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RR RUEHPA
DE RUEHAB #0226/01 0601649
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 011649Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY ABIDJAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1017
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS 0018
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0014
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS 0008
RUEHML/AMEMBASSY MANILA 0021
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHDC
RUEAWJB/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 ABIDJAN 000226 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR G/TIP,G,INL,DRL,PRM,IWI,AF/RSA; DEPT FOR USAID 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB IV
SUBJECT: COTE D'IVOIRE: 2006 TIP REPORT 
 
REF: SECSTATE 3836 
 
¶1. (SBU) Since a September 2002 coup attempt that evolved 
into a civil war, Cote d'Ivoire has been partitioned in two 
with the government maintaining control of the south and the 
ex-rebel New Forces controlling the north.  Tensions between 
the two sides have lessened since the appointment of a new 
Prime Minister in December 2005 but the peace process remains 
stalled.  The economy has stagnated as a result of the crisis 
and government revenues have declined, creating severe 
budgetary pressures.  The government of Cote d'Ivoire has 
necessarily focused on ending the conflict, reunifying the 
country, disarming and demobilizing former combatants, and 
organizing elections.  Despite these challenges, the 
government has demonstrated political will and dedicated some 
limited resources to combating TIP.  In addition, available 
information indicates that the overall magnitude of 
international trafficking to Cote d'Ivoire has decreased 
since civil war broke out in 2002, because of the partition 
of the country, tighter security at borders, and decreased 
economic opportunities. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Overview of Cote d'Ivoire's activities to eliminate 
trafficking in persons (Para 21, Reftel): 
 
¶A.  Cote d'Ivoire is primarily a country of destination for 
international trafficking of women and children.  Cote 
d'Ivoire is also, to a limited degree, a transit country and 
a country of origin to countries in Europe as well as Libya 
and Syria.  Domestic trafficking is more prevalent than 
international trafficking and it occurs in the New Forces 
(NF)-controlled zone, as well as the government zone.  There 
is no centralized record keeping in Cote d'Ivoire. 
Consequently, there are no reliable numbers available as to 
the extent or magnitude of the problem.  Anecdotal data are 
provided when available.  Sources of available information on 
TIP include local and international NGOs, the police and 
defense forces, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of 
Family and Social Services, and other embassies.  Women and 
girls are more at risk of being trafficked than boys.  We 
have no reports of men being trafficked in or to Cote 
d'Ivoire.  Victims are more likely to come from the north, 
and to a lesser extent, from the west, than from southern or 
eastern Cote d'Ivoire. 
 
¶B.  Women and children were trafficked from Nigeria and Ghana 
mainly for sexual exploitation in Abidjan and larger towns. 
A small number of women and children are trafficked from 
North Africa, the Ukraine, China, and the Philippines to 
become prostitutes.  Sometimes, the women are promised jobs 
in restaurants or hair salons but are then forced into 
prostitution.  Frequently, these girls and women come to 
Abidjan and its surroundings and work for a few days or 
months in order to generate enough money to pay for tickets, 
identity papers, and reimburse traffickers.  If they earn 
enough money and if the trafficker allows it, the women go to 
their final destinations, usually European countries such as 
Spain, the Netherlands, and Italy.  The victims often live in 
hotels or brothels and can only go out in public under the 
surveillance of their pimp.  Traffickers often threaten the 
victims and use physical violence. 
 
While international traffickers can be loosely organized, 
domestic traffickers are often related to the victim by blood 
or ethnic ties.  The trafficker might be a distant relative 
capitalizing on the system throughout West Africa known in 
Cote d'Ivoire as "confiage" that encourages communal raising 
of children.  The traffickers deceive parents with promises 
of schooling, money, or an apprenticeship for the child. 
Parents are often proud to say their child is in Abidjan 
working or are too overwhelmed by the number of children they 
have to feed to worry about parting with one.  If they child 
returns with money, they frequently overlook the emotional 
and physical damage. 
 
In September, gendarmes in the province of Bondoukou stopped 
a bus traveling with seventeen unaccompanied boys aged 13-18. 
 The trafficker had traveled to Burkina Faso to get workers 
for cashew farms in the area.  The villagers in Burkina Faso 
and the Ivoirian trafficker were of the same Lobi ethnic 
group.  The government called UNICEF and Burkina Faso's 
 
ABIDJAN 00000226  002 OF 007 
 
 
Consul General in Abidjan to help care for the children.  UN 
forces eventually helped repatriate the children. 
 
The local NGOs African Movement of Children and Young Workers 
 (MAEJT) and Movement of Social Action (EASEMO) , helped 
repatriate five children who had been trafficked to Cote 
d'Ivoire from Burkina Faso.  The trafficker told the parents 
they would attend Koranic school.  When the children were 
finally repatriated, the parents had thought they were a few 
towns away and didn't know they had left the country. 
 
The most vulnerable group for trafficking purposes are 
children from the poorest parts of the country who do not 
have birth certificates, making it easier for traffickers to 
conceal their identity.  Without a government presence in the 
north, children often do not receive official certificates. 
Moreover, in small villages in both the rebel and government 
zones, poorer uneducated parents often do not even request 
birth certificates for their children.  Children who have 
never gone to school, or have dropped out of school are also 
at risk.  The government refused to administer school exams 
in the NF zone for three years, resulting in a higher 
incidence of children not going to school or dropping out. 
All of these factors make the children of the north 
especially vulnerable to trafficking. 
 
While in recent years, international pressure and press 
coverage has drawn attention to child labor and trafficking 
in the cocoa sector, it appears that the most common victims 
of trafficking are young girls brought to Abidjan to perform 
domestic labor.  In the cocoa sector, smaller Ivoirian 
farmers generally use their own children as farm hands while 
larger plantations owned by Ivoirians employ men from Burkina 
Faso and other neighboring countries.  Children trafficked to 
perform labor in the cocoa sector are most commonly found on 
large farms of owners from neighboring countries who exploit 
the system of confiage to bring children in from their own 
countries to work the farms.  There were reports of children 
who, once interviewed apart from the farmers, revealed that, 
indeed, the farmers were not their real parents.  This makes 
it difficult to estimate the overall magnitude of trafficked 
children in the cocoa sector. 
 
A study conducted by the ILO and the UNHCR in 2004 revealed 
that in western Cote d'Ivoire within the Regugee Welcome Zone 
(ZAR), refugee and displaced children are increasingly 
becoming victims of trafficking and other forms of 
exploitation.  Many children, in order to provide for 
themselves or their families, are not attending schools and 
are exposed to an increasing range of situations where they 
are easily exploited.  The traffickers in the ZAR often 
recruit young girls of thier own ethnic group to become 
domestic servants.  Children are also recruited to work in 
mines or palm oil plantations.  The trafficker usually 
receives at least 10% of the child's wages. 
 
There is political will to combat trafficking in persons, 
though the highest levels of the Ivoirian government are 
currently preoccupied primarily with the political crisis. 
Furthermore, Ivoirians are at the early stages of hearing 
about and understanding what trafficking is.  The 
international press first drew Ivoirians' attention o the 
phenomenon of trafficking in Cote d'Ivoirewith reports of 
Malian boys working as slaves incocoa farms.  Frequently, 
Ivoirians view internatonal reports about trafficking as a 
way to "discedit" Cote d'Ivoire.  Elected officials have 
litle incentive to address an issue that doesn't concrn 
their constituents.  Still, at the lower leves of 
government, officials are trying to address he problem with 
the meager resources they have a their disposal. 
 
¶C.  Because of the ongoing criis, the government of Cote 
d'Ivoire is facing anextreme budget shortfall and lacks the 
resourcesto adequately support anti-trafficking programs. 
Despite official figures showing modest economic grwth in 
2004 and 2005, Cote d'Ivoire probably exprienced zero or 
negative growth in 2002-2005.  Te country remains 
partitioned in two and the govrnment struggles to provide 
social services in the areas it controls.  Poverty is 
endemic, making amilies more vulnerable to traffickers. 
However,the government has managed to devote some human 
 
ABIDJAN 00000226  003 OF 007 
 
 
resources to various programs.  For example, the government 
encourages police officers, gendarmes, and other officials to 
attend seminars hosted by NGOs to learn how to identify 
traffickers and treat the victims.  Local officials have 
participated in the implementation of programs and have also 
devoted human resources from their offices to neighborhood 
watch groups and local NGOs engaged in the fight against 
trafficking in persons.  They have also provided office space. 
 
¶D.  The government follows and supports anti-trafficking 
efforts, but not systematically on any front.  When 
international or local NGOs hold seminars on trafficking in 
persons, the government participates and shares information 
with their partners in the fight.  The press covers these 
seminars and through media reports, the public is informed. 
 
¶3. (SBU) PREVENTION (Para 22, Reftel) 
 
¶A.  The government does acknowledge that trafficking is a 
problem.  On July 27, the Ministry of Family and Social 
Services, hosted the signing ceremony for a multi-lateral 
cooperation agreement to combat trafficking in children. 
Nine countries signed the accord:  Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote 
d'Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and Togo. 
The agreement represents the first time that West African 
states have taken the initiative to create and sign a 
multilateral agreement to combat child trafficking without 
the aid of an international organization.  The government of 
Cote d'Ivoire, through the National Committee for the Fight 
against Trafficking and Child Exploitation (NCFTCE), took the 
lead creating and cultivating support for the agreement. 
 
However, the government has also sought to portray the 
trafficking issue to the Ivoirian public as an assault on the 
vital cocoa sector and an attempt to besmirch the reputation 
of Cote d'Ivoire.  Thus, while the government does 
acknowledge that trafficking is a problem, it is a 
politicized issue that is not yet clearly linked to the 
political will to devote more public resources for 
anti-trafficking efforts on the part of the government. 
 
¶B.  The Ministry of Family and Social Services has the lead 
on trafficking issues.  They work with the Ministries of 
Justice, Defense, the Interior, and to a smaller degree, 
Labor. 
 
¶C.  In June 2005, the ILO paid for a seminar to sensitize the 
people of Bondoukou, a province in the north-east where many 
trafficked girls come from. While the ILO financed the 
seminar, the government was the sole organizer. 
 
¶D. The Ministry of Labor and the ILO continued to implement 
the "West African Project Against Abusive Child Labor in 
Commercial Agriculture" (WACAP) to increase farmers' 
awareness, improve schooling for children, and provide better 
social services to families. Between June and October, over 
21,000 people were educated through the pilot project. 
 
The National School for Civil Servants, with the help of the 
ILO, added a course on child labor as part of the curriculum 
for Workplace Inspectors. 
 
The government also contributes money to the Institutions for 
Female Training and Education (IFEF) centers around the 
country where women can go take literacy, cooking, and sewing 
courses and learn about hygiene and homemaking. 
 
¶F.  The government has a good relationship with international 
and local NGOs involved in anti-trafficking efforts.  The 
Ministry of Family and Social Services is forthcoming and 
well regarded in its anti-trafficking interactions with NGOs 
and other international organizations.  Most local NGOs and 
international organizations (except for ILO) that are 
involved in the anti-trafficking fight are members of the 
NCFTCE, chaired by the Minister of Family and Social Services 
and cooperation is good.  Since the government does not have 
shelters around the country, officials often ask local NGOs 
for assistance in offering shelter as well as medical and 
psychological assistance to recovered trafficking victims. 
 
¶G.  The government is unable to adequately patrol its long, 
 
ABIDJAN 00000226  004 OF 007 
 
 
porous border.  It does not maintain publicly available 
statistics on border crossings.  Additionally, it is 
difficult to know the extent of trafficking across the 
northern borders due to the partition of the country. 
However, the Ministry of Security has instructed police and 
gendarmes at various border points to arrest people trying to 
bring children into Cote d'Ivoire.  In the south, buses 
carrying children being trafficked from Ghana to Cote 
d'Ivoire are routinely turned away.  The border police prefer 
to deny entry into Cote d'Ivoire to children traveling with 
people who are not their parents, because they often have no 
place to put them.  To avoid being apprehended, traffickers 
sometimes enter Cote d'Ivoire along the coast by boat. 
 
¶H.  The NCFTCE coordinates the efforts of the various 
agencies. 
 
¶J.  The government finalized its national action plan in 
¶2004.  Representatives from key ministries played an active 
role, as did several international and local NGOs involved in 
the anti-trafficking fight.  However, the NCFTCE has not 
received any money to implement the steps in the plan.  The 
ILO has pledged $100,000 for 2006 to help implement the plan. 
 
¶4. (SBU) INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION OF TRAFFICKERS (Para 
23, Reftel) 
 
¶A.  Cote d'Ivoire does not have a specific law prohibiting or 
punishing trafficking in persons.  There is no specific law 
against slavery.  The government, however, has drafted and 
submitted legislation against trafficking in persons to the 
National Assembly.  Given the current political crisis, it is 
unclear when the National Assembly will act on the proposed 
law. 
 
The government can prosecute traffickers under the law 
prohibiting kidnapping of children (Penal Code, Article 371). 
 The government can also use the law prohibiting the removal 
(alienation) of a person's freedom (Article 376), receiving 
or leaving a person as a financial security (Article 377), or 
imposing labor or a service on a person (Article 378).  Bad 
treatment, torture, or starvation of minors is also 
punishable (Article 362).  These laws are used in trafficking 
cases.  Despite this list of statutes and some arrests, the 
proposed anti-trafficking law is needed to adequately cover 
the full scope of the problem. 
 
¶B.  There are currently no specific penalties for traffickers 
of people for sexual or labor exploitation. 
 
¶C.  There are currently no specific penalties for sex 
trafficking.  Rape is punishable by 5-20 years imprisonment 
(Penal Code Article 354).  The sentence becomes life 
imprisonment if the perpetrator has one or more accomplices 
or is the father, an older relative or a person who has 
responsibility for the victim's upbringing, or if the victim 
is under 15 years of age.  The penalty for statutory rape or 
attempted rape of either a girl or a boy under the age of 15 
is 1-3 years in prison and a fine of $150-1,500, less than 
for other rape cases(Penal Code Article 356). 
 
¶D.  There is no law against prostitution as long as it is 
between consenting adults and in private.  Accosting a client 
is a crime, as is procuring (pimping), even if the prostitute 
is an adult.  Operating an establishment that is mainly for 
prostitution is a crime. 
 
While police officers often receive reports of brothels 
operating with trafficked women and children, they are 
constrained from following up on these reports by a lack of 
police cars.  Police also usually do not have any support to 
offer victims they rescue. 
 
NGOs have reported that the security forces often use their 
position to exploit prostitutes.  The local NGO, Movement of 
Nid, that operates in the district of Yopougon, an area 
highly frequented by prostitutes and their clients, reports 
that foreign prostitutes who do not have the proper identity 
paper are often forced to have sex with police to avoid going 
to jail.  The security forces are also frequently customers 
of the same brothels that they are charged with dismantling. 
 
ABIDJAN 00000226  005 OF 007 
 
 
 
¶E.  The government prosecuted one case of trafficking in 
¶2005.  As no law exists against trafficking, the man was 
charged with kidnapping a minor. 
 
¶F.  According to various sources, the people involved in the 
transnational trafficking trade are transporters and other 
traffickers from the countries of origin of the children. 
The people receiving the victims (especially 
children) are usually people from the same country as the 
people being trafficked.  The people involved in internal 
domestic trafficking are almost all Ivoirians, and are 
usually known to the children's parents.  The traffickers 
are not known to work in large groups or networks.  There is 
no evidence that government officials are directly implicated 
in trafficking.  There are no reports indicating that profits 
from trafficking in persons are being channeled to other 
persons or entities. 
 
¶G.  Very rarely does the government investigate cases of 
trafficking.  As mentioned elsewhere, the government's 
ability to devote resources to trafficking has diminished 
since the onset of the rebellion.  Furthermore, police 
officers have very few resources available, usually not even 
a government vehicle, to conduct their official duties. 
There is no information that the government used undercover 
electronic means to investigate trafficking (or any other 
crime) nor of there having been offers of immunity from 
prosecution for potential witnesses.  There is no procedure, 
code, or law prohibiting police from engaging in covert 
operations. 
 
¶H.  The government was unable to provide any specialized 
training in 2005 due to budget constraints.  The NCFTCE plans 
to provide more training with money from the ILO in 2006. 
 
¶I.  The multilateral agreement mentioned in section 22A calls 
for cross-border cooperation in the investigation of child 
trafficking networks and the prosecution of traffickers. At 
the time of this report, however, there had not yet been any 
instances of international cooperation on trafficking. 
 
¶J.  The government has not extradited suspected traffickers. 
To date, authorities arrest, try, and require traffickers to 
serve their sentence in Cote d'Ivoire before sending them out 
of the country.  The multi-lateral agreement referred to in 
section 22A calls for extradition to signatory countries. 
There is no law prohibiting Ivoirians from being extradited. 
 
¶K.  There is no evidence that government officials were 
directly implicated in trafficking.  However, as many aspects 
of law enforcement and public administration are open to 
bribery and other corruption, some government officials may 
have been complicit in trafficking, although we have no hard 
evidence of such complicity or other corruption. 
 
¶L.  N/A 
 
¶M.  Child sex tourism is not known to be a problem in Cote 
d'Ivoire. 
 
¶N.  The government ratified ILO Convention 182 concerning the 
prohibition and immediate action for the elimination of the 
worst forms of child labor in July 2003. 
-The government ratified ILO Convention 29 on forced or 
compulsory labor November 25, 1960. 
-The government ratified ILO Convention 105 on forced or 
compulsory labor on May 5, 1961. 
-Cote d,Ivoire ratified the The Optional Protocol to the 
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1991. The 
Council of Ministers signed the Optional Protocol on the sale 
of children, child prostitution, and child pornography at the 
end of 2004 and it must now go to parliament. 
-The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in 
Persons, especially Women and Children, supplementing the UN 
Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime has not been 
signed or ratified. 
 
¶5. (SBU) PROTECTION AND ASSISTANCE TO VICTIMS (Para 24, 
Reftel) 
 
 
ABIDJAN 00000226  006 OF 007 
 
 
¶A. 
The government, in general, does not have special centers for 
victims.  The government requires the help of local NGOs that 
have centers and can provide shelter, medical and 
psychological assistance to the victims.  However, government 
practices have evolved in recent years.  Historically, police 
have sent rescued children to the police academy in Abidjan. 
More frequently, the police now call the Ministry of Family 
and Social Services or an NGO to take care of the child. 
 
¶B. 
The government does not provide funding to foreign or 
domestic NGOs for services to victims.  The government asks 
international NGOs to give money to local NGOs that have the 
capacity to provide services to the victims and encourages 
international NGOs to conduct anti-trafficking campaigns. The 
government has also assigned one civil servant to work with 
the Abel Community of Grand Bassam.  In Bonoua, the mayor and 
deputy mayor have assigned their assistants to work with the 
watch groups and provided an office and a room to accommodate 
the child victims until they are picked up by Abel. 
 
¶C. 
There is no formal screening and referral process in place. 
When trafficking victims are brought into police custody in 
major Ivoirian cities, the police normally contact the 
Ministry of Family and Social Services which alerts local and 
international NGOS that can provide support and shelter. 
 
¶D. 
Trafficking victims are not usually arrested, but some are 
prosecuted on a case-by-case basis for offenses such as 
prostitution or documentary fraud.  On several occasions, 
trafficked children were kept in police custody in centers 
for young delinquents because the police officers did not 
know where else to keep them. 
 
¶E. 
The government does not encourage or discourage victims from 
assisting in the investigation and prosecution of 
trafficking.  The absence of a law against trafficking limits 
the recourse a victim has in the judicial system. 
 
There is no program of witness protection or program of 
restitution.  Moreover, foreign victims who are material 
witnesses in court cases against former employers must leave 
the country if they cannot find other employment.  If the 
victim is an adult, the victim can file a complaint.  If the 
victim is a child, the police usually attempt to return the 
child to his/her family or to a community member. 
 
¶F. 
No special protection is given beyond what is normally given 
to witnesses in other criminal cases.  The government does 
not run any shelters.  If shelter or other benefits are 
needed for victims, the government would refer the case to an 
NGO.  However, the government has placed a building plus 
utilities at the disposal of the International Catholic 
Bureau of the Child that BICE has converted into a shelter 
for children in difficult situations. 
 
¶G. 
The government was unable to conduct training sessions for 
government and security officials during the year due to 
budget constraints.  The government does not provide training 
on protection to its embassies and consulates in foreign 
countries. 
 
¶H. 
There was no formal government assistance for repatriated 
nationals who were victims of trafficking. 
 
¶I. 
Several international organizations and NGO's work on 
trafficking issues in Cote d'Ivoire, including Save the 
Children UK and Sweden, UNICEF, GTZ, the BICE (International 
Catholic Bureau of the Child), and the ILO. 
Local NGOs include:  Afrique Secours Assistance (ASA), the 
Abel Community, the Movement of Nid, the Amigo Doume 
Foundation, EASEMO, MAEJT, and Cote d'Ivoire Prosperity. 
As noted above, the government cooperates with NGOs but 
 
ABIDJAN 00000226  007 OF 007 
 
 
provides little material support due to a lack of funding. 
 
International NGOs provide funds for the local NGOs to assist 
victims of trafficking.  Services include counseling, 
literacy courses, medical care, reuniting victims with their 
families in Cote d'Ivoire, and repatriating foreign victims. 
 
END TRAFFICKING RESPONSES. 
 
Mission point of contact is  FS O5 PolOff Phaedra Gwyn: 
(225)22-49-45-70 or fax (225)22-49-40-20 gwynpm@state.gov. 
Estimated number of hours by Officers spent on TIP Report is 
85 hours. 
Hooks