VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHC #0531 1622248
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 112216Z JUN 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO AMEMBASSY GABORONE IMMEDIATE 0000

UNCLAS STATE 060531 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KTIP ELAB KCRM KPAO KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG BC
SUBJECT: BOTSWANA -- 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 Botswana 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 
Botswana 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 Botswana 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 Botswana,s country narrative in the 
2009 TIP Report: 
 
-------------------------------- 
Botswana (TIER 2) 
-------------------------------- 
 
Botswana is a source, transit, and, to a lesser extent, 
destination country for men, women, and children trafficked 
for the purpose of forced labor and sexual exploitation. 
Children are trafficked internally for domestic servitude and 
cattle herding, while women report being forced into 
commercial sexual exploitation at safari lodges.  Botswana is 
a staging area for both the smuggling and trafficking of 
third-country nationals, primarily from Namibia and Zimbabwe, 
to South Africa.  Zimbabweans are also trafficked into 
Botswana for forced labor as domestic servants.  Residents in 
Botswana most susceptible to trafficking are illegal 
immigrants from Zimbabwe, unemployed men and women, those 
living in rural poverty, agricultural workers, and children 
orphaned by HIV/AIDS. )Parents in poor rural communities 
sometimes send their children to work for wealthier families 
as domestics in cities or as herders at remote cattle posts, 
where some of these children become victims of forced labor. 
Some women from Zimbabwe who voluntarily migrate to Botswana 
to work illegally are subsequently exploited by their 
employers for forced labor.  Batswana families which employ 
Zimbabwean women as domestic workers at times do so without 
proper work permits, do not pay adequate wages, and restrict 
or control the movement of their employees by holding their 
passports or threatening to have them deported back to 
Zimbabwe. 
 
The Government of Botswana does not fully comply with minimum 
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is 
making significant efforts to do so.  As this is Botswana,s 
first year ranked in the Report and available information 
suggests that Botswana,s trafficking problem is modest, 
Botswana is placed on Tier 2.  The government, however, 
should address several serious deficiencies over the coming 
year. .  Although it began useful actions to prevent 
trafficking, the government did not make significant or 
sustained efforts to proactively identify victims or 
prosecute trafficking offenders. 
 
Recommendations for Botswana:  Draft and enact comprehensive 
legislation that specifically criminalizes the full range of 
trafficking offenses; train law enforcement and immigration 
officers to identify trafficking victims, especially among 
vulnerable populations such as women and children engaging in 
prostitution; institute and carry out formal procedures for 
proactively identifying victims; expand public awareness 
campaigns to educate residents on the nature and dangers of 
human trafficking; and keep detailed records of 
anti-trafficking efforts undertaken and their results. 
 
Prosecution 
----------- 
The Government of Botswana made inadequate efforts to 
investigate and punish trafficking offenses over the last 
year.  Botswana did not prosecute, convict, or punish any 
trafficking offenses during the past year.  Although it does 
not have a comprehensive law prohibiting trafficking in 
persons, the Penal Code, through its sections 155-158 
covering procurement for prostitution and sections 260-262 
covering slavery, prohibits some forms of human trafficking. 
The sufficiently stringent penalties prescribed for offenses 
under these various laws range from seven to 10 years, 
imprisonment, and are commensurate with those prescribed for 
other serious crimes, such as rape.  Evidence presented in 
three criminal cases currently being prosecuted suggests that 
the defendants may have engaged in trafficking.  The 
defendants were originally investigated, arrested and charged 
for kidnapping, immigration, and fraudulent document 
offenses.  Botswana shares its long and porous borders with 
five countries experiencing serious trafficking problems, yet 
only 10 investigators from the Immigration Department covered 
transnational trafficking and all other migration-related 
crimes.  Immigration and law enforcement officials did not 
consistently differentiate between smuggling and trafficking, 
which continued to obscure the nature and extent of the 
trafficking situation in Botswana.  The National Central 
Bureau of Interpol created a full time position for a desk 
officer who works exclusively on trafficking issues and 
education. 
 
Protection 
---------- 
The government showed evidence of minimal but increasing 
efforts to protect victims of trafficking.  Law enforcement 
and social services personnel have not established formal 
procedures to proactively identify victims or to refer 
victims for protective services.  The Ministry of Labor is 
responsible for conducting inspections and monitoring for 
exploitative child labor, yet the Ministry did not conduct 
any such inspections or monitoring visits in the past year 
despite a national campaign to end child labor.  The 
government funded and supported NGO programs that provided 
assistance and services to victims of general crimes which 
were accessible to any potential victims of trafficking. 
Botswana authorities, in partnership with another government 
in the region, assisted the safe repatriation of a 
trafficking victim to the victim,s country of origin. 
Botswana,s laws do not specifically protect victims of 
trafficking from prosecution for offenses committed as a 
direct result of being trafficked, but the government did not 
generally prosecute persons it believed to be victims of any 
crime. 
 
Prevention 
---------- 
The government made moderate efforts to prevent trafficking 
in and through Botswana.  It placed anti-trafficking 
education posters at all of its border posts and included 
trafficking awareness segments in some of its law enforcement 
training sessions.  In 2008, the government approved a 
detailed national plan of action for the elimination of child 
labor, which is in its final stages of implementation.  Two 
campaigns promoting an end to child labor, as mentioned 
above, raised awareness and educated both the public and 
relevant government agencies.  Government representatives 
attended sessions with NGOs and religious organizations on 
the trafficking situations they had seen within the country, 
but the government took no action on the information.  The 
government made only limited and indirect efforts to reduce 
the demand for commercial sex acts, largely through a broad 
HIV/AIDS awareness campaign. 
 
------------------------------------ 
 
 
¶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 is Botswana included on the Report and ranked on 
Tier 2? 
 
¶A.   Botswana was placed on the TIP Report because there is 
evidence that it is a country of origin, transit, or 
destination for victims of severe forms of trafficking.  The 
Government of Botswana does not fully comply with the minimum 
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is 
making significant efforts to do so.  As this is Botswana,s 
first year ranked in the Report and available information 
suggests that Botswana,s trafficking problem is modest, 
Botswana is placed on Tier 2.  The government, however, must 
address several serious deficiencies in order to retain this 
ranking in the future.  Although it began useful actions to 
prevent trafficking, the government did not make significant 
or sustained efforts to proactively identify victims or 
prosecute trafficking offenders. 
 
Q2:  What is the nature of the trafficking problem in 
Botswana? 
 
¶A.  Botswana is a source, transit, and, to a lesser extent, 
destination country for men, women, and children trafficked 
for the purpose of forced labor and sexual exploitation. 
Children are trafficked internally for domestic servitude and 
cattle herding, while women report being forced into 
commercial sexual exploitation at safari lodges.  Botswana is 
a staging area for both the smuggling and trafficking of 
third-country nationals, primarily from Namibia and Zimbabwe, 
to South Africa.  Zimbabweans are also trafficked into 
Botswana for forced labor as domestic servants.  Residents in 
Botswana most susceptible to trafficking are illegal 
immigrants from Zimbabwe, unemployed men and women, those 
living in rural poverty, agricultural workers, and children 
orphaned by HIV/AIDS.  Parents in poor rural communities 
sometimes send their children to work for wealthier families 
as domestics in cities or as herders at remote cattle posts, 
where some of these children become victims of forced labor. 
Some women from Zimbabwe who voluntarily migrate to Botswana 
to work illegally are subsequently exploited by their 
employers for forced labor.  Batswana families which employ 
Zimbabwean women as domestic workers at times do so without 
proper work permits, do not pay adequate wages, and restrict 
or control the movement of their employees by holding their 
passports or threatening to have them deported back to 
Zimbabwe. 
 
Q3:  What serious deficiencies must the government address in 
order to retain this ranking in the future? 
 
¶A.  The government should draft and enact comprehensive 
legislation that specifically criminalizes the full range of 
trafficking offenses; train law enforcement and immigration 
officers to identify trafficking victims, especially among 
vulnerable populations such as women and children engaging in 
prostitution; institute and carry out formal procedures for 
proactively identifying victims; expand public awareness 
campaigns to educate residents on the nature and dangers of 
human trafficking; and, keep detailed records of 
anti-trafficking efforts undertaken and their results. 
 
¶12. The Department appreciates posts, assistance with the 
preceding action requests. 
CLINTON