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OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHC #0595 1630010
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 112346Z JUN 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO AMEMBASSY NAIROBI IMMEDIATE 0000

UNCLAS STATE 060595 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KTIP ELAB KCRM KPAO KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG KE
SUBJECT: KENYA -- 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 Kenya 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 Kenya 
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 Kenya 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 Kenya,s country narrative in the 2009 
TIP Report: 
 
------------- 
KENYA (TIER 2) 
------------- 
 
Kenya is a source, transit, and destination country for men, 
women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced 
labor and sexual exploitation.  Kenyan children are 
trafficked within the country for domestic servitude, forced 
labor in agriculture (including on flower plantations), 
cattle herding, in bars, and for commercial sexual 
exploitation, including involvement in the coastal sex 
tourism industry.  In 2008, internally displaced persons 
residing in camps as a result of post-election violence 
reportedly were trafficked within the country.  Kenyan men, 
women, and children are trafficked to the Middle East, other 
East African nations, and Europe for domestic servitude, 
exploitation in massage parlors and brothels, and forced 
manual labor, including in the construction industry. 
Employment agencies facilitate and profit from the 
trafficking of Kenyan nationals to Middle Eastern nations, 
notably Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Lebanon.  Children are 
trafficked to Kenya from Burundi, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Somalia, 
Tanzania, and Uganda for forced labor and commercial sexual 
exploitation.  Most trafficked girls are forced to work as 
barmaids, where they are vulnerable to sexual exploitation, 
or are forced directly into prostitution.  Ethiopian and 
Somali refugees residing in camps and Nairobi,s Eastleigh 
section are particularly vulnerable to trafficking.  Chinese, 
Indian, and Pakistani women reportedly transit Nairobi en 
route to exploitation in Europe,s commercial sex trade. 
 
The Government of Kenya does not fully comply with the 
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; 
however, it is making significant efforts to do so. 
Post-election violence and the subsequent government 
reorganization delayed a number of anti-trafficking 
initiatives, such as the enactment of anti-trafficking 
legislation and the passage of a draft national action plan. 
While local-level law enforcement officials across the 
country continued to arrest and charge alleged traffickers 
throughout the year, prosecutions failed to progress and data 
on such cases was not compiled at the provincial or national 
level.  In addition, the government did not allocate adequate 
resources dedicated to anti-trafficking measures during the 
reporting period. 
 
Recommendations for Kenya:  Pass, enact, and implement the 
draft comprehensive anti-trafficking law; provide additional 
awareness training to all levels of government, particularly 
law enforcement officials, on identifying and responding to 
trafficking crimes; increase efforts to prosecute trafficking 
offenses and convict and punish trafficking offenders; 
establish an official process for law enforcement officials 
to refer trafficking victims for assistance; and institute 
trafficking awareness training for diplomats posted overseas. 
 
Prosecution 
----------- 
The government failed to punish acts of trafficking during 
the reporting period, though it demonstrated continued 
efforts to investigate trafficking offenses and charge 
alleged offenders.  Kenya does not prohibit all forms of 
trafficking, though it criminalizes the trafficking of 
children and adults for sexual exploitation through Sections 
13 to 15 and 18 of the Sexual Offenses Act of 2006, which 
prescribes minimum sentences of from 10 to 15 years, 
imprisonment, penalties that are sufficiently stringent and 
commensurate with those for other grave crimes; however, the 
law is not widely used by prosecutors.  The Employment Act of 
2007 outlaws forced labor and contains additional statutes 
relevant to labor trafficking.  In February 2009, the 
Parliament passed a motion to introduce the Counter 
Trafficking in Persons Bill, the first step toward enactment 
of comprehensive human trafficking legislation. 
 
The Department of Public Prosecutions reported three ongoing 
investigations for trafficking-related offenses and no 
prosecutions during the reporting period; the department was 
unable to produce data on the number of charges related to 
trafficking filed during the year.  Despite this inability to 
gather and disseminate information at the national level, 
district courts reportedly heard several trafficking cases 
during the reporting period.  In June 2008, the Loitokitok 
District Court arraigned a Kenyan woman on charges of 
trafficking a 17-year old Ugandan girl to her home for 
domestic servitude and subjecting her to cruelty; further 
details on this case were unavailable.  In October 2008, two 
women were charged in a Nairobi court with forcing two young 
girls into prostitution.  In March 2009, 119 parents and 
guardians of 209 children were charged in an Eldoret court 
with abusing their children by removing them from school and 
forcing them to work as domestic servants.  In addition, the 
government cooperated with the United Kingdom, Ireland, and 
INTERPOL in the investigation and prosecution of at least two 
transnational trafficking cases involving Kenyan children 
during the reporting period.  Laws against forced labor were 
not well enforced, though in June 2008, the Ministry of Labor 
raided and shut down an unregistered recruitment agency that 
was illegally sending Kenyan migrant workers to Dubai.  With 
the assistance of NGO lecturers, the Kenya Police Training 
College provided anti-trafficking and child protection 
training to police recruits during their training as cadets. 
Corruption among law enforcement authorities and other public 
officials continued to hamper efforts to bring traffickers to 
justice; anti-trafficking activists made credible claims 
that, in certain regions, corrupt police or border officials 
were complicit in human trafficking.  The government made no 
efforts to investigate or prosecute officials suspected of 
involvement in or facilitation of trafficking during the 
reporting period. 
 
Protection 
---------- 
The Kenyan government sustained minimal but inadequate victim 
protection efforts throughout the year.  The government 
lacked a formal referral process to transfer victims to NGOs 
for assistance and it maintained no record of the number of 
victims referred on an ad hoc basis to NGO service providers 
by government officials during the year.  In 2008, the 
Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Development hired an 
additional 160 Children,s Officers ) officials charged with 
advocating for children,s rights and obtaining services for 
children in need ) bringing the total number to 333.  During 
the reporting period, several Children,s Officers posted 
throughout the country participated in trafficking 
investigations and provided counseling and follow-up to child 
trafficking victims.  In addition, Children,s Officers 
served on the management committee of the Rescue Center, a 
shelter for sex trafficking victims in Mombasa, and provided 
case assessments and service referrals for sex trafficking 
victims.  City Council Social Services Departments in 
Nairobi, Mombasa, and Kisumu operated shelters to 
rehabilitate street children vulnerable to forced labor and 
commercial sexual exploitation; the shelters did not maintain 
records identifying trafficking victims among children 
undergoing rehabilitation.  The government encouraged Kenyan 
victims, assistance in the investigation and prosecution of 
trafficking crimes, and ensured that they were not 
inappropriately incarcerated or otherwise penalized for 
unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being 
trafficked.  Police, however, reportedly arrested foreign 
trafficking victims for being in Kenya without valid identity 
documents; in most cases, they pled guilty to immigration 
violations and were quickly deported.  The government did not 
provide legal alternatives to the removal of victims to 
countries where they would face hardship or retribution. 
 
 
Prevention 
---------- 
The Government of Kenya made modest progress in its efforts 
to prevent human trafficking by publicly highlighting the 
dangers of human trafficking during the reporting period. 
Increased awareness within the government at all levels, 
however, remained inadequate for fostering better cooperation 
with civil society and strengthening public education 
efforts.  After the government,s reorganization in April 
2008, the newly created Ministry of Gender, Children, and 
Social Development became the lead agency in the 
government,s anti-trafficking efforts.  In May 2008, the 
ministry and an NGO launched a 24-hour toll-free hotline 
enabling citizens to report cases of child trafficking, 
labor, and abuse; the hotline is located in a 
government-owned building and staffed, in part, by three 
Children,s Officers who facilitated rescues and made 
referrals to appropriate district officials.  Government 
ministers and Kenya,s First Lady highlighted the human 
trafficking issue in public engagements, including the 
government,s celebration of the Day of the African Child in 
June.  Individual labor officers, children,s officers, 
social workers, chiefs, health officials, police, religious 
leaders, and NGOs identified and withdrew children from 
forced labor situations during the reporting period.  In 
2008, Coast Province,s regions of Mombasa, South Coast, and 
Taita-Taveta formed anti-trafficking networks comprised of 
government officials and civil society representatives. 
There were no reports of the Kenyan government,s efforts to 
provide anti-trafficking training for its troops before 
deployment on international peacekeeping missions. 
 
¶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:  What progress has Kenya made in the last year? 
 
A:  The Department of Public Prosecutions reported three 
ongoing investigations for trafficking-related offenses.  For 
example, in June 2008, the Loitokitok District Court 
arraigned a Kenyan woman on charges of trafficking a 17-year 
old Ugandan girl to her home for domestic servitude and 
subjecting her to cruelty.  In addition, the government 
cooperated with the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Interpol in 
the investigation and prosecution of at least two 
transnational trafficking cases involving Kenyan children. 
The Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Development and 
an NGO launched a 24-hour toll-free hotline for reporting 
cases of child trafficking, labor, and abuse that is staffed, 
in part, by three Children,s Officers who facilitated 
rescues and made referrals to appropriate district officials. 
 Three anti-trafficking networks were formed in Coast 
Province comprised of government officials and civil society 
representatives. 
 
Q2:  In what areas of anti-trafficking intervention is Kenya 
weak? 
 
A:  Post-election violence and the subsequent government 
reorganization delayed a number of anti-trafficking 
initiatives, such as the enactment of anti-trafficking 
legislation and the passage of a draft national action plan. 
While local-level law enforcement officials across the 
country continued to arrest and charge alleged traffickers 
throughout the year, prosecutions failed to progress and data 
on such cases was not compiled at the provincial or national 
level.  Corruption among law enforcement authorities and 
other public officials continued to hamper efforts to bring 
traffickers to justice; anti-trafficking activists made 
credible claims that, in certain regions, corrupt police or 
border officials were complicit in human trafficking.  The 
government made no efforts to investigate or prosecute 
officials suspected of involvement in or facilitation of 
trafficking during the reporting period.  The Ministry of 
Labor,s enforcement of laws against child labor and forced 
labor continued to be nominal.  In addition, the government 
did not allocate specific resources for anti-trafficking 
measures during the reporting period. 
 
Q3:  What can Kenya do to improve its fight against 
trafficking in persons? 
 
A:  To advance its anti-trafficking efforts, the Kenyan 
government could:  pass, enact, and implement the draft 
comprehensive anti-trafficking law; provide additional 
awareness training to all levels of government, particularly 
law enforcement officials, on identifying and responding to 
trafficking crimes; increase efforts to prosecute trafficking 
offenses and convict and punish trafficking offenders; 
establish an official process for law enforcement officials 
to refer trafficking victims for assistance; and institute 
trafficking awareness training for diplomats posted overseas. 
 
 
¶12. The Department appreciates posts, assistance with the 
preceding action requests. 
CLINTON