VZCZCXRO1975
RR RUEHROV
DE RUEHKM #0442/01 1191219
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 291219Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY KAMPALA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1376
INFO RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC//ICITAP
RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KAMPALA 000442 
 
DEPT FOR G/TIP,SIGMON, YOUSEY, LARSEN,DEBACA 
DOJ FOR ICITAP, TREVILLIAN, RODERICK, BARR, AND RAUCH 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KCRIM KTIP KWMN EAID UG
SUBJECT: UGANDA CONTINUES TO MAKE ANTI-TIP PROGRESS 
 
REF: KAMPALA 27 
 
¶1.  Summary:  The Ugandan Government continues to make progress in 
combating trafficking in persons.  On April 2, the Ugandan 
Parliament passed a comprehensive anti-trafficking bill that will 
now enable law enforcement institutions to more effectively combat 
trafficking.  The Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in 
Persons (G/TIP) Counter-trafficking Program has given Ugandan law 
enforcement the training and tools it needs 
to implement a large-scale anti-trafficking initiative that includes 
technical assistance, training, and equipment donation.  Over the 
last three months, the Ugandan Police Force (UPF) established an 
internal anti-trafficking unit, an inter-ministerial trafficking 
unit and anti-trafficking investigative teams at the national, 
regional and district levels.  Police and immigration officials have 
begun to institutionalize training provided through the Department 
of Justice's International Criminal Investigation and Training 
Assistance Program (ICITAP) by the Senior Law Enforcement Advisor 
(SLEA).  We are already seeing results from increased public 
awareness, but the passage of the new anti-trafficking law combined 
with the well-received training and technical expertise from the 
SLEA will strengthen the government's capacity to increase the 
number of prosecutions of trafficking cases.  End Summary. 
 
--------------------------- 
ANTI-TRAFFICKING LAW PASSES 
--------------------------- 
 
¶2. The Ugandan Parliament passed into law a comprehensive bill to 
combat human trafficking.  The bill was introduced by the Uganda 
Women Parliamentary Association (UWOPA) and criminalizes offenses 
related to human trafficking, such as labor and sexual exploitation, 
human sacrifice, cannibalism, and forced marriages.  The law meets 
international standards and protocols, including the United Nations 
Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) and 
Trafficking in Persons (Palermo Protocol).  The penalty for 
trafficking offenses range from nine years to life imprisonment and 
offenders could receive the death penalty in aggravated cases 
involving more than one person or the transmission of HIV/AIDS 
through the crime.  The P/E Chief participated in the drafting of 
the bill and the SLEA worked closely with the Ugandan Parliament's 
legal counsel to include modifications, including the seizure and 
forfeiture of instruments of the crime of trafficking in addition to 
the already included forfeiture of proceeds of the crime.  This will 
allow Uganda to eliminate tools that human traffickers have at their 
disposal.  The newly passed law will take force in June.  The 
Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and Ministry of Justice 
will now take steps to include anti-trafficking provisions into the 
penal code. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
SETTING UP ANTI-TIP INVESTIGATIVE TEAMS 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  In January 2009, the Minister of State for Internal Affairs 
Matia Kasaija and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kale 
Kayihura announced the formation of an anti-human trafficking/human 
sacrifice task force within the UPF and a hotline to report 
suspected human trafficking and human sacrifice cases (reftel).  The 
SLEA, who is based in UPF headquarters, helped to identify qualified 
investigators to staff and command the unit.  In February 2009, the 
Ministry of Internal Affairs also established an inter-ministerial 
committee comprised of members from the UPF, Immigration, DPP, 
Ministry of Labor, Gender and Social Development, Ministry of 
Education, Internal Security Organization and other key government 
stakeholders, to address and identify methods to combat human 
trafficking.  In February 2009, the SLEA was appointed by the IGP to 
serve as the technical consultant to both task forces. 
 
¶4.  The UPF established both regional and district level 
investigative teams specifically assigned to investigate human 
trafficking offenses.  The SLEA helped the UPF determine the 
criteria for selection and the members of the teams were selected 
from among those individuals who attended ICITAP anti-trafficking 
training.  One of the goals of the district level teams is to 
establish a local referral system with nongovernmental organizations 
to provide medical services, counseling, shelter and other necessary 
services for TIP victims. 
 
¶5.  The Director of Immigration, Godfrey Sasagah, recently agreed to 
establish an in-service training bureau for the Directorate of 
Immigration and Citizenship Control.  This is a significant 
development because Immigration has never had a mechanism to 
formally train its officers.  Additionally, Senior Immigration 
Officer Agnes Igoye was appointed chief of the unit. She attended 
ICITAP's TIP instructor development course and the TIP criminal 
investigations course, and also helped to facilitate the one-day TIP 
first responder courses in Mbale. 
 
 
KAMPALA 00000442  002 OF 003 
 
 
¶6.  In an important related development for all victims of sexual 
assault, including TIP victims, the SLEA lobbied for and persuaded 
the UPF to pay for physical examinations of victims of sexual 
assault.  In the past, victims paid as much as 40,000 Uganda 
Shillings ($20) for an examination.  This cost was prohibitive for 
most victims and discouraged victims from coming forward.  In early 
March 2009, the UPF announced that victims would no longer be 
required to pay for this examination. 
 
------------------------------- 
TRAINING CRIMINAL INVESTIGATORS 
------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  In February 2009, ICITAP provided a two-week TIP criminal 
investigations course with 28 participants from the UPF and 
Immigration.  ICITAP also invited Joseph Konyo, the head of the 
Tanzanian Police Force's counter-trafficking unit, with whom ICITAP 
worked closely in the past.  He provided information on best 
practices and lessons learned in Tanzania in combating human 
trafficking.  Additionally, six ICITAP trained instructors presented 
portions of the program to their counterparts.  This course 
emphasized the human trafficking process, interviewing and 
interrogation techniques, undercover operations, crime scene 
management and preservation of evidence, surveillance and gathering 
and analyzing intelligence, while stressing the importance of 
respect for human rights.  Four of the participants had previously 
attended the ICITAP TIP instructor development course.  Assistant 
Commissioner of Police Moses Binoga, the new chief of the UPF 
anti-human trafficking/sacrifice unit participated.  This training 
taught practical skills in a realistic setting and emphasized the 
need for cooperation between police, immigration and international 
partners.  G/TIP program officer Jill Larsen observed the training. 
 
¶8.  While Joseph Konyo was in Uganda, a case arose of a Tanzanian 
woman attempting to sell her child in Uganda for sacrifice.  Upon 
arrest she informed Ugandan police officers that she was told it 
would be possible to obtain a better price for the child in Uganda. 
Konyo and Moses Binoga were able to combine the efforts of their 
respective agencies to investigate this offense.  It should be noted 
that due to the increase of public awareness concerning human 
trafficking/human sacrifice, citizens of the village where the woman 
attempted to sell her child notified police. 
 
¶9.  Since January 2009, the UPF has institutionalized the combating 
human trafficking first responder training in its in-service 
curriculum.  The UPF Child and Family Protection Unit advised that 
they have trained 150 new officers utilizing ICITAP trained 
instructors on combating TIP.  Additionally, the Criminal 
Investigations Directorate, which is currently providing training to 
new officers, has included TIP training in its program.  Further, 
the newly appointed head of Immigration's training bureau, Agnes 
Igoye, has committed to providing TIP training to all new and 
seasoned personnel once a training schedule is developed.  The SLEA 
is currently working in cooperation with the UPF Community Policing 
Unit and anti-trafficking/human sacrifice unit to develop a detailed 
investigative manual on human trafficking and missing/abducted 
children. 
 
¶10.  Since January 2009, there have been 13 reported cases of human 
sacrifice and over 100 missing persons (primarily children) reported 
monthly.  In an effort to address this problem, the SLEA is working 
with UPF command staff to implement an "AMBER" alert type of system 
in Uganda.  UCARE (Uganda Child Abduction Regional Alert) System, 
once operational will immediately notify the public of 
missing/abducted children whose disappearance falls within a 
specific protocol through the use of cellphone messages.  Also, once 
the system is functioning in Uganda, the IGP has committed to 
proposing the inclusion of neighboring countries such as Tanzania, 
Kenya, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 
 
¶11.   Grant Tabo, the Criminal Investigation Division 
Officer-in-Charge in Mbale (located on the border with Kenya), 
reported that in March, four children between the 6-12 years of age 
were abducted from Mbale and brought to Kenya to be used in forced 
labor.  Tabo launched an investigation upon receipt of the 
information and worked with the Kenyan police.  They were able to 
rescue the children and safely return them to Uganda, where they 
were reunited with their parents.  Tabor used his own money to go to 
Kenya and convince the Kenyan authorities that he had an actual 
trafficking in persons case.  According to Tabo, the two female 
suspects have appeared in Mbale court and been charged with 
kidnapping.  They face a penalty of up to life imprisonment. 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶12.  Uganda's anti-trafficking progress demonstrates the importance 
of supporting governments that have political will with training and 
 
KAMPALA 00000442  003 OF 003 
 
 
expertise.  The presence of a full-time police advisor has expedited 
the formation of anti-trafficking investigative units and helped law 
enforcement organize its anti-trafficking activities in a short 
period of time.  We should begin seeing concrete results, i.e. more 
prosecutions, by the end of the year. 
HOOVER