VZCZCXYZ0001
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHC #0586 1622357
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 112331Z JUN 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO AMEMBASSY BUJUMBURA IMMEDIATE 0000

UNCLAS STATE 060586 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KTIP ELAB KCRM KPAO KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG BY
SUBJECT: BURUNDI -- 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 Burundi 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 Burundi 
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 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 Burundi 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 Burundi,s country narrative in the 
2009 TIP Report: 
 
--------------------------- 
BURUNDI (TIER 2 WATCH LIST) 
--------------------------- 
 
Burundi is a source country for children trafficked for the 
purposes of child soldiering, domestic servitude, and 
commercial sexual exploitation.  The rebel faction National 
Liberation Force (FNL) remained the only armed group not to 
have fully implemented a ceasefire agreement with the 
government, and it continued to unlawfully recruit and 
exploit children as fighters, manual laborers, and logistical 
support throughout the majority of the reporting period; the 
FNL appeared to cease child recruitment in early 2009 after 
the commencement of the formal demobilization process. 
Generally, child soldiers and other children were identified, 
separated from the adults at the demobilization camps and 
pre-assembly areas, and returned to their homes early to 
mid-2009.  FNL rebels reportedly forced rural populations to 
perform uncompensated labor, such as transporting supplies or 
weapons, during the reporting period.  Some Burundian 
children are also trafficked within the country for domestic 
servitude and commercial sexual exploitation.  While there is 
little evidence of large-scale child prostitution, 
&benevolent8 older females offer vulnerable younger girls 
room and board within their homes, and eventually push them 
into prostitution to pay for living expenses; extended family 
members reportedly also financially profit from the 
commercial sexual exploitation of young relatives residing 
with them.  Male tourists from Oman and the United Arab 
Emirates exploit Burundian girls in prostitution; parents 
reported six cases of such liaisons to the police during the 
reporting period.  Burundian girls are also trafficked to 
Kenya, Malawi, and Uganda for commercial sexual exploitation. 
 Human trafficking of Burundian adults and children with 
albinism to Tanzania for the forcible removal of body parts 
may occur; so-called Tanzanian traditional healers seek 
various body parts of persons with albinism for traditional 
medical concoctions commonly purchased to heal illness, 
foster economic advancement, or hurt enemies. 
 
The Government of Burundi does not fully comply with the 
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; 
however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Despite 
these overall significant efforts, the government did not 
show evidence of progress in prosecuting human trafficking 
offenses and punishing trafficking offenders over the last 
year; therefore, Burundi is placed on Tier 2 Watch List. 
 
Recommendations for Burundi:  Utilize the anti-trafficking 
provisions of the newly passed criminal code amendments to 
prosecute and convict trafficking offenders; establish an 
official process for law enforcement and social welfare 
officials to interview potential trafficking victims and 
refer them for assistance; take steps to remove children 
trafficked into prostitution and domestic servitude and 
provide them with protective services; launch a nationwide 
anti-trafficking public awareness campaign; and provide 
training on human trafficking to new police and border 
guards. 
 
Prosecution 
----------- 
The government,s anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts 
were limited during the reporting period.  Article 241 of the 
Burundian Constitution prohibits slavery and its criminal 
code outlaws forced labor and kidnapping.  During the 
November 2008 legislative session, the National Assembly 
approved amendments to the criminal code that, among other 
things, prohibit human trafficking and prescribe sentences of 
five to ten years, imprisonment; the amendments do not, 
however, provide a clear definition of human trafficking. 
The draft amendments were subsequently considered by 
Burundi,s Senate, and signed into law by the president in 
April 2009.  The revised criminal code, however, prescribes 
no explicit penalties for forced labor or slavery, and 
penalties of five to 10 years, imprisonment for kidnapping. 
Sex trafficking crimes can be punished using statutes on 
brothel-keeping and pimping, which prescribe penalties of one 
to five years, imprisonment.  The existing penalties are 
sufficiently stringent but not commensurate with those 
prescribed for other serious offenses.  Nevertheless, there 
were no investigations, prosecutions, or convictions for 
trafficking under these statutes during the reporting period. 
 The National Police,s Brigade for the Protection of Women 
and Children provided counseling for girls detained for 
engaging in prostitution before releasing them to their 
parents.  Additionally, after receiving citizen complaints, 
it investigated house-based brothels where children were 
allegedly exploited; there was no known punishment of brothel 
operators during the reporting period.  Victims, families 
lodged three cases of forced prostitution with police in 
2008; the investigations are pending. 
 
Protection 
---------- 
The government provided minimal assistance to trafficking 
victims during the reporting period.  Fighting between the 
government and the FNL intensified in April 2008, making 
negotiations for the release of child soldiers increasingly 
urgent yet difficult.  The Executive Secretary of the 
National Commission for Demobilization, Reinsertion and 
Reintegration played a prominent role in the negotiations. 
As a result, 220 child soldiers were identified at the Randa 
&dissident8 camp in May 2008 and released to officials from 
the United Nations, the African Union, and the Government of 
Burundi.  With UNICEF funding, the Commission,s staff 
provided medical check-ups for children suffering from 
physical and psychological trauma and conducted searches for 
their families; the former child soldiers were reunited with 
their families in June and July after parents signed a 
discharge form.  The government attempted to follow up on the 
status of demobilized children, but was hindered by a lack of 
resources to operate outside of Bujumbura, where the majority 
of these demobilized child soldiers now reside.  The 
government did not, however, undertake programming to care 
for or rehabilitate female children associated with the FNL. 
There are currently no children at Randa or Buramata 
&dissident8 camps for rebel elements seeking 
demobilization, but the existence of children in Rubira, the 
FNL assembly area, was reported during 2008. 
 
The government did not, however, provide protective services 
to victims of any other category of human trafficking during 
the reporting period, or show evidence of implementing 
procedures to identify such victims of trafficking or refer 
them to organizations that provide protective services.  The 
government did not encourage victims to participate in 
investigations or prosecutions of trafficking offenders, nor 
did it ensure that victims were not inappropriately 
incarcerated or otherwise penalized solely for unlawful acts 
committed as a direct result of being trafficked. 
 
Prevention 
---------- 
The government,s efforts to prevent trafficking remained 
lackluster.  A poor understanding of human trafficking among 
government officials, particularly the police, continued to 
be an impediment to effective intervention.  In June 2008, 
the government sent officials from the Ministry of Justice, 
the Supreme Court and the National Crime Bureau to Dar es 
Salaam for a meeting of regional security and judicial 
officials to draft a Regional Action Plan to Prevent and 
Combat Human Trafficking in Eastern Africa.  The Ministry of 
Labor conducted no child labor inspections or investigations 
in 2008.  During the year, the Ministry of National Security 
and Human Rights, in conjunction with the National DDR 
Commission and with production assistance from an 
international NGO, sponsored radio spots that aired four 
times each week to educate citizens about topics such as 
human trafficking and violence against women.  The government 
did not undertake efforts to reduce demand for commercial sex 
acts during the reporting period.  The pre-deployment 
training for four battalions of Burundian peacekeepers 
participating in the African Union,s Mission to Somalia, 
provided by two foreign governments, included a curriculum 
that created awareness and discouraged acts of trafficking 
and sexual exploitation.  Burundi 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 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 Burundi placed on Tier 2 Watch List? 
 
A:  Burundi was placed 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.  A poor understanding of human trafficking 
among government officials, particularly the police, 
continued to be an impediment to effective intervention. 
With the exception of care provided to child soldiers 
associated with the FNL, the government provided minimal 
assistance to trafficking victims during the reporting 
period. 
 
Q2:  What progress has Burundi made in the last year? 
 
A:  With UNICEF funding, the National Disarmament, 
Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) Commission,s staff 
provided medical check-ups for children suffering from 
physical and psychological trauma and conducted searches for 
their families; the former child soldiers were reunited with 
their families in June and July after parents signed a 
discharge form.  During the year, the Ministry of National 
Security and Human Rights, in conjunction with the National 
DDR Commission and with production assistance from an 
international NGO, sponsored radio spots that aired four 
times each week to educate citizens about human rights 
violations such as human trafficking and violence against 
women. 
 
Q3:  What can Burundi do to improve its fight against 
trafficking in persons? 
 
A:  The Burundian government could:  utilize the 
anti-trafficking provisions of the newly passed criminal code 
amendment to prosecute and convict trafficking offenders; 
establish an official process for law enforcement and social 
welfare officials to interview potential trafficking victims 
and refer them for assistance; take steps to remove children 
from prostitution and domestic servitude and provide them 
with protective services; launch a nationwide 
anti-trafficking public awareness campaign; and institute 
training on human trafficking as a standard part of the 
mandatory training program for new police and border guards. 
 
¶12. The Department appreciates posts, assistance with the 
preceding action requests. 
CLINTON