VZCZCXRO0813
PP RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMA RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHRN RUEHTRO
DE RUEHAN #0764 3190716
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 140716Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY ANTANANARIVO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1780
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 0072
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 1048
RHMFISS/CDR USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS ANTANANARIVO 000764 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF/E-MBEYZEROV, AF/RSA, G-ACBLANK, G/TIP-RYOUSEY 
PARIS FOR RKANEDA 
LONDON FOR PLORD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KTIP MA
SUBJECT: ANTANANARIVO: TIP INTERIM ASSESSMENT RESPONSES 
 
REF: 08 SECSTATE 110849 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The GOM set high goals in 2007 with a 
string of legislative achievements and hands-on efforts to 
push the administration's fight against child labor and human 
trafficking into the field via training programs, victim's 
assistance, and awareness campaigns.  This drive seems to 
have slowed in 2008, however, as the laws have not been 
implemented effectively across the country.  A lack of 
statistics hampers efforts to monitor regional 
implementation, but the evidence suggests that despite 
continued vocal support from the national leadership, change 
on the ground has been slow to come. END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU) The December 2007 anti-trafficking law has not yet 
been used to prosecute or punish traffickers.  According to 
Ministry of Justice (MOJ) officials, the law has been 
actively disseminated to the 22 regions, and magistrates all 
over the country have been trained in its use.  However, lack 
of precedent, lack of coordination among the ministries, and 
the lack of a presidential decree mandating and codifying its 
use may be hindering implementation of the law in practice. 
Without a formal system for tracking such cases, MOJ 
officials leave open the possibility that individual 
jurisdictions may be using the law, but the evidence suggests 
this is unlikely - several possible cases from high-risk 
areas came to trial in 2008, but none made use of the 
anti-trafficking law.  Three French citizens' cases for 
indecent assault or statutory rape were either dismissed or 
punished with suspended sentences, while the case of a 
French-Vietnamese couple being tried for pandering in January 
2008 was dismissed for inability to overcome reasonable 
doubt.  The verdict is under appeal, but has not yet been 
reexamined; the couple reportedly still operates a hotel in 
Nosy Be. 
 
¶3. (SBU) There is still no formal process for law enforcement 
officials to refer victims for assistance.  There are three 
government-run welcome centers in the country, and a 
"protection network" in 14 locations around Madagascar that 
bring interested parties in the government and NGOs together 
to assist victims.  Their actual usage, however, depends 
largely on the extent to which NGOs and IOs proactively 
engage with the local law enforcement and health structures. 
 
¶4. (SBU) In September 2008, the U.S. Department of Justice's 
ICITAP program concluded a project to develop a centralized 
database for documenting and tracking trafficking cases 
nationwide.  Training on the program was conducted both in 
the capital and in several high-risk regions, and it remains 
a positive example of increased cooperation between the 
Gendarmerie and the Police in this field; however, financial 
and legal issues threaten to derail the project.  Although 
operational for several months now, the center still lacks a 
presidential decree giving its work legal standing, and the 
financial backing for its future operations remains uncertain. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Although some officials were punished in 2007 for 
colluding with traffickers or accepting bribes to overlook 
trafficking crimes, the Ministry of Justice was unable to 
report any such cases in 2008.  Several of the cases reported 
in Madagascar's 2008 TIP report did result in suspensions 
being served (the district chief and the president of the 
tribunal in Nosy Be, and the president of the tribunal in 
Fort Dauphin) or officials being relocated (as in the case of 
a prosecutor in Fort Dauphin), but no more severe punishments 
or new cases have been reported. 
 
¶6. (SBU) COMMENT: Although unlikely, it remains a possibility 
that the situation outside of the capital is more positive 
than MOJ officials are able to convey.  The almost complete 
lack of statistics in this field make it difficult to gauge 
the true impact of the substantial investment that NGOs and 
donors have made in high-risk locations such as Nosy Be, 
Diego Suarez, or Fort Dauphin.  In the next two months, post 
will be conducting further research in the field that may 
provide further insight into Madagascar's apparent difficulty 
implementing its 2007 legislative framework.  END COMMENT. 
MARQUARDT