US embassy cable - 05GABORONE273

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 GABORONE 000273 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
AF/S FOR DIFFILY, AF/RSA, G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, PRM, IWI 
STATE PASS TO USAID 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, KCRM, KWMN, SMIG, KFRD, ASEC, PREF, ELAB, BC, TIP 
SUBJECT: BOTSWANA'S ANTI-TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT 2004 
 
REF 04 STATE 273089 
 
1. (SBU)  Summary: At this time, post believes Botswana is 
not a country of origin, transit or destination for a 
significant number of human trafficking victims.  This is 
partly because the Government of Botswana regards 
trafficking as a serious threat and has taken measures to 
prevent it from emerging as a problem.  Given the absence of 
a significant number of trafficking in persons (TIP) cases, 
Government efforts emphasize prevention over prosecution of 
perpetrators and protection of victims.  These steps include 
participation in TIP-specific and TIP-related law 
enforcement training, close inter-agency and inter- 
governmental coordination of border security and support for 
NGOs that care for potential victims of human trafficking. 
End summary. 
 
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Overview 
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2. (SBU)  Only one specific report of human trafficking 
emerged in 2004.  This involved a child taken by an aunt 
from her family in a rural village under false pretenses. 
According to Childline, a child welfare NGO, when the child 
reached Gaborone, where she had been promised care and 
education, she was forced to work as a maid.  Concerned 
neighbors contacted the Department of Social Welfare.  A 
social worker reportedly interviewed the child and took her 
to the police station and the magistrate court where she was 
declared a child in need of care on March 28, 2004. 
Childline provided temporary shelter for the child until she 
could return to her family on May 5, 2004.  The social 
worker reportedly recommended that the perpetrator be 
charged with child abuse.  The Botswana Police Service and 
Department of Social Welfare could provide no information 
about this case.  Although contacts in the NGO community 
indicate that this practice is not uncommon, there have been 
no other confirmed cases of trafficking. 
 
3. (SBU)  There are no reliable statistics or estimates of 
the number of persons trafficked in Botswana, and no formal 
efforts are underway to document the extent and nature of 
trafficking in the country.  During 2004, however, the 
Government of Botswana (GOB) and the International Labor 
Organization (ILO) developed an expanded labor force survey 
intended to provide a clearer picture of child labor 
patterns in Botswana.  The GOB expects administration of the 
survey to begin in 2005. 
 
4. (SBU)  The International Organization for Migration's 
(IOM) 2003 report on Trafficking of Women and Children in 
the Southern African Region did not mention Botswana. 
Sources within the IOM said that anecdotal information 
indicated that Botswana might be a destination country for 
victims from countries such as Zambia or Zimbabwe, and/or a 
transit country en route to South Africa, but these reports 
were not confirmed.  Some law enforcement officials 
suspected that Botswana could be a transit country for 
trafficking in persons from East Africa to South Africa but 
again knew of no confirmed cases.  IOM representatives have 
no clear idea of the volume of trafficking through Botswana 
but believe that, if it exists, it does so on a very small 
scale. 
 
5. (SBU)  A number of other relevant sources confirmed the 
lack of evidence on human trafficking, which leads to the 
impression that this is not a significant problem in 
Botswana.  These included the following:  Ms. Veronica 
Dabutha, Department of Social Welfare; Mr. W. Karihindi, Mr. 
M. Maduwane and Mr. Baakile, Botswana Police Service; Ms. S. 
Seemule, Department of Labor; Mr. B. Majola and Mr. A. 
Mmusetsi, Department of Immigration; Mr. C. W. Mudongo and 
Mr. Motswebagale, Department of Customs and Excise; Mr. B. 
Tjiyapo, Women's Affairs Department; Ms. Solomon and Mr. 
Segabo, Attorney General's Chambers; Ms. M. Bokole, Women 
and Law in Southern Africa; Ms. A. Mogwe, Botswana Center 
for Human Rights; Mr. E. Thieszen, Women Against Rape; Mr. 
J. Martens, International Organization for Migration; Mr. D. 
Bosch, International Labor Organization; Ms. P. Letshwiti, 
Childline. 
 
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Prevention 
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-IMMIGRATION CONTROLS- 
 
6. (SBU)  Despite the dearth of evidence indicating that 
Botswana has a significant trafficking problem, GOB 
officials are alert to the dangers of trafficking and have 
taken efforts to prevent traffickers from operating in 
Botswana.  The GOB's primary trafficking-related activities 
concern border management.  Illegal immigration is a 
significant problem in Botswana, and border control is a 
high priority for the GOB.  Botswana's Police Service, 
Immigration authority, and Customs and Excise department 
closely coordinate their activities, including periodic 
inter-agency meetings at border points around the country. 
These meetings also include counterparts from neighboring 
countries.  Law enforcement agencies regularly work with 
other departments, such as the Department of Labor, to 
organize operations targeting specific locales within the 
interior.  The Botswana Defense Force has deployed soldiers 
to monitor the long and porous border with Zimbabwe, where 
deteriorating conditions have created a push effect for 
illegal immigration and, potentially, trafficking in 
persons.  Other practices, such as roadblocks along key 
highways, also function to deter and detect trafficking in 
persons. 
 
-LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING- 
 
7. (SBU)  The GOB encourages law enforcement personnel to 
participate in trafficking-related training.  The 
International Law Enforcement Agency (ILEA), located outside 
Gaborone, conducts regular courses on border control for law 
enforcement personnel from across southern Africa, including 
Botswana.  In October 2004, ILEA offered a course on 
trafficking in persons in which seven Botswana law 
enforcement officials participated.  The GOB does not 
provide training to its embassies and consulates in foreign 
countries at this time, as there is no evidence that 
Botswana citizens are being trafficked internationally. 
 
-PUBLIC OUTREACH- 
 
8. (SBU)  Although the Government of Botswana has not 
embarked on a public information campaign specifically 
addressing trafficking, it does support TIP-related public 
outreach.  Botswana's Department of Immigration has an 
aggressive public information program in which immigration 
officials often travel with members of parliament to educate 
their constituents about illegal immigration.  These 
officials address meetings at local council chambers and at 
kgotlas (seat of the traditional chief of an area).  Their 
outreach helps citizens identify "people who do not belong" 
and report them to the local authorities.  The GOB has also 
provided financial support to NGOs who conduct TIP-related 
public education on child rights and welfare.  Childline, 
for example, received grants from the GOB to conduct 
workshops that sensitize communities to the rights of a 
child and to the various aspects of child abuse.  This 
promotes an appreciation of the rights of potential victims 
of trafficking. 
 
-SUPPORT FOR NGOS- 
 
9. (SBU)  The GOB worked with NGOs to protect and empower 
potential victims of trafficking in persons.  The Government 
regularly provides grants to shelters that provide short- 
term and long-term care for street kids.  National 
Development Plan 9 (NDP9 - the GOB's five-year performance 
plan) lists women's economic empowerment as a primary goal. 
The GOB is working with the Botswana National Council on 
Women and the Women's NGO Coalition in order to strengthen 
programs that address issues from women's economic 
empowerment to reproductive health, and to mainstream gender 
issues into HIV/AIDS intervention programs.  The Minister of 
Labor and Home Affairs attended the Forty-Ninth Session of 
the Commission on the Status of Women in New York in March 
2005. 
 
10. (SBU)  A strategic planning workshop on eliminating the 
worst forms of child labor in Botswana brought together 
representatives of government agencies, local NGOs and the 
ILO in September 2004.  The workshop identified priority 
areas of concern for future projects to address, to include 
forms of trafficking in children.  The general consensus at 
this workshop was that cross-border trafficking was not a 
major problem in Botswana.  Participants at that meeting 
ranked internal trafficking of children, especially for work 
as cattle tenders or domestic laborers, as a greater threat 
but cited no specific instances. 
 
-CHILD PROSTITUTION- 
 
11. (SBU)  One of the causes of potential child trafficking 
in Botswana is HIV/AIDS.  According to the most recent 
census (2001), there are approximately 112,000 orphans in 
Botswana, many of whom lost their parents to AIDS.  Often 
the eldest surviving child is left to look after his or her 
siblings and may resort to prostitution for survival.  In a 
related problem, the adult relatives of orphans sometimes 
seize the property of the orphans' deceased parents, leaving 
the children vulnerable to exploitation.  There have been 
instances of caregivers of orphans forcing children into 
prostitution, but no confirmed incident of trafficking of 
this kind was reported in 2004. 
 
12. (SBU)  The Government's response to this complex problem 
has been multifaceted.  The GOB has criminalized child 
prostitution.  It also runs a large-scale orphan care 
program, under which orphans receive food supplements and 
other benefits.  Its nation-wide campaign to enroll those 
infected with HIV in anti-retroviral treatment keeps HIV 
positive adults alive and healthy longer, reducing the 
number of orphans and, thereby, the number of children at 
risk of becoming victims of trafficking. 
 
-CHALLENGES- 
 
13. (SBU)  A number of obstacles impede efforts to prevent 
trafficking in Botswana.  Absence of reliable data 
demonstrating the nature and magnitude of potential 
trafficking activity makes it impossible to target 
appropriate resources at identifiable causes and 
contributing factors.  During 2004, the data management at 
the Department of Immigration was still conducted manually, 
making timely analysis of immigration/emigration patterns 
difficult.  The Department of Immigration plans to begin 
computerizing its record- keeping at border posts during 
2005.  This process should improve the Government's ability 
to identify possible trafficking corridors.  The cost of 
battling one of the world's highest HIV/AIDS infection rates 
places an enormous strain on the Government's budget, 
limiting funds available to allocate to anti-trafficking 
programs.  There is also a general lack of clarity 
surrounding what constitutes trafficking.  These factors 
combined to stymie an attempt in early 2004 to establish a 
functioning Task Force on trafficking. 
 
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Prosecution 
----------- 
 
14. (SBU)  No law specifically prohibits trafficking in 
persons.  Penal code provisions covering offenses such as 
abduction, kidnapping, slave trafficking, compulsory labor 
and procuring women and girls for the purpose of 
prostitution can be used to prosecute cases of human 
trafficking. Traffickers charged with kidnapping and 
abduction could face a maximum sentence of seven years in 
prison.  Owners of premises where girls under the age of 16 
engage in prostitution can be held liable and receive a 
sentence of up to five years in prison.  In the Penal Code 
(Amendment) Act of 1998, Botswana implemented strict 
penalties for rape. The minimum sentence for rape is 10 
years in prison. If the offender is HIV-positive, the 
minimum sentence rises to 15 years in prison with corporal 
punishment. If the offender is HIV-positive and knew his 
status, the sentence increases to 20 years with corporal 
punishment. The law does not address marital rape. 
 
15. (SBU)  The GOB has signed and ratified relevant UN 
Conventions that protect children. The Protocol To Prevent, 
Suppress And Punish Trafficking In Persons, Especially Women 
And Children was signed in August of 2002. (Note: The GOB 
has not yet harmonized its domestic law with this protocol). 
The GOB signed and ratified ILO Convention 182 Concerning 
The Prohibition And Immediate Action For The Elimination Of 
The Worst Forms Of Child Labor in 2001. The GOB is also a 
signatory to the Optional Protocol To The Convention On The 
Rights Of The Child, On The Sale Of Children, Child 
Prostitution, and Child Pornography. Botswana ratified both 
ILO Conventions 29 and 105 on Forced Labor in 1997. 
 
16. (SBU)  Government authorities and individual members of 
government agencies do not facilitate trafficking of persons 
and overall corruption is not an impediment to fighting 
trafficking.  Transparency International ranked Botswana as 
the least corrupt country in Africa and tied for 31st in the 
world.  A Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime 
actively investigates allegations of public corruption. 
 
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Protection 
---------- 
 
17. (SBU)  The GOB does not have policies in place to 
provide assistance to victims of trafficking.  The 
Department of Social Welfare, in the Ministry of Local 
Government, however, planned a national conference for March 
2005 on child abuse.  One expected outcome of that 
conference was a protocol for assisting victims of abuse and 
exploitation, including victims of trafficking.  There is no 
witness protection system in place. However, in all sex- 
offense cases, court proceedings are held in camera. Free 
HIV testing and counseling services are offered at 16 sites 
throughout the country and are well publicized. 
 
18. (SBU)  No NGOs in Botswana focus exclusively on 
trafficking, but there are a number of NGOs that would 
provide assistance to potential victims.  In the single 
specific case of trafficking reported in 2004, Childline 
provided immediate shelter and helped return the child to 
her home.  Ditshwanelo (the Botswana Center for Human 
Rights), Women Against Rape, and Women and Law in Southern 
Africa, are among the many other NGOs aware of the 
trafficking issue.  They keep an eye open for evidence of 
people being trafficked from, to, or through Botswana. 
 
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Comment 
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19. (SBU)  Botswana is working to comply with the standards 
outlined in the TPVA, as demonstrated by participation in 
TIP-related law enforcement training, heightened border 
security measures, efforts to protect HIV/AIDS orphans, 
assistance to NGOs that aid potential trafficking victims, 
and the signing of UN and ILO conventions intended to 
protect against trafficking, child labor, and transnational 
crime. Awareness of the TIP is increasing; however, the 
distinction between trafficking in persons and migrant 
smuggling is still blurry for many. Post has sought funding 
to help clarify the nature and extent of possible 
trafficking in Botswana and to provide trafficking-related 
training for law enforcement officers aimed at integrating 
this subject into local curricula.  Post will continue to 
work with interested parties to increase consciousness of 
this issue. 
 
20. (U)  Post's point of contact on TIP is Political- 
Economic Officer Aaron Cope, tel: 267-395-3982 x 5252, fax: 
267-395-3238, email: Copeam@state.gov.  Estimated amount of 
FS-4 time spent on this report is 17 hours. 
AROIAN