The government increased law enforcement efforts. The 2014 Law about the Criminalization of Infractions Surrounding Money Laundering criminalized sex trafficking and labor trafficking. Article 18 criminalized slavery and servitude, as well as the buying and selling of a child under 14 years of age for adoption or for slavery, with a penalty of seven to 15 years’ imprisonment. Article 19 criminalized the trafficking of adults and children for the purpose of sexual exploitation, forced labor or trafficking in organs and prescribed penalties of eight to 12 years’ imprisonment. These penalties were sufficiently stringent, and with regard to sex trafficking, commensurate with the penalties for other serious crimes, such as rape. Additional provisions in the law also criminalized forms of sex trafficking. Article 20 criminalized enticing or forcing a person to practice prostitution in a foreign country, with a penalty of two to 10 years’ imprisonment. Article 21 criminalized pimping using force, fraud, or coercion of adults and prescribed penalties of one to 6 years’ imprisonment. Article 22 criminalized “pimping of minors” under the age of 18 and prescribed penalties of two to 10 years’ imprisonment; if force, fraud or coercion was used or the child was less than 14 years old, the penalties were increased to five to 12 years’ imprisonment. Article 23 made it a crime to entice children to engage in prostitution in a foreign country, with sentences of three to 12 years’ imprisonment; with force, fraud or coercion, the sentence was increased to three to 15 years’ imprisonment.
The government investigated 23 potential trafficking cases, primarily involving forced labor, compared with three potential sex trafficking cases in the previous reporting period. Nineteen of the cases originated in Cunene Province, which borders Namibia, one case was in neighboring Huila Province, and the provinces of Huambo, Kwanza Norte, and Luanda each had one case. The investigations involved at least 40 potential child and adult victims, primarily Angolan, and at least 15 perpetrators, primarily of Angolan or Namibian nationality. The government prosecuted four potential trafficking cases, three in Cunene Province involving four defendants and one in Lunda Norte involving a single defendant, compared with six prosecutions in the previous reporting period. The government convicted nine traffickers compared with no convictions during the previous reporting period. Eight of the nine convictions were for forced labor involving children and adults forced to work in animal herding along the border with Namibia, in Cunene Province; sentences ranged from one to five years’ imprisonment. One conviction occurred in Zaire Province and the government sentenced the trafficker to eight years’ imprisonment. The government did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government officials complicit in human trafficking offenses.
In coordination with international organizations, the government trained front-line responders on trafficking vulnerabilities among unaccompanied children and migrants, protection of victims, child forced labor, and conducted two trainings on the SADC data collection tool. In conjunction with an international organization, the government held a technical seminar on child trafficking in Angola to raise awareness about the vulnerability of children to trafficking, the legal framework for prosecuting traffickers, and protection services for victims. National police academy training continued to include human trafficking provisions. The government cooperated with Portuguese authorities in the case of three children exploited by two Angolan traffickers in Portugal. A Portuguese court convicted the traffickers and deported them to Angola, per Angola and Portugal’s judicial cooperation agreement; it was unclear if the men served out their sentences in Angola.