VZCZCXYZ0027
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHC #0499 1622127
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 112102Z JUN 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO AMEMBASSY ALGIERS IMMEDIATE 0000

UNCLAS STATE 060499 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KTIP ELAB KCRM KPAO KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG AG
SUBJECT: ALGERIA -- 2009 TIP REPORT: PRESS GUIDANCE AND 
DEMARCHE 
 
REF: A. STATE 59732 
     ¶B. STATE 005577 
 
¶1. This is an action cable; see paras 5 through 7 and 10. 
 
¶2. On June 16, 2009, at 10:00 a.m. EDT, the Secretary will 
release the 2009 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report at a 
press conference in the Department's press briefing room. 
This release will receive substantial coverage in domestic 
and foreign news outlets.  Until the time of the Secretary's 
June 16 press conference, any public release of the Report or 
country narratives contained therein is prohibited. 
 
¶3. The Department is hereby providing Post with advance press 
guidance to be used on June 16 or thereafter.  Also provided 
is demarche language to be used in informing the Government 
of Algeria of its tier ranking and the TIP Report's imminent 
release.  The text of the TIP Report country narrative is 
provided, both for use in informing the Government of Algeria 
and in any local media release by Post's public affairs 
section on June 16 or thereafter.  Drawing on information 
provided below in paras 8 and 9, Post may provide the host 
government with the text of the TIP Report narrative no 
earlier than 1200 noon local time Monday June 15 for WHA, AF, 
EUR, and NEA countries and OOB local time Tuesday June 16 for 
SCA and EAP posts.  Please note, however, that any public 
release of the Report's information should not/not precede 
the Secretary's release at 10:00 am EDT on June 16. 
 
¶4. The entire TIP Report will be available on-line at 
www.state.gov/g/tip shortly after the Secretary's June 16 
release.  Hard copies of the Report will be pouched to posts 
in all countries appearing on the Report.  The Secretary's 
statement at the June 16 press event, and the statement of 
and fielding of media questions by G/TIP,s Director and 
Senior Advisor to the Secretary, Ambassador-at-Large Luis 
CdeBaca, will be available on the Department's website 
shortly after the June 16 event.  Ambassador de Baca will 
also hold a general briefing for officials of foreign 
embassies in Washington DC on June 17 at 3:30 pm EDT. 
 
¶5. Action Request: No earlier than 12 noon local time on 
Monday June 15 for WHA, AF, EUR, and NEA posts and OOB local 
time on Tuesday June 16 for SCA and EAP posts, please inform 
the appropriate official in the Government of Algeria of the 
June 16 release of the 2009 TIP Report, drawing on the points 
in para 9 (at Post's discretion) and including the text of 
the country narrative provided in para 8.  For countries 
where the State Department has lowered the tier ranking, it 
is particularly important to advise governments prior to the 
Report being released in Washington on June 16. 
 
¶6. Action Request continued:  Please note that, for those 
countries which will not receive an "action plan" with 
specific recommendations for improvement, posts should draw 
host governments' attention to the areas for improvement 
identified in the 2009 Report, especially highlighted in the 
"Recommendations" section of the second paragraph of the 
narrative text.  This engagement is important to establishing 
the framework in which the government's performance will be 
judged for the 2010 Report.  If posts have questions about 
which governments will receive an action plan, or how they 
may follow up on the recommendations in the 2009 Report, 
please contact G/TIP and the appropriate regional bureau. 
 
¶7. Action Request continued: On June 16, please be prepared 
to answer media inquiries on the Report's release using the 
press guidance provided in para 11.  If Post wishes, a local 
press statement may be released on or after 10:30 am EDT June 
16, drawing on the press guidance and the text of the TIP 
Report's country narrative provided in para 8. 
 
¶8. Begin Final Text of Algeria,s country narrative in the 
2009 TIP Report: 
 
--------------------------- 
ALGERIA (Tier 2 Watch List) 
--------------------------- 
 
Algeria is a transit country for men and women trafficked 
from sub-Saharan Africa to Europe for the purposes of 
commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor.  These men 
and women enter Algeria, voluntarily but illegally, often 
with the assistance of smugglers.  Some of them become 
victims of trafficking; men are forced into unskilled labor 
and women into prostitution to pay smuggling debts.  Criminal 
networks of sub-Saharan nationals in southern Algeria 
facilitate transit by arranging transportation, forged 
documents, and promises of employment.  Among an estimated 
population of 5,000 to 9,000 illegal migrants, some 4,000 to 
6,000 are believed to be victims of trafficking, of whom 
approximately 1,000 are women. 
 
The Government of Algeria does not fully comply with the 
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; 
however, it is making significant efforts to do so.   In 
January 2009, the government approved new legislation that 
criminalizes trafficking in persons for the purposes of labor 
and sexual exploitation.  The law will enter into force when 
published in the government,s Official Journal.  The new law 
represents an important step toward complying with 
international standards, though its implementation is as yet 
untested.   Despite these efforts, the government did not 
show overall progress in punishing trafficking crimes and 
protecting trafficking victims and continued to lack adequate 
measures to protect victims and prevent trafficking; 
therefore, Algeria is placed on Tier 2 Watch List. 
 
Recommendations for Algeria:  Proactively implement the new 
anti-trafficking law by training law enforcement and judicial 
officials, investigating potential offenses, and prosecuting 
offenders; strengthen the institutional capacity to identify 
victims of trafficking among illegal migrants; improve 
services available to trafficking victims, such as shelter, 
medical, psychological, and legal aid; ensure victims are not 
punished for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of 
being trafficked; undertake a campaign to increase public 
awareness of trafficking. 
 
Prosecution 
------------ 
The Algerian government showed minimal progress in addressing 
human trafficking through law enforcement means during the 
reporting period.  In January 2009, the government approved 
legislation that criminalizes all forms of human trafficking 
and prescribes penalties of three to 10 years, imprisonment 
for base offenses.  These penalties are sufficiently 
stringent and commensurate with penalties prescribed for 
other serious offenses, such as rape.  As of this report,s 
writing, the government had not used the new law to 
prosecute, convict, or punish any trafficking offenders. 
Algerian law enforcement authorities could have investigated 
and prosecuted suspected trafficking crimes using 
trafficking-related statutes existing before the new law,s 
enactment; however, no such law enforcement efforts were 
reported during the reporting period. 
 
Protection 
---------- 
The Government of Algeria did not improve services or 
protections for victims during the reporting period.  It did 
not employ any systematic procedures for the identification 
of trafficking victims among vulnerable populations, such as 
foreign women arrested for prostitution or illegal migrants. 
Because there were no procedures to identify victims, they 
remained at risk of detention for unlawful acts committed as 
a result of being trafficked.  The government did not provide 
foreign victims with legal alternatives to their removal to 
countries where they faced hardship or retribution. 
According to local NGOs, the government does not provide 
specialized training to government officials to detect 
trafficking or assist victims.   The government does not 
provide medical, counseling, or legal services to victims, 
nor is there any referral service to other providers. 
However, government-operated health clinics that provide 
emergency care to crime victims are available for foreign and 
Algerian victims of trafficking. A program run by an NGO to 
assist women who are victims of violence is available to 
women victims of trafficking.  There is no formal program to 
encourage trafficking victims to assist with the 
investigation and prosecution of offenders. 
 
Prevention 
---------- 
During the past year, the Algerian government did not conduct 
campaigns to raise public awareness of trafficking in 
persons.  To date, the government has not developed a formal 
anti-trafficking policy or national plan of action that would 
complement its new law, nor has the government published a 
record or assessment of its anti-trafficking activities. 
 
-------------------------------- 
 
 
¶9. Post may wish to deliver the following points, which offer 
technical and legal background on the TIP Report process, to 
the host government as a non-paper with the above TIP Report 
country narrative: 
 
(begin non-paper) 
 
-- The U.S. Congress, through its passage of the 2000 
Trafficking Victims Protection Act, as amended (TVPA), 
requires the Secretary of State to submit an annual Report to 
Congress.  The goal of this Report is to stimulate action and 
create partnerships around the world in the fight against 
modern-day slavery.  The USG approach to combating human 
trafficking follows the TVPA and the standards set forth in 
the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in 
Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the 
United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized 
Crime (commonly known as the "Palermo Protocol").  The TVPA 
and the Palermo Protocol recognize that this is a crime in 
which the victims, labor or services (including in the "sex 
industry") are obtained or maintained through force, fraud, 
or coercion, whether overt or through psychological 
manipulation.  While much attention has focused on 
international flows, both the TVPA and the Palermo Protocol 
focus on the exploitation of the victim, and do not require a 
showing that the victim was moved. 
 
-- Recent amendments to the TVPA removed the requirement that 
only countries with a "significant number" of trafficking 
victims be included in the Report. Beginning with the 2009 
TIP Report, countries determined to be a country of origin, 
transit, or destination for victims of severe forms of 
trafficking are included in the Report and assigned to one of 
three tiers.  Countries assessed as meeting the "minimum 
standards for the elimination of severe forms of trafficking" 
set forth in the TVPA are classified as Tier 1.  Countries 
assessed as not fully complying with the minimum standards, 
but making significant efforts to meet those minimum 
standards are classified as Tier 2.  Countries assessed as 
neither complying with the minimum standards nor making 
significant efforts to do so are classified as Tier 3. 
 
-- The TVPA also requires the Secretary of State to provide a 
"Special Watch List" to Congress later in the year. 
Anti-trafficking efforts of the countries on this list are to 
be evaluated again in an Interim Assessment that the 
Secretary of State must provide to Congress by February 1 of 
each year.  Countries are included on the "Special Watch 
List" if they move up in "tier" rankings in the annual TIP 
Report -- from 3 to 2 or from 2 to 1 ) or if they have been 
placed on the Tier 2 Watch List. 
 
-- Tier 2 Watch List consists of Tier 2 countries determined: 
(1) not to have made "increasing efforts" to combat human 
trafficking over the past year; (2) to be making significant 
efforts based on commitments of anti-trafficking reforms over 
the next year, or (3) to have a very significant number of 
trafficking victims or a significantly increasing victim 
population.  As indicated in reftel B, the TVPRA of 2008 
contains a provision requiring that a country that has been 
included on Tier 2 Watch List for two consecutive years after 
the date of enactment of the TVPRA of 2008 be ranked as Tier 
¶3.  Thus, any automatic downgrade to Tier 3 pursuant to this 
provision would take place, at the earliest, in the 2011 TIP 
Report (i.e., a country would have to be ranked Tier 2 Watch 
List in the 2009 and 2010 Reports before being subject to 
Tier 3 in the 2011 Report).  The new law allows for a waiver 
of this provision for up to two additional years upon a 
determination by the President that the country has developed 
and devoted sufficient resources to a written plan to make 
significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with the 
minimum standards. 
 
-- Countries classified as Tier 3 may be subject to statutory 
restrictions for the subsequent fiscal year on 
non-humanitarian and non-trade-related foreign assistance 
and, in some circumstances, withholding of funding for 
participation by government officials or employees in 
educational and cultural exchange programs.   In addition, 
the President could instruct the U.S. executive directors to 
international financial institutions to oppose loans or other 
utilization of funds (other than for humanitarian, 
trade-related or certain types of development assistance) 
with respect to countries on Tier 3.  Countries classified as 
Tier 3 that take strong action within 90 days of the Report's 
release to show significant efforts against trafficking in 
persons, and thereby warrant a reassessment of their Tier 
classification, would avoid such sanctions.  Guidelines for 
such actions are in the DOS-crafted action plans to be shared 
by Posts with host governments. 
 
-- The 2009 TIP Report, issuing as it does in the midst of 
the global financial crisis, highlights high levels of 
trafficking for forced labor in many parts of the world and 
systemic contributing factors to this phenomenon:  fraudulent 
recruitment practices and excessive recruiting fees in 
workers, home countries; the lack of adequate labor 
protections in both sending and receiving countries; and the 
flawed design of some destination countries, "sponsorship 
systems" that do not give foreign workers adequate legal 
recourse when faced with conditions of forced labor.  As the 
May 2009 ILO Global Report on Forced Labor concluded, forced 
labor victims suffer approximately $20 billion in losses, and 
traffickers, profits are estimated at $31 billion.  The 
current global financial crisis threatens to increase the 
number of victims of forced labor and increase the associated 
"cost of coercion. " 
 
-- The text of the TVPA and amendments can be found on 
website www.state.gov/g/tip. 
 
-- On June 16, 2009, the Secretary of State will release the 
ninth annual TIP Report in a public event at the State 
Department.  We are providing you an advance copy of your 
country's narrative in that report.  Please keep this 
information embargoed until 10:00 am Washington DC time June 
¶16.  The State Department will also hold a general briefing 
for officials of foreign embassies in Washington DC on June 
17 at 3:30 pm EDT. 
 
(end non-paper) 
 
¶10. Posts should make sure that the relevant country 
narrative is readily available on or though the Mission's web 
page in English and appropriate local language(s) as soon as 
possible after the TIP Report is released.  Funding for 
translation costs will be handled as it was for the Human 
Rights Report.  Posts needing financial assistance for 
translation costs should contact their regional bureau,s EX 
office. 
 
¶11. The following is press guidance provided for Post to use 
with local media. 
 
Q1:   Why was Algeria placed on Tier 2 Watch List? 
 
A:  Algeria was place on Tier 2 Watch List because it did not 
show evidence of progress in prosecuting human trafficking 
offenses and punishing trafficking offenders over the last 
year.  The government did not show overall progress in 
punishing trafficking crimes and protecting trafficking 
victims and continued to lack adequate measures to protect 
victims and prevent trafficking.  Algerian law enforcement 
authorities could have investigated and prosecuted suspected 
trafficking crimes using trafficking-related statutes 
existing before the new law,s enactment; however, no such 
law enforcement efforts were reported during the reporting 
period. To date, the government has not developed a formal 
anti-trafficking policy or national plan of action that would 
complement its new law. 
 
Q2:   What anti-trafficking progress has Algeria demonstrated 
during the last year? 
 
A:  In January 2009, the Algerian government approved new 
legislation that criminalizes trafficking in persons for the 
purposes of labor and sexual exploitation.  The law will 
enter into force when published in the government,s Official 
Journal.  The new law represents an important step toward 
complying with international standards, though its 
implementation is as yet untested. 
 
Q3:   What can Algeria do to further the fight against 
trafficking in persons? 
 
A:  The Algerian government could: Proactively implement the 
new anti-trafficking law by training law enforcement and 
judicial officials, investigating potential offenses, and 
prosecuting offenders; strengthen the institutional capacity 
to identify victims of trafficking among illegal migrants; 
improve services available to trafficking victims, such as 
shelter, medical, psychological, and legal aid; ensure 
victims are not punished for unlawful acts committed as a 
direct result of being trafficked; undertake a campaign to 
increase public awareness of trafficking. 
 
¶12. The Department appreciates posts, assistance with the 
preceding action requests. 
CLINTON