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RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHFN #0102/01 0671327
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 071327Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY FREETOWN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1755
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 FREETOWN 000102 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP - Veronica Zeitlin 
DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR G, INL, DRL, PRM, AF/RSA 
DEPARTMENT PLEASE PASS TO - USAID, DEPARTMENTS OF JUSTICE, TREASURY, 
LABOR, AND HOMELAND SECURITY 
 
E.O. 12958 N/A 
TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB SL
SUBJECT:  SIERRA LEONE 2008 TIP SUBMISSION 
 
¶1. (SBU) Sierra Leone lost momentum in the fight against trafficking 
in 2007. The run-up to the national elections, and the elections 
themselves in August and September, 2007, distracted many government 
officials from their duties, including on the TIP front, and their 
interest and attention was not regained in the months following the 
transition of power due to many other pressing and basic needs. 
While the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender, and Children's Affairs 
and the Sierra Leone Police continue to act as the primary 
interlocutors and government actors on TIP, supporting action from 
other Ministries is rare to non-existent. This has placed a great 
deal of pressure on international and non-governmental organizations 
to implement activities that range from prevention to protection 
services. Without continued donor support for such activities, they 
are unsustainable. 
 
In this environment, where government action is limited by the lack 
of resources, capacity, and competing priorities, trafficking 
continues to thrive. Cases continue to be identified throughout the 
country, most of which involve children, and including both sex and 
labor trafficking. The methods of trafficking have not changed, and 
the incidence of the problem has yet to be quantified, but based on 
caseloads and media reports, trafficking over the reporting period 
at least maintained previous levels.  With limited implementation of 
the 2005 anti-trafficking law, general lack of police capacity, and 
continued dire poverty, Sierra Leone remains a country ripe for both 
internal and external trafficking. Without constant engagement and 
support from outside entities, it is highly likely that the TIP 
problem will worsen in the years to come. Post intends to increase 
its advocacy on this issue at the highest levels of government. 
 
¶2. (U) Embassy POC for TIP issues is Political/Economic Officer Amy 
LeMar, Tel: 232-22-515-00 ext.5120. Approximately 45 hours were 
spent preparing this report by FSO (FP-03), and approximately 10 
hours by FSH assistant (FSN-10). The Ambassador (FA-MC) spent 
approximately two hours on the report and the DCM (FO-01) spent 
approximately three hours. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Begin TIP Report: 
 
-------- 
OVERVIEW 
-------- 
 
A) Sierra Leone's trafficking problem generally appears to be 
internal. Sierra Leone is also a source and destination country for 
international trafficking. All sources on trafficking indicate that 
children appear to be more at risk of being trafficked than adults. 
However, it is possible that there is greater willingness of Sierra 
Leoneans to report crimes against children versus adults. Also, the 
assumption that children are more vulnerable might lead officials 
and organizations to focus more exclusively on that population, and 
be less aware or mindful of adult victims. 
 
Although there are no accurate statistics quantifying the extent of 
the problem, all indications suggest that women and children are 
trafficked from the provinces to towns and mining areas for 
prostitution, and children are trafficked from rural areas into the 
city and mining areas for forced labor, including domestic work, 
petty trading, begging, and petty crime. Trafficking may also occur 
in the fishing and agricultural industries as well as in connection 
with customary practices such as forced and arranged marriages and 
ritual sacrifice. Former child soldiers, some of whom remain with 
their former commanders, are at-risk of being recruited in other 
regional conflicts. 
 
Persons have been trafficked out of Sierra Leone to destinations in 
West Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. Other Sierra Leonean 
trafficking victims have been reported in France, Germany, Lebanon, 
Liberia, Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Guinea-Bissau, and The 
Gambia. Other suspected destination countries include Austria, 
Belgium, Ireland, Italy, and Israel, mostly because Sierra Leonean 
unaccompanied minors and/or illegal immigrants were identified 
there. 
 
While there have been no documented cases of Sierra Leone as a 
transit country, it is a plausible assumption. Sierra Leone has 
porous, generally unmonitored borders. Fraudulent documentation is 
easy to locate and inexpensive to purchase. Given the amount of 
goods, both legal and contraband, that pass through Sierra Leone on 
any given day, it is highly likely that victims from the sub-region 
are part of this traffic through the country. In terms of 
destination, a recent case involved five Nigerian victims, and there 
have been cases of foreign nationals and refugees becoming victims 
of trafficking due to their vulnerability. Also, ethnic links with 
other countries (e.g., Guinea, Lebanon, China) provide an 
opportunity for Sierra Leone to be used as a destination country.Q 
 
 
FREETOWN 00000102  002 OF 006 
 
 
B)  Children and youth, defined as 15-35 years in age, constitute 
approximately two-thirds of the country's population of 6 million, 
and only 61 percent of children aged 0-16 live with their parents. 
Traumatic experiences during the war, shattered extended family 
networks and social structures, and extreme poverty make it much 
more difficult to protect children. 
 
Migration in Sierra Leone is a common social norm driven by the dire 
economic situation in the country. To illustrate, Sierra Leone ranks 
last out of 177 countries in the Human Development Index, including 
last in terms of maternal/child health and also has the world's high 
rate of infant mortality. Within this context, trafficking is more 
difficult to combat, because impoverished parents face difficult 
decisions with regards to how to care for and educate their 
children. Cultural norms, as well, add to the complexity. Child 
fostering, for example, by placing children with wealthier 
relatives, is commonplace. While many children benefit from such 
arrangements and receive education and assistance that they would 
have lacked had they remained at home, it is a system that is 
vulnerable to abuse and can lead to trafficking and slavery 
(involuntary servitude). 
 
Relatives or family friends reportedly traffic children to Freetown 
with false promises to parents that the children will be sent to 
school. These friends and relatives put children to work in the 
home, where they can also be sexually exploited, or placed on the 
street to engage in petty trading or prostitution. Sometimes 
children remain on the street because they are afraid to return to 
their relative's house. 
 
There is no law against prostitution and it is widespread in Sierra 
Leone. Many women and girls enter into prostitution independently, 
often due to economic pressures; however, there continue to be 
allegations that female pimps (kaklat) or relatives recruit girls 
for prostitution directly from villages. There is also a small cadre 
of known pimps in the Freetown area, and reports of several brothels 
in operation, but this is not a dominant characteristic of 
prostitution in Sierra Leone. Some women who engage in prostitution 
may be doing so out of desperation to escape from other exploitive 
situations, such as early marriage or domestic servitude. 
 
C) The Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children's Affairs 
(MOSWGCA) and the Sierra Leone Police (SLP) take the lead on 
anti-trafficking efforts in Sierra Leone, and the Ministry of 
Justice is the designated co-chair with the MOSWGCA of the 
Inter-Ministerial Committee on Trafficking and the TIP Task Force. 
The Inter-Ministerial Committee also includes the Ministries of 
Education, Internal Affairs, Information, Labor, Health, Foreign 
Affairs, Local Government, Youth, and Tourism.  The TIP Task Force 
includes representatives from all ministries in the 
Inter-Ministerial Committee as well as the Principal Immigration 
Officer, the Commissioner of Police in charge of Crime Services, the 
Ombudsman, and representatives from civil society and international 
organizations. 
 
D) Sierra Leone continues to recover from an 11-year old civil war 
during which the country was a failed state. Sierra Leone has 
occupied the bottom ranks of the Human Development Index since 1998. 
There is an overwhelming lack of capacity in the Government of 
Sierra Leone (GoSL), and many competing critical needs. The 
Government is effectively bankrupt, with donors providing 60 percent 
of the country's budget. Corruption is entrenched. The police, 
judiciary, and social welfare institutions are critically 
understaffed, have very limited budgets, and have trouble meeting 
their basic mandates. While the Government identifies that TIP is an 
issue, finding resources and building capacity to combat the problem 
will remain a serious problem well into the future. 
 
There is political will to combat trafficking in persons, though the 
extent of the efforts put forth by the new administration under 
President Ernest Bai Koroma remains to be seen. The SLP and MOSWGCA 
lack sufficient funding to carry out their basic duties. Training of 
staff on the anti-trafficking law or victim protection is done by 
non-governmental and international organizations. No 
government-funded victim services exist, and there are no 
government-operated shelter services. 
 
The TIP Task Force, as mandated by the Anti-Trafficking Act passed 
in 2005, is designated to systematically monitor anti-trafficking 
efforts (prosecution, prevention, and protection). The Task Force 
met monthly for part of the year, but stopped regular meetings in 
the run-up to the elections. In the past six months, it met every 
other month. This is in direct contrast to previous years when the 
Task Force met bi-monthly. Also, the Task Force composition has 
gradually changed since its inception. While the anti-trafficking 
law directly identifies the Ministries to be involved, very few send 
representatives to the meetings.  The participant ratio has thus 
 
FREETOWN 00000102  003 OF 006 
 
 
become heavily weighted towards international and non-governmental 
organizations. While their participation is vital to the activities 
of the Task Force, lack of government participation by all but a few 
ministries hinders the ability of the Task Force to effectively 
coordinate and encourage other government efforts. 
 
One reported reason for lack of government involvement in the Task 
Force is the issue of sitting fees. Section 7 of the 
anti-trafficking law stipulates that members of the Task Force 
should be paid an allowance determined by the MOSWGCA, 
Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, in consultation with the 
Minister of Finance. Given that the latter has never provided 
funding for any anti-trafficking related work, and that the Ministry 
of Justice is one agency that rarely attends Task Force meetings 
despite its co-chair status, the issue of sitting fees has never 
been addressed.  It is reported, thus, that Ministries will not send 
representatives since they will not be paid. 
 
Those participating regularly on the Task Force, however, such as 
the MOSWGCA and organizations like the International Organization on 
Migration (IOM), UNICEF, and the Faith Alliance Against Slavery and 
Trafficking (FAAST), share information about cases and discuss next 
steps and planned activities. 
 
E) The lack of significant government involvement in the Task Force, 
lack of meetings of the Inter-Ministerial Committee, and lack of 
GoSL funding to support initiatives that were mandated by the 
anti-trafficking law mean that coordination remains poor and there 
is no mechanism in place to adequately give assessments of 
anti-trafficking efforts. Information is not made public; however, 
the Government does make trafficking-related information available 
to international organizations, non-government partners, and others 
upon request. 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION OF TRAFFICKERS 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
A) Former President Kabbah signed the Anti-Human Trafficking Act in 
August, 2005. The law prohibits trafficking for labor, sexual 
exploitation, illicit removal of human organs, and exploitation 
during armed conflicts. The law covers both internal and external 
trafficking and is consistent with the Palermo Protocol. 
 
The Child Right Act was passed in 2007 by the outgoing Parliament. 
This Act brings Sierra Leone into compliance with the U.N. 
Convention on the Rights of the Child. It includes provisions 
related to children associated with armed conflict, forced marriage, 
and exploitive child labor. Child trafficking is mentioned in 
Section 60 (1) (k), as a crime that must be investigated by the 
district council and its child welfare department if identified. 
Section 60 (1) (i) and (1) (j) puts the same stipulation for 
investigation on incidents involving children living with or 
associating with known prostitutes, other than their mother. 
 
B) Convicted traffickers face up to ten years of imprisonment, fines 
of 50 million leones (approximately $17,000) and victim restitution 
costs. 
 
C) Penalties are the same for trafficking for labor and sexual 
exploitation. 
 
D) Under the Offenses Against the Person Act of 1861, rape of a 
person over the age of 16 carries a potential penalty of life 
imprisonment, which is more severe than the penalty for sex 
trafficking. 
 
E) No law specifically prohibits prostitution, but there are laws 
against operating brothels and procuring a female by threats or 
coercion for the purpose of prostitution. Government officials have 
become more vigilant in closing down brothels, including one notable 
bust in 2007, though such busts are rare. Prostitutes are sometimes 
arrested for other crimes, including loitering. 
 
F) The SLP conducted 14 investigations between January and December 
¶2007. In five cases the accused were charged with trafficking and 
are in court, and three cases are still under investigation. (NOTE: 
Post is still awaiting final figures on prosecutions from the 
Director of the Public Prosecutor.  These should be available on 
March 10. END NOTE.) 
 
G) The Government does not provide specialized training, but does 
make law enforcement officers and other government officials 
available to attend trainings conducted by organizations. IOM, 
UNICEF, and FAAST provided training to government officials over the 
past year. The vast majority of the training was funded by the USG. 
 
 
FREETOWN 00000102  004 OF 006 
 
 
H) There are no current cooperative international investigations of 
trafficking. 
 
I) The Extradition Act of 1974 allows for extradition of persons 
subject to crimes committed in the country of the offense, but there 
have been no requests to extradite a suspect for trafficking. The 
Extradition Act allows for the extradition of Sierra Leone nationals 
to other countries for trial. 
 
J) There are no known instances of GoSL authorities facilitating or 
condoning trafficking; however, prevalent social attitudes and lack 
of government capacity and awareness mean that barriers to 
trafficking are low. Low-level government officials who forge 
documents such as birth, marriage, and death certificates rarely 
suffer punishment, but there is no proof that these forged documents 
are used to facilitate trafficking. Further, border officials are 
low-paid and continue to struggle with the concept of trafficking 
versus smuggling. It is possible that such officials are bribed to 
enable the easy movement of people and goods, but a direct link 
between that kind of corruption and trafficking cases has yet to be 
uncovered. 
 
K) N/A 
 
L) N/A 
 
M) N/A. Sierra Leone does not have an identified sex tourism 
problem. Inappropriate sexual conduct by tourists or business people 
while in the country appears to be opportunistic, and not the 
purpose of their visit to Sierra Leone. 
 
------------------------------------ 
PROTECTION AND ASSISTANCE TO VICTIMS 
------------------------------------ 
 
A) The Government does not provide assistance to foreign trafficking 
victims. 
 
B) Victim care facilities are available to victims, including 
foreign victims. IOM operates the only trafficking shelter in the 
country in Freetown, which can house 22 victims at one time. Victims 
in IOM's care also receive reintegration services for up to one 
month, including counseling and education before being returned to 
their families and communities. These efforts are coordinated 
through the Task Force. 
 
To access services, victims are generally referred through the SLP's 
Family Support Units (FSUs). When a trafficking case is suspected, 
the FSU calls the MOSWGCA to send its TIP focal point person to 
conduct an interview. If the MOSWGCA confirms that the situation 
involves trafficking, the victim is transferred to IOM for services 
and support. IOM follows its own intake procedures upon referral, to 
ensure that it is serving a bona fide trafficking victim. While this 
process resulted in a number of referrals over the past year, it is 
not foolproof. Cases from certain parts of the country are not being 
referred to the Ministry or IOM, primarily because there are no 
means to transport victims to Freetown. Also, the rainy season makes 
passage to Freetown from some locations, such as the mining areas, 
nearly impossible. Thus far, solutions to circumvent these problems 
have not been identified (NOTE: IOM submitted a proposal to the 
G/TIP FY2008 Call for Proposals that includes opening a second 
shelter facility that would service the mining region. END NOTE.). 
In the period of March 2007 through February 2008, IOM assisted 87 
victims. 
 
C) The Government does not provide funding to organizations that 
assist trafficking victims. It hosts task force meetings, and 
participates in the referral procedure, but does not provide a 
monetary contribution to any efforts. These efforts are nominal, and 
thus difficult to monetize. 
 
In March 2008, the GoSL will make available a new shelter space in 
Freetown, which will replace the space currently rented by IOM. 
Following renovations, which IOM will fund using its PRM grant, the 
new shelter will be open for victims. The renovations are expected 
to take approximately 30 days to complete. The provision of this 
space, an in-kind contribution by the MOSWGCA, will save IOM 
approximately $1,000 in grant funds per month. 
 
D) The FSUs refer victims to the MOSWGCA, but only when cases become 
known to them. This referral system is discussed in (B) above. 
According to the FSU database, 14 victims were identified and 
referred for assistance in the 2007 calendar year. This number is 
inaccurate, because some cases not being referred to FSUs. Rather 
they remain only in SLP General Duty rosters. Also, some Districts 
do not report their cases in a timely or accurate manner. The SLP 
acknowledges that their statistics underestimate the problem, but 
 
FREETOWN 00000102  005 OF 006 
 
 
have no means of ensuring better reporting by offices in the 
provinces. Further, IOM has assisted some victims who have not 
fallen under the purview of the FSU. These factors, in part, explain 
the discrepancy between the numbers. 
 
E) N/A 
 
F) The rights of victims are respected, though there is still 
confusion among authorities on what constitutes trafficking. It is 
thus likely that some victims fall through the cracks and do not 
receive the care they require. 
 
G) Victims are encouraged to participate in the legal process, but 
the general efficiency of the justice sector has frustrated these 
efforts. While victims are permitted to be active participants in 
investigations and court proceedings, many lose patience between the 
period of identification and the case going to trial. This can 
result in cases being dropped, since most cases cannot be 
successfully tried without the victim as a witness. The cost of 
transportation is another deterrent preventing victims from 
participating fully in a trial, because they must bear the cost of 
transportation to the court in order to testify. 
 
An additional problem is that social factors often prevent women and 
children who are victims of sexual and other violence from obtaining 
justice in the court system. Rape cases, for example, are often 
settled out of court by male family members. One potential reason 
why so few Districts report TIP cases is that communities choose to 
use traditional forms of justice to address the alleged 
perpetrators, rather than work through the formal system. Such 
social factors can serve as a barrier for trafficking victims to 
access the justice they are entitled to under the anti-trafficking 
law. 
 
The law does provide for victim restitution, but there is yet to be 
a victim who has received any kind of civil damages for abuse or 
hardship suffered during their trafficking experience. 
 
H) There are no witness protection programs available. However, 
victims referred to IOM receive protection and care. 
 
I) The Government does not provide training on identifying 
trafficking victims, though officials are permitted to attend 
training sessions offered by NGOs and IOs. The Government does not 
provide training to its embassies and consulates in foreign 
countries, nor does it encourage its embassies and consulates to 
develop ongoing relationships with NGOs that serve trafficking 
victims. 
 
J) The Government does not provide assistance to its repatriated 
nationals, though victims do receive assistance upon arrival from 
IOM. 
 
K) Organizations provide protection services, awareness training, 
vocational training, and counseling. They include UNICEF, UNHCR, 
ICRC, IOM, FAAST, CVT, International Rescue Committee, Save the 
Children, Defense for Children International, CARITAS, COOPI, Human 
Rights Youth Coalition, Don Bosco Fambul, Women in Crisis Movement, 
Christian in Action Development Agency, FAWE, and GOAL SL. 
 
---------- 
PREVENTION 
---------- 
 
A) The Government does acknowledge that trafficking is a problem. 
 
B) The Government did not run anti-trafficking information or 
education campaigns during the reporting period. There are no 
campaigns or efforts targeted at the demand-side. 
 
C) The relationship between government officials and organizations 
is generally a cordial one, though the onus is often placed on 
non-governmental actors to conduct activities and maintain momentum. 
The apparent lack of interest by various government ministries 
creates some tension between organizations working to address TIP 
and ministries that will not engage on the issue. 
 
D) The Government does not appear to monitor immigration and 
emigration patterns for evidence of trafficking. 
 
E) The Task Force is the primary mechanism for coordination between 
all relevant agencies, though it is sparely attended on the 
Government side. The Government has a single focal point on TIP 
within the MOSWGCA, but the standard for personnel, as written in 
the anti-trafficking law, is not being maintained.  The statute 
calls for the creation and funding of a TIP Secretariat that will 
coordinate all anti-TIP efforts, but the Secretariat has yet to be 
 
FREETOWN 00000102  006 OF 006 
 
 
funded despite promises made by the previous administration. As a 
result, the TIP focal point and representatives from different 
organizations play a far more substantial role in convening meetings 
and organizing and conducting activities than they would if the 
Secretariat was funded and established. The 2008 budget has already 
 
SIPDIS 
been presented to Parliament, and did not include funding for this 
effort. It will require advocacy by many actors to try to ensure 
that funding for the Secretariat and activities are in next year's 
budget. 
 
F) The Government does have a national plan of action, which was 
created by the Task Force in conjunction with an ECOWAS consultant 
(NOTE: This consultant was paid with USG money through the G/TIP 
UNICEF project. END NOTE.). The 2007 plan was implemented throughout 
the year, but the three-year action plan is only now being discussed 
and validated by Task Force members. It will need to receive further 
validation from the Inter-Ministerial Committee, which could cause 
considerable delay in its acceptance and implementation. The 
agencies primarily involved in developing the action plan were 
MOSWGCA, IOM, UNICEF, and FAAST. 
 
G) The Government has not taken efforts during the reporting period 
to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts. 
 
H) N/A 
 
I) N/A