VZCZCXYZ0010
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHC #1403 3012018
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 281956Z OCT 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE IMMEDIATE 0000

UNCLAS STATE 111403 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KTIP PREL KCRM KWMN PHUM SMIG CM
SUBJECT: CAMEROON: TIP TIER 2 WATCH LIST ACTION PLAN 
(2009-2010) 
 
REF: A. A. 2008 STATE 132759 
     ¶B. B. 2007 STATE 150188 
     ¶C. C. 2009 STATE 005577 
     ¶D. D.2009 STATE 62182 
 
¶1.  (U) this is an action request (see paras 2-4). 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Begin action request:  Drawing from points in para 
8, Post is requested to approach appropriate host government 
officials to highlight the United States' strong commitment 
to continue to work with the Government of Cameroon to help 
strengthen its efforts to combat and prevent trafficking in 
persons (TIP) and to assist victims.  Post is requested to 
convey the recommendations in para 9 as a non-paper and draw 
from the talking points in para 8 to explain to the host 
government the need for prompt action on the first set of 
recommendations for a positive review in the interim 
assessment that the Department will release to Congress by 
February 2010 and for movement out of the Tier 2 Watch List 
in next year's Report.  Additional recommendations are also 
included in para 9 to aid the host government in making 
progress in its overall anti-TIP efforts.  The notes 
indicated in brackets in the action plan are for post,s 
background only and may be omitted from the non-paper.  The 
&Implementation Guidelines8 referenced in the action plan 
notes are contained in reftel B.  These guidelines provide 
guidance to posts on how the Minimum Standards of the 
Trafficking Victims Protection Act, as amended, (TVPA) are 
implemented, and have been cleared by regional bureaus. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Action request continued:  Post is further 
requested to emphasize to the Government of Cameroon that the 
first set of recommendations is designed to help remedy the 
specific shortcomings identified in the 2009 TIP Report that 
resulted in the placement of Cameroon on the Tier 2 Watch 
List.  These recommendations are often referred to as 
"high-priority" items for Tier 2 Watch List removal. However, 
sustained and significant anti-trafficking efforts by the 
government throughout the year will remain the basis for 
determining next year's tier placement.  The interim 
assessment for Special Watch List countries (to include Tier 
2 Watch List countries) will provide a progress report 
regarding the government's actions to address the short list 
recommendations designed to address the concerns that 
resulted in the country's placement on the Tier 2 Watch List 
in the 2009 TIP Report (high-priority items), but there will 
be no changes in tier ratings at that time.  We will 
reconsider the government's tier placement when we conduct 
our annual full assessment for the March 2009-2010 reporting 
period next spring. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Action request continued:  The Department 
recognizes that Post may choose to use this opportunity to 
provide additional recommendations, beyond the 
recommendations for moving out of the Tier 2 Watch List.  In 
such a case, we request that Post make clear to the 
government which are the "high-priority" items to move off of 
the Tier 2 Watch List.  The non-paper in para 9 includes both 
"high-priority" recommendations for Tier 2 Watch List removal 
and further-reaching goals for longer-term success in 
combating trafficking in persons in all 3 P areas: 
Prosecution, Protection, and Prevention.  (For posts, 
background information:  G/TIP will be asking for posts to 
report on the country's progress in meeting these 
recommendations by no later than November 15, 2009, in order 
to compile narratives for the interim assessment.) 
 
¶5.  (SBU) In preparation for the interim assessment and 2010 
TIP Report, the Department is asking posts to work with host 
governments throughout the year to collect as many statistics 
as possible on law enforcement actions and judicial 
proceedings related to TIP crimes, specifically the 
Department requests data on investigations, prosecutions, 
convictions, and sentences (e.g., fines, probation, length of 
prison sentences imposed, asset seizure information when 
available).   Whether a government collects and provides this 
data consistent with the government's capacity to obtain such 
data is considered in determining whether the government 
qualifies for Tier 1.  Law enforcement statistics, when 
available, are a good way of highlighting how well a 
government enforced its law and demonstrates strengths and 
weaknesses in various approaches.  Please note that host 
governments and embassies must interpret data terms provided 
by host governments such as indictments, charges, cases 
disposed, cases submitted for prosecution, etc., to ensure 
that they fit into one of the following categories: 
investigations, prosecutions, convictions or sentences. 
 
The Department cannot accept "trafficking-related" law 
enforcement statistics (e.g, statistics on prostitution or 
smuggling offenses) because their direct correlation to 
trafficking crimes is not clear.  The Department will accept 
only law enforcement data that fall into the following 
categories: (1) investigations, prosecutions, convictions, 
and sentences for offenses that are explicitly defined as 
trafficking; and (2) investigations, prosecutions, 
convictions, and sentences for offenses that are not defined 
explicitly as trafficking but in which the competent law 
enforcement or judicial authority has specific evidence 
indicating that the defendant was involved in trafficking. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The Department is also asking Posts to engage with 
host governments on efforts to address amendments made by the 
2008 Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act 
(TVPRA).  As indicated in reftel C, 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. 
 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Please keep in mind the TIP Report measures host 
government efforts.  In order for anti-trafficking activities 
financed or conducted principally by parties outside the 
government to be considered for tier placement purposes, Post 
needs to demonstrate a concrete role or tangible value-added 
by a host government in such activities carried out by NGOs, 
international organizations, or posts. 
 
¶8. (U) Background Points: 
 
Begin talking points: 
 
-- The Obama Administration views the fight against human 
trafficking, both at home and abroad, as a critical piece of 
our foreign policy agenda.  We are committed to making 
progress on this issue in the months ahead by working closely 
with partners in every country. 
 
-- The U.S. Government's Trafficking Victims Protection Act 
requires the State Department to submit an annual report to 
Congress on the status of foreign governments, efforts to 
combat trafficking in persons.  Pursuant to the Trafficking 
Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2003 (TVPRA), the 
Department created a special category for Tier 2 countries 
that do not show increasing efforts from the previous year, 
have a very significant number of victims, or whose Tier 2 
rating is based on commitments to take additional steps over 
the next year. 
 
-- Also as mandated by the TVPRA, by February 2010 the 
Department will submit to Congress an interim assessment.  At 
the end of 2009 in preparation for that submission, the 
Department will conduct an assessment of Tier 2 Watch List 
countries' progress in responding to the specific issues of 
concern that resulted in the Tier 2 Watch List rating. 
 
-- Cameroon was placed on Tier 2 Watch List in this year's 
Report because the U.S. Government determined there was a 
lack of evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms 
of trafficking in persons from the previous year. 
 
-- We offer the following recommended actions (Action Plan 
for the Short-term) to tackle specific shortcomings 
highlighted in the 2009 TIP Report.  We believe these to be 
within the reasonable ability of your government to fulfill 
in the near-term and encourage you to take prompt action for 
a positive narrative in the interim assessment.  New tier 
evaluations will not occur at the interim assessment.  We 
will reconsider a government,s tier placement when we 
conduct our annual full assessment for the 2009-2010 
reporting period next spring.  Prompt, appropriate, and 
significant actions will lead to a more favorable tier 
placement; conversely, failure to address the issues 
mentioned above may lead to a Tier 3 placement. 
 
-- We would welcome the Government of Cameroon,s comments on 
these recommendations and any other ideas you might have to 
advance our common struggle against trafficking in persons. 
 
-- In addition to the short list of recommendations 
corresponding to our concerns that resulted in your 
government,s placement on the Tier 2 Watch List in the 2009 
TIP Report, we offer additional suggestions of actions that 
your government may choose to take (Action Plan for the Long 
term).  These further measures would be in addition to 
Cameroon,s continuation of its current efforts to combat 
trafficking in persons. 
 
End talking points. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Begin Action Plan for Cameroon: 
 
Action Plan for the Short-Term: The following are recommended 
measures for a positive interim assessment in January 2010 
and in the broader assessment of government efforts during 
the reporting period: 
 
¶1.    Increase efforts to prosecute, convict, and punish 
trafficking offenders.  While                   Cameroonian 
law prohibits child trafficking and forced labor of adults, 
these laws are not      yet well enforced. 
 
This item may be accomplished by increasing police 
investigations of areas where trafficking occurs and 
collaborating with prosecutors and NGOs to collect 
information to locate, arrest, and prosecute suspected 
traffickers.  Law enforcement officials should focus their 
attention on areas where children are working in domestic 
servitude, forced street vending, and forced labor in 
sweatshops, bars, restaurants, mines and in agriculture. 
Authorities should also investigate brothels and bars where 
children may be in prostitution.  These efforts should be 
complemented by mechanisms to refer children identified as 
trafficking victims to appropriate protective services. 
 
Progress on this item will be measured by an increased number 
of reported prosecutions and convictions of trafficking 
offenders. 
 
¶2.    Develop and implement formal procedures through which 
law enforcement and victim                protection 
officials may systematically identify trafficking victims 
among vulnerable        populations, such as women and girls 
in prostitution, street children, and illegal 
immigrants. 
 
Currently government officials, such as police and social 
welfare authorities, who have contact with these vulnerable 
populations, do not screen them to identify trafficking 
victims among them.   Ensure that these authorities follow 
specific procedures to screen these populations to identify 
trafficking victims and refer them to NGOs for care. 
 
Such officials should be made aware of the following facts: 
 
      a.    According to the UN  Protocol to Prevent, 
Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in             Persons, 
children in prostitution are considered to be victims of 
trafficking where a     third party facilitates, or profits 
from, this exploitation even absent evidence of the   use of 
force, fraud or coercion.  A child is defined as any person 
below the age of        eighteen. 
 
      b.    Street children may be trafficking victims who 
have escaped their traffickers and are    now fending for 
themselves on the streets.  Children selling commercial items 
or drugs on       the street are also sometimes forced to do 
so by traffickers. 
 
      c.    Individuals appearing to be Illegal immigrants 
may actually be trafficking victims       who have been 
brought across a transnational border by traffickers though 
force, fraud, or  coercion. 
 
Progress on this item will be increased reports of 
trafficking victims identified and provided with care by 
Cameroonian authorities. 
 
¶3.    Investigate reports of hereditary involuntary servitude 
in the Northern Province. 
 
¶4.     Adopt a comprehensive integrated anti-TIP plan 
 
II. Action Plan for the Long-Term: Other measures the 
government should consider to boost its overall 
anti-trafficking efforts: 
 
Prosecution: 
 
-- Continue to develop a centralized crime database to record 
the number of trafficking cases investigated and the number 
of suspected traffickers arrested, prosecuted, and convicted 
in Cameroon.  For those convicted, the database should record 
the length of sentences imposed. 
 
-- Incorporate into the national law enforcement curricula a 
course on trafficking.  The course should cover techniques 
for a) investigating trafficking cases; b) arresting 
traffickers and collecting evidence for their prosecution; c) 
rescuing victims and referring them for care; and d) 
interviewing victims to obtain testimony for prosecution. 
 
Protection: 
 
-- Consider developing a trafficking victim database that 
records the number of victims identified by police and 
referred to NGOs for care.  The database should, to the best 
extent possible, record the type of trafficking the victim 
experienced, the age and gender of the victim, and the place 
of origin of the victim. 
 
-- Increase efforts to interview rescued victims of 
trafficking in order to gather evidence to assist in 
prosecution of their traffickers.   Ensure that victims are 
interviewed in a timely manner before they return to their 
countries of origin. 
 
-- Pass a TIP law which covers trafficking in adults. 
 
Prevention: 
 
-- Seek increased collaboration with the Governments of 
Nigeria, Chad, the Central African Republic, Congo, Benin, 
and Niger to combat trafficking of children from these 
countries to Cameroon. 
 
-- Increase efforts to raise public awareness about 
trafficking through radio broadcasts and visits by government 
officials to communities throughout Cameroon to educate the 
population about these crimes. 
 
End Action Plan. 
 
¶10. (U) Department appreciates post's continued assistance 
and efforts in the fight to eliminate trafficking in persons. 
CLINTON