One month after its creation, this unit had its first successful investigation into, and operation against, an alleged international child trafficking ring operating between Kenya and the UK. The Government sent seven individuals to regional training on human trafficking and the Department of Immigration held a workshop on border security that included a day-long TIP component.
The Government initiated a broad public awareness campaign focused on increasing media coverage of regional human trafficking trends. The KPS, in conjunction with the Ministry of Information, conducted background and on-the-record interviews with each of the major Kenyan daily newspapers to increase awareness of the phenomenon and seek the public?s assistance with ongoing investigations. The Ministry of Tourism published a report on the sexual exploitation of children in the tourism industry and officials met with members of coastal tourism boards to explore how best to target hotel managers and guests with messages against trafficking for sexual exploitation. The government-wide distribution of a human trafficking brochure has led to an increased awareness of the issue among ministry officials.
The Government has continued to encourage a police-media partnership in publicizing investigations related to alleged cases of domestic and international TIP. The KPS has repeatedly released TIP-related arrest statistics to the media. The Government also increased its attendance and participation as speakers in civil society-hosted seminars on issues such as human trafficking and the sexual exploitation of women.
Madagascar
The Government of Madagascar has made strong progress in addressing anti-trafficking in persons concerns, directing unprecedented high-level attention to the issue. The President?s Chief of Staff established a special inter-ministerial committee that meets weekly and has adopted a national plan to combat trafficking and slavery. This plan delineates specific activities, stakeholders and responsible ministries, deadlines, and measures of success.
The Government began a review of existing anti-trafficking legislation to ensure its sufficiency. After breaking up several fraudulent international adoption rings, the Ministry of Justice elected to first tackle adoption regulations and intends to present a draft law to Parliament before January 2005. After completing adoption reform, the ministry will overhaul anti-TIP legislation.
The Government has significantly enhanced its efforts to curb child prostitution. Enforcement of existing laws barring minors from nightclubs has increased dramatically. The Minors? Brigade of Antananarivo has conducted three separate raids of nightclubs, identifying 53 minors illegally present. In addition, three new Minors? Brigades have been created in the provinces. The Government partnered with UNICEF to train police in six provincial cities in protecting the rights of these minors. A new cohort of Ministry of Tourism Administrative Controllers was charged with identifying tour operators offering sexual tourism services and reporting such activities to the police.
The Government has also bolstered its ability to assist victimized child workers through Welcome Centers. One center is operational in Antananarivo and the Ministry of Labor has broken ground on two additional centers in Tamatave and Tulear. Since July, the Antananarivo center has rescued over 200 children occupied in the worst forms of child labor, including prostitution, and reintroduced many into the educational or vocational training system.
Awareness of trafficking in persons has increased through an aggressive information campaign. The Government has presented four local dialect sketches on prostitution, placed two articles on child labor in the national press, broadcast 20 educational programs on national radio stations, and initiated a national drawing, poetry and essay contest on the theme of combating child labor. Several anti-trafficking movies are in production.
Malawi
The Government of Malawi made progress in furthering its anti-trafficking efforts. The GOM clarified the status of the previously drafted legislation--Penal Code Amendment 12--which was not withdrawn as reported, but rather delayed because members of Parliament requested additional time to fully understand and study the issue, which has been an unfamiliar concept in Malawi. Parliament and various Ministers are currently involved in renewed consultations on a specific law to criminalize human trafficking and how best to revise the proposed amendment, given new information on trafficking in Malawi. In addition, the Government established a special court to specifically deal with children?s legal issues and is in the final stages of passing a Child Justice Act.
The Government also made appreciable progress in caring for victims of trafficking. In May, it conducted a rapid assessment of the situation of orphans in the country, determining that they are at particular risk of exploitation, including sexual exploitation. To counter this, the Government has developed and launched a national action plan for orphans and vulnerable children that aims to reduce the root causes of victimization. This plan is providing for training for more than 200 new child protection officers that will be placed in districts across the country. In addition, 37 Victim?s Support Units have been established throughout the country, with the mandate to provide protective and support services to exploited children, including trafficking victims.
The Government?s long-term victim protection strategy targets both prostitutes and those at risk of becoming prostitutes, particularly children. By offering options such as education and vocational training to child prostitutes and those youth vulnerable to involvement in prostitution, the Malawi Government is directly contributing to their social reintegration and rehabilitation.
Mauritania
The Government of Mauritania made progress in furthering its fight against trafficking. In July, an updated Labor Code that includes a number of penalties for forced labor convictions passed into law. The Commission on Human Rights, the Fight Against Poverty, and Insertion (CDHLCPI) hosted a roundtable on human rights topics, including the new Labor Code, the anti-trafficking law, women?s and children?s rights, and the rights of young girls working in large urban households. The country?s single radio station broadcast the roundtable nationwide. Plans for workshops to publicize both the anti-trafficking law and Labor Code are well underway, as well as for the distribution of 4,000 audio cassettes in semi-urban and rural areas that discuss these pieces of legislation. The Government held a two-day training program for mid-level officers at the Nouakchott Police Academy on properly handling victims of sexual violence and exploitation.
The Government established an inter-ministerial working group on trafficking that includes Director-level officials from the CDHLCPI and Ministries of Justice, Foreign Affairs, Interior, Labor, and Communications. This group has convened on several occasions and has committed to biweekly meetings to discuss anti-trafficking efforts and progress.
The Government demonstrated progress in developing economic and social programs to integrate former slaves into society. The CDHLCPI initiated three projects addressing this issue, with a specific focus on the southern and southeastern regions where the vast majority of Black Moors (former slaves and the descendants of slaves) are concentrated. These projects include providing microcredit financing and income-generating activities to an estimated 160,000 people; developing agricultural infrastructure and capabilities for rural populations; and alleviating poverty through locally-designed and implemented projects to meet local needs.
Nigeria
The Government of Nigeria made progress in efforts to address trafficking in persons. It increased the staffing of its new National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons (NAPTIP) to over 150 people. Officials delivered lectures on the new anti-trafficking law to immigration officials, judges and magistrates. They also delivered copies of the law to the police command in every state and various media offices, and discussed it on talk shows and state programs. NAPTIP established a National Investigation Task Force (NITF) that set up small units in 11 states with the worst trafficking problems. It trained NITF on the provisions of the anti-TIP law, care of victims, Interpol standards, and corruption and human rights issues.
To address the problem of law enforcement officers and immigration and airport authorities collaborating in trafficking across Nigeria?s borders, NAPTIP briefed the heads of police and immigration on the issue. NAPTIP officials also met with several major traditional leaders to raise their awareness about trafficking and the new law. Since February, NAPTIP has investigated 35 TIP-related cases, at times collaborating with the Spanish police, the Italian National Anti-Mafia Bureau, and Benin Republic police. Arrests were made in 13 cases, four of which have gone to court. One trial was completed and the judgment is pending. Immigration Service anti-trafficking units supported NAPTIP in surveillance, arrests, and prosecutions, including receiving, interviewing, and locating the relatives of deported victims. In November, the High Court of Edo State delivered the first conviction under the new anti-trafficking law, sentencing a woman to three years? imprisonment for attempting to traffic six girls to Spain.
The Government also made progress in assisting trafficking victims. During the year, NAPTIP provided shelter or referral to entities offering protection assistance to 74 victims. Working with the International Organization for Migration, it opened a 120-bed shelter for victims in July. It also established a 24-hour hotline for victims and those desiring to provide information. Limited progress was seen on the Government's anti-TIP media campaign. NAPTIP created a website to provide trafficking information to the public; developed relationships with newspaper chiefs to encourage giving priority to TIP stories; and produced television advertisements to publicize its work, though it lacks funding to air them.
Senegal
The Government of Senegal has made limited, initial progress in addressing gaps in its anti-trafficking efforts. To strengthen its relevant legislation, the Government formed a commission to review and revise Senegal?s penal code and harmonize the code with international treaty commitments concerning trafficking in persons. The commission, which just began its work, is expected to recommend laws that criminalize and punish all forms of trafficking in persons. The Government has set a June 2005 deadline for passage of implementing legislation.
The Government has also made progress in its efforts to investigate and monitor trafficking-related cases. Forty-one Senegalese police officers and investigators were trained to enter cases into a database formulated specifically to collect, correlate and analyze information on trafficking in persons and related crimes. At the conclusion of the most recent training program in October, the Assistant Director General of National Safety publicly stated that the Ministry of Interior will soon establish a central office for TIP-related law enforcement efforts at the headquarters of the Judicial Police. In addition, Senegal signed a bilateral accord with Mali to repatriate trafficked children and is currently discussing similar accords with Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, and The Gambia. Moreover, the Government has established a national child protection hotline and a center to receive children, including trafficking victims.
Sierra Leone
The Government of Sierra Leone has made progress in its efforts to address trafficking in persons concerns. To address legislative weaknesses, the Government organized a cabinet-level working group to draft a national law on trafficking in persons, which is now before Parliament. In addition, the Freetown City Council introduced municipal legislation to ban the entrance of minors into nightclubs, and other municipalities are also strengthening their stance against the prostitution of minors. The Sierra Leone Police (SLP) convene a bi-weekly meeting on combating TIP that is attended by various ministries and local and international NGOs.
The Government demonstrated progress in investigating TIP crimes. In November, the SLP arrested seven people who were allegedly attempting to traffic a total of 43 children. To improve such efforts, the SLP are developing a training manual on combating trafficking and have drafted a proposal seeking financial and personnel assistance in delivering the training. The SLP have reached an agreement with an NGO to provide one-hour anti-trafficking training sessions for local police in the Western Area. Fifty police officers attended anti-trafficking training, including instruction on what action to take if victims are found. Victim protection procedures have featured prominently in training sessions.
The Government has made progress in carrying out a trafficking awareness media campaign. Officials are frequently seen in local newspapers speaking out against trafficking, and SLP officials have conducted radio discussions on the subject. In addition, National Vision for Sierra Leone, an entity comprised of the National Truth and Reconciliation Commission, NGOs, clergy, and the Government, sponsored an art exhibit created by trafficking victims in a library and exhibition space in Freetown.
Tanzania
Since the release of the 2004 Report, the Government of Tanzania has directed unprecedented high-level attention to trafficking in persons. In July, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) convened a meeting of permanent secretaries and senior civil servants to discuss the trafficking situation in Tanzania, police investigations into trafficking cases, and existing anti-trafficking statutes. The MFA tasked each ministry with compiling a comprehensive report of recent actions taken to combat trafficking. This report was provided to State Department officials during a visit to Tanzania in July.
The Government made significant progress in furthering its anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts. Currently, three trafficking-related cases are pending in court, while investigations on two additional cases are underway. In addition, immigration officials, working with police, uncovered an international human trafficking ring in October, arresting 31 suspected traffickers. After the arrests were made, the Regional Immigration Officer made a public statement condemning the use of Tanzania as a transit country for human trafficking. Eight mid-level Tanzanian police officers attended a trafficking-in-persons investigation course. Drawing upon this training, the police have begun drafting specific procedures for use during trafficking-related investigations.
The Government also made progress in preventing trafficking. Local government officials at the ward level sit on district committees that identify children vulnerable to or involved in the worst forms of child labor, including prostitution and forced domestic labor. These committees designate specific children eligible for targeted protection services offered by the International Labor Organization, including rehabilitation, education, and alternative training.
Zambia
The Government of Zambia has made progress in furthering its anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts. In November, Parliament passed comprehensive child protection legislation that prohibits all forms of slavery, as well as procuring or offering a child for illicit activities, including prostitution. Police and the courts have successfully intervened in several trafficking cases. In July, police arrested a man who offered to sell two children to a local businessman. In October, police intercepted 14 Congolese girls between the ages of 5 and 17 bound for South Africa where they were promised jobs. The Congolese woman accompanying the children was arrested.
The Government took significant steps to implement a strategy providing shelter and protection to vulnerable children, including prostitutes. The Government has contracted numerous NGOs and faith-based organizations across the country to provide interim accommodations to at-risk children. Based on the results of a children?s needs assessment, the youth will be reintegrated with their families, provided long-term shelter and education by civil society organizations, or relocated to a Zambia National Service camp for skills training.
In September, the Government announced the formation of an inter-ministerial human trafficking committee designed to focus attention, strategies, and resources to combat the practice. The committee is comprised of representatives from the Drug Enforcement Commission, the Zambia Police Service, and the Ministries of Home Affairs, Foreign Affairs, and Sports, Youth, and Child Development. A coordinator of all anti-trafficking in persons activities has been designated.
Zimbabwe
The Government of Zimbabwe made limited progress in its efforts to address trafficking in persons. In November, the Government collaborated with Interpol?s Subregional Bureau for Southern Africa to host a Regional Working Meeting on Trafficking in Human Beings in Harare. The meeting focused on regional cooperation between law enforcement and NGOs to conduct investigations, identify victims, and provide care for victims. Officials from the immigration department, Attorney General?s office, and Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) were in attendance. The ZRP presented a list of recommendations for the Government on cooperation, enacting anti-TIP legislation, providing training, and conducting bilateral investigations to track trafficking across borders.
The Government is collaborating on a regional effort with the International Organization of Migration and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to develop a regional declaration on trafficking in persons, as well as a plan of action that will focus on assessing the scope of the problem and formulating anti-TIP legislation. The Government is solidifying plans for an anti-TIP educational training program for prosecutors and judges.
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