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Cablegate: Burundi: Tip Tier 2 Watch List Action Plan

VZCZCXYZ0007
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHC #6804 2601912
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 171852Z SEP 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO AMEMBASSY BUJUMBURA PRIORITY 0000

UNCLAS STATE 096804

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KTIP PREL KCRM KWMN PHUM SMIG BY
SUBJECT: BURUNDI: TIP TIER 2 WATCH LIST ACTION PLAN
(2009-2010)

REF: A. A. 2008 STATE 132759
B. B. 2007 STATE 150188
C. C. 2009 STATE 005577
D. D. 2009 STATE 62182

1. (U) This is an action request (see paras 2-4).

2. (SBU) Begin action request: Drawing from points in para
8, Post is requested to approach appropriate host government
officials to highlight the United States' strong commitment
to continue to work with the Government of Burundi to help
strengthen its efforts to combat and prevent trafficking in
persons (TIP) and to assist victims. Post is requested to
convey the recommendations in para 9 as a non-paper and draw
from the talking points in para 8 to explain to the host
government the need for prompt action on the recommendations
for a positive review in the interim assessment that the
Department will release to Congress by February 2010 and for
movement out of the Tier 2 Watch List in next year's Report.


3. (SBU) Action request continued: Post is further
requested to emphasize to the Government of Burundi that
these recommendations are often referred to as
"high-priority" items for Tier 2 Watch List removal.
However, sustained and significant anti-trafficking efforts
by the government throughout the year will remain the basis
for determining next year's tier placement. The interim
assessment for Special Watch List countries (to include Tier
2 Watch List countries) will provide a progress report
regarding the government's actions to address the short list
recommendations designed to address the concerns that
resulted in the country's placement on the Tier 2 Watch List
in the 2009 TIP Report (high-priority items), but there will
be no changes in tier ratings at that time. We will
reconsider the government's tier placement when we conduct
our annual full assessment for the March 2009-2010 reporting
period next spring.

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4. (SBU) Action request continued: The Department
recognizes that Post may choose to use this opportunity to
provide additional recommendations, beyond the
recommendations for moving out of the Tier 2 Watch List. In
such a case, we request that Post make clear to the
government which are the "high-priority" items to move off of
the Tier 2 Watch List. (For posts, background information:
G/TIP will be asking for posts to report on the country's
progress in meeting these recommendations by no later than
November 15, 2009, in order to compile narratives for the
interim assessment.)

5. (SBU) In preparation for the interim assessment and 2010
TIP Report, the Department is asking posts to work with host
governments throughout the year to collect as many statistics
as possible on law enforcement actions and judicial
proceedings related to TIP crimes, specifically the
Department requests data on investigations, prosecutions,
convictions, and sentences (e.g., fines, probation, length of
prison sentences imposed, asset seizure information when
available). Whether a government collects and provides this
data consistent with the government's capacity to obtain such
data is considered in determining whether the government
qualifies for Tier 1. Law enforcement statistics, when
available, are a good way of highlighting how well a
government enforced its law and demonstrates strengths and
weaknesses in various approaches. Please note that host
governments and embassies must interpret data terms provided
by host governments such as indictments, charges, cases
disposed, cases submitted for prosecution, etc., to ensure
that they fit into one of the following categories:
investigations, prosecutions, convictions or sentences.

The Department cannot accept "trafficking-related" law
enforcement statistics (e.g, statistics on prostitution or
smuggling offenses) because their direct correlation to
trafficking crimes is not clear. The Department will accept
only law enforcement data that fall into the following
categories: (1) investigations, prosecutions, convictions,
and sentences for offenses that are explicitly defined as
trafficking; and (2) investigations, prosecutions,
convictions, and sentences for offenses that are not defined
explicitly as trafficking but in which the competent law
enforcement or judicial authority has specific evidence
indicating that the defendant was involved in trafficking.

6. (SBU) The Department is also asking Posts to engage with
host governments on efforts to address amendments made by the
2008 Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act
(TVPRA). As indicated in reftel C, 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.

7. (SBU) Please keep in mind the TIP Report measures host
government efforts. In order for anti-trafficking activities
financed or conducted principally by parties outside the
government to be considered for tier placement purposes, Post
needs to demonstrate a concrete role or tangible value-added
by a host government in such activities carried out by NGOs,
international organizations, or posts.

8. (U) Background Points:

Begin talking points:

-- The Obama Administration views the fight against human
trafficking, both at home and abroad, as a critical piece of
our foreign policy agenda. We are committed to making
progress on this issue in the months ahead by working closely
with partners in every country.

-- The U.S. Government's Trafficking Victims Protection Act
requires the State Department to submit an annual report to
Congress on the status of foreign governments, efforts to
combat trafficking in persons. Pursuant to the Trafficking
Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2003 (TVPRA), the
Department created a special category for Tier 2 countries
that do not show increasing efforts from the previous year,
have a very significant number of victims, or whose Tier 2
rating is based on commitments to take additional steps over
the next year.

-- Also as mandated by the TVPRA, by February 2010 the
Department will submit to Congress an interim assessment. At
the end of 2009 in preparation for that submission, the
Department will conduct an assessment of Tier 2 Watch List
countries' progress in responding to the specific issues of
concern that resulted in the Tier 2 Watch List rating.

-- We offer the following recommended actions to tackle
specific shortcomings highlighted in the 2009 TIP Report. We
believe these to be within the reasonable ability of your
government to fulfill in the near-term and encourage you to
take prompt action for a positive narrative in the interim
assessment. New tier evaluations will not occur at the
interim assessment. We will reconsider a government,s tier
placement when we conduct our annual full assessment for the
2009-2010 reporting period next spring. Prompt, appropriate,
and significant actions will lead to a more favorable tier
placement; conversely, failure to address the issues
mentioned above may lead to a Tier 3 placement.

-- We would welcome the Government of Burundi,s comments on
these recommendations and any other ideas you might have to
advance our common struggle against trafficking in persons.

End talking points.

9. (SBU) Begin Action Plan:

The Government of Burundi has signed, but not yet ratified,
the U.N. Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking
in Persons, Especially Women and Children. This Protocol
includes provisions relating to protection of trafficking
victims, criminalization of trafficking offenses, and
prevention of trafficking. The government may wish to
consider working toward full implementation of the Protocol,
including adopting legislative measures to criminalize
trafficking in persons as defined in the Protocol.

--------------------------------------------- --------------
The following are recommended "high-priority" steps for more
effectively combating human trafficking:
--------------------------------------------- --------------

-- Increase awareness of human trafficking by launching an
educational campaign. The focus should include not only
general public awareness of human trafficking, but also
information that will specifically help victims identify
government or NGO sources of assistance. This could be
carried out in a variety of locally appropriate ways. For
example:

a) Air brief informational spots or public service
announcements on local radio stations;
b) Sensitize journalists to trafficking in persons;
c) Publicize, where appropriate, trafficking-related court
proceedings in local news media; or
d) Display posters in public places depicting the dangers of
human trafficking, how to report a case, or where to go to
seek assistance.
e) Disseminate information on the dangers of human
trafficking, how to report a case, or where to go to seek
assistance through local NGO and religious networks that have
interest in protecting women and children.

-- Utilize the specific human trafficking provisions of the
amended criminal code to investigate and, where possible,
prosecute alleged trafficking offenses.

-- Institute training on human trafficking as a standard part
of the mandatory training program for new police and border
guards. Ensure that graduating law enforcement officials can
distinguish between human trafficking and smuggling; have
developed skills in interviewing suspected victims of
trafficking; are aware of procedures for transferring victims
to the care of NGOs or other social service providers; and
understand how to properly report and document the crime.
-- Investigate the situation of children in prostitution in
Burundi for evidence of trafficking. In conjunction with
those ministries responsible for working with vulnerable
children, the Police Brigade for the Protection of Minors
should seek to identify areas and specific locations within
the country where children are found in prostitution and take
appropriate legal action against those facilitating such
commercial sexual exploitation. In partnership with local
human rights organizations or international NGOs, the
government should also begin to ensure the provision of
short-term protective services to children who have been
trafficked into prostitution.

-- In regard to increasing protective services for all types
of trafficking victims, government-sponsored public awareness
campaigns and government support of civil society entities
desiring to provide assistance to victims will be essential
in creating a nationwide network capable of supplying these
services; at this time few viable service providers exist.


--------------------------------------------- --------------
Other valuable anti-trafficking interventions the Government
of Burundi may wish to pursue:
--------------------------------------------- --------------

-- Enhance the ability of police, other law enforcement
entities, and social welfare officials to respond to the

physical and psychological needs of trafficking victims by
formalizing procedures for interviewing potential victims and
transferring them to the care, when appropriate, of local
NGOs or international organizations, and assuring eventual
reintegration. To facilitate this sort of cooperation, seek
out, learn about the work of, and establish partnerships with
organizations working to protect children within the country.
Ensure that police receive clear instructions regarding
their specific roles and responsibilities to combat
trafficking.

-- Consider the feasibility of and show progress toward the
development of a specific and comprehensive national law
against human trafficking that includes both transnational
and internal trafficking. The law should define trafficking,
specify who can be considered a trafficker, and outline a
punishment scheme for various trafficking acts. The process
by which the law is developed should be consultative, and
include input gained from broad consultations with relevant
ministries and police agencies, civil society, human rights
bodies, and international organizations that deal with issues
relating to human trafficking.

-- Continue, in cooperation with UNICEF and local and
international NGOs, to provide medical, psycho-social,
educational, and skills training to demobilized children
associated with FDD and FNL. Follow-up with reintegrated
children to ensure that they have successfully assimilated
into civilian life (e.g., the child,s basic needs are being
met; s/he has returned to school, or received vocational
training and obtained employment; and s/he is not engaging in
criminal or other destructive behavior).
CLINTON

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