VZCZCXRO2001
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHRY #0147/01 1211030
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 301030Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY CONAKRY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2452
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CONAKRY 000147 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR G/TIP AND DRL 
DOL FOR DIANTHA GARMS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12598:  N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL ASEC GV
SUBJECT: SIERRA LEONE DIPLOMAT OFFERS NEW PERSPECTIVE ON ALLEGED 
TRAFFICKING OF TEN CHILDREN FROM GUINEA 
 
REF:  A) CONAKRY 00090 
 
      B) CAZEAU/LEMAR 03/06/08 EMAIL STRING 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. Per Reftel, four women were stopped near 
Forecariah in June 2007 for allegedly attempting to traffic ten 
children from Guinea to Sierra Leone. DCM discussed the incident 
during a meeting with ALhaji ALie Badara Kamara of the Sierra 
Leonean Embassy in Guinea on April 15, 2008.  Mr. Kamara provided a 
new perspective on the situation, insisting that this was not a 
trafficking case and that the Prefect in Forecariah was using the 
children as a ploy to raise funds for her orphanage. END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Mr. Kamara told DCM that one of the women arrested for 
trafficking had been in Guinea for her daughter's wedding and to 
visit with Sierra Leonean relatives living in Kamsar, Guinea.  The 
relatives in Kamsar reportedly requested she take some of their 
children to live with relatives in Sierra Leone. The women were on 
their way to Sierra Leone with the ten children when they were 
stopped near Forecariah and arrested for trafficking. Mr. Kamara 
complained that without notifying their Embassy, the women were 
taken to a maximum security prison and treated like criminals. 
 
---------------------- 
NOT A TRAFFICKING CASE 
---------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) According to Mr. Kamara, the women were stopped in 
Forecariah because they did not have sufficient documentation.  When 
asked, he admitted that the children were not registered with the 
Sierra Leonean Embassy in Guinea, but because the children were born 
to Sierra Leonean parents in Guinea, they were dual nationals. In an 
incident report sent to DCM by the Sierra Leonean Embassy earlier 
this year, the Sierra Leonean Government claimed that the children 
were in fact Sierra Leonean because they spoke Temne (a local 
dialect in Sierra Leone) and "identified warmly with other Sierra 
Leonean members of their family." 
 
¶4. (SBU) Mr. Kamara stressed that the woman should have not been 
held for trafficking because she had received parental consent to 
take them to Sierra Leone. According to him, "it is only trafficking 
if they do not have consent of parents" and because nobody came 
forward saying their children were kidnapped, it could not have been 
a trafficking case. He also explained that the woman was a relative 
of the children so she should not have been charged with 
trafficking. 
 
---------------------------- 
ACCUSATIONS OF CORRUPTION 
---------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Mr. Kamara said he was very concerned that the children 
were put in protective custody of the Prefect in Forecariah, who in 
turn placed the children in the orphanage she founded to help child 
victims of trafficking. Mr. Kamara said that the Prefect insisted 
the children were Guinean because she had a personal interest in the 
children being victims of trafficking. He accused the Prefect of 
using the children as a ploy to raise funds for her own orphanage 
and implied that the Prefect was corrupt. 
 
------------------------------ 
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CHILDREN? 
------------------------------ 
 
¶6. (SBU) DCM inquired as to what happened to the children after they 
were turned over to the Sierra Leonean Embassy in January 2008 
(reftel). Mr. Kamara said that the children were accompanied to 
Freetown by the Sierra Leonean Embassy where they held a press 
conference regarding the children.  When Poloff asked what happened 
to the children after the press conference, Mr. Kamara replied that 
usually the Ministry of Social Affairs is responsible for taking the 
children directly to their families. However, in this case, the 
woman that was arrested for trafficking them was in Freetown and 
because she was a relative, she was authorized to take them to their 
families. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Mr. Kamara seemed open to discussing the trafficking 
incident, possibly because he had a visa request to make at the end 
of the meeting.  He appeared absolutely convinced that the case has 
nothing to do with trafficking and that the children are safe with 
their relatives in Sierra Leone. However, he contradicted himself 
several times during the discussion. He began by calling the woman 
the children's grandmother, and then later said she was not the 
grandmother of all ten children but a relative.  When pressed 
further, he admitted that they were not related, but that she was 
from their same village so she knew the children's relatives. 
 
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CONAKRY 00000147  002 OF 002 
 
 
COMMENT 
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¶8. (SBU) Embassy has a strong relationship with the Prefect in 
Forecariah, who is well known within the government and the 
international community for her integrity and efforts to combat 
trafficking. The Sierra Leonean Diplomat's perspective on this case 
highlights the complexity of trafficking issues in the region. While 
the children may have been dual national and had relatives in both 
countries, the intent of the women transporting the children is 
unknown.  There are many elements to this specific case that suggest 
it is not as straightforward as Mr. Kamara described it.  For 
example, the children were reportedly naked when they were trying to 
cross the border, and were later terrified when they found out they 
were being returned to the women's custody, according to local 
accounts. Unfortunately, this now appears to be a closed case from 
the perspective of the Guinean Government and the Sierra Leonean 
Embassy in Guinea. END COMMENT. 
 
CARTER