VZCZCXYZ0001
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHEG #1223 1810724
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 300724Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3036

UNCLAS CAIRO 001223 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ELA, G/TIP FOR YOUSEY, NEA/ELA FOR 
CHATTERJI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREF KCRM KWMN KJUS SOCI EG
SUBJECT: PUBLIC REACTION TO THE 2009 TIP REPORT 
 
¶1. (U) Key Points: 
 
-- Public reaction to the 2009 TIP Report has varied from 
condemnation by certain Government of Egypt (GOE) officials 
to support from civil society representatives. 
 
-- The Minister of Family and Population and head of the 
National Commission for Motherhood and Childhood, Mushira 
Khattab, criticized the report as "exaggerated." She admitted 
to TIP problems with early marriage and street children, but 
denied that problems exist with child sex tourism and trading 
in children because the new Child Law Amendments have closed 
these "loopholes." 
 
-- Other ministries such as Foreign Affairs, Tourism, and 
Manpower, have dismissed parts of the report as untrue and 
claim that it amounts to USG interference in Egyptian 
internal affairs. 
 
-- Civil society activists support the report's assertion 
that the GOE needs to address both internal and external 
human trafficking.  Human rights activists supported new 
information in the report that addressed the issues of early 
marriage and child sex tourism. 
 
 
¶2. (SBU) Comment: Minister Khattab is a strong advocate in 
the fight against TIP.  She is close to First Lady Suzanne 
Mubarak and her support is crucial to success in combating 
TIP. The release of the 2009 TIP Report has created 
significant public interest in TIP-related issues. This 
interest is likely to ensure further governmental and civil 
society engagement on the issue. 
 
¶3. (U) The Minister of Family and Population and head of the 
National Commission for Motherhood and Childhood, Mushira 
Khattab criticized the 2009 TIP report, in the government 
daily Al Ahram, as being "unfounded."  She said that the 
problems of early marriage and street children could not be 
denied, but she dismissed the report's claim of one million 
street children as "exaggerated."  Khattab expressed 
skepticism about the reports assertion of child sex tourism 
and trading in children and she stated that trafficking 
amendments to the child law closed all the loopholes. 
 
¶4. (U) The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs publicly 
rejected the report. MFA Spokesman Hossam Zaki suggested in 
independent daily Al Masry Al Youm that the report's focus 
amounted to interference in Egypt's internal affairs. The 
Ministry of Tourism's Head Inspector in pro-government daily 
Rose al-Youssef, accused the report of "defaming Egypt's 
reputation" and denied that child sex tourism and sexual 
exploitation of Sudanese refugees were problems because 
"Egyptian law bans prostitution."  An official at the 
Ministry of Manpower, in the same newspaper, stated that 
Egyptian law bans child labor before age 14 and he said that 
the ministry inspects working venues to ensure implementation 
of the law.  Dr. Samiha, a representative from the National 
Council for Sociological and Criminological Studies told Nile 
TV that the report lacked statistical evidence. 
 
¶5. (U) Human Rights and TIP experts expressed their 
satisfaction with the report.  Regional TIP consultant and 
former UNODC Regional Representative for TIP, Dr. Nihal Fahmy 
told Nile TV that the report highlighted the need for the GOE 
to focus on both internal and external aspects of TIP.  Negad 
Al Boraie, President of the Foundation for Development of 
Democracy said in Al Masry Al Youm that he report was 
"sound."  He stated that the GOE had made efforts to address 
TIP, but said there was a need to address the marriage of 
underage Egyptian girls to men from the Gulf. Al Boraie 
opined that Egypt was not a transit country for trafficking 
of women.  Hafez Abu Seada, Secretary General of the Egyptian 
Organization for Human Rights, in Al Masry Al Youm, said that 
the report "reflected reality" and he stated that the spread 
of sex tourism has increased significantly. 
SCOBEY