P 292324Z OCT 07
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO ALL DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI

UNCLAS STATE 150188 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM PHUM KCRM KWMN PGOV PREL SMIG
SUBJECT: TIP: Implementation Guidelines for the Minimum Standards 
of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act 
 
¶1. (U) This is not an action cable, but is intended 
to guide Post reporting for the annual 
Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report. 
The Implementation Guidelines provided in para 6 can be 
shared with host governments if posts deem this useful. 
 
¶2. (U) In an effort to improve the transparency and 
clarity of the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, 
the Department's Office to Monitor and 
Combat Trafficking in Persons (G/TIP) and the regional bureaus 
have reached agreement on interpretation guidelines for parts 
of the "minimum standards for the elimination of 
trafficking" -- used to assess foreign governments' 
anti-trafficking efforts in the TIP Report - contained 
in the 2000 Trafficking Victims Protection Act, 
as amended by the 2003 and 2005 Trafficking Victims 
Protection Reauthorization Acts (collectively, "TVPA"). 
 
¶3. (U) This is not an action cable, but rather a cable intended 
to be an informational aide to Post officer(s) 
providing input for the annual TIP Report. 
The Implementation Guidelines provided in para 6, however, 
can be shared with host governments if posts deem this useful. 
The TVPA Minimum Standards Implementation Guidelines 
have been developed to: 1) bring more clarity and consistency 
to the Department's Trafficking in Persons Report; 
2) assist posts in their engagement with host 
governments on TIP; and 3) explain implementation 
of 2005 amendments to the Minimum Standards that take effect 
 during the current 2007-2008 TIP reporting cycle, 
specifically as of January 2008. 
PLEASE NOTE CAREFULLY THESE NEW REPORTING CRITERIA 
UNDER MINIMUM STANDARD 4(3) AND (7) BELOW. 
References to existing international and regional documents 
used to develop the implementation guidelines were 
passed to regional bureaus and can be emailed to posts 
upon request. 
 
¶4. (U) Background: Over the course of producing 
the last seven annual TIP Reports, the need to establish 
guidelines for the implementation of the minimum standards 
has become evident.  Working definitions have been developed to 
assist the Department in its application of the minimum standards 
regarding foreign governments' anti-TIP efforts. 
The interpretive guidelines were developed to address 
how the minimum standards are used to evaluate governments' 
efforts in terms of Protection, Prosecution, and Prevention. 
 
¶5. (U) Background continued: 
The guidelines incorporate, where consistent 
with the TVPA's minimum standards, current minimum 
international standards and recognized practices 
for effectively combating severe forms of trafficking in persons. 
It should be noted that these are not meant 
to embody overall "best practices" - indeed, the 
very best practices often exceed these minimum 
encouraged practices, and of course Tier 1 countries 
will be expected to meet the "appreciable progress" criterion 
in the minimum standards. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
Implementation Guidelines for TVPA Minimum Standards 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶6.  (U) MS 1. The government of the country should prohibit 
severe forms of trafficking in persons and punish 
acts of such trafficking. 
 
IMPLEMENTATION:  At minimum, governments must 
criminalize and prescribe penalties for all forms of 
trafficking relevant in the country, including forced labor. 
This must include the elements 
of "severe forms of trafficking 
in persons" -- force, fraud, and coercion. 
Although desirable, this need not be accomplished through a 
comprehensive law, so long as relevant elements 
of trafficking, specifically including fraud/deception 
 and coercion along with force, are covered by the country's laws. 
 
¶7.  (U) MS 2. For the knowing commission of any act of sex 
trafficking involving force, fraud, coercion, or in which 
the victim of sex trafficking is a child incapable of giving 
meaningful consent, or of trafficking which includes rape or 
kidnapping or which causes a death, the government of the 
country should prescribe punishment commensurate with 
that for grave crimes, such as forcible sexual assault. 
 
IMPLEMENTATION:  Sanctions for sex trafficking should be 
on par with rape.  The prescribed penalties for sex 
 trafficking crimes or trafficking involving rape, 
kidnapping or death should be substantially similar 
to those for rape, taking into account the full range 
of sentences available. 
 
¶8.  (U) MS 3. For the knowing commission of any act of 
a severe form of trafficking in persons, the government 
of the country should prescribe punishment that is 
sufficiently stringent to deter and that adequately 
reflects the heinous nature of the offense. 
 
IMPLEMENTATION:  Consistent with the UN Convention 
Against Transnational Organized Crime, criminal 
penalties to meet this standard should include a 
maximum of at least four years deprivation 
of liberty, or a more severe penalty. 
 
¶9.  (U) MS 4. The government of the country should 
make serious and sustained efforts to eliminate 
severe forms of trafficking in persons. 
In determinations under subsection (a)(4) of 
this section, the following factors should be 
considered as indicia of serious and sustained 
efforts to eliminate severe forms of trafficking in persons: 
(NOTE:  Per long-standing agreement between G/TIP 
and the regional bureaus, 
only five of these 10 "indicia" are 
considered essential:  1, 2, 3, 7, and 10. 
The other five indicia are to be considered only if 
applicable to a particular country's trafficking 
problem and anti-trafficking response, and therefore 
are not cited in this cable. END NOTE.) 
 
(1) Whether the government of the country vigorously 
investigates and prosecutes acts of severe forms of 
trafficking in persons, and convicts and sentences 
persons responsible for such acts. 
 
IMPLEMENTATION:  Under interpretation of the TVPA, 
all governments, consistent with their capacity to do so, 
are required to submit full comprehensive data on 
trafficking enforcement actions, including length of 
sentences actually imposed on convicted traffickers, 
as evidence of their vigorous law enforcement efforts. 
 
Imposed sentences should involve significant jail time, 
with a majority of cases resulting in sentences on 
the order of one year imprisonment or more, but taking 
into account the severity of an individual's involvement 
in trafficking, imposed sentences for other grave crimes, 
and the judiciary's right to hand down punishments 
consistent with that country's laws. Convictions obtained 
under other criminal laws and statutes can be counted as 
trafficking if the government verifies that they 
involve trafficking offenses. 
 
(2) Whether the government of the country protects 
victims of severe forms of trafficking in persons and 
encourages their assistance in the investigation and 
prosecution of such trafficking, including provisions 
for legal alternatives to their removal to countries in 
which they would face retribution or hardship, and 
ensures that victims are not inappropriately 
incarcerated, fined, or otherwise penalized. 
 
IMPLEMENTATION:  CRITICAL FACTORS CONSIDERED IN 
WHETHER A COUNTRY FULLY SATISFIES THIS PART OF THE 
MINIMUM STANDARDS: 
 
Proactive identification: Victims should not be 
expected to identify themselves. Formal screening 
procedures should go beyond checking a person's papers. 
Some form of systematic procedure should be in place to guide 
law enforcement and other governmental or 
government-supported front line responders in the process of 
victim identification. (An example of such procedure can be 
found in UNODC's "Toolkit to Combat Trafficking in Persons" 
starting on 
page 104 - www.unodc.org/pdf/Trafficking_toolkit_Oct06.p df) 
 
Shelter/temporary care: A government should ensure 
that victims receive access to primary health care, 
counseling and shelter that allows them to recount 
their trafficking experience to trained social counselors 
and law enforcement at a pace with minimal pressure. 
Shelter and assistance can be provided in cooperation with NGOs. 
Part of the host government's responsibility includes 
funding and referral to NGOs providing services. 
To the best extent possible, trafficking victims 
should not be held in immigration detention centers, 
or other detention facilities. 
 
ALSO CONSIDERED AND STRONGLY RECOMMENDED FOR 
FAVORABLE PLACEMENT: 
 
Victim/witness protection, rights and confidentiality: 
Governments should ensure that victims are provided with 
legal and other assistance and that, consistent 
with its domestic law, proceedings are not 
prejudicial to victims' rights, dignity or 
psychological well-being.  Confidentiality and privacy 
should be respected and protected to the extent possible 
under domestic law. Victims should be provided with information 
in a language they understand. 
 
Repatriation: Source and destination countries share 
responsibility in ensuring the safe, humane and, to the 
extent possible, voluntary repatriation/reintegration for 
victims.  At a minimum, destination countries should contact 
a competent governmental body, NGO or IO in relevant source 
country to ensure that trafficked persons who return to their 
country of origin are provided with assistance 
and support necessary to their well-being. Trafficking victims 
should not be subjected to deportations or forced returns without 
safeguards or other measures to reduce the risk of hardship, 
retribution, or re-trafficking. 
 
(3) Whether the government of the country has 
adopted measures to prevent severe forms of 
trafficking in persons, such as measures to inform 
and educate the public, including potential victims, 
about the causes and consequences of severe forms of trafficking 
in persons, measures to reduce the demand for commercial 
sex acts and for participation in international sex 
tourism by nationals of the country, measures to ensure 
that its nationals who are deployed abroad as part of 
a peacekeeping or other similar mission do not engage 
in or facilitate severe forms of trafficking in persons 
 or exploit victims of such trafficking, and measures to prevent 
 the use of forced labor or child labor in 
violation of international standards. 
 
IMPLEMENTATION:  Provide/fund a hotline or similar 
mechanism to provide victims and potential victims 
with a number to call for assistance and or information about TIP. 
 
Also, per the 2005 amendments to the Minimum Standards, 
starting with the april 2007- march 2008 reporting period 
 to be covered in the 2008 TIP Report, countries should, 
FOR EXAMPLE, WHERE APPLICABLE: 
 
REDUCE DEMAND FOR COMMERCIAL SEX ACTS (NEW WITH 2008 TIP REPORT): 
Implement or support some form of visible awareness campaign 
that educates the clients of the sex 
trade (and potential sex trafficking victims) 
if the country has a significant sex trafficking problem, 
or a campaign that targets those who form the demand for 
victims of forced labor about the nature of the relevant form of TIP. 
 
Nations with legalized prostitution should make additional 
efforts to proactively identify TIP victims among those in 
prostitution in the legalized sex trade. 
This includes the systematic and sensitive 
screening of persons in the legalized sex trade. 
 
ADDRESS CHILD SEX TOURISM (NEW WITH 2008 TIP REPORT): 
Countries that have a significant number of nationals 
traveling abroad as child sex tourists should undertake 
an awareness campaign that targets tourists traveling 
to known child sex tourism destinations. 
 
ADDRESS TRAFFICKING AND EXPLOITATION COMMITTED BY 
MULTINATIONAL PEACEKEEPERS:  Governments with 
more than 100 troops on peacekeeping or other 
similar missions abroad should provide anti-TIP training 
for these troops (whether directly or 
by participating in multilateral efforts), and 
should investigate and, if appropriate, prosecute any 
allegations of trafficking crimes or crimes of 
facilitating trafficking or exploiting trafficking 
victims committed by these troops abroad and referred 
to it by the UN or another competent organization. 
 
(4) Whether the government of the country cooperates 
with other governments in the investigation and 
prosecution of severe forms of trafficking in persons. 
 
IMPLEMENTATION:  Self-explanatory; no additional guidelines. 
 
(7) Whether the government of the country vigorously 
investigates, prosecutes, convicts, and sentences 
public officials who participate in or facilitate severe 
forms of trafficking in persons, (including nationals of 
the country who are deployed abroad as part of a peacekeeping 
or other similar mission who engage in or facilitate severe 
forms of trafficking in persons or exploit victims of 
such trafficking) (added in the reauthorization 
of the TVPRA of 2005) and takes all appropriate measures 
against officials who condone such trafficking. 
After reasonable requests from the Department of State for 
data regarding such investigations, Prosecutions, convictions, 
and sentences, a government which does not provide such data 
consistent with its resources shall be presumed not to have 
vigorously investigated, prosecuted, convicted, or 
sentenced such acts. 
 
IMPLEMENTATION: Governments, consistent with their 
capacity to do so, must provide full comprehensive data 
on actions taken against TIP related complicity. 
Information on general government corruption does 
not satisfy this minimum standard, except in cases in 
which specific cases of complicity are not reported by 
the government or known to the USG, but where there is a 
reasonable probability of such complicity within the wider 
context of generalized corruption in that country. 
 
(10) Whether the government of the country achieves 
appreciable progress in eliminating severe forms of 
trafficking when compared to the assessment in the previous year. 
 
IMPLEMENTATION:  Particularly relevant for 
existing Tier 1 countries. 
Governments should show evidence of sustained progress 
in fighting trafficking in persons. 
 
¶10. (U) Minimize considered. 
RICE