VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHC #0558 1622326
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 112258Z JUN 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO AMEMBASSY CONAKRY IMMEDIATE 0000

UNCLAS STATE 060558 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KTIP ELAB KCRM KPAO KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG GV
SUBJECT: GUINEA -- 2009 TIP REPORT: PRESS GUIDANCE AND 
      DEMARCHE 
 
REF: A. (A) STATE 59732 
     ¶B. (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 Guinea 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 Guinea, 
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 Guinea 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 Guinea,s country narrative in the 
2009 TIP Report: 
 
-------------------------------- 
 
Guinea   (TIER 2 Watch List) 
-------------------------------- 
 
Guinea is a source, transit and, to a lesser extent, a 
destination country for men, women, and children trafficked 
for the purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual 
exploitation.  The majority of victims are children, and 
internal trafficking is more prevalent than transnational 
trafficking.  Within the country, girls are trafficked 
primarily for domestic servitude and sexual exploitation, 
while boys are trafficked as forced beggars, street vendors, 
shoe shiners, and laborers in gold and diamond mines as well 
as for forced agricultural labor. Some Guinean men are also 
trafficked for agricultural labor within Guinea.  Smaller 
numbers of girls from Mali, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Ghana, 
Liberia, Senegal, Burkina Faso, and Guinea-Bissau are 
trafficked transnationally to Guinea for domestic servitude 
and likely also for sexual exploitation.  Guinean boys and 
girls are trafficked to Senegal, Mali, and possibly other 
African countries, for labor in gold mines.  Guinean women 
and girls are trafficked to Nigeria, Cote d,Ivoire, Benin, 
Senegal, Greece, and Spain for domestic servitude and sexual 
exploitation.  Chinese women are trafficked to Guinea for 
commercial sexual exploitation by Chinese traffickers. 
Networks also traffic women from Nigeria, India, and Greece 
through Guinea to the Maghreb countries to Europe, notably 
Italy, Ukraine, Switzerland, and France for commercial sexual 
exploitation and domestic servitude. 
 
The Government of Guinea does not fully comply with the 
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; 
however, it is making significant efforts to do so, despite 
limited resources.  Despite these overall efforts, the 
government did not show evidence of progress in prosecuting 
trafficking offenders or protecting victims; therefore, 
Guinea is placed on Tier 2 Watch List.  Ensnared by internal 
instability that culminated in a December 2008 coup, 
Guinea,s efforts to combat trafficking remained weak.  While 
Guinea has an adequate anti-trafficking legal framework, 
which it strengthened by enacting the Child Code, the 
government did not report any trafficking convictions for the 
fifth year in a row, and protection and prevention efforts 
remained weak. 
 
Recommendations for Guinea:  Increase efforts to investigate, 
prosecute, and convict traffickers; finalize and adopt the 
implementing text for the new Child Code; increase prescribed 
penalties for the sex trafficking of adults and children; 
develop stronger partnerships with NGOs and international 
organizations to care for victims; and increase efforts to 
raise awareness about trafficking. 
 
Prosecution 
----------- 
The Government of Guinea demonstrated minimal law enforcement 
efforts to combat trafficking during the last year.  Guinea 
prohibits all forms of trafficking in persons through 
separate statutes.  In August 2008, Guinea enacted the Child 
Code, which includes provisions prohibiting all forms of 
child trafficking, specifically criminalizes child domestic 
servitude, and allows NGOs to bring cases to court on behalf 
of victims.  The government, in collaboration with NGOs and 
international organizations, is still drafting the 
implementing text for this law, which will prescribe 
penalties that allow the law to be enforced.  Article 337 of 
the 1998 Penal Code prohibits individuals from entering into 
agreements that deprive third parties of their liberty, 
prescribing penalties of five to 10 years, imprisonment and 
confiscation of any resulting profits.  Forced prostitution 
and child prostitution are criminalized by Article 329 of 
Guinea,s Penal Code, which prescribes six months, to two 
years, imprisonment if the trafficked victim is an adult, 
and two to five years, imprisonment if the victim is a 
child.  These penalties for sex trafficking of adults are 
neither sufficiently stringent nor commensurate with 
penalties prescribed for other grave crimes, such as rape. 
The government reported that 17 trafficking cases are 
awaiting prosecution, though it obtained no convictions of 
trafficking offenders during the year.  Guinea,s government 
created a new Ministry of High Crimes and Anti-Drug 
Enforcement that will be responsible for anti-trafficking law 
enforcement efforts.  While the Police Mondaine, which is 
responsible for addressing trafficking cases, did not 
investigate the problem of the involuntary domestic servitude 
of children in the past, it has added this form of 
trafficking to its mandate.  On February 3, the head of the 
military government issued a declaration giving security 
personnel blanket authority to shoot anyone caught committing 
child trafficking, raising significant human rights concerns. 
   During the year, Guinean officials participated in joint 
trainings with Malian authorities at posts on the two 
countries, borders to review a proposed agreement on 
protection of trafficking victims, which was later signed by 
both countries. 
Protection 
----------- 
The Government of Guinea demonstrated weak efforts to protect 
trafficking victims over the last year.  The government lacks 
shelters for trafficking victims due to limited resources. 
While Guinea lacks a formal procedure through which officials 
refer victims to NGOs and international organizations for 
care, authorities reported referring victims on an ad hoc 
basis.  The government also reported providing limited 
assistance to victims in collaboration with NGOs and 
international organizations, but due to the lack of a 
database, the government could not provide the number of 
victims assisted.  Through foster care services, the Ministry 
of Social Affairs provides care to destitute children, some 
of whom may be trafficking victims.  The government did not 
follow procedures to identify trafficking victims among 
vulnerable populations, such as abandoned children, child 
victims of violence, and children in prostitution. 
Government officials from key ministries responsible for 
anti-trafficking initiatives held monthly meetings during the 
year to discuss multilateral and bilateral cooperation to 
reintegrate and rehabilitate victims.  In collaboration with 
NGOs, the Guinean government continued to operate its free 
hotline for public reporting of trafficking cases or victims, 
but was unable to provide information regarding the number of 
calls received. The government does not encourage victims to 
assist in trafficking investigations or prosecutions. Guinea 
does not provide legal alternatives to the removal of foreign 
victims to countries where they face hardship or retribution. 
 
 
Prevention 
---------- 
The Government of Guinea demonstrated diminished efforts to 
raise awareness about trafficking during the reporting 
period.  Guinea did not conduct any anti-trafficking 
awareness efforts during the year.  The National Committee to 
Combat Trafficking met quarterly throughout the year.  The 
Committee failed to submit required quarterly reports on the 
implementation of the National Action Plan.  At a meeting in 
February 2009, however, the Committee evaluated the existing 
action plan and began developing a version for 2009-2010. 
The government did not take measures to reduce demand for 
forced labor and child labor in violation of international 
standards, as well as demand for commercial sex acts. 
 
 
¶9. Post may wish to deliver the following points, which offer 
technical and legal l 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 Guinea on Tier 2 Watch List? 
 
A:   The Government of Guinea does not fully comply with the 
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; 
however, it is making significant efforts to do so, despite 
limited resources.  Despite these overall efforts, the 
government did not show evidence of progress in prosecuting 
trafficking offenders or protecting victims; therefore, 
Guinea is placed on Tier 2 Watch List. 
 
Q2:  What progress has Guinea made in the last year? 
 
A: In August 2008, Guinea enacted the Child Code, which 
includes provisions prohibiting all forms of child 
trafficking, specifically criminalizes child domestic 
servitude, and allows NGOs to bring cases to court on behalf 
of victims. 
 
Q3:  What can Guinea do to further the fight against 
trafficking in persons? 
 
A:  Increase efforts to investigate, prosecute, and convict 
traffickers; finalize and adopt the implementing text for the 
new Child Code; increase prescribed penalties for the sex 
trafficking of adults and children; develop stronger 
partnerships with NGOs and international organizations to 
care for victims; and increase efforts to raise awareness 
about trafficking. The government reported that 17 
trafficking cases are awaiting prosecution.  Guinea,s 
government created a new Ministry of High Crimes and 
Anti-Drug Enforcement that will be responsible for law 
enforcement anti-trafficking efforts. During the year, 
Guinean officials participated in joint trainings with Malian 
authorities at posts on the two countries, borders to review 
a proposed agreement on protection of trafficking victims, 
which was later signed by both countries.    At a meeting in 
February 2009, National Committee to Combat Trafficking 
evaluated the existing National Action Plan and began 
developing a version for 2009-2010. 
 
¶12. The Department appreciates posts, assistance with the 
preceding action requests. 
CLINTON