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OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHC #0622 1630111
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O 120046Z JUN 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO AMEMBASSY KINSHASA IMMEDIATE 0000

UNCLAS STATE 060622 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KTIP ELAB KCRM KPAO KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG CG
SUBJECT: DRC -- 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 the Democratic Republic of the Congo 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 the Democratic Republic of the 
Congo 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 The Democratic 
Republic of the Congo 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 the Democratic Republic of the 
Congo,s country narrative in the 2009 TIP Report: 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO (TIER 2 WATCH LIST) 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is a source and 
destination country for men, women, and children trafficked 
for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. 
Much of this trafficking occurs within the country,s 
unstable eastern provinces and is perpetrated by armed groups 
outside government control.  Indigenous and foreign armed 
militia groups, notably, the Democratic Forces for the 
Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), the National Congress for the 
Defense of the People (CNDP), various local militia 
(Mai-Mai), and the Lord,s Resistance Army (LRA), continued 
to abduct and forcibly recruit Congolese men, women, and 
children to serve as laborers, porters, domestics, 
combatants, and in sexual servitude.  CNDP recruiters, 
fraudulently promising high-paying employment, enlisted 
Congolese men and boys from Rwanda-based refugee camps, as 
well as Rwandan adults and children from towns in western 
Rwanda, for forced labor and forced soldiering in the DRC. 
 
An unspecified number of children remain with the 81st and 
85th non-integrated Congolese national army (FARDC) brigades 
under the control of Colonel Philemon Yav and Colonel Samy 
Matumo, respectively.  FARDC elements frequently force men in 
North Kivu province to carry looted goods or to participate 
in the construction of military facilities; those who resist 
are sometimes killed.  During the past year, a number of 
children in Ituri were forced to abandon their studies to 
work for the army.  A number of policemen in eastern DRC 
reportedly arrested people arbitrarily in order to extort 
money from them; those who could not pay were forced to work 
until they had &earned8 their freedom. 
 
During the year, the Ugandan terrorist rebel organization, 
Lord,s Resistance Army (LRA), intensified its operations in 
areas in and near the DRC,s Orientale Province, abducting at 
least 750 people, mostly children, between September 2008 and 
January 2009 in the DRC, Central African Republic, and 
southern Sudan to serve as domestics, porters, soldiers, and 
in sexual servitude.  An estimated 300 women and children 
remain captive with the LRA in DRC,s Garamba National Park; 
some Congolese captives were taken into southern Sudan. 
 
A significant number of unlicensed Congolese artisanal miners 
) men and boys ) are exploited in situations of debt 
bondage by businessmen and supply dealers from whom they 
acquire cash advances, tools, food, and other provisions at 
inflated prices, and to whom they must sell the mined 
minerals at prices below the market value.  The miners are 
forced to continue to work to repay constantly accumulating 
debts that are virtually impossible to repay.  In North and 
South Kivu Provinces, armed groups and FARDC troops 
reportedly use threats and coercion to force men and children 
to mine for minerals.  Congolese girls are forcibly 
prostituted in brothels or informal camps -- including in 
markets and mining areas -- by loosely organized networks, 
gangs, and madams.  Congolese women and children are 
trafficked internally for domestic servitude and, in smaller 
numbers, to South Africa, Republic of the Congo, and European 
nations, such as Norway, for sexual exploitation.  Some 
members of Batwa, or pygmy groups, are subjected to 
conditions of involuntary servitude in agriculture, mining, 
and domestic work in eastern DRC. 
 
The Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo does 
not fully comply with the minimum standards for the 
elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant 
efforts to do so.  Some advances were noted during the 
reporting period, particularly the enactment of the Child 
Protection Code, the conviction of an army major -- among 
others -- for illegally recruiting children, and the launch 
of a public awareness campaign against the illegal 
recruitment of child soldiers.  Despite these significant 
efforts, the government did not show evidence of progress in 
prosecuting and punishing sex trafficking and labor 
trafficking offenders, demobilizing conscripted child 
soldiers from its army, or providing protective services for 
the vast majority of trafficking victims; therefore, the 
Democratic Republic of the Congo is placed on Tier 2 Watch 
List.  The government continued to lack sufficient financial, 
technical, and human resources to effectively address 
trafficking crimes and provide basic levels of security and 
social services in most parts of the country.  The military 
lacked the capacity to demobilize armed groups or adequately 
prevent the trafficking violations committed by members of 
its own forces.  The country,s criminal and military justice 
systems, including the police, courts, and prisons, were 
practically nonexistent after years of war; there were few 
functioning courts or secure prisons in the country. 
 
Recommendations for the Democratic Republic of the Congo: 
Increase efforts to prosecute and punish trafficking 
offenders, particularly those who conscript child soldiers, 
utilize forced labor, or control children in prostitution; 
punish military and other law enforcement personnel found 
unlawfully using local populations to perform forced labor or 
mine for minerals; in partnership with NGOs or religious 
entities, ensure the provision of short-term protective 
services to children who are trafficking victims; and work 
with concession holders to educate mine operators and workers 
about the illegality of utilizing forced labor. 
 
Prosecution 
----------- 
The Congolese government made concerted efforts to address 
the illegal conscription and use of child soldiers by armed 
groups and government forces through prosecutions and 
convictions during the reporting period.  It demonstrated, 
however, minimal efforts to bring to justice those committing 
other types of trafficking crimes.  The government lacked 
judicial presence in many areas of the country where human 
trafficking occurs and remained hamstrung by a critical 
shortage of magistrates, clerks, and lawyers.  Existing laws 
do not prohibit all forms of labor trafficking; however, the 
July 2006 sexual violence statute, Law 6/018, specifically 
prohibits and prescribes penalties of 10 to 20 years, 
imprisonment for sex trafficking, child and forced 
prostitution, and pimping.  The Child Protection Code, Law 
09/001, enacted in January 2009, criminalizes and prescribes 
penalties of five to 20 years, imprisonment for child 
trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation.  It also 
specifically prohibits the recruitment and use of children by 
the armed forces, armed groups, and the police.  The 
aforementioned penalties prescribed by both laws are 
sufficiently stringent and commensurate with penalties 
prescribed for other serious crimes. 
 
In March 2009, Bukavu police arrested a nightclub owner for 
allegedly prostituting 10 girls and seven boys in his 
facility; he was remanded to prison to await formal charges. 
In April 2008, the Bukavu Military Court sentenced FARDC 
Major Bwasolo Misaba to five years in prison for conscripting 
children between the ages of 10 to 14 and illegally using 
them in military ranks.  This is DRC,s second conviction of 
a national army officer for illegally recruiting children to 
be in the armed forces.  In March 2009, the Kipushi Military 
Tribunal sentenced Kynugu Mutanga (a.k.a. Gdon) to death 
for crimes against humanity, including illegal child 
conscription.  Seven of his co-defendants received sentences 
ranging from seven to 10 years, imprisonment for their 
complicity in these crimes, 11 received lesser sentences, and 
five were acquitted.  In July 2008, Congolese military 
magistrates and MONUC staff traveled to Orientale Province on 
a third joint investigative mission to record testimonies of 
atrocities committed by local Mai-Mai militias; substantial 
evidence of forced labor of local populations was collected. 
Kisangani military authorities apprehended five Mai-Mai 
members for their alleged involvement, but have not set a 
trial date.  Bedi Mubuli Engangela (a.k.a. Colonel 106), a 
former Mai-Mai commander suspected of insurrection and war 
crimes, including the illegal conscription of children, 
remains in detention at Malaka Prison in Kinshasa; a trial 
date for commencement of his prosecution has not been set. 
These notable efforts notwithstanding, the government,s 
capacity to apprehend, convict, or imprison traffickers 
remained weak.  Commander Jean-Pierre Biyoyo, formerly of the 
Mudundu-40 armed group and the first person convicted by 
Congolese courts of conscripting children, has not been 
re-apprehended since his escape from prison in June 2006. 
&Captain Gaston,8 an armed group commander allegedly 
responsible for the mid-2006 murder of an NGO child 
protection advocate, remained at large during the reporting 
period; his January 2007 arrest warrant has not been 
executed.  Corrupt officials siphoned meager financial 
resources available to government agencies responsible for 
combating human trafficking, further disabling the government 
from pursuing training, capacity building, or victim 
assistance. 
 
Protection 
---------- 
The government offered minimal protection to trafficking 
victims during the reporting period.  NGOs provide nearly all 
of the shelter, legal, medical, and psychological services 
available to trafficking victims.  Under the National 
Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration Plan (PNDDR), 
all ex-combatants, including child soldiers, pass through a 
common process during which they disarm and receive 
information about military and civilian reintegration 
options.  During this process, the National Demobilization 
Agency (UEPN-DDR), in cooperation with the UN Mission to the 
DRC (MONUC), identifies, separates out, and transports any 
identified children to NGO-run centers for temporary housing 
and vocational training; between 2,200 and 3,000 children 
were demobilized from armed groups through this process in 
¶2008.  A sharp increase in child soldier demobilization took 
place after the signing of a January 2009 agreement between 
the FARDC and the CNDP, resulting in the demobilization of 
223 child soldiers during the first week of the agreement,s 
implementation.  Some FARDC elements essentially outside 
government control continued during the reporting period to 
harass, arrest, and physically mistreat children formerly 
associated with armed groups, including potential trafficking 
victims; minors detained for child soldiering were generally 
released quickly if discovered by the MONUC or NGOs.  The 
FARDC lacked sufficient command and control to compel many 
FARDC commanders, much less militia commanders, with child 
soldiers serving under them to comply with standing orders to 
release them. 
 
In December 2008, the Governments of the DRC, Uganda, and 
Southern Sudan launched a joint military operation against 
the LRA in the DRC,s territory.  The operation is ongoing, 
but as of this Report,s writing, it had rescued 346 people, 
including 127 Congolese, Ugandan, and Sudanese children. 
 
Although the national government did not address forced labor 
in the mining sector, provincial Ministry of Education 
offices in Mbuji Mayi, Bunia, and Lubumbashi coordinated with 
NGOs to reintegrate children working in mines into the formal 
education system.  In April 2008, Katanga,s provincial 
Ministries of Interior and Labor opened the Kasapa 
residential &welcome center8 in Lubumbashi to provide 
street children, including trafficking victims, with 
protective services and educational programming; the center 
is fully funded by the provincial government.  Although the 
Ministry of Labor is responsible for investigating forced 
child labor and it employs 10 inspectors in Katanga,s mining 
region, the ministry did not conduct any forced child labor 
investigations in 2008.  Government officials recognize the 
growing problem of child prostitution in the DRC, though 
authorities have yet to take concrete action against it.  In 
September 2008, Bukavu child protection police trained 12 
brothel and nightclub owners regarding the prohibition 
against utilizing minors to perform sexual services.  The 
government did not employ procedures for proactively 
identifying victims of trafficking among vulnerable groups, 
and it lacked formal procedures for referring victims to 
protective services.  The government is not known to 
encourage victims to assist in investigations against their 
traffickers.  It offered no legal alternatives to the removal 
of foreign victims to countries in which they may face 
hardship or retribution. 
 
Prevention 
---------- 
While the government initiated awareness raising efforts 
against the conscription of child soldiers during the year, 
it made no significant efforts to prevent other forms of 
trafficking.  To raise the awareness of child soldiering 
issues among Congolese military and political leaders, the 
UEPN-DDR held events in Kinshasa, Goma, and Bukavu in June 
2008 as part of a campaign of zero tolerance for the use of 
child soldiers.  For the general public residing in these 
same locations, UEPN-DDR produced sketches, public service 
announcements, and debates broadcasted by six radio and 
television stations in July and August.  The agency also sent 
field teams on awareness-raising missions to 23 sites 
throughout South Kivu, North Kivu, Katanga, and Equateur 
Provinces.  The government did not take any known measures 
during the reporting period to reduce the demand for 
commercial sex acts. 
 
¶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 is the DRC placed on Tier 2 Watch List? 
 
A:  DRC was placed on Tier 2 Watch List because the 
government did not demonstrate sufficient progress in 
prosecuting and punishing sex trafficking and labor 
trafficking offenders, demobilizing forcibly conscripted 
child soldiers from its army, or providing protective 
services for the vast majority of trafficking victims. 
 
Q2:  What are some of the challenges DRC faces in combating 
trafficking? 
 
A:  The government continued to lack sufficient financial, 
technical, and human resources to effectively address 
trafficking crimes and provide basic levels of security and 
social services in most parts of the country.  The military 
lacked the capacity to demobilize armed groups or adequately 
prevent the trafficking violations committed by its own 
forces.  The country,s criminal and military justice 
systems, including the police, courts, and prisons, were 
practically nonexistent after years of war; there were few 
functioning courts or secure prisons in the country. 
 
Q3:  Was the Congolese government complicit in human 
trafficking during the reporting period? 
 
A:  Yes.  An unknown number of children remain with the 81st 
and 85th non-integrated Congolese national army (FARDC) 
brigades.  FARDC elements frequently forced men in North Kivu 
province to carry looted goods or to participate in the 
construction of military facilities; those who resisted were 
sometimes killed.  During the past year, a number of children 
in Ituri were forced to abandon their studies to work for the 
army.  In North and South Kivu Provinces, FARDC troops 
reportedly used threats and coercion to force men and 
children to mine for minerals. A number of policemen in 
eastern DRC reportedly arrested people arbitrarily in order 
to extort money from them; those who could not pay were 
forced to work until they had &earned8 their freedom. 
 
Q4: What progress did the DRC show in its efforts to address 
TIP over the last year? 
 
A:  Some positive advances were noted during the reporting 
period, particularly the enactment of the Child Protection 
Code, which criminalizes child trafficking and commercial 
sexual exploitation; the conviction of several individuals, 
including an army major, for illegally recruiting children 
into armed groups; participation in the demobilization of 
child soldiers; and the launch of a public awareness campaign 
against the recruitment of child soldiers. 
 
Q5:  What can the DRC do to improve its fight against 
trafficking in persons? 
 
A:  The Congolese government could:  increase efforts to 
prosecute and punish trafficking offenders, particularly 
those who forcibly conscript child soldiers, utilize forced 
or bonded labor, or control children in prostitution; punish 
military and other law enforcement personnel found unlawfully 
using local populations to perform forced labor or mine for 
minerals; in partnership with NGOs or religious entities, 
ensure the provision of short-term protective services to 
children in prostitution; and work with concession holders to 
educate mine operators and workers about the illegality of 
utilizing forced, bonded, or child labor. 
 
¶12. The Department appreciates posts, assistance with the 
preceding action requests. 
CLINTON