VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHFN #0064/01 0431505
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 121505Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY FREETOWN
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 3175

UNCLAS FREETOWN 000064 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR G/TIP, G-LAURA PENA, INL, DRL, PRM, AF/RSA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KTIP KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB
KMCA, SL 
SUBJECT: SIERRA LEONE 2010 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT 
 
REF: A. A. STATE 002094 
     ¶B. B. 09 FREETOWN 56 
 
 ¶1.  (SBU) This report covering 2009 relies on the research 
done for 2008 in ref B, updating where necessary.  The 
trafficking situation remains much as reported there.  Sierra 
Leone ranks near or at the bottom of every global measure of 
poverty.  Trafficking in persons thrives in such an 
environment.  Reliable statistics do not exist.  Without 
continuous donor support, the problem could worsen. 
 
¶2.  (U) Preparation of the report was overseen by WAE 
political-economic officer Haywood Rankin who departs 
mid-February, with no replacement contemplated within months. 
 Pol-econ assistant (FSN-10) Abdul Massally may be contacted 
at Tel. 232-76-515-000 ext. 5130, cell phone 232-76-661-023. 
WAE pol-econ officer spent 15 hours on this report, pol-econ 
assistant 30 hours. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  Begin TIP report: 
 
------------------- 
TIP in Sierra Leone 
------------------- 
 
¶A. Sources of Information.  Post relies on a number of 
organizations for information, including: International 
Organization on Migration (IOM); Faith Alliance Against 
Slavery and Trafficking (FAAST); Center for Victims of 
Torture (CVT); International Rescue Committee (IRC); UNICEF; 
the Family Support Unit (FSU) of the Sierra Leone Police 
(SLP); and the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and 
Children's Affairs (MOSWGCA). 
 
¶B. Origin/Destination.  The main trafficking issue in Sierra 
Leone is internal.  Although there are no accurate statistics 
quantifying the extent of the problem, all indications 
suggest that women and children are trafficked from the 
provinces to towns and mining areas for prostitution, and 
children are trafficked from rural areas into the city and 
mining areas for labor, including domestic work, petty 
trading, portage, begging, and petty crime.  Trafficking may 
also occur in the fishing and agricultural industries and in 
connection with customary practices such as forced and 
arranged marriages. 
 
The incidence of international trafficking appears to be 
relatively small, but Sierra Leone is likely still to be a 
source and destination country for cross-border trafficking. 
Persons have been trafficked out of Sierra Leone to 
destinations in West Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. 
FAAST reported one case of attempted trafficking (adoption 
fraud) to the USA in 2009. 
 
While there are no documented cases of Sierra Leone as a 
transit country, it continues to be a plausible assumption 
due to its porous, generally unmonitored borders. Fraudulent 
documentation is easy to locate and inexpensive to purchase. 
Given the amount of goods, both legal and contraband, that 
pass through Sierra Leone on any given day, it is highly 
likely that victims from the sub-region are part of this 
traffic through the country. 
 
¶C. Conditions.  Many of the friends and relatives who foster 
children put them to work in the home, where they can also be 
sexually exploited, or place them on the street to engage in 
petty trading, portage, rock breaking or prostitution.  Many 
of these children do not attend school, or are not enrolled 
until they earn enough to help support the family.  Some 
young women are also brought into a home for domestic 
employment, but are then expected to act as a wife in terms 
of sex and child rearing.  Victims are often exposed to 
physical, sexual and verbal abuse, demeaning behavior, and 
coercion.  Sometimes children remain on the street because 
they are afraid to return to their relative's house. 
 
¶D. Vulnerability.  Migration in Sierra Leone is a norm driven 
by the dire economic situation in the country.  Sierra Leone 
ranks very low on the Human Development Index, including last 
in terms of maternal/child health and also has the world's 
highest rate of infant mortality. Children and youth, defined 
as 15-35 years in age, constitute approximately two-thirds of 
the country's population of over 6 million.  Traumatic 
experiences during the 1991-2001 war, shattered extended 
family networks and social structures, and extreme poverty 
make it much more difficult to protect children. 
 
Within this context, trafficking is difficult to combat, 
because impoverished parents face difficult decisions with 
regards to how to care for and educate their children. 
Cultural norms, as well, add to the complexity.  Child 
fostering, for example, by placing children with wealthier 
relatives, is common. While many children benefit from such 
arrangements and receive education and assistance that they 
would have lacked had they remained at home, it is a system 
that is vulnerable to abuse and can lead to trafficking. 
 
Many young women are also vulnerable in this unstable 
economic environment. Unemployment in both the urban and 
rural regions has created a state of desperation for women 
and their families.  Many trafficking victims in Sierra Leone 
are either "war widows" or were formally abducted during the 
war to be used as "war wives," and are now considered 
undesirable by men in their communities.  These women and 
their families are often eager to accept any offers to 
alleviate poverty, whether it is through marriage proposals, 
employment or educational opportunities. 
 
The deaf population is also particularly vulnerable due to 
lack of income-generating opportunities and their inability 
to speak out about abuse. 
 
¶E. Traffickers.  Relatives, family friends, and other 
individuals with power in the community reportedly traffic 
children to Freetown and other urban areas with false 
promises to parents that the children will be sent to school. 
 Women are reportedly trafficked in a similar way, with 
promises of marriage or employment.  Internal trafficking of 
this kind does not require travel documents, and given the 
porous nature of the borders throughout West Africa, even 
trafficking in and out of Sierra Leone can often be conducted 
with little to no documentation. 
 
There have been no reports of large international organized 
crime syndicates, marriage brokers, or employment, adoption, 
travel or tourism agencies conducting trafficking activities 
in Sierra Leone, though some service providers suspect there 
may be a presence. 
 
--------------------- 
GoSL Anti-TIP Efforts 
--------------------- 
 
¶A. Acknowledgment.  The government acknowledges that 
trafficking is a problem.  However, the country continues to 
suffer severe ramifications from a civil war during which it 
was a failed state.  There is an overwhelming lack of 
capacity in the Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL), and many 
competing critical needs.  The government is effectively 
bankrupt, with donors continuing to provide a majority of the 
country's budget.  However, donor interest in Sierra Leone is 
gradually decreasing as the country is ever furthered removed 
from headlines.  Corruption is entrenched.  The police, 
judiciary, and social-welfare institutions are critically 
understaffed, have very limited budgets, and have trouble 
meeting their basic mandates.  While the government 
identifies that TIP is an issue, finding resources and 
building capacity to combat the problem will remain a serious 
problem well into the future. 
 
¶B. Agencies.  The MOSWGCA and SLP take the lead on 
anti-trafficking efforts in Sierra Leone, and the Ministry of 
Justice is the designated co-chair with the MOSWGCA of the 
Inter-Ministerial Committee on Trafficking and the TIP Task 
Force.  The Inter-Ministerial Committee also includes the 
Ministries of Education, Internal Affairs, Information, 
Labor, Health, Foreign Affairs, Local Government, Youth, and 
Tourism.  The TIP Task Force includes representatives from 
all ministries in the Inter-Ministerial Committee as well as 
the Principal Immigration Officer, the Commissioner of Police 
in charge of Crime Services, the Ombudsman, and 
representatives from civil society and international 
organizations. 
 
While the anti-trafficking law directly identifies the 
ministries to be involved, few send representatives to the 
meetings.  One reported reason for lack of government 
involvement in the Task Force continues to be the issue of 
payment for attending meetings. Section 7 of the 
anti-trafficking law stipulates that members of the Task 
Force should be paid an allowance determined by the MOSWGCA, 
Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, in consultation 
with the Minister of Finance.  Given that the latter has 
never provided funding for any anti-trafficking related work, 
and that the Ministry of Justice is one agency that rarely 
attends Task Force meetings despite its co-chair status, the 
issue of payment has never been addressed.  It is reported 
that Ministries will not send representatives since they will 
not be paid. 
The participant ratio for the Task Force has thus become 
heavily weighted towards international and non-governmental 
organizations.  While their participation is vital to the 
activities of the Task Force, lack of government 
participation by all but a few ministries hinders the ability 
of the Task Force to effectively coordinate and encourage 
other government efforts.  FAAST, with USG funding, has 
sought to tackle this problem in two ways:  First, it has 
resuscitated and expanded a network of village parent groups 
that were first established in the period of 2004-06 but had, 
in absence of donor funding 2006-08, become less active. 
There are now 38 such groups located in all parts of Sierra 
Leone, playing a role in identifying and caring for 
trafficking victims.  Second, working with IOM and other 
NGOs, FAAST has crafted an amendment to the 2005 
anti-trafficking law which is intended to centralize 
trafficking responsibility more clearly in the MOSWCGA.  The 
amendment would disband the inter-ministerial committee, 
which is at present a logjam, and have the task force report 
to the MOSWCGA.  The amendment would dispense with any 
payment for attending meetings.  It is, however, not clear 
that the amendment will go forward through numerous 
bureaucratic obstacles. 
 
¶C. Government Limitations.  The SLP and MOSWGCA lack 
sufficient funding to carry out their basic duties.  The 
MOSWGCA at the end of 2009 received a quadrupling of its tiny 
budget, thanks to energetic activity by its new minister, but 
this funding remains inadequate to meet basic needs of the 
ministry.  Training for staff on the anti-trafficking law or 
victim protection is limited and has historically been 
conducted by non-governmental and international 
organizations.  No government-funded victim services exist, 
and there are no government-operated shelter services.  The 
SLP lacks sufficient communications and transportation 
infrastructure to effectively carry out investigations or 
support services for victims. 
 
There is some stated political will to combat trafficking in 
persons, and the increase in the budget of MOSWGCA is a 
positive sign, but trafficking is only one of many priorities 
for that ministry. 
 
¶D. Government Monitoring.  The TIP Task Force, as mandated by 
the Anti-Trafficking Act passed in 2005, is designated to 
systematically monitor anti-trafficking efforts (prosecution, 
prevention, and protection).  In 2009, the task force 
continued to meet every other month.  While the 
anti-trafficking law identifies the ministries to be 
involved, few send representatives to the meetings.  Those 
that participate regularly on the Task Force, however, such 
as the MOSWGCA and organizations like IOM, UNICEF, and FAAST, 
share information about cases and discuss next steps and 
planned activities. 
 
The lack of adequate government involvement in the Task 
Force, lack of meetings of the inter-ministerial committee, 
and lack of GoSL funding to support initiatives that were 
mandated by the anti-trafficking law mean that coordination 
remains poor.  There is no mechanism in place to adequately 
give assessments of anti-trafficking efforts.  Information is 
not routinely made public; however, the government does make 
trafficking-related information available to international 
organizations, non-government partners, and others upon 
request. 
 
¶E.  Establishing Identity.  Procedures exist for issuing 
birth certificates, national identity cards, and passports. 
However, many identification documents were destroyed during 
the war and the ID-card issuance process was not 
re-established effectively until 2009.  Therefore, many 
Sierra Leoneans hold a simple affidavit by which they have 
self-attested birth and nationality.  Passport fraud is a 
serious problem. 
 
¶F.  Government Data Capability.  No comprehensive statistics 
on the prevalence of trafficking exist due to communication 
difficulties with up-country offices, but each organization 
keeps records of the victims it serves.  The Family Support 
Unit headquarters in Freetown has only begun to use data 
systems put in place in 2008.  Training and resources 
continue to be sorely needed to establish better 
documentation-collection and will continue to be needed for 
the foreseeable future. 
 
------------------------- 
Investigation/Prosecution 
------------------------- 
 
¶A. Existing Laws.  Trafficking is first mentioned in the 
Constitution of Sierra Leone Act no. 6 of 1991.  Section 19 
states, "No person shall be held in slavery or servitude or 
be required to perform forced labor or traffic or deal in 
human beings."  Section 20 states, "No person shall be 
subject to any form of torture or any punishment or other 
treatment which is inhuman or degrading." 
 
The Anti-Human Trafficking Act was signed in August, 2005 
(after considerable efforts by donors and service providers). 
The law prohibits trafficking for labor, sexual exploitation, 
illicit removal of human organs, and exploitation during 
armed conflicts.  The law covers both internal and 
transnational trafficking and is consistent with the Palermo 
Protocol. 
 
The Child Rights Act was passed in 2007 (also after 
considerable efforts by donors and service providers) and 
signed by the President in 2008.  This Act brings Sierra 
Leone into compliance with the U.N. Convention on the Rights 
of the Child.  It includes provisions related to children 
associated with armed conflict, forced marriage, and 
exploitive child labor.  Child trafficking is mentioned in 
Section 60 (1) (k), as a crime that must be investigated by 
the district council and its child welfare department if 
identified.  Sections 60 (1)(j) and (2) create the same 
stipulation for investigating incidents involving children 
living with or associating with known prostitutes, other than 
their mother. 
 
The Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2005 also supports the 
Anti-Human Trafficking Act in so far as it criminalizes money 
or property which is gained through crime.  If perpetrators 
of human trafficking gain money from the act, they will be 
guilty of an additional crime if they attempt to launder such 
money by investing it in another financial activity. 
 
Despite the number of laws related to trafficking, many SLP 
officers revert to using abduction and harboring charges when 
possible.  This is a reflection of both an ill-equipped 
police force and the cultural environment, which encourages 
mediation over prosecution. 
 
¶B. Punishment of Sex Trafficking.  Penalties are the same for 
trafficking for labor and sexual exploitation.  Convicted 
traffickers face up to ten years of imprisonment, fines of 50 
million Leones (approximately $13,000) and victim restitution 
costs. 
 
¶C. Punishment of Labor Trafficking.  All convicted 
traffickers face up to ten years of imprisonment, fines of 50 
million leones (approximately $13,000) and victim restitution 
costs. 
 
¶D. Rape.  Under the Offenses Against the Person Act of 1861, 
rape of a person over the age of 16 carries a potential 
penalty of life imprisonment, which is more severe than the 
penalty for sex trafficking.  However, such penalties are 
rarely brought against perpetrators. Rape is common and 
viewed more as a societal norm than a criminal problem. The 
law does not specifically prohibit spousal rape. 
 
¶E. Statistics.  Due to poor communication with up-country 
facilities, accurate national statistics are not available. 
However, FSU reports that it investigated 22 cases of human 
trafficking between January and December 2009.  FSU could 
provide no further information for 2009.  However, it began 
to use its new database in January 2010 and hopes to have 
fuller information in the future.  FAAST reports that there 
were 28 trafficking victims handed over to FAAST for special 
care during 21009, but it estimates that there were 100 
victims countrywide who were handled by the newly-formed 
Voluntary Parent Groups. According to FAAST, there were three 
convictions of traffickers during 2009 and there were three 
other cases brought to court, pending a verdict. 
 
¶F. Training.  The government does not provide specialized 
training, but does make law enforcement officers and other 
government officials available to attend training conducted 
by international organizations and local NGOs.  IOM, CVT, 
UNICEF, and FAAST, among others, provided training to police 
officers, border guards, and government officials over the 
past year. 
 
¶G. Cooperation with Other Governments.  There were reports 
that the Government of Sierra Leone cooperated with the 
Government of Liberia on one investigation and repatriation 
over the last year. 
 
¶H. Extradition.  The Extradition Act of 1974 allows for 
extradition of persons subject to crimes committed in the 
country of the offense, but there have been no requests to 
extradite a suspect for trafficking.  The Extradition Act 
allows for the extradition of Sierra Leone nationals to other 
countries for trial. 
 
¶I. Government Involvement.  There are no known instances of 
GoSL authorities facilitating trafficking efforts; however, 
prevalent social attitudes and lack of government capacity 
and awareness mean that barriers to trafficking are low. 
Low-level government officials who forge documents such as 
birth, marriage, and death certificates rarely suffer 
punishment, but there is no proof that these forged documents 
are used to facilitate trafficking.  Further, border 
officials are low-paid and continue to struggle with the 
concept of trafficking versus smuggling.  It is possible that 
such officials are bribed to enable the easy movement of 
people and goods, but a direct link between that kind of 
corruption and trafficking cases has yet to be uncovered or 
publicized.  Additionally, while there have been no cases of 
government officials intentionally contributing to the 
problem or participating in the act of trafficking, some SLP 
officers are suspected of looking the other way, or possibly 
tipping off high profile perpetrators, to help aid an escape. 
 
¶J. N/A 
 
¶K. Peacekeeping.  Sierra Leone is new to peacekeeping 
operations, having sent a company to Darfur in 2009.  There 
have been no reported incidents of trafficking related to 
this peacekeeping operation. 
 
¶L. Sex Tourism.  Sierra Leone does not have an identified sex 
tourism problem.  Inappropriate sexual conduct by tourists or 
business people while in the country appears to be 
opportunistic, and not the purpose of their visit to Sierra 
Leone.  There is no law against prostitution and it is 
widespread in Sierra Leone.  Many women and girls enter into 
prostitution independently, often due to economic pressures; 
however, there continue to be allegations that female pimps 
(kaklat) or relatives recruit girls for prostitution directly 
from villages.  There is also a small cadre of known pimps in 
the Freetown area, and reports of several brothels in 
operation, but this is not a dominant characteristic of 
prostitution in Sierra Leone.  Some women who engage in 
prostitution may be doing so out of desperation to escape 
from other exploitive situations, such as early marriage or 
domestic servitude.  Though prostitution is legalized, 
prostitutes are sometimes arrested and charged with loitering 
or vagrancy. 
 
--------------------- 
Protection/Assistance 
--------------------- 
 
¶A. Protection of Victims.  The Anti-Trafficking Act requires 
the government to offer protection for victims and witnesses, 
though due to a lack of resources, the government relies on 
NGO service providers to provide physical protection. 
 
¶B. Victim Care Facilities.  Until 2008, IOM provided a 
shelter in Freetown for trafficking victims of all ages.  The 
government was scheduled to furnish IOM with a new shelter 
space, which IOM intended to renovate and turn over to the 
MOSWGCA, hoping MOSWGCA would be able to operate the site. 
This plan fell through and IOM lost funding, and no shelter 
exists at present.  IOM has sought to avoid being the primary 
assistance system and is working with the MOSWGCA on the 
means to fund a shelter under MOSWGCA responsibility. 
 
¶C. Government Services to Victims.  The government does not 
provide trafficking victims with legal, medical or 
psychological services, or any funding to organizations that 
assist trafficking victims.  It hosts task force meetings, 
and participates in the referral system, but does not provide 
a monetary contribution to any NGO efforts.  Government 
support is nominal, and thus difficult to monetize. 
 
¶D. Foreign Victims.  The government does not provide 
assistance to foreign trafficking victims, though foreign 
victims would receive the same services from IOM and other 
NGOs that domestic victims receive. 
 
¶E. Long Term.  The government does not provide long-term 
shelter or housing benefits to victims of trafficking. 
 
¶F. Referral.  The FSUs refer victims to the MOSWGCA when 
cases become known to them (MOSWGCA officers are meant to be 
located at every FSU but MOSWGCA has not been able to comply 
with this legal requirement at many FSUs).  Victims are in 
turn referred to the newly-formed Voluntary Parental 
Associations and thence, in more severe cases, to FAAST. 
 
¶G. Number of Victims.  The FSU database recorded 22 cases of 
trafficking in 2009, while FAAST recorded direct assistance 
to 28 victims.  Approximately 100 victims have been assisted 
by the newly-formed Voluntary Parental Groups countrywide. 
The SLP acknowledges that its statistics underestimate the 
problem, but have no means of ensuring better reporting by 
offices in the provinces.  FAAST has assisted some victims 
who have not fallen under the purview of the FSU. 
 
¶H. System to Identify Victims.  The government's law 
enforcement, immigration and social services personnel have a 
formal protocol to follow to identify victims of trafficking, 
but only a small number of officials have been trained and 
know how to follow it.  Most high-risk persons (prostitutes, 
unaccompanied minors or undocumented immigrants) are not 
screened or identified as victims. 
 
¶I. Rights of Victims.  The rights of victims are generally 
respected, though there is still confusion among authorities 
on what constitutes trafficking.  It is thus likely that many 
victims fall through the cracks and do not receive the care 
they require. 
 
¶J. Victim Role.  Victims are encouraged to participate in the 
legal process, but the general inefficiency of the justice 
sector has frustrated these efforts.  While victims are 
permitted to be active participants in investigations and 
court proceedings, many lose patience between the period of 
identification and the case going to trial.  This can result 
in cases being dropped, since most cases cannot be 
successfully tried without the victim as a witness.  The cost 
of transportation is another deterrent preventing victims 
from participating fully in a trial, because they must bear 
the cost of transportation to the court in order to testify. 
 
An additional problem is that social factors often prevent 
women and children who are victims of sexual and other 
violence from obtaining justice in the court system.  Rape 
cases, for example, are often settled out of court by male 
family members.  Communities often use traditional forms of 
justice to address the alleged perpetrators, rather than work 
through the formal system.  Such social factors can serve as 
a barrier for trafficking victims to access the justice they 
are entitled to under the anti-trafficking law. 
 
The law does provide for victim restitution, and IOM has 
worked with several victims to pursue this, but there is yet 
to be a victim who has received any kind of civil damages for 
abuse or hardship suffered during their trafficking 
experience. 
 
¶K. Training.  The government does not provide training on 
identifying trafficking victims, though officials are 
permitted to attend training sessions offered by NGOs and 
IOs.  The Government does not provide training to its 
embassies and consulates in foreign countries, nor does it 
encourage its embassies and consulates to develop ongoing 
relationships with NGOs that serve trafficking victims. 
 
¶L. Repatriated Victims.  The government does not provide 
assistance to its repatriated nationals, though victims do 
receive assistance upon arrival from IOM. 
 
¶M. IOs/NGOs and Victims.  International organizations and 
NGOs provide protection services, awareness training, 
vocational training, and counseling.  They include UNICEF, 
IOM, FAAST, CVT, International Rescue Committee, Save the 
Children, Defense for Children International, CARITAS, GOAL 
SL, JSDP, Human Rights Youth Coalition, Don Bosco Fambul, 
Women in Crisis Movement, Christian in Action Development 
Agency, FAWE, RADA (Rehabilitation and Development Agency), 
ENCISS, APEGS (Agriculture Production Extension and General 
Services), CARD (Community Action for Rural Development), and 
Journalists for Human Rights.  Local authorities generally 
cooperate with these organizations as they depend on them to 
provide services the government cannot afford. 
 
---------- 
Prevention 
---------- 
 
¶A. Campaigns.  The government did not have the resources to 
conduct anti-trafficking information or education campaigns 
during the reporting period, but through the TIP Task Force 
coordinated efforts by FAAST, IOM, and CVT.  Primarily with 
USG funding, these organizations continued to conduct 
training for police prosecutors and officers, both in the 
field and at the Cadet Training School, MOSWGCA employees, 
chiefs, magistrates, faith-based organizations, and local 
colleges.  NGOs also worked extensively with sex workers and 
targeted communities in boarder and mining regions. 
 
¶B. Monitoring Patterns.  The government does not appear to 
monitor immigration and emigration patterns for evidence of 
trafficking. 
 
¶C. Coordination.  The TIP Task Force is the primary mechanism 
for coordination between all relevant agencies, though it is 
scarcely attended on the government side, outside the primary 
agency MOSWGCA.  The government has a single focal point on 
TIP within the MOSWGCA, through the TIP Secretariat, that 
coordinates all anti-TIP efforts.  A significant increase in 
the budget of MOSWGCA in November 2009 (from a quarter 
million to one million dollars) will hopefully have a small 
positive impact on the ministry's reach and effectiveness. 
 
The relationship between government officials and 
organizations is generally a cordial one, though the onus is 
often placed on non-governmental actors to conduct activities 
and maintain momentum.  The apparent lack of interest by 
various government ministries creates some tension between 
organizations working to address TIP and ministries that will 
not engage on the issue. 
 
¶D. Plan of Action.  The government has a national plan of 
action, which was created by the Task Force in conjunction 
with an ECOWAS consultant in 2007, but it has languished due 
to a lack of support, funding, and resources within the 
MOSWGCA.  In 2009, Sierra Leone signed the Regional Policy on 
the Protection and Assistance to Trafficked Persons approved 
by the regional grouping of West African states ECOWAS. 
 
¶E. Government Measures against Commercial Sex Acts.  The 
government has not taken efforts during the reporting period 
to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts. 
 
¶F. Government Measures against Child Sex Tourism.  The 
government has not taken efforts during the reporting period 
to reduce participation in international child sex tourism by 
nationals of Sierra Leone. 
 
¶G. Peacekeeping Measures.  The Government of Sierra Leone did 
not conduct screening for the personnel it deployed to the UN 
mission in Darfur.  However, various types of US-sponsored 
training were conducted in preparation for this deployment, 
all of which required Leahy human-rights vetting.  Therefore, 
within the eight months leading up to the unit's departure, 
virtually everyone was vetted at one time or another, to 
include the unit's commander. 
 
------------ 
Partnerships 
------------ 
 
¶A.  Other Governments, Multilateral, Civil Society.  The 
government has not undertaken bilateral arrangements with 
other governments specific to trafficking.  Sierra Leonean 
civil society, while active on human-rights issues, has not 
specifically organized itself on trafficking. 
 
¶B.  International Assistance to Other Governments.  N/A 
 
-------------- 
Child Soldiers 
-------------- 
 
Since the conclusion of war in 2001, during which use of 
children as soldiers was common, Sierra Leone has been 
assiduous in monitoring the age of recruits into the armed 
forces, to ensure they are over 18. 
CHESHES