*EPF410 06/24/2004
Anti-Trafficking Efforts Save Lives, Lawmakers Say
(Congressional committee marks progress against modern day slavery) (1070)

By Charlene Porter
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- A four-year-old U.S. law to protect victims of human trafficking and end 21st century slavery worldwide is saving people from lives of abuse and exploitation, lawmakers and witnesses declared June 24 at a Congressional hearing.

"Many thousands of women will be protected from forced prostitution as well as rape," said Representative Christopher Smith (Republican, New Jersey) at a House International Relations Subcommittee hearing on the Trafficking in Persons Report released by the U.S. State Department June 14.

Smith also cited a Department of Defense zero-tolerance policy for personnel who are complicit in trafficking by frequenting brothels where victims are forced into the sex industry. He said NATO is headed toward imposing a similar policy on its troops, and declared that the United Nations must follow the same course.

The hearing served as a forum for lawmakers to review the progress of their legislative actions to combat trafficking since initial implementation of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act in 2000.

Several representatives from advocacy groups testified to the progress made against modern-day slavery, even while they underscored the need for more aggressive action. Sharon Cohn of the International Justice Mission works to identify and win freedom for victims of trafficking in places around the world. She described her experiences escorting victims out of brothels to the committee, and said it is a "literal truth" that a person can leave servitude and rape one day to begin rehabilitation the next "because of this law."

The Trafficking in Persons Report, mandated by the 2000 law, surveys 140 nations this year in their activity to prevent trafficking, prosecute the crime when detected and protect victims and potential victims. Miller said one distinct indicator of progress on the issue over the last several years is found in the increasing numbers of nations that are taking legislative and law enforcement actions against trafficking in persons.

"We know that 24 new countries this year enacted comprehensive anti-trafficking in persons legislation," Miller said. "That is great."

In compiling the report, the State Department also has placed new emphasis on documenting the actions of law enforcement to combat trafficking. "There were almost 8,000 prosecutions of traffickers around the world last year, and almost 3,000 convictions," Miller said.

The report divides nations into three tiers: Tier 1 is reserved for those nations in full compliance with international standards; Tier 2, for those nations making progress in meeting international standards; and Tier 3, for countries whose efforts to combat trafficking are out of line with international standards. One recent change, just added in the 2003 compilation of the report, is the creation of a "watch list" of Tier 2 countries that are at risk of backsliding, and could face sanctions.

Despite the reports of progress in the 2004 Trafficking in Persons report, lawmakers posed some tough questions about this global campaign. The report puts Ecuador, Guyana and Venezuela in the lowest-ranking category of its three-tier placement system for the first time, making them subject to a possible loss of some forms of U.S. assistance. Lawmakers expressed concern that these Western Hemisphere nations were among the 10 lowest-rated countries in the world.

Miller said discussions are under way with Ecuador, Guyana and Venezuela about ways in which they can improve their activities to prevent human trafficking. " I think there's a lack of awareness there, and they're becoming aware fast."

Miller said he is hopeful that Ecuador and Guyana, in particular, will be able to take adequate steps in the next several months to avoid the withdrawal of aid when the president makes that ultimate decision.

Bangladesh, Burma, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, North Korea, Sierra Leone and Sudan are also ranked in Tier 3, and considered out of line with international standards in their efforts to prevent trafficking.

Miller said the watch-list ranking device has given the State Department new leverage in challenging nations to take stronger action to prevent human trafficking. "We are able to give a signal to those countries at the bottom of Tier 2 that, ����you better be doing something this coming year if you don't want to fall into Tier 3.'"

Greece, India, Japan, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, Russia and Turkey are among the 42 nations included on the watch list, and Miller told the lawmakers that some of them are already responding with new commitments to take stronger actions to address their trafficking problems.

The watch-list nations also will undergo a midyear assessment to ascertain whether they are actually taking the actions they promise, and to give notice as to whether they may be likely to fall into the lowest category when the next report is issued in June 2005.

Specifically citing Japan, Miller described an attitude of "complacency " toward human trafficking among government officials.

"Japan's trafficking problem is large," backed by international organized crime, according to the report itself. "Japan could do much more to protect its thousands of victims of sexual slavery" the report says.

Miller told the committee the Japanese government has become more attuned to the issue just over the last two months, and he has become hopeful that stronger action will be taken in the near future.

In its ongoing efforts to monitor human trafficking, Miller said his office is going to start focusing more on "the demand side of this equation." He cited child sex tourism as an example. The abduction of children and their exploitation in the sex industry occurs largely in underdeveloped countries, "but where do the tourists come from?" Miller asked. "They come from the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Germany, U.S. [and] Japan. We're focusing more on that issue," Miller said.

One new approach the United States has taken to address child sex tourism rests in the Child Protection Act, passed by the Congress earlier this year. It allows U.S. authorities to arrest and prosecute a U.S. citizen for engaging in this form of exploitation anywhere it occurs in the world. Federal authorities already are pursing several cases under that recent law, and Miller credited the lawmakers for their action.

Looking toward what remains to be done to further curtail trafficking, Miller told the subcommittee members, "All of us in the 21st century have to be abolitionists."

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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