VZCZCXYZ0008
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBUL #0770/01 0861318
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 261318Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 3403

UNCLAS KABUL 000770 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE, SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, PRM 
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/RA JESSICA MAZZONE 
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/FO DAS CAMP, SCA/A 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB KCRM KFRD KWMN PHUM PREF AF
SUBJECT:  AFGHANISTAN'S 2008 TIP QUESTIONNAIRE RESPONSE 
 
GENERAL OVERVIEW 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Is the country a country of origin, transit, and/or 
destination for internationally trafficked men, women, or children? 
Provide, where possible, numbers or estimates for each group; how 
they were trafficked, to where, and for what purpose.  Does the 
trafficking occur within the country's borders?  Does it occur in 
territory outside of the government's control (e.g. in a civil war 
situation)?  Are any estimates or reliable numbers available as to 
the extent or magnitude of the problem?   What is (are) the 
source(s) of available information on trafficking in persons or what 
plans are in place (if any) to undertake documentation of 
trafficking? How reliable are the numbers and these sources?  Are 
certain groups of persons more at risk of being trafficked (e.g. 
women and children, boys versus girls, certain ethnic groups, 
refugees, etc.)? 
 
Afghanistan is a country of origin, transit, and destination for 
trafficked children and women.  According to the International 
Organization on Migration (IOM), the Ministry of Labor and Social 
Affairs (MLSA), and the Attorney General's office, as a country of 
origin, Afghanistan serves as a source for children who are 
trafficked into Iran, Pakistan, and Gulf countries such as Saudi 
Arabia and Oman.  As a transit country, Afghanistan is reported to 
be used to send women and children from Tajikistan to Pakistan and 
Iran, primarily for labor but also for sex; however, no statistics 
exist.  There were unconfirmed reports of Afghan women being 
trafficked into Pakistan and Iran.  In some cases, men were 
trafficked into Iran for labor. 
 
There were also undocumented reports of Afghanistan's being a 
destination country for women being trafficked from China and Iran 
(unconfirmed) for sex or from Pakistan as drug couriers.  In 2006, 
IOM conducted a program funded by PRM to assist 150 victims of 
trafficking.  Ninety-six of these victims were women who had been 
trafficked to Afghanistan from China for sexual exploitation.  In 
2007, they found that it was difficult to reach out to these women 
since they have gone further underground.  Most were working in 
Kabul at establishments purporting to be "Chinese restaurants" but 
which effectively acted as brothels.  IOM suggested that the women 
voluntarily left China seeking work in another country but were not 
told they would be sent to Afghanistan and were coerced to stay and 
work as prostitutes upon their arrival.  The Ministry of Interior, 
however, believes most Chinese prostitutes come willingly and 
knowingly. 
 
Internal trafficking also remains an issue in Afghanistan, but no 
statistics are available.  Child labor and forced begging occurs in 
Afghanistan's largest cities.  Significant numbers of children are 
rumored to be trafficked from provinces such as Baghlan into Kabul 
for labor.  A 2006 Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission 
(AIHRC) report estimated that there were approximately 60,000 child 
laborers in Kabul, most of whom migrated from other provinces to 
work to help support their families.  There were no reliable numbers 
for 2007.  There were scattered reports of young boys being 
trafficked internally for sex, especially in the northern provinces 
of Badakhshan, Baghlan, Balkh, Faryab, Jowzjan, Kunduz, Samangan, 
Sar-e-pol, and Takhar.  The MLSA has reports of 11 boys being 
trafficked internally for sexual exploitation during 2007.  These 
boys were abducted and forced to work as dancers performing in front 
of private parties of men.  In the southern provinces along the 
border with Pakistan, there were reports of powerful insurgent and 
militia leaders abducting young boys or forcing families to turn 
over their sons to be used as sexual objects. 
 
Women and girls continued to be exchanged to settle debts or resolve 
conflicts.  The AIHRC received 34 reports nationwide of women or 
girls being exchanged to settle family disputes in 2007.  The AIHRC 
did not receive any reports during 2008 of women and girls being 
sold by their families for financial gain.  In some rural areas, 
underage girls were sometimes forced to marry much older men to 
settle debts, or their families are forced by powerful local leaders 
to give them away.  If the girls were too young to consummate the 
marriage, they could be used as household servants instead. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Please provide a general overview of the trafficking 
situation in the country and any changes since the last TIP Report 
(e.g. changes in direction).  (Other items to address may include: 
What kind of conditions are the victims trafficked into?  Which 
populations are targeted by the traffickers?  Who are the 
traffickers/exploiters?  Are they independent business people? 
Small or family-based crime groups?  Large international organized 
crime syndicates?  What methods are used to approach victims? (Are 
they offered lucrative jobs, sold by their families, approached by 
friends of friends, etc.?)  What methods are used to move the 
victims (e.g., are false documents being used?).  Are employment, 
travel, and tourism agencies or marriage brokers involved with or 
fronting for traffickers or crime groups to traffic individuals? 
 
There was no evidence of any major change to trafficking trends 
since last year's report.  Government officials are developing a 
better understanding of the various types of trafficking.  While 
political will to address trafficking was more apparent in 2007, the 
government lacked capacity to adequately handle the issue.  During 
the year, the Ministry of Interior established an office within the 
Attorney General's office in each province to deal with trafficking 
issues.  These offices were not always adequately staffed, but 
represent a commitment and a degree of progress.  The government and 
local NGOs were dependent on funding and training from international 
donors to combat trafficking. 
 
Little information existed on the conditions into which victims were 
trafficked either internally or abroad, methods for transporting 
them to other countries, or the average profile of traffickers. 
Parents in poor, rural parts of Afghanistan often willingly sent 
their children with traffickers in the hopes that the child can gain 
employment and send money home.  Poor agrarian provinces hard hit by 
years of drought and war and which attract little international 
assistance are understood to be a common source of trafficked 
children. 
 
There continued to be unconfirmed reports of trafficking rings, 
particularly in the northern provinces.  Victims from the north are 
allegedly trafficked to Pakistan through the border crossing point 
of Torkham, in the Eastern border province of Nangarhar.  Victims 
from the South were trafficked into Pakistan via Afghanistan's 
extremely porous border with the provinces of Helmand, Kandahar, 
Khost, Paktika, and Zabul.  Men, women and children trafficked into 
Pakistan and Iran for labor were often trafficked through the 
province of Nimroz in the southwest, due to the isolation and lack 
of border control along that part of the Iran-Afghanistan-Pakistan 
border.  The Islam Qala border checkpoint in Herat was another site 
used for trafficking into Iran. 
 
There continued to be rumors of child trafficking for organs, but no 
one (including the Ministry of Interior) was able to produce any 
evidence whatsoever to support the rumors. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Which government agencies are involved in anti-trafficking 
efforts and which agency, if any, has the lead? 
 
Ministry of Interior has primary responsibility for reporting and 
investigating cases and, in theory, has the most direct contact with 
victims.  The Attorney General's Office is responsible for keeping 
statistics on prosecutions, and convictions.  The Ministry of Labor 
and Social Affairs plays an informal lead role in and effort to 
create strategy to combat trafficking.  The Ministry of Women's 
Affairs addresses trafficking of women and female children through 
policy and advocacy and, in February 2008, launched a 
USAID-supported education and awareness building program for 
communities, schools, shuras, and NGOs.  The program will operate 
through provincial level Departments of Women's Affairs in provinces 
deemed most vulnerable. 
 
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is responsible for addressing 
efforts against international trafficking.  The Ministry of Justice 
drafted a law that criminalizes trafficking, which is to be reviewed 
by the Cabinet and introduced in Parliament in 2008.  The Ministry 
of Labor and Social Affairs receives the most international 
assistance (funding and capacity building) for anti-trafficking 
efforts, primarily from UNICEF, but this is only for child 
trafficking issues.  In 2007, this ministry developed a detailed 
strategy to protect vulnerable children from trafficking and girls 
from forced/early marriage through a variety of prevention 
activities, especially at the sub-national level and in provinces of 
greatest risk.  The Ministry is now seeking funding from USAID to 
establish a secretariat to manage and monitor its strategy. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) What are the limitations on the government's ability to 
address this problem in practice?  For example, is funding for 
police or other institutions inadequate?  Is overall corruption a 
problem?  Does the government lack the resources to aid victims? 
 
The government recognizes the need to address trafficking and has 
shown political will, but thirty years of war imposed on an already 
poor and very traditional country are reflected in ministries and 
civil institutions that are undeveloped and severely understaffed 
and resourced even as they face a backlog of demands and 
requirements.  The government, which is combating an insurgency 
which claimed the lives of over a thousand police officers in 2007, 
lacks police to dedicate to counter-trafficking.  There is no 
consensus on which ministry should take the lead on the issue of 
trafficking, and, as a result, there is inadequate coordination. 
 
Funding to train police, judges, and prosecutors on identifying and 
investigating trafficking cases remains inadequate to address the 
need.  Some elements of the border and highway police are understood 
to be complicit in trafficking activities, although there were no 
confirmed reports of this.  The government has no capacity to assist 
victims, though it supports assistance provided to trafficking 
victims by international and national NGOs. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) To what extent does the government systematically monitor 
its anti-trafficking efforts (on all fronts -- prosecution, victim 
protection, and prevention) and periodically make available, 
publicly or privately and directly or through regional/international 
organizations, its assessments of these anti-trafficking efforts? 
 
The government does not currently have the capacity to 
systematically monitor its anti-trafficking efforts; however, with 
the assistance of foreign embassies and INGOs, it is beginning to 
build infrastructure.  Various ministries have responsibility for 
prosecution and prevention, but there was no coordination. 
 
INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION OF TRAFFICKERS: 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Does the country have a law specifically prohibiting 
trafficking in persons--both for sexual and non-sexual purposes 
(e.g. forced labor)?  If so, please specifically cite the name of 
the law and its date of enactment and provide the exact language of 
the law prohibiting TIP and all other law(s) used to prosecute TIP 
cases.  Does the law(s) cover both internal and external 
(transnational) forms of trafficking? If not, under what other laws 
can traffickers be prosecuted?  For example, are there laws against 
slavery or the exploitation of prostitution by means of force, fraud 
or coercion?   Are these other laws being used in trafficking cases? 
 Please provide a full inventory of trafficking laws, including 
non-criminal statutes that allow for civil penalties against alleged 
trafficking crimes, (e.g., civil forfeiture laws an laws against 
illegal debt). 
 
The Ministry f Justice, with the assistance of IOM, drafted n 
anti-trafficking law in 2007.  It is under eview by the Cabinet and 
will be sent to Parliament in 2008.  Traffickers are currently 
prosecuted under laws designed to address kidnapping. 
 
The relevant laws criminalizing kidnapping are as follows.  The 
quality of translation is poor; however, they are from official 
translations published in Afghan law books. 
 
Penal Code 
 
Article 356: 
A person who takes away or hides a newborn baby from person who have 
legal rights over him, or changes him with another infant, or 
untruthfully relates him to some other than his mother, shall be 
sentenced in the light of circumstances to medium imprisonment. 
 
Article 418: 
A person who, himself/herself or through another, kidnaps a child, 
not yet seven years old, or someone who cannot look after himself, 
or leaves at large one of the persons mentioned in an uninhabited 
area, shall be sentenced. 
 
Article 419: 
If, as a result of commitment of the crimes specified under article 
418 of this law, some organ of the child or the person (kidnapped) 
is defected or lost, the offender shall be punished in accordanc 
with the provisions of deliberate lacerationor if the child or 
person (kidnapped) dies, te offender shall be punished in 
accordance with the provisions of deliberate murder. 
 
Article 420: 
¶1.  A person who, himself or through another, kidnaps, without 
coercion or fraud, a child not yet eighteen years old, shall be 
sentenced.  2.  If the kidnapped child is a girl, the offender shall 
be sentenced to long imprisonment, not exceeding ten years. 
 
Article 421: 
¶1.  A person who, himself or through another, kidnaps without 
coercion or fraud, a child not yet eighteen years old, shall be 
sentenced.  2.  If the kidnapped child is a girl, the offender shall 
receive the maximum anticipated punishment of the above paragraph. 
 
Article 423: 
If the acts specified under article 420 and 421 of this law are 
committed by a person who has influence or authority over the person 
against whom the crime has been committed, or if the former is 
charged with the responsibility of raising the latter, the offender 
shall be sentenced. 
 
Article 425: 
A person who carries off a girl, who is sixteen years or over, at 
her own will from her parents' residence for the purpose of lawfully 
marrying her, shall not be deemed as having committed an act of 
kidnapping. 
 
Article 515: 
 
A person who holds as hostage another person through threat, 
coercion or any other means, shall be sentenced to long 
iprisonment. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) What are the prescrbed penalties for trafficking people 
for sexul exploitation?  What penalties were imposed for persons 
convicted of sexual exploitation over the reporting period?  Please 
note the number of convicted sex traffickers who received suspended 
sentences and the number who received only a fine as punishment. 
 
No specific law has been defined for trafficking for sexual 
exploitation. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Punishment of Labor Trafficking Offenses: What are the 
prescribed and imposed penalties for trafficking for labor 
exploitation, such as forced or bonded labor and involuntary 
servitude?  Do the government's laws provide for criminal punishment 
-- i.e. jail time -- for labor recruiters in labor source countries 
who engage in recruitment of laborers using knowingly fraudulent or 
deceptive offers that result in workers being trafficked in the 
destination country?  Are there laws in destination countries 
punishing  employers or labor agents in labor destination countries 
who confiscate workers' passports or travel documents, switch 
contracts without the worker's consent as a means to keep the worker 
in a state of service, or withhold payment of salaries as means of 
keeping the worker in a state of service?  If law(s) prescribe 
criminal punishments for these offenses, what are the actual 
punishments imposed on persons convicted of these offenses?  Please 
note the number of convicted labor traffickers who received 
suspended sentences and the number who received only a fine as 
punishment. 
 
There were no laws providing for punishment of labor traffickers. 
Article 49 of the Afghan constitution prohibits forced labor. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) What are the prescribed penalties for rape or forcible 
sexual assault?  How do they compare to the prescribed penalties for 
crimes of trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation? 
 
Article 429 of the Penal Code addresses rape cases and sexual 
assault cases.  This article provides for no more than seven years 
imprisonment in a rape case, unless aggravating circumstances exist. 
 It states: "(1) A person who through violence, threat, or deceit, 
violates the chastity of another (whether male or female), or 
initiates the act, shall be sentenced to long imprisonment, not 
exceeding seven years.  (2) In the case where the person against 
whom the crime is committed is not eighteen years old, or the person 
who commits the crime is one of the persons specified under the 
paragraph 2 of article 427 of this law, the offender shall be 
sentenced to long imprisonment, not exceeding ten years."  The Koran 
does not specifically mention a punishment for rape, but Shar'ia 
law, which Afghanistan's laws draw from, historically has treated it 
as a form of adultery punishable by stoning.  In practice, female 
rape victims are sometimes considered to have committed a crime 
themselves and are sentenced accordingly.  The penalty for sex 
trafficking has not been defined. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Is prostitution legalized or decriminalized? 
Specifically, are the activities of the prostitute criminalized? 
Are the activities of the brothel owner/operator, clients, pimps, 
and enforcers criminalized?  Are these laws enforced?  If 
prostitution is legal and regulated, what is the legal minimum age 
for this activity?  Note that in many countries with federalist 
systems, prostitution laws may be under state or local jurisdiction 
and may differ among jurisdictions. 
 
Prostitution was illegal but existed.  Under Shar'ia law, 
prostitution was also considered a form of adultery and was 
punishable by lashing for unmarried prostitutes and/or unmarried 
clients of prostitutes.  For clients and/or prostitutes who were 
married, Shar'ia law stated the punishment was public death by 
stoning.  There have been no cases in which this punishment was 
carried out according to the Attorney General's office.  The Penal 
Code did not specifically mention prostitution or punishment for 
prostitution.  Courts normally considered prostitution as a form of 
adultery.  Judges usually referred to Article 427, which says that, 
"A person who commits adultery...shall be sentenced to long 
imprisonment."  The law does not provide specific sentencing 
guidelines.  Article 430 deals with the crime of "instigation to 
debauchery" and provides a minimum three years imprisonment.  The 
available translation was imperfect, but Article 430 apparently 
states that:  (1) A person who instigates a male or female, not 
eighteen years old to debauchery or a person who instigates another 
to acquire a profession pertaining to debauchery, or assists another 
in this respect, shall be sentenced to medium imprisonment, not less 
than three years and; (2) if the person committing the crime is one 
of the persons specified under the paragraph 2 of article 427 of 
this law, or the act has been performed for the purpose of acquiring 
benefit, the offender shall be sentenced to long imprisonment, not 
exceeding ten years. 
¶11.  (SBU) Has the government prosecuted any cases against human 
trafficking offenders?  If so, provide numbers of investigations, 
prosecutions, convictions, and sentences served, including details 
on plea bargains and fines, if relevant and available.  Please 
indicate which laws were used to investigate, prosecute, convict, 
and sentence traffickers.  Also, if possible, please disaggregate by 
type of TIP (labor vs. commercial sexual exploitation) and victims 
(children, as defined by U.S. and international law as under 18 
years of age, vs. adults).  Does the government in a labor source 
country criminally prosecute labor recruiters who recruit laborers 
using knowingly fraudulent or deceptive offers or impose on 
recruited laborers inappropriately high or illegal fees or 
commissions that create a debt bondage condition for the laborer? 
Does the government in a labor destination country criminally 
prosecute employers or labor agents who confiscate workers' 
passports/travel documents, switch contracts or terms of employment 
without the worker's consent, use physical or sexual abuse or the 
threat of such abuse to keep workers in a state of service, or 
withhold payment of salaries as a means to keep workers in a state 
of service?  Are the traffickers serving the time sentenced?  If 
not, why not?  Please indicate whether the government can provide 
this information, and if not, why not? 
 
There were 255 arrests for TIP-related offenses in 2007.  49 of the 
arrests resulted in convictions.  Sentences ranged from 5 to 12 
years.  The Attorney General's office was not able to provide 
specifics on which types of trafficking cases were most commonly 
prosecuted because they do not track such cases.  Similarly, the 
Attorney General's Office does not have data on the average length 
of sentences and whether such sentences were carried out because it 
does not track this information.  In 2007, according to the Ministry 
of Labor and Social Affairs, 6 children were repatriated from Saudi 
Arabia; 2 children were repatriated from Pakistan, and 11 children 
were internally trafficked for sexual exploitation.  There were no 
data available on labor traffickers or their victims, as the 
government lacked the capacity to track the issue. 
 
¶12.  (SBU) Does the government provide any specialized training for 
government officials in how to recognize, investigate, and prosecute 
instances of trafficking?  Specify whether NGOs, international 
organizations, and/or the USG provide specialized training for host 
government officials. 
 
Working through IOM, the USG provided anti-trafficking training for 
border police, the judiciary and Afghan National Police.  During the 
reporting period, 60 individuals received training.  The government 
itself does not have capacity to offer such training.  When 
conducted, such training is provided by international NGOs but not 
with any consistency. 
 
¶13.  (SBU) Does the government cooperate with other governments in 
the investigation and prosecution of trafficking cases?  If 
possible, can post provide the number of cooperative international 
investigations on trafficking during the reporting period? 
 
In theory, the government cooperates with investigation and 
prosecution, but there were no international investigations during 
the year. 
 
¶14.  (SBU) Does the government extradite persons who are charged 
with trafficking in other countries?  If so, can post provide the 
number of traffickers extradited during the reporting period?  Does 
the government extradite its own nationals charged with such 
offenses?   If not, is the government prohibited by law from 
extraditing its own nationals?  If so, what is the government doing 
to modify its laws to permit the extradition of its own nationals? 
 
There were no extraditions of traffickers.  Afghanistan has no 
extradition law, but Parliament is scheduled to consider one this 
year. 
 
 
¶15.  (SBU) Is there evidence of government involvement in or 
tolerance of trafficking, on a local or institutional level?  If so, 
please explain in detail. 
 
There were no reports of institutional involvement in trafficking by 
the government.  The Ministry of Interior stated that no police 
officials have been arrested for involvement in trafficking.  There 
are unconfirmed reports of corrupt Afghan National Police and Afghan 
Border Police officers being complicit in trafficking, but there was 
no documentation of this. 
 
¶16.  (SBU) If government officials are involved in trafficking, what 
steps has the government taken to end such participation?  Please 
indicate the number of government officials investigated and 
prosecuted for involvement in trafficking or trafficking-related 
corruption during the reporting period.  Have any been convicted? 
What sentence(s) was imposed?  Please specify if officials received 
suspended sentences, were given a fine, fired, or reassigned to 
another position within the government as punishment.  Please 
provide specific numbers, if available.  Please indicate the number 
of convicted officials that received suspended sentences or received 
only a fine as punishment. 
 
There were no confirmed reports of government officials being 
involved in trafficking. 
 
¶17.  (SBU) As part of the new requirements of the 2005 TVPRA, for 
countries that contribute troops to international peacekeeping 
efforts, please indicate whether the government vigorously 
investigated, prosecuted, convicted and sentenced nationals of the 
country deployed abroad as part of a peacekeeping or other similar 
mission who engage in or facilitate severe forms of trafficking or 
who exploit victims of such trafficking. 
 
Afghanistan does not contribute troops to international peacekeeping 
efforts. 
 
¶18.  (SBU) If the country has an identified child sex tourism 
problem (as source or destination), how many foreign pedophiles has 
the government prosecuted or deported/extradited to their country of 
origin?  What are the countries of origin for sex tourists?  Do the 
country's child sexual abuse laws have extraterritorial coverage 
(similar to the U.S. PROTECT Act)?  If so, how many of the country's 
nationals have been prosecuted and/or convicted under the 
extraterritorial provision(s) for traveling to other countries to 
engage in child sex tourism? 
 
Sex tourism has not been identified as a problem in Afghanistan. 
 
PROTECTION AND ASSISTANCE TO VICTIMS: 
 
¶19.  (SBU) Does the government assist foreign trafficking victims, 
for example, by providing temporary to permanent residency status, 
or other relief from deportation?  If so, please explain. 
 
The government did not assist foreign trafficking victims.  It lacks 
the capacity to assist even domestic victims. 
 
¶20.  (SBU) Does the country have victim care facilities which are 
accessible to trafficking victims?  Do foreign victims have the same 
access to care as domestic trafficking victims?  Does the country 
have specialized facilities dedicated to helping victims of 
trafficking?  If so, can post provide the number of victims placed 
in these care facilities during the reporting period?  What is the 
funding source of these facilities?  Please estimate the amount the 
government spent (in U.S. dollar equivalent) on these specialized 
facilities dedicated to helping trafficking victims during the 
reporting period.  Does the government provide trafficking victims 
with access to legal, medical and psychological services?  If so, 
please specify the kind of assistance provided, and the number of 
victims assisted, if available. 
 
Care facilities are run by NGOs, not the government.  No statistics 
were available regarding the number of victims placed in these 
facilities.  The Ministry of Women's Affairs occasionally received 
reports of trafficking but was unable to provide services to 
victims.  Foreign victims did not have the same (extremely limited) 
access to care as domestic victims. 
 
¶21.  (SBU) Does the government provide funding or other forms of 
support to foreign or domestic NGOs and/or international 
organizations for services to trafficking victims?  Please explain 
and provide any funding amounts in U.S. dollar equivalent.  If 
assistance provided is in-kind, please specify exact assistance. 
Please explain if funding for assistance comes from a federal budget 
or from regional or local governments. 
 
All funding comes from international donors. 
 
¶22.  (SBU) Do the government's law enforcement, immigration, and 
social services personnel have a formal system of proactively 
identifying victims of trafficking among high- risk persons with 
whom they come in contact (e.g., foreign persons arrested for 
prostitution or immigration violations)?   What is the number of 
victims identified during the reporting period?  Has the government 
developed and implemented a referral process to transfer victims 
detained, arrested or placed in protective custody by law 
enforcement authorities to institutions that provide short- or 
long-term care?  How many victims were referred for assistance by 
law enforcement authorities during the reporting period? 
 
There was no formal identification system for high-risk persons. 
 
¶23.  (SBU) For countries with legalized prostitution:  does the 
government have a mechanism for screening for trafficking victims 
among persons involved in the legal/regulated commercial sex trade? 
 
Prostitution is illegal in Afghanistan. 
¶24.  (SBU) Are the rights of victims respected?  Are trafficking 
victims detained or jailed?   If detained or jailed, for how long? 
Are victims fined?  Are victims prosecuted for violations of other 
laws, such as those governing immigration or prostitution? 
 
Afghanistan lacks a formal protocol for the treatment of victims. 
Treatment varied, depending on which security service was involved, 
the location, and the responsible official.  Children who were 
trafficked were sometimes placed in orphanages until they could be 
reunited with their parents.  In some cases, trafficking victims 
were jailed pending resolution of the case.  Female victims were 
often treated as criminals, both in cases where they fled their 
homes to escape forced marriages or domestic abuse and in cases of 
prostitution.  No specific information is available on the length of 
detention or treatment of individual victims. 
 
¶25.  (SBU) Does the government encourage victims to assist in the 
investigation and prosecution of trafficking?  How many victims 
assisted in the investigation and prosecution of traffickers during 
the reporting period?  May victims file civil suits or seek legal 
action against traffickers?  Does anyone impede victim access to 
such legal redress?  If a victim is a material witness in a court 
case against a former employer, is the victim permitted to obtain 
other employment or to leave the country pending trial proceedings? 
Are there means by which a victim may obtain restitution? 
 
The government does not encourage victims to assist in 
investigations, and the court system does not have the capacity to 
handle civil proceedings adequately.  There is no victim restitution 
program.  With international community help, the Afghan legal system 
is undergoing system-wide reconstruction and reform.  It still lacks 
adequate facilities, prosecutors, judges and detention capacity. 
 
¶26.  (SBU) What kind of protection is the government able to provide 
for victims and witnesses?  Does it provide these protections in 
practice?  What type of shelter or services does the government 
provide?  Are these services provided directly by the government or 
are they provided by NGOs or IOs funded by host government grants? 
Does the government provide shelter or housing benefits to victims 
or other resources to aid the victims in rebuilding their lives? 
Where are child victims placed (e.g., in shelters, foster care, or 
juvenile justice detention centers)?  What is the number of victims 
assisted by government-funded assistance programs during the 
reporting period?  What is the number of victims assisted by non 
government-funded assistance programs?  What is the number of 
victims that received shelter services during the reporting period? 
 
The government provides no formal protection to victims.  Victims 
are sometimes jailed while officials decide on the disposition of 
their cases and whether or not to press charges against them.  Some 
protection is given by NGOs, though inconsistently.  There are 
approximately four women's shelters nationwide that provide 
protection to female victims and their children but they have 
limited capacity and lack adequate funding.  Children who were not 
with their parents when discovered are usually placed in orphanages 
until their families can be located. 
 
¶27.  (SBU) Does the government provide any specialized training for 
government officials in identifying trafficking victims and in the 
provision of assistance to trafficked victims, including the special 
needs of trafficked children?  Does the government provide training 
on protections and assistance to its embassies and consulates in 
foreign countries that are destination or transit countries?  Does 
it urge those embassies and consulates to develop ongoing 
relationships with NGOs and IOs that serve trafficked victims?  What 
is the number of trafficking victims assisted by the host country's 
embassies or consulates abroad during the reporting period?  Please 
explain the level of assistance.  For example, did the host 
government provide travel documents for the victim to repatriate, 
did the host government contact NGOs in either the source or 
destination countries to ensure the victim received adequate 
assistance, did the host government pay for the transportation home 
for a victim's repatriation, etc. 
 
Any such training is provided by international NGOs, not the 
government.  Training to GIRoA embassies and consulates was provided 
in 2004-2005.  There were no statistics on the number of trafficking 
victims assisted by embassies or consulates overseas, as 
Afghanistan's diplomatic representation is extremely limited and 
understaffed. 
 
¶28.  (SBU) Does the government provide assistance, such as medical 
aid, shelter, or financial help, to its nationals who are 
repatriated as victims of trafficking? 
 
Such assistance was provided by international NGOs, and was not 
regularly available. 
 
¶29.  (SBU) Which international organizations or NGOs, if any, work 
with trafficking victims?  What type of services do they provide? 
What sort of cooperation do they receive from local authorities? 
How much funding (in U.S. Dollar Equivalent) did NGOs and 
international organizations receive from the host government for 
victim assistance during the reporting period?  Please disaggregate 
funding for prevention and public awareness efforts from victim 
assistance funding.  NOTE:  If post reports that a government is 
incapable of providing direct assistance to TIP victims, please 
assess whether the government ensures that TIP victims receive 
access to adequate care from other entities.  Funding, personnel, 
and training constraints should be noted, if applicable. 
Conversely, the lack of political will in a situation where a 
country has adequate financial and other resources to address the 
problem should be noted as well. 
 
The International Organization for Migration (IOM), UNICEF, Save the 
Children, and the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission provide 
assistance to trafficking victims. The government does not have the 
financial resources or capacity to assist and protect victims.  The 
government did not ensure that victims received access to care as 
trafficking is not currently criminalized and the available care is 
minimal at best. 
 
In December 2007, the government provided half of the land it had 
promised to IOM in March 2007 to build a shelter specifically 
designed for child victims of trafficking.  By the time the transfer 
was made, funding available to IOM for the shelter had expired.  The 
IOM has raised the need for renewed funding to the attention of its 
donors. 
 
PREVENTION 
 
¶30.  (SBU) Does the government acknowledge that trafficking is a 
problem in the country?  If not, why not? 
 
The government acknowledges that trafficking is a problem and is 
increasingly seeking to develop capacity to address the problem. 
Political will existed to combat trafficking, but personnel and 
fiscal resources remained an absolute constraint.  The government 
also seemed to increasingly understand the differences in the 
various forms of trafficking and the need to approach them 
differently.  Government officials increasingly paid attention to 
trafficking issues and the need to address them.  In March 2008, 
President Karzai called for an end to under-aged and forced 
marriages in a speech commemorating International Women's Day. 
 
¶31.  (SBU) Are there, or have there been, government-run anti- 
trafficking information or education campaigns conducted during the 
reporting period?  If so, briefly describe the campaign(s), 
including their objectives and effectiveness.  Please provide the 
number of people reached by such awareness efforts if available.  Do 
these campaigns target potential trafficking victims and/or the 
demand for trafficking (e.g. "clients" of prostitutes or 
beneficiaries of forced labor)? 
 
Any such campaigns were carried out by international NGOs such as 
UNICEF, Save the Children or IOM, with the support of the 
government.  UNICEF supported the Ministry of Labor and Social 
Affairs in developing a national action plan to combat child 
trafficking and a training manual.  Trainers from the provinces were 
brought to Kabul for training and then these trainers conducted 
training for government and NGO workers in their respective 
provinces.  IOM conducted a campaign that included posters in local 
languages, press conferences and television ads. 
 
¶32.  (SBU) What is the relationship between government officials, 
NGOs, other relevant organizations and other elements of civil 
society on the trafficking issue? 
 
Government institutions cooperated well with donor NGOs on 
trafficking issues and worked in limited partnerships on specific 
programs. 
 
¶33.  (SBU) Does the government monitor immigration and emigration 
patterns for evidence of trafficking?  Do law enforcement agencies 
screen for potential trafficking victims along borders? 
 
The government lacked the capacity to monitor the evidence of 
trafficking, and Afghanistan's long, porous borders made screening 
and border control difficult -- at times impossible.  Law 
enforcement agencies are preoccupied with counter-insurgency tasks. 
 
¶34.  (SBU) Is there a mechanism for coordination and communication 
between various agencies, internal, international, and multilateral 
on trafficking-related matters, such as a multi-agency working group 
or a task force?  Does the government have a trafficking in persons 
working group or single point of contact?  Does the government have 
a public corruption task force? 
 
There was no formal mechanism, although donors met sporadically to 
discuss trafficking issues.  There was no government trafficking in 
persons working group or public corruption task force. 
 
¶35.  (SBU) Does the government have a national plan of action to 
address trafficking in persons?  If so, which agencies were involved 
in developing it?  Were NGOs consulted in the process?  What steps 
has the government taken to disseminate the action plan? 
 
The government developed a National Plan of Action to address 
trafficking in persons in 2004 that set the following goals for 
national anti-trafficking efforts: creation of an anti-trafficking 
law; training of law enforcement officials, judges and prosecutors 
to identify, investigate, and prosecute trafficking cases; 
development of a system to track and analyze trafficking trends; 
increasing border security; public awareness activities to educate 
the public on trafficking issues; provision of shelters and services 
to victims; training of Afghan diplomats working at GIRoA missions 
abroad to identify and assist trafficking victims; development of a 
witness protection program for those who help police in combating 
trafficking.  To date the only parts of this plan which have been 
implemented include some training of law enforcement, NGO, and 
diplomatic employees to identify trafficking cases and scattered 
public awareness campaigns.  With help from IOM, the Ministry of 
Justice drafted an anti-trafficking law in 2007.  The draft law is 
to be reviewed by the Cabinet and sent to the Parliament in 2008. 
In early 2007, the MOI drafted a new organizational plan that 
includes a specific office to track cases and analyze trends on TIP. 
 This office has not yet been staffed.  There was an office within 
the Criminal Investigative Division of the MOI that tracked, 
analyzed, and advised on kidnapping and child protection issues. 
 
¶36.  (SBU) For all posts:  As part of the new criteria added to the 
TVPA's minimum standards by the 2005 TVPRA, what measures has the 
government taken during the reporting period to reduce the demand 
for commercial sex acts? (see ref B, para. 9(3) for examples) 
 
None. 
 
¶37.  (U) Required of Posts in EU countries and posts in Canada, 
Australia, New Zealand, Japan, China, Singapore, South Korea, 
Taiwan, and Hong Kong:  As part of the new criteria added to the 
TVPA's minimum standards by the 2005 TVPRA, what measures has the 
government taken during the reporting period to reduce the 
participation in international child sex tourism by nationals of the 
country? 
 
Does not apply. 
 
¶38.  (U) Required of posts in countries that have contributed over 
100 troops to international peacekeeping efforts (Argentina, 
Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, 
Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, 
Egypt, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, 
Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, 
Jordan, Kenya, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Mongolia, Morocco, Namibia, 
Nepal, the Netherlands, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, 
Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Senegal, Slovakia, 
South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, 
Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Zambia, and Zimbabwe): 
What measures has the government adopted 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 or exploit victims of such trafficking? 
 
Does not apply. 
 
¶39.  (U) Embassy point of contact for trafficking in persons issues 
is Political Officer Richard C. Jao, email jaorc@state.gov phone 
number 0093-0700-108-173. This report was prepared by Political 
Officer C. John Long, an FS-04 officer.  Preparation of this report 
took approximately 100 hours. 
 
WOOD