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O 112314Z JUN 09
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TO AMEMBASSY LOME IMMEDIATE 0000

UNCLAS STATE 060574 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KTIP ELAB KCRM KPAO KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG TO
SUBJECT: TOGO -- 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 Togo 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 Togo 
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 Togo 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 Togo,s country narrative in the 2009 
TIP Report: 
 
--------------- 
Togo (TIER 2) 
--------------- 
Togo is a source, transit and, to a lesser extent, a 
destination country for women and children trafficked for the 
purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation. 
Trafficking within Togo is more prevalent than transnational 
trafficking and the majority of victims are children. 
Togolese girls are trafficked primarily within the country 
for domestic servitude, for forced work as market vendors and 
produce porters, and for commercial sexual exploitation.  To 
a lesser extent, girls from Togo are also trafficked to other 
African countries, primarily Benin, Nigeria, Ghana, and 
Niger, for the same purposes listed above.  Although some 
Togolese boys are trafficked within the country, they are 
more commonly trafficked transnationally to work in 
agricultural labor, including on cocoa farms, in other 
African countries, primarily Nigeria, Cote d,Ivoire, Gabon 
and Benin.  Over the last year, Togolese boys were also 
trafficked to Ghana for forced begging by a religious 
instructor.  Beninese and Ghanaian children have been 
trafficked to Togo.  There were reports of Togolese women and 
girls trafficked to Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, likely for 
domestic servitude and forced prostitution.   Togolese women 
may be trafficked to Europe, primarily to France and Germany, 
for the same purposes. 
 
The Government of Togo 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.  The government continued steady efforts to 
protect trafficking victims and to prosecute and convict 
trafficking offenders. 
 
Recommendations for Togo:  Continue to increase efforts to 
prosecute and convict trafficking offenders; criminalize the 
trafficking of adults; increase efforts to raise public 
awareness about trafficking, particularly about legislation 
criminalizing it; and establish the National Committee to 
Combat Child Trafficking mandated in Togo,s 2005 law against 
child trafficking. 
 
Prosecution 
----------- 
The Government of Togo demonstrated increased law enforcement 
efforts to combat trafficking during the last year.  Togo 
does not prohibit all forms of trafficking, though in July 
2007 the government enacted a Child Code that criminalizes 
all forms of child trafficking.  This law supplements Togo,s 
2005 Law Related to Child Trafficking, which criminalizes the 
trafficking of children, but provides a weak definition of 
trafficking and fails to prohibit child sexual exploitation. 
Togo,s maximum prescribed penalty of 10 years' imprisonment 
for child trafficking is sufficiently stringent and 
commensurate with prescribed penalties for other grave 
offenses.  The prescribed penalties of one to five years, 
imprisonment for sex trafficking of children 15 years and 
older, and 10 years, imprisonment for sex trafficking of 
children younger than 15 years, are sufficiently stringent 
and commensurate with penalties prescribed for statutory 
rape.   Article 4 of the 2006 Labor Code criminalizes forced 
and obligatory labor, prescribing inadequate penalties for 
forced labor of either three to six months, imprisonment, a 
fine, or both, and double these penalties for &obligatory8 
labor.  This Article does not provide definitions of either 
of these labor violations. The Government of Togo reported 13 
prosecutions of trafficking offenders, 12 of whom were 
convicted.  Four convicted traffickers each received 
sentences of two years, imprisonment, and one of these 
perpetrators, who is Beninese, was banned from entering Togo 
for five years after serving his sentence.  Six traffickers 
each received punishments of eight months, imprisonment and 
two traffickers received prison sentences of six months 
 
The Ministry of Social Affairs (MOSA) contributed vehicles 
and trainers to UNICEF-supported anti-trafficking training of 
magistrates in Atakpame and Kara. In June 2008, the Ministry 
of Security conducted a donor-funded trafficking training for 
30 police officers and gendarmerie.  The government relied 
largely on ILO-funded local vigilance committees, usually 
composed of local government officials, community leaders, 
and youth, to report trafficking cases. 
 
Protection 
---------- 
The Togolese government continued steady efforts to protect 
trafficking victims over the last year.  The government did 
not operate its own victim shelter.  Togolese officials 
continued to refer trafficking victims to NGOs for care, 
however.  After identifying trafficking victims, police 
regularly contacted MOSA staff, who arranged for victim 
referral to an NGO.  The MOSA also helped to identify the 
families of child victims and helped with their reintegration 
by ensuring that they received schooling.  Two MOSA social 
workers were on-call 24-hours a day to assist trafficking 
victims.  The government also provided temporary shelter to 
victims at community transit centers located in each of its 
four regions if NGO facilities were stretched to capacity. 
One anti-trafficking NGO in Lome that cares for child victims 
14-years-old and younger reported that approximately 
two-thirds of the 180 children it provided with care in the 
last year were referred by government officials.  Another NGO 
that assisted 260 female victims below the age of 18 during 
the year estimated that 65 percent of these victims were 
referred by the government.   During the year, a MOSA 
vocational center for destitute children assisted 
approximately 20 trafficking victims.  In April 2008, 
Togolese officials collaborated with authorities in Benin to 
repatriate two male child trafficking victims to Benin from 
Togo. 
 
Because the government does not follow systematic procedures 
to identify trafficking victims among women and girls in 
prostitution, sex trafficking victims may have been 
inappropriately incarcerated or fined for unlawful acts 
committed as a direct result of being trafficked.  The 
government sometimes encouraged victims to assist in 
trafficking investigations or prosecutions on an ad hoc 
basis. The government did not provide legal alternatives to 
the removal of foreign victims to countries where they face 
hardship or retribution; however, the majority of victims 
identified in Togo were Togolese. 
 
Prevention 
----------- 
 
The Government of Togo made weak efforts to prevent 
trafficking during the year.  In June 2008, the President 
presided over a day-long program to promote the government,s 
anti-trafficking strategy during which five child victims 
told their stories of being trafficked, an anti-trafficking 
film was shown, and both the President and the Minister of 
Social Affairs publicly denounced trafficking.  At the end of 
the day, local anti-trafficking committees presented 
recommendations for a strengthened anti-trafficking response. 
 In January 2009, the government ran a campaign to publicize 
its new toll-free hotline staffed by government personnel to 
report cases of violence against children, including 
trafficking. The number, &ALLO 111,8 is jointly funded by 
Togo Telecom, private cell phone companies, UNICEF and an 
NGO.  Soon after the hotline was announced, a caller phoned 
in a tip that prevented two children from being trafficked 
across the border to Benin.  While some minor action items in 
the national action plan, which was developed in 2007, have 
been started, the majority of the plan has not yet been 
implemented due to lack of financial means.  The National 
Committee for the Reception and Social Reinsertion of 
Trafficked Children reported close collaboration with its 
counterparts in Benin and Togo to develop bilateral 
anti-trafficking action plans.  The government provided 
Togolese troops deployed abroad as part of peacekeeping 
missions some trafficking awareness training prior to their 
deployment.  The National Committee to Combat Trafficking 
mandated by Togo,s 2005 anti-trafficking law has not yet 
been established.  Togo did not take measures to reduce 
demand for commercial sex acts.  Togo has not ratified the 
2000 UN TIP Protocol. 
 
¶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 Togo on Tier 2? 
 
A:  The Government of Togo 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.  The government continued steady efforts 
to protect trafficking victims and to prosecute and convict 
trafficking offenders. 
 
 
Q2:  What progress has Togo made in the last year? 
 
A:  The Government of Togo reported 13 prosecutions of 
trafficking offenders, 12 of whom were convicted.  One 
anti-trafficking NGO in Lome that cares for child victims 
14-years-old and younger reported that approximately 
two-thirds of the 180 children it provided with care in the 
last year were referred by government officials.  Another NGO 
that assisted 260 female victims below the age of 18 during 
the year estimated that 65 percent of these victims were 
referred by the government. A Ministry of Social Affairs 
vocational center for destitute children assisted 
approximately 20 trafficking victims.    In January 2009, the 
government ran a campaign to publicize its new toll-free 
hotline staffed by government personnel to report cases of 
violence against children, including trafficking. 
 
Q3:  What can Togo do to further the fight against 
trafficking in persons? 
 
 A:  Continue to increase  efforts to prosecute and convict 
trafficking offenders; pass a law prohibiting the trafficking 
of adults; increase efforts to raise public awareness about 
trafficking, particularly about legislation criminalizing it; 
and establish the National Committee to Combat Child 
Trafficking mandated in Togo,s 2005 law against child 
trafficking. 
 
 
¶12. The Department appreciates posts, assistance with the 
preceding action requests. 
CLINTON