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FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
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INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
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RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 0949
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RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 0743
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RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0949
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RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RUFGNOA/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEAHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHINGTON DC
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1332

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 HARARE 000252 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP, AF/S, AF/RSA, G/INL, DRL, PRM, IWI 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR C. COURVILLE 
USAID/AFR/SA FOR E. LOKEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM SMIG ASEC PREF ELAB ZI KWMN KFRD
SUBJECT: ZIMBABWE ANTI-TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT 
 
REF: STATE 3836 
 
-------- 
Overview 
-------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) Zimbabwe is a country of origin and transit for 
trafficked persons.  This year there were also two cases of 
girls trafficked to Zimbabwe from South Africa.  Most of the 
information about the scope of trafficking remains anecdotal, 
however, the government and the police investigate and track 
trafficking cases.  The government is also showing increasing 
interest in protection of victims, awareness raising, and 
investigation of trafficking cases.  The government lacks the 
funds to carry out most of these activities itself but 
cooperates with efforts by the International Organization for 
Migration (IOM), UNICEF, and NGOs on these activities, and 
government officials and the state media make statements in 
private and public about the dangers of trafficking. 
Zimbabwean law prohibits many trafficking activities. 
However, although various ministries and legislators have 
shown interest in drafting one, a comprehensive 
anti-trafficking law has yet to be enacted.  Moreover, 
despite some positive signs, conditions such as economic 
hardship, a growing number of HIV/AIDS orphans, and a 
government campaign against ostensibly unlicensed homes and 
businesses placed increasing numbers of individuals, 
especially children, at risk of exploitation. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Trafficking victims in Zimbabwe appear to be largely 
children and young adults experiencing economic hardship and 
seeking a better life.  Reports of trafficking included 
anecdotes from NGOs of Zimbabwean girls exchanging sex for 
passage across the South African border, Zimbabweans--usually 
women--being lured out of the country with false job 
promises, children being sexually abused by immigration 
officials of neighboring countries during deportation from 
Botswana and South Africa, women and children transiting 
through Zimbabwe to South Africa primarily from Malawi and 
Zambia, children working as domestic or agricultural workers 
in Zimbabwe, children trafficked from rural areas into cities 
for prostitution, and employers demanding sex from 
undocumented Zimbabwean workers in South Africa, both adults 
and children, under the threat of deportation.  Unions and 
NGOs also report that child labor is on the rise. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The Victim Friendly Unit (VFU) of the Zimbabwe 
Republic Police (ZRP) investigates and tracks cases of 
suspected trafficking.  The Criminal Investigative Division 
(CID) of the ZRP has added human trafficking to its crime 
charts but has not recorded any prosecutions to date.  There 
were 26 persons identified as trafficking victims by the VFU: 
two cases of minor girls abducted from South Africa and 
trafficked to Zimbabwe for domestic servitude, 2 cases of 
minor girls from the Democratic Republic of Congo being 
trafficked through Zimbabwe for unknown purposes, and 22 
cases of persons trafficked from Zimbabwe to Zambia, South 
Africa, China, and Egypt for domestic servitude or 
prostitution.  Of the 22 cases trafficked from Zimbabwe, 6 
were teenage girls (one was 18; the others were minors), 15 
were adult women, and 1 was an adult male.  The persons 
trafficked from Zimbabwe were lured by promises of jobs or 
scholarships.  IOM reports that there is evidence in some of 
these cases, particularly in the case of the girls transited 
from the DRC, that there are large and well-organized 
trafficking rings involved. 
 
¶4. (SBU) In addition to these 26 cases, police investigated 
 
HARARE 00000252  002 OF 007 
 
 
possible trafficking cases of an additional 10 persons whose 
situation was unclear.  One was a family of four children 
whose father took them from Zimbabwe to South Africa under 
suspicious circumstances; the children all returned to 
Zimbabwe.  The second was a case of 6 Eritreans (2 men and 4 
girls) traveling from South Africa through Zimbabwe to China 
and ultimately to the UK.  They were turned back by 
immigration officials in China and returned to Zimbabwe.  The 
six had refugee status in South Africa and ultimately 
returned there.  It is unclear if the case was migrant 
smuggling or trafficking, and it is unclear if all six were 
migrants or if the two men were handlers. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Because numbers of trafficking victims have only 
begun to be tracked by police recently, it is unclear if any 
of the cases identified represent new patterns of trafficking. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The government is giving increasing attention to the 
problem of trafficking.  In the area of prevention, the state 
media continues to feature stories warning Zimbabweans of 
employment scams and gender-based exploitation.  The 
government has social services that address the needs of 
at-risk children and works with other organizations that run 
such programs.  In the area of prosecution of traffickers, 
the police are actively investigating trafficking cases, most 
prominently an alleged ring of traffickers sending girls, who 
believe they are getting modeling jobs, to China for 
prostitution.  Government officials have shown interest in 
introducing an anti-trafficking law to parliament this year. 
Police and immigration officials attended training to improve 
awareness of trafficking in persons.  In the area of 
protection of victims, the Ministry of Public Service, Social 
Welfare, and Labor is working with an NGO to run a center 
near the border town of Beitbridge to assist deported 
children to return to their homes, including counseling for 
those who are victims of sexual exploitation and with the IOM 
to establish a larger facility closer to the border that will 
address the needs of all deportees. 
 
¶7. (SBU) An October 2005 study by the Employers, 
Confederation of Zimbabwe (EMCOZ) found that child labor 
continues to increase.  The study, which was conducted at two 
tea estates in the Eastern Highlands, found that more than 
20% of the workforce at the estates was composed of children. 
 The study found that economic hardship due to the 
deteriorating economy, higher school fees, which are now 
unaffordable for many families, and the increase in 
child-headed households with no other income, contribute to 
the rise in child labor.  The General Agriculture and 
Plantation Workers, Union (GAPWUZ) also said there is a 
shortage of farm workers willing to accept the low wages 
offered, leaving jobs open for desperate children.  GAPWUZ 
reports that, although agricultural employers often offer 
schooling to child employees, attendance at the schools is 
sporadic, because the children usually work first and are 
often too tired for school in the afternoon.  Worker,s 
unions and children,s rights organizations regularly 
denounce the use of child labor, and the press publishes 
reports highlighting the issue. 
 
¶8. (SBU) There are occasional reports of forced labor by new 
owners of expropriated commercial farms, but these reports 
are not fully corroborated. 
 
¶9. (SBU) UNICEF reported that the growing number of HIV/AIDS 
orphans increased the risk for sexual abuse and exploitation. 
 
¶10. (SBU) The government placed many of its citizens at 
 
HARARE 00000252  003 OF 007 
 
 
increased risk for exploitation with its urban demolition 
campaign, which it dubbed "Operation Restore Order."  Tens of 
thousands of people remain homeless or in economic distress 
in the wake of the operation, which demolished supposedly 
illegal homes and businesses.  Many children were forced to 
leave school due to uncertain living conditions and 
relocation far from their schools.  Police rounded up street 
children and took them to orphanages and juvenile detention 
centers.  Local NGOs say the situation has left these persons 
potentially vulnerable to trafficking in persons. 
 
---------- 
Prevention 
---------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) The government acknowledges that trafficking is a 
problem in the country.  The VFU of the ZRP (under the 
Ministry of Home Affairs), a unit that deals with children,s 
and sexual abuse cases, has the lead on investigation and 
tracking of trafficking cases and referral of victims to 
support services.  The Department of Social Welfare (in the 
Ministry of Public Service, Labor, and Social Welfare) also 
has several programs for children at risk.  The Department of 
Immigration (in the Ministry of Home Affairs) monitors 
borders and ports of entry for possible traffickers and 
victims.  The Ministry of Information clears advertisements 
that are part of the International Organization for 
Migration,s awareness campaign.  The government generally 
has a good relationsQp with international organizations and 
many NGOs on trafficking-related issues, although some NGOs 
report lack of cooperation from local authorities in some 
areas of the country, and the government,s campaign of 
repression against perceived regime critics has affected some 
NGOs working on trafficking issues. 
 
¶12. (SBU) The issue of trafficking in persons is getting 
increasingly high-level attention in Zimbabwe.  In 
discussions with IOM on a reception center for persons 
deported from South Africa, two cabinet ministers, who were 
initially unconvinced of the need for government action 
against trafficking in persons, traveled to the border to 
investigate the issue of trafficking and concluded that it 
was a national crisis when they observed how many returnees 
from South Africa had stories of being exploited at some 
point during their migration.  IOM also reported that a 
minister agreed to help introduce anti-trafficking 
legislation to parliament. 
 
¶13. (SBU) The state-run media continues to print or air 
messages about crackdowns on migrant smugglers and warning 
the public about false employment scams, underage and forced 
marriages, and prostitution.  The government also cooperated 
with an IOM awareness campaign on irregular migration, which 
included messages about trafficking in persons.  IOM placed 
awareness messages with the government-sponsored media and 
established a Safe Migration website.  IOM also established a 
hotline that continues to receive many inquiries and reports 
from the public. 
 
¶14. (SBU) The government has several programs to support 
children in groups at high risk for trafficking and child 
labor. The government has a National Plan of Action (NPA) for 
Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC). Under the NPA, the 
government identifies critical areas for support and acts as 
a framework for relevant government agencies, NGOs and 
international organizations, and other donors who meet 
regularly to discuss plans and programs.  Objectives of the 
NPA are to strengthen coordination for OVC programs, increase 
 
HARARE 00000252  004 OF 007 
 
 
the percentage of children with birth certificates (who are 
then able to access social services), increase school 
enrollment and retention, and increase access to food and 
basic services.  In addition to coordinating with the many 
efforts of NGOs, international organizations, and donors, the 
government supports the NPA through the Basic Education 
Assistance Module (BEAM--which pays school fees and related 
expenses including books and uniforms for some 
underprivileged children and AIDS orphans), a mobile birth 
registration program to increase issuance of birth 
certificates, and other social services. 
 
¶15. (SBU) The government also supported other programs, such 
as a children,s home funded by the Government of Canada, 
which provides both formal schooling and vocational training 
to street children and orphans, who are deemed at high risk 
of becoming victims of child labor and trafficking in 
persons.  The Department of Social Welfare also supported an 
initiative from Save the Children  Norway called Light the 
Children,s Path, which established community-based support 
programs for orphans and vulnerable children around the 
country.  Working with the rural district councils and Social 
Welfare and with the support of other NGOs, international 
organizations, and other donors, Save the Children  Norway 
established pilot programs in eight districts around the 
country.  As part of the program, in Beitbridge, at the 
border with South Africa, the rural district council hired a 
child protection officer and established a child protection 
committee. 
 
¶16. (SBU) Police and immigration officials at Harare 
International Airport, border posts, and cities near borders 
participated in anti-TIP training provided by the IOM and 
Interpol.  IOM also brought in a border protection consultant 
to train immigration officials and install computers to 
improve immigration controls. 
 
----------------------------- 
Investigation and Prosecution 
----------------------------- 
 
¶17. (SBU) Although government officials have shown interest 
in introducing anti-trafficking legislation to parliament in 
the coming year, Zimbabwe has no law comprehensively 
prohibiting trafficking in persons.  There have been no 
prosecutions in the cases police identified as trafficking, 
but some of these cases are still under active investigation. 
 Government officials participated in training provided by 
IOM and Interpol.  The government also participates in a 
regional working group on trafficking in persons.  There is 
no evidence of any government involvement in or tolerance of 
trafficking at any level.  There is no known child sex 
tourism problem.  The government has ratified three ILO 
conventions related to trafficking in persons. 
 
¶18. (U) Trafficking-related crimes are currently addressed 
under other legislation, primarily the Sexual Offences Act, 
the Children,s Protection and Adoption Act, and the 
Immigration Act. These laws criminalize transporting people 
across the border for sex, corruption of children and 
allowing children to reside in or to frequent a brothel, 
allowing children to consort with or be employed by 
prostitutes, and forgery of travel documents. The 
constitution provides that &no one may be held in slavery or 
servitude or be made to perform forced or compulsory labor.8 
 In addition, the common law prohibits abduction and forced 
labor. 
 
 
HARARE 00000252  005 OF 007 
 
 
¶19. (U) Penalties for rape and exploitation remain the same 
as last year.  Corruption of children is punishable by a 
fine, up to two years in prison, or both. Sexual exploitation 
of children, inside or outside of Zimbabwe, is a crime, but 
there is no specified penalty in the legislation.  Instead, 
the presiding magistrate decides sentencing.  Incarceration 
is mandatory for convictions for rape or forcible sexual 
assault, but there is no minimum penalty.  Sentences usually 
vary from four years to fifteen years, depending on the 
Qrcumstances of the crime. 
 
¶20. (U) Prostitution is illegal in Zimbabwe, and the 
activities of prostitutes, brothel owners, pimps, and clients 
are criminalized.  Procuring a person for prostitution, 
inside or outside of Zimbabwe, is punishable by a fine, up to 
ten years in prison, or both. 
 
¶21. (SBU) To date, there have been no prosecutions of 
traffickers in any of the cases identified by police as 
trafficking cases, although the government does prosecute 
individuals for crimes related to migrant smuggling, such as 
theft of passports, improper granting of visas, and creation 
of fraudulent documents.  IOM reports that prosecution of 
foreigners is constrained by a requirement to deport 
prohibited persons within two weeks of arrest, leading to 
fines and deportations for suspected foreign traffickers. 
For example, in one case a Zambian national was trafficking 
two girls from the DRC through Zimbabwe when staff at the 
hotel they stopped at became suspicious and alerted the 
police.  Before police could fully investigate the crime, 
immigration required that he be deported.  The Criminal 
Investigative Division (CID) of the ZRP investigates alleged 
traffickers but is hampered by the lack of a specific 
anti-trafficking law with which to charge suspected 
traffickers.  Officials from international organizations also 
report that sometimes law enforcement officials are less 
enthusiastic to investigate crimes against non-Zimbabwean 
victims. 
 
¶22. (SBU) The police have investigated each of the 36 cases 
of known or suspected trafficking identified.  Some of these 
cases are still being investigated, and police cannot share 
details of the investigation.  In one case where young adults 
were trafficked for prostitution to China where they believed 
they would have modeling jobs, the assistant commissioner of 
the Law and Order division of the ZRP was personally tasked 
with pursuing the case.  It is not clear if the traffickers 
in most of these cases are members of large, international 
crime syndicates or freelance operators, but IOM believes 
there is evidence in at least one case of an organized 
trafficking ring. 
 
¶23. (SBU) There were no reports of requests of extradition 
from Zimbabwe to other countries. There were no reports of 
requests from other governments for cooperation in 
investigation and prosecution of trafficking cases.  There 
were no reports of Zimbabweans charged with trafficking in 
other countries. The government has extradition treaties with 
countries in the region.  Government officials participate in 
a regional working group on anti-TIP issues and attended 
regional meetings and workshops.  The working group has made 
no progress toward a regional plan of action. 
 
¶24. (U) There is no known child sex tourism problem. 
Sections of the Sexual Offences Act that pertain to children 
apply to Zimbabweans' activities outside of the country. 
Specifically, a Zimbabwean engaging in activities that, under 
the SOA, are deemed exploitation of children, conspiracy to 
 
HARARE 00000252  006 OF 007 
 
 
exploit children, or inciting another person to exploit 
children can be prosecuted under the SOA regardless of the 
location of the activities. 
 
¶25. (SBU) The government ratified ILO Convention 182 on 
December 11, 2000.  The government ratified ILO Conventions 
29 and 105 on August 27, 1998.  The government has not signed 
the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the 
Child on the sale of children.  The government has not signed 
the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in 
Persons, but the Ministry of Home Affairs is reportedly 
working on getting the government to sign this protocol. 
 
------------------------------------ 
Protection and Assistance to Victims 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶26. (SBU) Although the government does not have funding for 
protection of victims, the government cooperates with 
international organizations and NGOs to assist victims.  The 
ZRP has a mechanism for referring victims of trafficking to 
victim support and for pursuing criminal cases.  The 
government has also cooperated in the establishment of two 
reception centers near the border with Africa, to deal with 
returning Zimbabweans. 
 
¶27. (SBU) The government assists victims by working with 
international organizations and NGOs.  Whenever any 
government official, usually police, becomes aware of 
potential trafficking victims, the official alerts the Victim 
Friendly Unit (VFU) of the ZRP, which then alerts IOM.  Some 
victims come to IOM,s attention first because they are 
referred by IOM in another country, in which case IOM alerts 
the VFU.  VFU officers and IOM jointly interview the victim 
and refer him or her to shelter, health care, counseling, and 
reintegration services paid for by IOM and provided by IOM,s 
NGO partners.  The VFU refers information about Zimbabwean 
traffickers to the Criminal Investigative Division (CID) of 
the police to investigate.  At least six of the victims 
identified by police have received these services.  Foreign 
victims of trafficking are offered relief from deportation 
while they receive victim support services and while their 
cases are being investigated. 
 
¶28. (SBU) In addition to this mechanism, the government has 
cooperated in the establishment of two centers at or near the 
town of Beitbridge on the border with South Africa.  Save the 
Children Norway (SCN) funds a reception center for children 
deported from South Africa.  Some of these children may be 
victims of trafficking.  All are provided with food, shelter, 
health care, counseling, and assistance with returning home 
and reintegrating into their communities.  SCN reports that 
the mechanism for bringing children to the center is not 
functioning smoothly, because local authorities, who bring 
the children to the center, are not always aware when 
children are about to be deported.  The second center is an 
IOM reception center to provide services for all returnees. 
IOM has recently completed construction and will inaugurate 
the center in March.  The center will include counselors who 
can identify and support trafficking victims. 
 
¶29. (SBU) The government also cooperated with efforts by 
UNICEF and a local NGO, Streets Ahead, to provide counseling 
and reunification services for street children referred to 
orphanages or juvenile detention centers.  Many of these 
children were rounded up during the government,s urban 
demolition campaign. 
 
 
HARARE 00000252  007 OF 007 
 
 
¶30. (U) There are no reported prosecutions of traffickers, 
but any such prosecutions would take place in the Victim 
Friendly Courts, special courts that are designed to deal 
with children,s cases and cases of domestic violence. 
Magistrates and prosecutors in these courts receive special 
training in dealing with victims, and the victims are 
physically shielded from the alleged perpetrators during 
court sessions. 
 
¶31. (SBU) Police and immigration officers who participated in 
IOM-Interpol training in 2005 in several cases were able to 
identify victims of trafficking, and understood the mechanism 
for referring the victims to the VFU and IOM,s victim 
support services as a result of the training. 
 
¶32. (SBU) IOM, UNICEF, Save the Children Norway, and Save the 
Children UK work with trafficking victims through local NGO 
partners.  NGOs include Connect (training for counselors of 
abuse victims), Childline (children,s crisis hotline), 
Streets Ahead (counseling and shelter for children), Girl 
Child Network (shelter, skills building, and counseling for 
abused girls), Musasa Project (shelter and counseling for 
domestic abuse and trafficking victims), and The Center 
(counseling for HIV/AIDS patients). 
 
¶33. (SBU) Girl Child Network is the target of frequent 
harassment by the government, including a raid on a shelter 
for girls in 2005.  Save the Children Norway reports that the 
relationship with local authorities varies by location.  In 
some areas, officials are difficult to work with because they 
deny any problem exists.  In other areas, officials are very 
cooperative.  In Beitbridge, local officials set up a child 
protection committee to deal with trafficking of children and 
other children,s issues.  IOM and UNICEF report generally 
good cooperation from the government. 
 
------------------- 
Contact Information 
------------------- 
 
¶34. (U) Post point of contact for trafficking in persons is 
Bianca Menendez; office phone 263-4-250-593, extension 291; 
fax 263-4-253-000; e-mail menendezbe@state.gov.  The 
estimated hours spent per officer in preparation of this 
report are as follows:  polasst 3 hours, poloff 45 hours, 
USAID officer, 3 hours, polchief 5 hours, DCM 1 hour review, 
AMB 1 hour review. 
SCHULTZ