[House Hearing, 108 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
THE ONGOING TRAGEDY OF INTERNATIONAL SLAVERY AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING: AN
OVERVIEW
=======================================================================
HEARING
before the
SUBCOMMITTEE ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND WELLNESS
of the
COMMITTEE ON
GOVERNMENT REFORM
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
OCTOBER 29, 2003
__________
Serial No. 108-137
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Government Reform
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpo.gov/congress/house
http://www.house.gov/reform
______
93-282 U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON : 2003
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COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM
TOM DAVIS, Virginia, Chairman
DAN BURTON, Indiana HENRY A. WAXMAN, California
CHRISTOPHER SHAYS, Connecticut TOM LANTOS, California
ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida MAJOR R. OWENS, New York
JOHN M. McHUGH, New York EDOLPHUS TOWNS, New York
JOHN L. MICA, Florida PAUL E. KANJORSKI, Pennsylvania
MARK E. SOUDER, Indiana CAROLYN B. MALONEY, New York
STEVEN C. LaTOURETTE, Ohio ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS, Maryland
DOUG OSE, California DENNIS J. KUCINICH, Ohio
RON LEWIS, Kentucky DANNY K. DAVIS, Illinois
JO ANN DAVIS, Virginia JOHN F. TIERNEY, Massachusetts
TODD RUSSELL PLATTS, Pennsylvania WM. LACY CLAY, Missouri
CHRIS CANNON, Utah DIANE E. WATSON, California
ADAM H. PUTNAM, Florida STEPHEN F. LYNCH, Massachusetts
EDWARD L. SCHROCK, Virginia CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, Maryland
JOHN J. DUNCAN, Jr., Tennessee LINDA T. SANCHEZ, California
JOHN SULLIVAN, Oklahoma C.A. ``DUTCH'' RUPPERSBERGER,
NATHAN DEAL, Georgia Maryland
CANDICE S. MILLER, Michigan ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, District of
TIM MURPHY, Pennsylvania Columbia
MICHAEL R. TURNER, Ohio JIM COOPER, Tennessee
JOHN R. CARTER, Texas CHRIS BELL, Texas
WILLIAM J. JANKLOW, South Dakota ------
MARSHA BLACKBURN, Tennessee BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont
(Independent)
Peter Sirh, Staff Director
Melissa Wojciak, Deputy Staff Director
Rob Borden, Parliamentarian
Teresa Austin, Chief Clerk
Philip M. Schiliro, Minority Staff Director
Subcommittee on Human Rights and Wellness
DAN BURTON, Indiana, Chairman
CHRIS CANNON, Utah DIANE E. WATSON, California
CHRISTOPHER SHAYS, Connecticut BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont
ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida (Independent)
ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS, Maryland
Ex Officio
TOM DAVIS, Virginia HENRY A. WAXMAN, California
Mark Walker, Chief of Staff
Mindi Walker, Professional Staff Member
Danielle Perraut, Clerk
Richard Butcher, Minority Professional Staff Member
C O N T E N T S
----------
Page
Hearing held on October 29, 2003................................. 1
Statement of:
Miller, John, Director, Office to Monitor and Combat
Trafficking in Persons, U.S. Department of State; and Kent
Hill, Assistant Administrator, U.S. Agency for
International Development.................................. 15
Raymond, Janice, co-executive director, Coalition Against
Trafficking in Women; Andrew Johnson, Save the Children
Federation; Sharon Cohn, director, Anti-Trafficking,
International Justice Mission; Mohamed Mattar, co-director
of the protection project, Johns Hopkins University School
of Advanced International Studies; and Kevin Bales,
president, Free the Slaves................................. 57
Letters, statements, etc., submitted for the record by:
Bales, Kevin, president, Free the Slaves, prepared statement
of......................................................... 113
Burton, Hon. Dan, a Representative in Congress from the State
of Indiana, prepared statement of.......................... 5
Cohn, Sharon, director, Anti-Trafficking, International
Justice Mission, prepared statement of..................... 77
Cummings, Hon. Elijah E., a Representative in Congress from
the State of Maryland, prepared statement of............... 123
Hill, Kent, Assistant Administrator, U.S. Agency for
International Development, prepared statement of........... 26
Johnson, Andrew, Save the Children Federation, prepared
statement of............................................... 69
Mattar, Mohamed, co-director of the protection project, Johns
Hopkins University School of Advanced International
Studies, prepared statement of............................. 85
Miller, John, Director, Office to Monitor and Combat
Trafficking in Persons, U.S. Department of State:
Prepared statement of.................................... 18
Uzbekistan memo.......................................... 54
Raymond, Janice, co-executive director, Coalition Against
Trafficking in Women, prepared statement of................ 60
Smith, Hon. Christopher H., a Representative in Congress from
the State of New Jersey, prepared statement of............. 11
THE ONGOING TRAGEDY OF INTERNATIONAL SLAVERY AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING: AN
OVERVIEW
----------
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2003
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Human Rights and Wellness,
Committee on Government Reform,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:04 p.m., in
room 2154, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Dan Burton
(chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.
Present: Representatives Burton, Watson, Shays, and Smith.
Staff present: Mark Walker, chief of staff; Mindi Walker
and Brian Fauls, professional staff members; Nick Mutton, press
secretary; Danielle Perraut, clerk; Richard Butcher, minority
professional staff member; Earley Green, minority chief clerk;
and Cecelia Morton, minority office manager.
Mr. Burton. Good afternoon. A quorum being present, and we
will have other Members coming in periodically, the
Subcommittee on Human Rights and Wellness will come to order.
I ask unanimous consent that all Members' and witnesses'
opening statements be included in the record and without
objection, so ordered. I ask unanimous consent that all
articles and extraneous or tabular material referred to be
included in the record and without objection, so ordered.
I ask unanimous consent that Congressmen Smith, Wolf, and
Pitts, as well as any other Member wishing to serve as a member
of the subcommittee for today's hearing, be permitted to sit on
the dais with us and without objection, so ordered.
The subcommittee is convening today to examine the
atrocious practices of human trafficking and slavery around the
world. It is hard to believe in the 21st century that we are
even talking about this.
Although many people believe that slavery and human
trafficking are no longer a major problem, it is estimated that
more than 27 million cases of human trafficking occur every
year--27 million. This figure represents the highest
concentration of slaves in the entire history of mankind. You
would not believe that in the 21st century, would you?
Human slavery and trafficking is a worldwide crisis that
affects 116 countries, including many industrialized and
developed nations like the United Kingdom and Australia. No
country is immune from these illegal practices. However, every
nation needs to put into place strong measures to deter and
prevent these crimes against humanity.
Sadly, human slavery and trafficking are booming businesses
in the 21st century. According to figures released by the U.S.
Department of State, it is estimated that human slaves
contribute over $13 billion every year to the global economy,
$7 billion of which is a direct result of the illicit sex trade
alone.
You know, we ought to have cameras and the media and
everybody in here listening to this, because it is not a widely
known fact that this is going on. Yet, they are probably
listening to all kinds of other things that sound important,
which really do not amount of a hill of beans, and here we have
27 million people that are slaves every year.
Because of this crime's enormous profitability,
slaveholders will stop at nothing to traffic as many slaves as
possible. Slaveholders try and victimize innocent people into
lifetimes of servitude by preying on the most economically
disadvantaged members of society.
These crimes lure hard-working men and woman attempting to
make a better life for themselves and their loved ones. As soon
as victims are deprived of the opportunity to return to their
homes, they are forced into domestic servitude, sweatshop
labor, prostitution and other types of compulsory labor.
In addition to the millions of people who are coerced into
slavery, there are many who spend most of their lives working
to repay paltry debts at extreme rates of interest. According
to a National Geographic article from the September 2003 issue
entitled ``21st Century Slaves,'' two-thirds of the world's
captive laborers, 15 to 20 million people, are debt slaves in
places such as India, Bangladesh, and Nepal.
These indentured servants can spend their whole lifetimes
repaying debts that amount to as little as $36, because of
outrageous rates of interest placed on loans; $36 and you are a
slave for life.
Sometimes, if the debt is large enough, it could take two
or three generations of indentured family members to repay the
loan; and the ever-increasing number of these economically
disadvantaged individuals has created an even greater surplus
of potential victims for slaveholders to exploit.
While the average cost of a slave centuries ago would
equate to today about $40,000, in today's dollars that same
slave would sell for around $150. Think about that; it used to
be $40,000 if you carried that figure and extrapolated it into
our dollars today, and now it is $150.
Because laborers are relatively cheap and easy to exploit,
regard for the slaves' lives has greatly diminished. Slaves are
being held in the most inhumane of conditions. They are not
given proper shelter, medical care, or nutrition, in addition
to being continuously subject to savage beatings.
In the eyes of modern-day slaveholders, slaves can
literally be worked to death, because the profits that they
produce far outweigh the cost of just keeping them alive.
Currently, the United States has measures in place to help
combat trafficking in persons. On October 28, 2000, the
President signed into law the ``Trafficking Victims Protection
Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-386),'' sponsored by my dear friend
and colleague, Representative Chris Smith of New Jersey, who
will be here in a little bit.
His legislation has been very effective in combating human
trafficking, and I believe that it is necessary for the House
and Senate to reauthorize this most important bill as soon as
possible to keep strong measures in place against human
trafficking.
While the United States has enacted comprehensive laws to
deal with the existing human trafficking situation, many
countries have laws that are not germane to address the current
problems associated with these illicit activities.
More than 154 countries have laws in place that minimally
target trafficking by prohibiting the procurement of women and
children for purposes of prostitution and forced labor.
Unfortunately, most of these laws do not address modern-day
trafficking concerns, and are not thoroughly enforced due to
the lack of proper funding and up-to-date training of law
enforcement officials.
In an effort to assist in combating human trafficking on an
international scale, the United States has provided financial
and training assistance to less-developed countries that do not
currently have the means to deter human trafficking violations.
During fiscal year 2001 and 2002, the United States
appropriated over $100 million for global anti-trafficking
initiatives in over 50 countries to assist in the prevention
and protection of trafficking victims, and to support and train
international law enforcement officials.
My former colleague, the Honorable John Miller, who
represented the First District of Washington from 1985 to 1993
and is currently the Director of the State Department Office to
Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, is here to talk with
us today about his recent travels to observe firsthand the
trafficking crisis going on in the world today.
He will be joined by the Honorable Kent Hill, an Assistant
Administrator at the U.S. Agency for International Development,
who will also testify on the human slavery in the 21st century
and the U.S. Government's efforts to put an end to human
slavery and trafficking practices around the globe.
In addition to our Government witnesses, the subcommittee
will also hear today from several experts in various form of
trafficking and slavery. They are here to assist us in gaining
a better understanding into the current human trafficking
crisis, and how best to counteract these crimes on a global
level. I look forward to hearing their testimony.
Let me just say once again that I just left the
International Relations Committee down the hall. We were
talking about Pakistan and the terrorist threat, and what
Pakistan and other countries are doing to fight it.
That is very important, because terrorism is a horrible
thing. We saw 3,000 people killed in one terrorist incident
here in the United States, the worst attack on American
citizens in the history of our country, and that is terrible.
It is really terrible.
But 27 million people a year around the world are becoming
slaves, and not one camera is in this room. It is amazing to
me. Well, it is just human beings? What the heck? Twenty-seven
million--we ought to all be outraged. We ought to be raising
holy hell with those countries that are allowing this to go on,
and who are not doing anything about it.
[The prepared statement of Hon. Dan Burton follows:]
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[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T3282.002
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T3282.003
Mr. Burton. With that, let me just say, it is nice to see
my colleague Chris here with us today. Do you have an opening
statement you would like to make?
Mr. Shays. I do not have a written statement, Mr. Chairman.
I just want to thank our witnesses, and I want to thank you for
holding this hearing.
I was a little concerned that there may not be many people
at this hearing, because somehow, for some reason, it really
has not caught the imagination of the American people. When the
President talked about this issue in the United Nations, it was
viewed as almost a distraction, and it struck me as an
astounding thing to say.
So this hearing kind of reminds me of the hearings I had on
my National Security Subcommittee before September 11th. We did
not have a lot of people focused on them and we had 22
hearings. There was hardly anyone from the press.
But it is an issue that ultimately, I think, the President
will help others to understand; and the people helping him like
John and others and Kent will help the American people and the
world understand. This is a huge issue, and the United States
is going to play a role in it, whether or not the French give
us permission.
Mr. Burton. Thank you very much; I really appreciate it,
Mr. Shays.
Ms. Watson has joined us. Would you like to make an opening
statement, Ms. Watson?
Ms. Watson. I certainly would. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
According to the latest U.S. Government estimates, over
800,000 to 900,000 people worldwide are trafficked across
borders each year for forced labor or sexual exploitation.
Although men are also victimized, the overwhelming majority of
those trafficked are women and children.
Disturbingly enough, trafficking in people for
prostitution, domestic servitude and forced labor is an
increasing area of international criminal activity. The reasons
for the increase in trafficking are many. In general, the
criminal business feeds on poverty, despair, war, crisis, and
ignorance.
Trafficking is considered one of the largest sources of
profits for organized crime, generating $7 billion to $10
billion annually, according to the United Nations' estimates.
The largest number of victims are annually trafficked from Asia
and the Pacific Region according to our U.S. Department of
State.
The growth of sex tourism in this region is one of the main
contributing factors. Large-scale child prostitution occurs in
many countries. Thailand, Cambodia, and the Philippines are
popular travel destinations for sex tourists, including
pedophiles from Europe, North America, Japan, and Australia.
The former Soviet Union may be the largest new source of
trafficking for prostitution and the sex industry. Other main
source regions include Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa.
Trafficking in children for labor is a serious African problem
in Togo and Benin, as well as in Botswana, Zaire, Somalia,
Ethiopia, Zambia, Nigeria, and Algeria. Victims are taken to
Nigeria, Gabon, Ghana, and South Africa.
Africans, especially women from Nigeria, are trafficked to
Western Europe and the Middle East, and the victims usually end
up in large cities, vacation and tourist areas, or near
military bases, where the demand is the highest.
Mr. Chairman, as you know, Congress passed the Victims of
Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000, which
strengthens many provisions of law dealing with trafficking in
persons for sexual and other exploitation. The International
Relations Committee has amended the act this year again;
however, the main emphasis of the act is to report on and
eliminate trafficking in foreign countries.
As we move forward with today's hearing, Mr. Chairman, on
modern day slavery, I want to ensure that we discuss the
prevalence of slavery and the trafficking problem occurring
through various regions of the world. I hope we also include in
this discussion the trafficking and forced labor that is
occurring today, right here in these United States.
One example of these violations of human rights and U.S.
law has been occurring in my own State, California. Border
patrol agents in California have an overwhelming task in
identifying illegal aliens and stemming their migration.
Organized criminals are challenging law enforcement officials
to meet the demand of poor Latinos and those who would exploit
them.
There are many human rights abuses occurring after being
successfully smuggled across the border. Criminals know that an
illegal alien is in a tenuous predicament that can be taken
advantage of.
An example of violations has been occurring in the
agricultural fields; not only in my own State of California,
but in Florida. On a positive note, a Florida organization
called the Coalition of Immokalee Workers has been heralded for
their world to address modern-day slavery. Together, they have
helped liberate over 1,000 workers held against their will by
employers using violence, in terms of beatings and pistol
whippings, shootings, and the threat of violence.
Their efforts, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of
Justice, has successfully helped prosecute and put trafficking
organizations and employers who use these tactics to suppress
immigrant farm workers behind bars.
So, Mr. Chairman, I look forward to today's testimony; and
I am very concerned about where we are today, in terms of this
trafficking and human rights violations.
I support the efforts of this subcommittee to probe into
this issue. I want to commend you for staying on it. You have
been characterized by your persistence and your commitment.
Again, this is another demonstration of that, and I yield back
my time to you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Burton. Thank you very much; I would like to clarify
one thing. Ms. Watson is absolutely correct. It is 800,000 to
900,000 new slaves per year, but the total is 27 million; and
27 million is just unconscionable.
Mr. Smith has just joined us. Mr. Smith, do you have an
opening statement you would like to make?
Mr. Smith. First of all, I want to thank the chairman for
having this very important hearing. I would ask that my full
statement be made a part of the record.
Mr. Burton. Without objection.
Mr. Smith. You know, I would say to Mr. Burton and he knows
this, we sit next to each other on the International Relations
Committee and work side-by-side on so many human rights issues,
and this is one of them. This one certainly is at the top.
I want to thank John Miller, who is doing an absolutely
splendid job as head of the TIP Office. He has brought a sense
of mission, a sense of that ``fire in the belly'' that this
egregious practice, this modern-day slavery, has to stop, and
we can take the lead in doing that. I want to thank John for
his work. He works at it 24/7 and is doing a great job.
As you know, Mr. Chairman, our bill, the next increment,
the next updating and reforming, hopefully will be on the floor
before we go out of session for this particular session on the
108th Congress; that is to say, within the next 2 weeks or so.
We have been given an assurance by the leadership, and that
is a comprehensive updating, fixing some of the glitches, some
of that which we missed the first time around. Hopefully, it
will give more tools and more appropriate and expanded tools to
the TIP Office, to the State Department, and to all aspects.
Let me also just briefly say, President Bush, I think,
deserved high credit. Not only did he try to rally the member
states at the United Nations so effectively during his speech
there several weeks ago; he has done so much that has never
gotten any kind of coverage the way it ought to.
I was called by a reporter from the New York Times and a
Post reporter. It was like, why is he doing this? I said, well,
frankly, he has been doing it for some time. It has been
largely ignored or not noticed the way it ought to be.
His zero tolerance policy, the work that we have done as a
country in South Korea, trying to mitigate the complicity,
wittingly or unwittingly, of our military with those who have
been coerced into prostitution in South Korea; part two of
that, which is now going on the Balkans, to ensure that peace-
keepers and deployments of police are absolutely on the side of
protection, not on the side of complicity with trafficking;
that is all coming out of the White House, the State Department
and, of course, John Miller's fine office. So I think he really
ought to get high marks for the work he has done.
When we first proposed this bill, and it was a bipartisan
bill, as you know, Mr. Burton, you were part of it; Sam
Gejdenson from Connecticut, and many of us who pushed that so
hard--we were met with disbelief, almost derision, even by some
who should have been our allies.
It took 2 years to get that bill passed. It finally was
signed into law, and now it is being implemented, I think,
effectively; but, of course, we can do more.
So, again, I want to thank you for this opportunity to join
you at this very important hearing.
[The prepared statement of Hon. Christopher H. Smith
follows:]
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Mr. Burton. Well, we appreciate your holding hearings on
this, also, in your Human Rights Subcommittee on International
Relations.
Mr. Miller, Mr. Kent, would you please rise, so we can
swear you in. That is a common practice we have here.
[Witnesses sworn.]
Mr. Burton. John, you do that so well. It is like you have
done that before.
We will recognize you, Mr. Miller.
STATEMENTS OF JOHN MILLER, DIRECTOR-OFFICE TO MONITOR AND
COMBAT TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE; AND
KENT HILL, ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR, U.S. AGENCY FOR
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Mr. Miller. Chairman Burton, Congresswoman Watson,
Congressman Shays, Congressman Smith, thank you for your kind
words. But Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you for holding this
hearing and spotlighting what is the emerging human rights
issue of the 21st century.
When I served with you 10 or 12 years ago, there were many
human rights issues; but I would have to say, this was not at
the top of the agenda then. But we are recognizing that it
belongs just there.
You have a fine panel of witnesses: Kevin Bales, Mohamed
Mattar, Janice Raymond, Andrew Johnson, Sharon Cole, my
colleague, Kent Hill. They are all leaders in this struggle.
Now I was going to talk about the statistics, the laws, the
reports we put out, and I will talk a little about that at the
end. But I want most of my testimony to focus on the victims.
I did come back from a tour around the world, and I want to
just give you three stories of victims. Because the statistics
are important, but we are fighting for individual bodies and
souls.
Let me start off with the story of Sasha, whom I met in the
Netherlands. Sasha is around 30 now. She is from the Czech
Republic. She had a terrible marriage 10 years ago in the Czech
Republic. Her husband beat her. She had a 2-year-old daughter.
A so-called friend of the family said, oh, you can leave,
go to the Netherlands, make money waiting on restaurants, get
enough money to bring your daughter there. He brought her to a
Czech trafficker.
The Czech trafficker drove her and three other Czech woman
to the Netherlands and met a Dutch trafficker. They took them
to the Amsterdam red light district to a brothel and said, this
is where you are going to go to work.
Sasha said, no, this is not what I was told. I will not do
this. They said, yes, you will, if you want your 2-year-old
daughter back in the Czech Republic to live, and she did for
many, many months to pay off her alleged debts, and then to get
money to bring her daughter.
Finally, she brought her daughter. Instead of servicing 10
or 11 men a day, it was 13 or 14 men a day. Then she gets her
daughter there, and she goes to ``work'' in the night, and in
the day, she comes back and she gets her daughter ready for
school. She sleeps, brings her daughter back, and Sasha is in
despair. She is thinking of killing her daughter and committing
suicide.
A miracle happened. She happened to be in a taxi 1 day. The
taxi driver was nice and friendly. She blurted it all out. The
taxi driver said, I am going to help.
He did not go to the police. He organized a gang of young
toughs. They went and confronted the two traffickers. They
said, hand her over. The traffickers said, we will for $20,000
Euros.
They said, no, or you will feel the pain. They handed her
over on condition she not identify her traffickers. Here she
is, years later. She is still in a daze when she tells me this
story. She is now working a hospital, studying social work.
This shows that even in a so-called advanced country like
the Netherlands, there can be extensive and pernicious slavery.
Second story, Thailand, in a shelter, I meet a teenage
girl, Lured. She was taken from a Laotian village, promised a
job, a better life; taken to Bangkok, put in an embroidery
factory, sold, forced to work 12 to 14 hours a day. It was
terrible conditions, no wages at all.
She rebels. She is beaten as an example to the other girls.
She rebels some more. They put her in a small room. The owner's
son fires a BB gun into her cheek. They dump industrial
chemicals on her.
She, like Sasha, is one of the lucky ones. With the
cooperation of NGO's, there is a raid, an escape. Sasha still
has the blotches, the scars on her. She is getting counseling,
plastic surgery. There was a well-publicized prosecution
brought against the factory owner.
She is learning skills now. I hope she will recover. Again,
not from nearby; she came from another country, all the way to
Bangkok.
The last victim's story is Sema, who I met at St.
Catherine's shelter, outside Bombay, India. Sema was brought
from a rural village in India by her stepmother and her uncle
to the Bombay red light district, to a brothel.
While they negotiated downstairs with the brothel owner,
and she could hear them, Sema was taken upstairs and raped. By
the way, the price, ultimately, was $300, and of course, she
was raped and raped and raped and raped.
Sema, again, was one of the ``lucky ones.'' There is a
raid. She ends up at this wonderful shelter, run by this NGO,
St. Catherine's. The NGO's have taken the lead on this. There
are so many wonderful shelters, particularly run by faith-based
groups. Sister Busha is caring for her, nurturing her, and
finally gets Sema to the point where sema goes with some honest
police, back to the village, fingers the stepmother and the
uncle and they are in jail.
Again, Sema is not from another country. But notice, the
slave is rarely from the location where the slavery has taken
place; from a foreign country like Sasha, or in Sema's case,
from a distant province. That is the pattern. That is what is
happening.
Slavery extends into every country in the world. Maybe
there is some island paradise that I am not aware of that does
not have it. But as far as I know, it goes into every country
in the world.
Now I do not want to leave you completely on a negative
note. I want to tell you briefly some good things that have
happened, and they have happened, in part, because of the
legislation that you in Congress passed several years ago.
You asked the State Department to evaluate other countries.
You asked for an evaluation of the United States. It was done
by the Justice Department. This year, you provided the threat,
the possibility of sanctions.
In the couple of months before our report came out in June,
this report where we evaluated 120 countries--we still have not
gotten them all--but the good news is, because of that law that
you passed, and because of the engagement of our embassies, and
because of the threat of sanctions, and because of the
programs, in the 2 or 3 months before that report came out,
countries around the world did more on this than I believe they
had done in several years before.
From the Philippines to Haiti to Burkina Faso, anti-
trafficking laws were passed. There were massive arrests of
traffickers from Serbia to Cambodia.
Then after the report came out, and we had several
countries listed at the bottom in Tier 3, they were worried
that President Bush would impose sanctions. They had 3 months
to shape up. We prepared plans, steps that you must do, if you
want to get off the terrible Tier 3.
Some of these countries were our friends and allies, like
Greece and Turkey. But the interesting thing is, that in 3
months, some of these countries ran public service
announcements, had their Foreign Ministers go on TV and address
the nation. They set up law enforcement training courses to
sensitize their law enforcement. They set up screening and
referral procedures for victims, started distributing money to
NGO's for shelters. They moved to have more arrests.
So we were able to say, well, at least for now, you are
making some significant effort, but this has to continue. We
have to keep the pressure on. Congress has to keep the pressure
on. The NGO's have to keep the pressure on, if we are going to
make progress toward the ultimate goal, which must be the
abolition of slavery in the world.
Thank you for your time.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Miller follows:]
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Mr. Burton. Thank you. That was one of the most vivid bits
of testimony that I have heard before our committee in a long
time. I just wish everybody in the whole country could hear
that.
Congressman Smith, in this bill which we supported and I
thought was very important, I had no idea that there were the
number of people that were in slavery in the world, that we
found out just recently. So you are to be commended for your
hard work, and we appreciate your being here to talk to us
today.
Mr. Smith. Well, when I went around the world, I do not
know how many times NGO representatives, Mr. Chairman, came up
to me, even Government officials--the Government officials may
have denounced the report in public. But they would come up and
say, thank goodness you are doing this. If you did not take the
lead, who would?
Mr. Burton. Well, if we can get just a few of these people
out of slavery, it is worth the effort. But hopefully, we will
get them all, eventually.
Dr. Hill.
Mr. Hill. Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee,
Congressman Smith, it is good to be with you again.
It is ironic, but it was in the 1980's and early 1990's
that John Miller and I and Congressman Smith were engaged in a
very different campaign. It had to do with religious freedom
and human rights in the Soviet Union, and there has been
remarkable change since that time.
Who would have ever thought these years later, we would be
back together, often dealing with that same part of the world?
Because there is no part of the world where the percentage of
the population that is being trafficked is greater. It is a
different kind of human rights abuse than we ever thought would
exist, but it is what we face at the present time.
I am honored to be here and have the opportunity to
followup on the very vivid and wonderful stories that John
Miller has told that put a human face on this, because without
the human face it really does not make much sense.
But this really is an extraordinary tale of the sale and
exploitation of human beings, and it is global in character. It
is not just women or men or children. All of them are
trafficked for forced labor, but a substantial part, as has
been noted, are the children and are the women.
In any circumstance, the traffickers breed on the poverty
and the powerlessness of the victims, and the greed and the
immorality of the perpetrators. This sale and this exploitation
of human beings is often dominated by criminal networks. Human
trafficking is highly profitable and a relatively low risk
activity for the criminals involved.
Like other criminal activities, it thrives within and
contributes to conditions of official corruption and weak law
enforcement. But here is the part that we have often forgotten.
Trafficking is both a supply and a demand-driven industry. The
persistent demand for cheap labor and increasingly created
demand for services of prostitutes and child pornography
through the Internet feed the trafficking industry.
At USAID, we believe that both the conditions that lead to
a supply of individuals who are vulnerable to traffickers and
the attitudes of those waiting to exploit those victims
sexually or economically must be addressed.
We see prostitution as inherently degrading to those who
are sexually exploited, and as a factor in fueling the trade in
humans. Thus, we completely oppose the legalization or
normalization of prostitution as a legitimate activity. To take
any other position provides traffickers with an open door to
trade and exploit the most vulnerable members of the human
family.
USAID began to mount anti-trafficking efforts in a few
countries in the late 1990's. The agency now has a worldwide
effort with activities in about 40 countries. USAID has made
steady progress increasing the volume and the geographic
coverage of its anti-trafficking assistance.
Obligations in 2001 reached $6.7 million. By 2002, they had
risen to $10.7 million; and this year, we expect to obligate
over $15 million.
The broad range of USAID development assistance programs
reinforces the agency's direct anti-trafficking efforts by
helping to reduce vulnerability to trafficking through
activities that reduce poverty, strengthen governance and rule
of law, decreasing conflict, increasing economic opportunities
for woman and men, and increasing girls' access to quality
education.
Let me say something about the USAID policies with respect
to how we do this work. In February 2003, USAID released its
anti-trafficking program statement and a strategy for response,
and I think you have a copy of this.
I want to underline some of the principles that are in this
document. First, anti-trafficking activities are focused on
prevention of trafficking, protection of victims, and
prosecution of those who are involved; the so-called three
``Ps.''
Development efforts that support and reinforce direct anti-
trafficking activities, girls' education, reduction of violence
against women, the promotion of their rights, poverty
reduction, administration of justice, and refugee assistance
all have to be a part of that strategy.
Partnerships with organizations, whether they are domestic
NGO's, international NGO's, or other countries must be a part
of what we are doing to fight these victims of prostitution and
trafficking.
The strategy specifies how USAID will implement its
activities through partnerships. In keeping with the
administration's position that prostitution is degrading to
women, USAID's strategy states, ``Organizations advocating
prostitution as an employment choice, or which advocate or
support the legalization of prostitution are not appropriate
partners for USAID anti-trafficking grants or contracts.
Missions will avoid contracting or assistance agreement with
such organizations that are primary or sub-grantees or
contractors.''
Recognizing that USAID staff or contractors may come in
contact from to time to time with individuals who have been
trafficked whom they cannot and should not ignore, the strategy
goes on to state, ``In the course of their development work,
especially with diseases and HIV/AIDS and programs like that,
USAID staff and primary grantees, sub-grantees, contractors,
and sub-contractors may become aware of such individuals who
have been trafficked for sexual exploitation. When this occurs,
USAID staff or grantees or contractors should report this
information to the United States embassy officer who handles
trafficking.''
Now let me just give you a few quick, selected activities,
examples of the work we do to try to deal with the kinds of
people that John Miller talked about. I would refer you to the
written testimony, which contains considerably more detail; but
let me just give you a couple of examples.
In Ukraine, we have a trafficking prevention project, which
addresses two key factors: the vulnerability of Ukrainian women
to trafficking, and thus, it deals with economic opportunities
and it deals with violence against women. There are seven
regional centers throughout Ukraine that deal with this.
We also, when I first got here, helped put together a film
with movie stars that were recognized in Ukraine, which
dramatized the stories of Sasha and others, and that
communicates sometimes better than can any kind of brochure
with statistics on it.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, rebel forces and
militia will sometimes traffic young children and make them
into soldiers and combatants. A lot of our work in some of
these countries, Uganda, Congo, etc., has to do with rescuing
these young people, and once we find them, trying to help
rehabilitate them.
In Sudan, this is a problem, where there are abductions,
and we try to document and collect information on the
trafficking routes and on the abductions, and try to have
public awareness campaigns to try to put a stop to this.
You know, one of the largest source countries for
trafficking victims in the Western Hemisphere is the Dominican
Republic. The USAID mission in the Dominican Republic is
supporting implementation of new anti-trafficking legislation
by training Justice Sector personnel and other government
officials on how to deal with this problem.
Brazil is another serious problem, and we work there with
all these same strategies, and I could go on through the other
countries, as well.
But let me just say this in conclusion. USAID's commitment
to fight all forms of trafficking in persons is deep and long-
term. Yet, I would be less than honest if I did not tell you
that the challenges ahead are very great, indeed.
As I have said, this is not only a very lucrative task for
criminals to be involved in, but it is still one that they do
not feel much pressure to stop.
We must be just as agile in shifting our strategies for
continually cutting the ground out from underneath these
criminals, as they are in shifting strategies to continue to
deal in human misery.
As President George W. Bush put it on September 23rd before
the United Nations General Assembly, ``The trade in human
beings for any purpose must not be allowed to thrive in our
time.''
USAID is committed to playing its part in effectively
combating the evil of trafficking in persons. Our success
ultimately will be measured by the assistance in healing that
we provide to the victims; but maybe more importantly and
ultimately to the hundreds of thousands we hope to prevent from
ever suffering the horrible degradation that accompanies this
modern-day slavery, which is trafficking. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Hill follows:]
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Mr. Burton. Thank you, Dr. Hill. I just have a couple of
questions. You know, one of the things that we have been doing
to try to get Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein is, we have
offered substantial rewards for them. I understand that if you
are talking about a worldwide slave problem, you are not going
to be able to have huge rewards offered.
But has our Government offered any kind of reward for
turning in people who are in involved in major slave trading;
and is that something that we might consider? Because, you
know, the almighty dollar, or whatever the currency happens to
be, does carry a pretty good amount of weight. If people who
know of slave trading knew they could make a little bit of
money out of it, they might turn some of these people in, which
might put more onerous on the people who are involved in this.
So has that ever been considered?
Mr. Hill. I do not know that it has been considered. I do
not know that it should not be considered. But I think we are
also of the opinion that if we did a better job of pricking the
conscience and raising the awareness of the population in
general, we also might get much more involvement. But I
certainly would not rule out considering that as a strategy. It
does sometimes work.
Mr. Burton. Well, I would like to think that the conscience
of humanity would want people to turn in slave traders. But I
think being realistic, there are people who would do it for
money, that would not do it because their conscience did not
dictate that they should get that involved. ``Money talks and
baloney walks'' is a statement around many parts of Government,
and I think that is one of the things that we ought to
consider.
Chris, when we are talking about legislative proposals, I
think that is one of the things that we ought to do, to talk
about our Government. When we appropriate money for this, and I
think there was $100 million that has been appropriated, maybe
we should suggest that part of that $100 million be used for
rewards for people who turn in these people.
Once you do that, once you start that procedure moving in
the right direction, it probably would scare some of these
people that are involved in slave trading.
Ms. Watson. Would you yield, Mr. Chairman?
Mr. Burton. Sure.
Ms. Watson. I think I have a recommendation that if we
expanded, might be effective. Would we want, in exchange for
our aid, for them to sign that they will come up with law
enforcement, in terms of the traffickers, to receive these
moneys that you give?
Mr. Burton. Well, I think that is another good idea.
Ms. Watson. Yes, I just wanted to mention that.
Mr. Burton. Chris is here. He is the person who has been
one of the keystones of this. Maybe we should condition our
foreign aid on governments doing what they can to deal with
this.
Mr. Smith. Well, if the gentleman would yield, your comment
about--right now, if somebody turns in a terrorist, obviously,
there is a rewards program. This is something we really should
take a good look at, because I think it has some real merit.
Right now, we use more of a stick. Although we have carrots
in there, as well, the stick is that non-humanitarian aid,
after this 3-year phase in, and this was the year that the
sanctions regime kicked in.
I think as Mr. Miller pointed out, never have we seen such
a focus of mind by these foreign capitals than as the deadline
for making a determination approaches. Sanctions work. You
know, the best sanction, like the best military, is the one
that you do not have to use, because it deterred criminal or
egregious behavior.
But it seems to me that we need to get this message out,
not just in the trafficking area, but in all human rights law,
and I see David Abramowitz is here, who was worked so closely
with us on the Democratic side and Sam Gejdenson, who was the
prime co-sponsor of this bill.
You know, we ran into a flurry of negatives from people at
the State Department and elsewhere, who did not want to name
names, which the report does, and did want to have the
sanctions regime. We are talking about sanctioning, which
probably is the wrong word to use, withholding non-humanitarian
aid to those that engage in Tier 3 type of behavior.
Mr. Burton. Well, let me just say that I think that is
good. I think rewards might be another tool that might be used.
The last thing I would like to mention before I yield to my
colleague, Ms. Watson, is the Internet. You know, a lot of the
child pornography in a lot of these countries where they
provide trips to places like the Philippines, where men go over
there and they are involved with kids in sexual activities, it
seems to me that our Government could be involved in some way
in monitoring, and I know the Internet is a huge thing to deal
with, but we could do it on a routine basis.
If we could monitor those sites, I think it would put the
fear of God into some of these people, if they knew we were
going to catch them, and that we were going to insist that
their governments take them to task for being involved in this
slave trading.
So I do not know if you are already doing that. You may be.
But that is just another suggestion that comes to mind: rewards
and then dealing with the Internet.
Mr. Miller. They are both suggestions to be considered. It
is interesting, Mr. Chairman, that you mentioned the Internet
and the tourism. You are getting at the sex tourism.
Mr. Burton. Yes.
Mr. Miller. What really moved the President, in making his
proposal at the U.N. General Assembly and pledging an
additional $50 million is, he has been horrified by the sex
tourism that is going on in this world that is a primary force
driving child prostitution.
So he wants, yes, to work on where it is happening. But he
is aware that there is a demand factor, which is what you are
getting, where the people are coming from through the Internet
or whatever. In this coming several months, I hope that our
office will try to come up with a program to address the demand
side.
I visited a village in Thailand where this sex tourism was
going on. I talked to some of the children, and let me tell
you, the so-called customers were not Thais. They were wealthy
people coming from Holland, England, the United States, and
Japan.
Mr. Burton. Right, well, anyhow, those are just a few
suggestions. You probably are way ahead of us on this issue.
Mr. Miller. They are good.
Mr. Burton. Mr. Shays, the vice chairman of the committee?
Mr. Shays. I just would love it if you would just yield to
me 1 second.
Mr. Burton. Yes.
Mr. Shays. I never say when I am leaving, my apologies. I
have an appointment, and I am going to come back here hopefully
for the second witnesses.
But I feel a little guilty leaving before they have spoken,
because I know they have very important things to say and on
something so sensitive. I cannot change this appointment. I
will be back as soon as it is over.
Mr. Burton. Thank you, Mr. Shays, we appreciate that.
Ms. Watson.
Ms. Watson. I know that President Bush has put together a
Cabinet level inter-agency task force to monitor and to combat
trafficking. How can the Department of State and Congress
ensure that these policies are implemented? I will just throw
that out to whoever can respond.
Mr. Miller. Well, Congresswoman Watson, there is an inter-
agency task force. It was set up in your legislation. It was
also set up in the President's Executive order implementing
that legislation of last December.
That task force is tentatively scheduled to meet December
8th. It has the high level representation. My office serves
that task force; and one of the purposes of that task force,
and another group that you set up in legislation last March,
the Senior Policy Operating Group which I chair, is to bring
people from all these agencies together to make sure that we
are not duplicating; that we are coordinating; that we are
speaking with one voice; that we are carrying out policies that
the Congress and the President have set.
So that is the task ahead of us. If we fail to do this in
any way or you find where we are not, I hope you will
personally call me and let me know.
Ms. Watson. If I might respond, it seems that we are going
to have to have a committed buy-in from governments of various
nations.
Now the Netherlands has legalized prostitution, and they
are the Tier 1, and I am sure there are other countries. But a
lot of the developing countries that have not need to probably
come at this from a philosophical and conceptual standpoint.
You know, what do you want for your children in the future, for
your women, and I am sure there are young boys, as well? So
would it be possible to go to the U.N. and have a specifically
structured conference in one of their subcommittees on this
whole idea of sex trafficking and tourism?
Mr. Miller. I think it would. I like the idea of focusing
on the sex tourism. Because I will tell you that we have had a
lot of conferences in the general area of trafficking, and they
are good. They have spotlighted the issue, but now we are at a
point were we have to act.
So I would want to make sure that if there was a
conference, it was not just to have everybody get together and
denounce sex tourism; but to make sure there is a concrete
agenda and concrete steps that are going to be taken by
governments to combat this.
Ms. Watson. Yes, I suspect that there are many nations that
consider the sex trafficking as part of their economic base and
really do not want us being proactive or being effective in
this area.
So that is why I said we will have to come at it. We have
to change the way they think about their economic development;
and we have to help them to change the way they think about the
treatment of their women and their children.
Mr. Miller. You are so right, because this starts with
public awareness.
Ms. Watson. Right.
Mr. Miller. I think in this country, if you raise this
issue, there are probably people that would say, slavery, I
thought it ended with the American Civil War.
So, yes, we have to raise public awareness. We have to work
with governments. You were right; once this gets to the point
where it is extensive, where it is either legalized, or even if
it is illegal but tolerated, and it becomes a sector of the
economy and organized crime is involved, and there is huge
money involved, that just increases the difficulty of the task.
Ms. Watson. I think everybody in this room is in accord. We
just have to be creative with how we go about finding
solutions. Because it is a problem that has plagued the world
for as long as man and woman have been in existence.
In some way, I guess we have to model what we stand for. We
have pornography all over the Internet now. You just have to
turn on your TV and see that there are people from every walk
of life who are practicing in this, and we are talking about
going global.
But we really need to start taking some very definite
steps. I would think that not making foreign aid a condition of
you signing off, but having people sign off that they will do
all they can to curtail this practice, I think, is the way to
go; not holding back humanitarian aid. Because it gets in then
to something else, and we do not want to deprive people of what
they really need.
But I do think that part of awareness could be that they do
sign a statement that they will come up with a policy over a
period of time within their country to address this problem.
Mr. Miller. I think that is another suggestion worth
considering. The sanctions legislation does not lead to
prohibiting humanitarian aid. That is excepted.
Ms. Watson. Yes.
Mr. Miller. But you are turning it around and putting a
positive pledge spin on it, and I think that is definitely
something to be considered.
Ms. Watson. Thank you very much.
Mr. Burton. Thank you, Ms. Watson.
Mr. Smith.
Mr. Smith. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
I would like to recognize a good friend and former
colleague, Dick Zimmer, who is with us today, and thank you for
joining us and for your work on this, as well.
I would also like to say to Dr. Ken Hill that I remember
fondly those many years we spend fighting religious bigotry and
prejudice and discrimination, and his book, ``The Puzzle of the
Soviet Church'' was a book I read and from which I learned a
great deal about what was going on in what is now Russia. It
was then the full Soviet Union. So thank you for your
outstanding work, as well.
I do have a couple of questions. Mr. Miller, you might want
to respond to this. When the President took some 10 countries
from Tier 2 to Tier 3, you noted and, as a matter of fact, you
chronicled some of the very significant changes that were made.
As you pointed out, all of a sudden there was a focus; all
of a sudden, there was a flurry of activity; good, positive,
new laws were enacted; crackdowns on brothels and formerly
trafficked women became liberated women and the traffickers
held to account.
My question is--and I would ask that Mr. Miller's
statement, if you have not done this already, be made a part of
the record--explaining those 10 countries and why they went
from Tier 2 to Tier 3, because it is encouraging, but it is
only the beginning, as we all know.
My concern is that this be a sustainable pressure. You
know, we have seen this with many human rights issues and even
hunger issues. I will never forget, after the first famine in
Ethiopia, when the second famine rolled around and hundreds of
thousands of people were dying, it was almost as if, well, did
we not handle that issue before? People's compassion for that
fatigue had been spent and they moved on to other things.
I hope that we do not have that same crescendo of concern
that is then dissipated through whatever. It seems to me that
you have some tools at your disposal; one of them being that
you can issue interim reports, as the need arises, when there
is a back-sliding in the country.
I hope our Ambassadors have been encouraged or even
admonished to say, the pressure is not off. You know, these
sanctions in Tier 3, a naming or branding can happen at any
time; and certainly, if there is not sustainable and serious
progress, it will happen when the next round comes around next
year.
We have to convey that, as much as we can, and this
hearing, I think, helps to do that; that this is not going
away. We are increasing, rather than decreasing. This is a
winnable war, just like ending the slave trade and the famous
William Wilberforce and the others who fought and ended that
slave trade, because they never gave up. I think we have to
have that same tenacity. So if you could touch on that, please.
Second, I would ask Dr. Hill this. We have authorized
levels in our new bill, and I hope it will be up next week. It
provides increases in every area, including money that goes to
aid for shelters and the like.
Two years ago, I offered an amendment to the appropriations
bill, to just meet the authorized levels of $30 million that
was in the Foreign Operations bill with part of that going to
shelters and overseas efforts to really help the women right
where they are.
It passed. It came out of conference down about $8 million;
and the excuse that was given to me by Flickner, the staff
director for the Foreign Operations, was that they cannot
absorb it all. It was conveyed to them from AID that they
cannot absorb this additional money.
I said, you know, even if these funds are not obligated
immediately, they can remain unobligated; and certainly we can
find sufficient numbers of shelters and programs out there to
absorb not just $30 million, but much, much more than that.
Mr. Burton. If the gentleman would yield.
Mr. Smith. Sure.
Mr. Burton. You know, we talked about rewards a while ago.
If they said they could not absorb the extra $8 million, why
not put that into a fund saying, there is $8 million, and we
will be giving $10,000 or $15,000 or whatever the amount would
be, that would induce people to turn in these traffickers?
It seems to me, that would not require an awful lot of
effort to figure out a way to spend that. Once people find out
that there is a fund set up to nail the bad guys, we will get
some of the bad guys.
Mr. Smith. I appreciate the comment; the point obviously
being that when Charlie Flickner and others are telling me that
is what they can get out of conference because there was
insufficient absorption capability, I find that extremely
troubling. I find it to be questionable as to its validity, as
well. Maybe you want to touch on that.
You know, we need to be creative. We created this law to
think outside the box. We did not want to just ascribe money
already spent to trafficking. We wanted to see some new money
flowing in to mitigate this problem.
Third, if I could, I will just take a moment and then
yield, on the demand side--perhaps, Mr. Miller, you might want
to touch on the outstanding work that our administration is
doing to try to reign-in on military deployments, starting with
South Korea and Bosnia, and efforts that are underway.
We recently contacted Secretary Armitage to ask that NATO
adopt such a zero tolerance policy, so that all of the peace-
keepers in the U.N. ought to be doing it, as well. Finally, Mr.
Miller, on Russia, Ms. Ileana, who has introduced the pending
legislation--that legislation, to the best of my knowledge,
still has not passed.
I met up with her at a parliamentary assembly in Rome just
3 weeks ago along with Dorothy Taft, our chief of staff, and I
had a long talk with her. She is running into opposition.
One of the reasons why I thought Russia went from Tier 3 to
Tier 2 was the pending matter of that legislation becoming law,
which would have put them, at least on paper, almost identical
in terms of where we are, in terms of our law. What are you
hearing from Russia, if you could touch on that; and maybe Dr.
Hill can answer that.
Mr. Miller. OK, I think there were three questions, and two
for you.
Mr. Hill. Right.
Mr. Miller. First, on the pressure on the 10 countries. To
sustain pressure in a lot of countries, you are absolutely
right. Of course, you have been a bulldog, Congressman Smith,
in making sure our Government does sustain pressure.
I put in front of you, or my staff did, and maybe it did
not get on your seat--but we put a copy of a letter, and if you
do not have it we will get it to you--that was sent to the
Hill. Congressman Pitts was going to distribute it as a ``Dear
Colleague.''
He asked for specific steps that were taken by each of
these countries that we required. So for every country, we have
listed the specific steps that they took, that justified their
rising to Tier 2.
But the question is, are they going to continue? One
country, and I hate to single one country out, but Greece came
with a rush at the last minute, the last week. So we provided
that we are going to do a re-evaluation in 2 months, to make
sure that all these things you did at the last minute continue.
We have to do that. There is no question about.
Yes, go ahead.
Mr. Burton. I was going to say, would the gentleman yield
on your time?
One of the things that just came to mind, and this goes
along with what Chris was talking about, the IMF and the World
Bank, have they done anything or used their power in any way to
deal with the slavery issue?
Mr. Miller. I am not aware of any action, are you, Kent, of
the IMF?
Mr. Hill. IMF and the World Bank, you know, we contribute
an awful lot to those two funds; and it seems to me that when
they are granting loans to Third World countries who need the
money so desperately, one of the conditions ought to be, and
our members of the IMF and the World Bank should say, that one
of the conditions for the loans should be that you make a
concerted effort to deal with the slave trade.
Mr. Miller. That is a very intriguing idea. I will take
that idea back with me. I may find that they are doing more
than I think. But I am not aware of their taking specific
action.
Mr. Hill. Where we are exerting pressure is through the EU
requirement that for accession to the EU, these countries are
supposed to be doing things in this. This is also supplementing
the pressure from the U.S. Congress, which we are trying to get
the maximum pressure out of that.
So we have a little more pressure that we can apply in
Eastern Europe than we do in Euro-Asia right now in the former
Soviet Union. But I think any direction we can get the pressure
from, we ought to activate it.
Mr. Burton. If the gentleman would yield further, I think
that kind of pressure is very important. But I am one of those
guys that believes that money has a tremendous amount of
influence on people. I could be wrong. [Laughter.]
I think that if the World Bank and the IMF and our people
on the boards of those institutions would say that has to be a
condition for loans, it would carry a lot of weight, as well as
the reward situation that we talked about.
Mr. Miller. The challenge would be, of course, in drafting
the condition.
Mr. Burton. That should not be a problem. You know, we give
money to those institutions to loan out to the rest of the
world; and it seems to me it should not be any real difficulty
for the Board to sit down and say, here is the requirement and
then vote on it and put it into force. That is not a big issue.
Mr. Miller. I will carry your idea back to the Treasury
Department that deals with those organizations. Congressman
Smith, I think you left us with a couple other questions.
You mentioned the military, and that is an issue where you
have been involved. It is regrettable, but true, that military
peacekeepers, aid workers, for that matter, in post-conflict
situations frequently, through participating in prostitution,
contribute to the phenomenon of trafficking.
Your work helped lead to an IG investigation by the Defense
Department of what was going on in Korea. I think that
department has undertaken a number of steps in South Korea,
including putting clubs off limits, improving communications
with South Korean authorities, etc.
The President called for a zero tolerance policy on all
Government personnel, including our contractors, and this is
something that we have to enforce throughout the world.
Certainly the U.S. military or any other military that we are
working with should not be exempt.
Mr. Hill is going to comment on Russia and maybe I will add
something to that after you finish, Kent.
Mr. Hill. Two points, on absorptive capacity, Charlie and I
need to have a conversation about whether we could do something
more with money to spend there. I think we definitely can. I
think there is no question that the need is great.
We were thrilled when the President made the additional
commitment. We have been putting our heads together, thinking
about the ways we can make a difference, so I am very
committed.
Let me just give you an example of the sorts of things that
we could do with more money. We have shelters in different
parts of the world, but a lot of times they are very short-term
shelters. So a lot of times, it is not uncommon for a woman to
be in a shelter and somehow, because she has no way to really
escape her plight, she ends up back in the same boat again. If
there was a longer term, more serious exposure to help, it
would make a big difference.
This could include, for example, as we are doing in
Romania, for example, combining micro-enterprise work with the
shelter. We can do that. The only reason we do not do it is
because of lack of funds.
There is a lot more that can be done on the public
awareness side that I think would make a difference. There is a
whole series of things that I am convinced we could
successfully spend much more money on and have a bigger impact
than we do at present.
The Russia issue is a very interesting one. We have been
following this now for about 3 or 4 years, since the first
version of an anti-trafficking law surfaced. That was a very
strong law. Then somehow, a weaker law got into the mix, and
then a stronger law was back in.
Recently, within the last few weeks, there was real concern
that there was pressure building in Russia for some major
weakening of the anti-trafficking law that was being considered
this fall and this winter.
The Ambassador, Ambassador Birchbow, was sufficiently
fearful about this, that he wrote a very strong piece that was
published in a Russian newspaper, in which he warned the
Russian Government about the dangers of backing away from a
very strong law. So we were kind of waiting to see what the
next action would be.
Well, the news is quite encouraging, and I have in front of
me, in fact, the speech that Vladimir Putin gave in the Kremlin
2 days ago, in which he took a very strong stand. In fact, on
that day, on Monday, he introduced new amendments to the law,
which actually strengthen it in very significant ways.
Now it is true, there was another agenda here. The agenda
is, he is trying to explain to the world his actions right now
against one of the wealthiest men in Russia, Horakowski, and he
is trying to suggest that the rule of law is now coming into
play in Russia in a much bigger and newer way. An example of
that was his strong stance on anti-trafficking.
Now some are suspicious that there is more going on than
rule of law, when dealing with some of his opponents who
support other political parties. But I do not know anybody, or
very few, who do not applaud what he has done here with respect
to this law.
The cable that I read just this morning from Moscow
suggests that there is reason to believe that by the end of
this year, within just a few weeks, this new tougher law will
go into effect with the President's support, and that is the
word I am getting, not only from the Embassy, but from our
anti-trafficking friends from the International NGO community.
Mr. Miller. I am going to add one thing to that. We have
been waiting for this law. This law was offered as the promised
action that should keep Russia from being on Tier 3, last June.
Drafts of this have been circulating now for almost a year.
It was supposed to pass last June. It did not. I am
delighted that President Putin, 2 days ago, made this speech;
and I am delighted that he is behind it. But I think it
behooves all of us to let people in Russia know how important
this is to get it passed. Because the excuse that is always
offered for inaction in Russia on this issue is, there is no
law.
President Bush took this up with President Putin at his
recent meeting. When I was in Moscow, 3 weeks ago, every
meeting I had, I pushed this issue. I hope they pass the law
this year; and even more important, I hope they then enforce
the law and throw some of these traffickers in jail and rescue
some of the victims.
Mr. Smith. I appreciate that very much, and thank you for
that update as well as the very strong statement. If I could,
Mr. Chairman, I have other questions but I will submit them.
Just in answer to your earlier question, the original law
does give the ability to the President to direct our Executive
Directors at the IMF and other multi-lateral lending
institutions to vote against and to speak out against loans to
countries that are on Tier 3.
But I think you asked the larger question that, as a
condition or a pre-condition to getting those loans themselves,
the IMF and the others ought to have a criteria that includes
trafficking. I think that is very, very important. That would
really send a message. Right now, we are one vote and voice,
among a board that would decide a loan, and if we raised this,
we could be out-voted. But you are suggesting a larger message,
and I think it is a very good idea.
Mr. Burton. Well, I would suggest to my colleague, if he
would yield to me real quickly, that maybe we draft a letter to
the IMF and the World Bank, and I am sure we could get a lot of
Members of Congress to sign it and send it to them, urging them
to include this in the criteria that must be used to give a
loan to a Third World country from the IMF head of the World
Bank.
Do you have any other questions, Mr. Smith?
Mr. Smith. No.
Mr. Burton. Well, I want to thank you, John.
Oh, do you have another question? Excuse me, I am sorry,
Ms. Watson, go ahead.
Ms. Watson. Mr. Chairman, thank you; this is a very
personal and directed question. I had gotten a call from a
constituent, but Radio-Free Europe just this week reported on
Gulnora Karimova, and you might be familiar with that name. I
am going to give you this memo.
She is the daughter of the President of Uzbekistan, and I
understand she is making a lot of money trafficking in
prostitutes. Her travel agency has been awarded a monopoly on
travel from Uzbekistan to Dubai. It was reported that most of
the people who use this service are young Uzbeki women, who are
being transported to the United Arab Emirates for purposes of
prostitution.
When President Bush spoke at the United Nations last month,
he had strongly condemned sex trade. The priority Congress has
given to the issue makes it a primary issue that we need to go
after. So I would want to know what the State Department is
doing about this situation in Uzbekistan, and I will give you
this memo. You can respond and I will share it with my
colleagues.
Mr. Miller. I would appreciate that and we will get back to
you.
Ms. Watson. All right.
[The information referred to follows:]
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Mr. Burton. Well, thank you, Ms. Watson and John, my former
colleague. It is nice to see you. We appreciate your enthusiasm
for the position you now occupy.
Dr. Hill, thank you very much for your statements, as well,
and your hard work. We will look forward to working with you in
the future, and we will send you a copy of our letter that we
send to the IMF and the World Bank.
Regarding that $8 million that they cut out because you
could not use it, you let us know when that comes up again and
we will see if we cannot put that in the reward fund, OK;
thanks an awful lot.
Our next panel is Mr. Kevin Bales. He is president of the
Free the Slaves organization; Ms. Sharon Cohn, director of
Anti-Trafficking, International Justice Mission; Dr. Mohamed
Mattar, co-director of the Protection Project, Johns Hopkins
University of Advanced International Studies; Mr. Andrew
Johnson, office director, Save the Children Federation; and Dr.
Janice Raymond, co-executive director of the Coalition Against
Trafficking in Women.
Would you gentlemen and ladies come forward and we will
swear you in. Mr. Bales is on a plane right now and he will be
here for the conclusion of the hearing. Could you stand up and
I will swear you in. It is a common procedure we have here.
[Witnesses sworn.]
Mr. Burton. Do we have you in the right order: Dr. Mattar,
Ms. Cohn, Mr. Johnson, and Dr. Raymond? OK, I think we probably
normally start with ladies first. Is that what you prefer
today? Let us start with Dr. Raymond and we will just go this
way. You are recognized for 5 minutes, Doctor.
STATEMENTS OF JANICE RAYMOND, CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, COALITION
AGAINST TRAFFICKING IN WOMEN; ANDREW JOHNSON, SAVE THE CHILDREN
FEDERATION; SHARON COHN, DIRECTOR, ANTI-TRAFFICKING,
INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE MISSION; MOHAMED MATTAR, CO-DIRECTOR OF
THE PROTECTION PROJECT, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF
ADVANCED INTERNATIONAL STUDIES; AND KEVIN BALES, PRESIDENT,
FREE THE SLAVES
Ms. Raymond. Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee,
thank you for the opportunity of presenting testimony before
this committee. To put my remarks in context, I should tell you
that my organization, the Coalition Against Trafficking in
Women, has been working for 15 years to promote women's and
children's right to be free of sexual exploitation.
We have organizations in most of the major world regions,
and we conducted the first U.S.-based study, funded by the
National Institute of Justice, beginning in 1998, that
interviewed numbers of trafficking victims.
I will not go over the numbers, since many of the speakers
have already addressed that, as well as you, Mr. Chairman. But
I would like to say some things on the policy level.
The first thing that I would like to say is that sex
trafficking depends upon globalization of the sex industry. As
many of us already know, globalization of the sex industry
means that countries are under an illusion if they think they
can address trafficking without addressing prostitution.
I am going to use a term here which we use called state-
sponsored prostitution. We believe that state-sponsored
prostitution is a root cause of trafficking. We call legalized
or regulated prostitution, state-sponsored prostitution, and
many of these systems vary somewhat. But the common element, of
course, is that the state becomes tolerant and accepts the
system of prostitution and, in most cases, benefits from it.
We have found that there is a fundamental connection
between the legal recognition of prostitution industries and
the increase in victims of trafficking. No where do we see this
relationship more clearly than in countries advocating
prostitution as an employment choice; or who foster outright
legalization; or who support the decriminalization of the sex
industry.
The Netherlands is a case in point here. Director Miller
and others have mentioned the Netherlands. One argument for
legalizing prostitution in the Netherlands is that it would
help end the use and abuse of desperate immigrant women who
were trafficked there.
But several reports have been done on the Netherlands, and
it is widely now agreed that 80 percent of the women in the
brothels in the Netherlands are trafficked from other
countries.
The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women commends the
efforts of Director Miller of the Trafficking in Persons Office
and his staff. He has provided much needed leadership in this
position. But both he and we know that much more needs to be
done.
Each year, as has already been discussed, the United States
has mandated under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act to
provide a report on countries' efforts to combat trafficking in
persons.
Unfortunately, there are countries, as Congresswoman Watson
has already mentioned, such as the Netherlands, and Germany is
another one, that are ranked in Tier 1, the top-most category.
These two countries have legalized or de-criminalized the
prostitution industries.
We and other NGO's have recommended that no country
legalizing prostitution should be in Tier 1 because these
countries have legalized brothels and pimping that contribute,
in the words of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, to
significant numbers of women being trafficked for sexual
exploitation.
So we think that needs work. We know that this is a very
sensitive issue, but we are seeing this all over Europe, in
particular. We are seeing this also in other countries, as
well. But we are really facing a public policy crisis in terms
of the trend toward legalization in other parts of the world.
One other thing, Mr. Chairman, specifically that I would
like to mention is the National Security Presidential
Directive, which others have already mentioned, as well,
stating that prostitution and related activities are inherently
harmful, dehumanizing, and identifying these activities as
contributing to trafficking.
That policy, as we know, directs all agencies to review
matters, including their grantmaking actions. We applaud this
policy, but we caution that any policy is only as good as its
implementation. One problem is that US NGO's supporting
prostitution as work and decriminalization of the sex industry
are still being funded.
We understand that this takes a while. We certainly hope
that we will see different action on this; but meanwhile groups
and NGO's that we work with, who have submitted proposals, have
not yet been funded.
I did receive some good news today from Director Miller
that one of those groups is being funded, and we are very
grateful for that, but we think we have a ways to go in terms
of the funding of groups, feminist groups, faith-based groups,
who do support the Presidential directive. This, I might say,
is an issue that really crosses a lot of political boundaries.
So I think we have reached a point in our anti-trafficking
work where in order to realize our goals of combating
trafficking, we must do a lot more than issue a policy and, as
the old saying goes, Government must be willing to place its
money where its mouth is. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Raymond follows:]
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Mr. Burton. Thank you, Dr. Raymond.
Mr. Johnson, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. Johnson. On behalf of Save the Children, I would like
to thank the committee here today for the opportunity to speak
about the global situation of children caught up in human
trafficking and slavery. In my presentation today, I would like
to focus on children trafficking to the sex trade and those
children caught up in cycles of slavery throughout the world.
You have heard from Mr. Miller about the stories of Sasha,
Lured, and Sema, and I would like to talk to you about a story
of my own.
There was a young girl who I met 3 or 4 years ago. Her name
was Sumi. She was a girl like any other at the age of 11, who
had hopes and desires to be something some day, to be someone
some day. But her circumstances were very different.
She was born into a brothel village, and the brothel
village was near hundreds of tiny sheds, in which women were
kept more or less enslaved by the pimps and the brothel owners
who serviced over 15 to 20 clients per day.
Sumi, herself, was actually housed in the same apartment,
the same small shed, in which her mother had to service her
clients. So life was very difficult for her. So unlike the
other stories that you see that the bondage, the slavery is
generational; her mother and then Sumi.
What was happening with the children is that while their
mothers were being forced to work, they were out drinking,
taking drugs, and then unfortunately, when the girls reached
the age of 14, they would then take on the roles that their
mothers had taken on, and would become enslaved with the same
pimps. The people who were exploiting their mothers would then
become their own.
We learned of her plight and were able to establish a safe
house for Sumi and 30 other children who were in this brothel
village. We were able to go to the community, to go to the
local schools, to ensure that she actually got the education to
which she was denied through stigmatization and discrimination.
Today, and I just checked the other day, she had told me 3
years ago that she wanted to be a journalist. She is top in her
class right now, and today she still wants to be a journalist.
So there are effective things that both Government and non-
Government organizations can do to stop the cycle.
You have already heard about the figures today, so I will
not go into those. But to give you some background about the
families and the situations that lead children to be
trafficked, most trafficked children obviously come from poor
families in economically disadvantaged countries of widespread
poverty, where combinations of poverty, unemployment, armed
violence, ethnic and racial conflicts, environmental
degradation, abuse of power and corruption exist.
Though boys are known to be trafficked for sexual purposes,
as in general prostitution, adolescent girls represent the most
significant numbers of victims. In many countries, girls'
vulnerability to trafficking is due to their low status in
their community.
Save the Children's research displays a great variety of
the ways in which traffickers operate and the conditions under
which children are sexually exploited. Children are trafficked
through deception, abduction, through their own choice and, in
some cases, as we heard earlier today, through their care-
givers selling them off.
One example of our research was in Albania, and a typical
form of deception is through the false offer of marriage from a
trafficker. Funding from the Save the Children repatriation
work with returning trafficking victims in Romania suggests
that traffickers particularly target young girls, inexperienced
girls, as they are regarded as the most easily manipulated.
We very much welcome the steps taken by the U.S. Government
to treat children who have been trafficked victims rather than
offenders. Unfortunately, this approach is rare in most parts
of the world. Ultimately, if detected by legal authorities,
children are frequently treated as offenders rather than
victims, and run the risk of arrest and deportation.
I would now like to end quickly with some short
recommendations. Certainly, the overall recommendation, as we
have heard from the other speakers today is that child sexual
slavery and trafficking must be explicitly addressed in poverty
eradication efforts and macroeconomic policymaking.
In international development corporations, as well as
national budget allocations, a high priority shall be accorded
to the prevention of child sexual exploitation; further, to
increase the development of and further commitment to the
funding of exit and rehabilitation programs for children
exploited and trafficked for sexual purposes.
We have heard about the lead that the U.S. Government has
taken, and we once again support that to ensure that child
victims of trafficking shall be offered support, temporary
residential permits, and safe conditions for giving testimony
in countries of destination.
We also support the U.S. Government's continued role to
ensure that countries enact legislation to ensure that their
citizens, as well as temporary permanent residents, are able to
be prosecuted for sexual offenses against children under 18.
Second, children have the right to influence and
participate in the development of solutions to problems related
to sexual exploitation and abuse. Very often, they are one of
the greatest sources to find out what the problems are and also
what the solutions may be.
Finally, the continual research and investigation on child
exploitation and trafficking should be conducted in order to
establish data bases which enable specific interventions.
I would just like to end finally on a letter that Sumi had
written to the village which she read some 2 years ago. She
stated, ``I have written an open letter to you. I would like to
read this letter to you. I hope that you will listen the
letter. We are all children. We all have our rights. We also
want to live as good citizens. We want to live with other
members of society.
``I have a request to you that we also want your
corporation, so that we can live like other children. My mother
is a prostitute. I hate prostitution, but I love my mother. I
do not want to be a prostitute. I want to grow as a big
personality doing my study. Therefore, I appeal to all of you
for your sincere cooperation.''
On behalf of Sumi and Save the Children, I would like to
thank this committee, again, for your interest and commitment
to stopping sexual trafficking and slavery.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Johnson follows:]
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Mr. Burton. Thank you very much, Mr. Johnson.
Ms. Cohn.
Ms. Cohn. Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, Mr.
Smith, we are so grateful for your participation in your
holding this hearing on the ongoing tragedy of international
slavery and human trafficking.
My name is Sharon Cohn, and I serve as senior counsel and
the director of the Anti-Trafficking Operations for
International Justice Mission. We believe that modern-day
slavery is fatally vulnerable to the vigilant efforts of the
U.S. Government and the international community to crush this
trade.
As Congressman Smith just said, this is a winnable war. I
am grateful to the committee for the opportunity to share a
little of what IJM has learned through its field experience
around the world.
IJM deploys criminal investigators around the world to
infiltrate brothels and to use surveillance technology to
document where the victims are being held, identify secure
police contacts who will conduct raids with us to release the
victims and arrest the perpetrators. We then coordinate the
referral of these victims to appropriate after-care and support
and monitor the prosecutions.
IJM investigators also infiltrate industries that bond
children into slavery and work with local authorities
throughout Asia to break those bonds and prosecute the
offenders.
We have spend literally thousands of hours infiltrating the
sex trafficking industry and working with Government
authorities around the world to bring effective rescue to the
victims and accountability to the perpetrators. Through this, I
think we have gained some valuable insight into the nature of
the crime, and also into its weaknesses. Due to the time
constraints, I will limit my comments to sex trafficking.
Mr. Chairman, you have stated the statistics that testify
to the magnitude of this tragedy. The research has shown that
trafficking is the third largest source of profits for
organized crime after guns and drugs.
How does it thrive so unhindered? Well, our experience has
shown us that sex trafficking thrives because it is permitted,
encouraged, tolerated, and profited by local law enforcement in
countries around the world.
In cities around the world, millions of women and girls are
trafficked and offered to customers in the brothels. Every day,
millions of customers are able to find these girls.
It does no good at all for the brothel keepers to keep
these girls hidden. In fact, to make money on their investment,
they must hold these girls open to the public every day,
continuously, over a long period of time. Obviously, therefore,
the customers can find these victims whenever they want, and so
can the police.
How, therefore, do you possibly get away with running a sex
trafficking enterprise? You do this only if it is permitted by
local law enforcement. Generally, this is facilitated by
bringing the police into the business, sharing the profits with
them in exchange for protection, and violating the laws that
are present in those countries every day.
The truth is most tragically demonstrated through the lives
of the victims that we have come to know and have had the
privilege to assist in rescuing.
I wanted to take a few minutes to tell you about a friend
of mine, Simla, who was trafficked in Southeast Asia when she
was 11\1/2\ years old. But since you have heard so many stories
about the tragedies that befall these victims, let me say just
this point.
After being subjected to beatings and sexual assaults for
2\1/2\ years, I want to tell you about the worst beating that
she ever received.
The worst beating that she ever received, the one that made
it difficult for her to walk, was a beating she received after
a police officer complained that she did not smile after she
was forced to have sex with him, and thus offended his ego, and
the brothel keeper beat her within an inch of her life.
This police officer would come to the brothel regularly to
receive his payment in kind; and Simla and her friends in the
brothel confirmed to us that other officers regularly visited
the brothel and abused the girls.
When we went to raid this particular brothel, there was a
tip-off by local law enforcement and the girls were loaded into
the back of a flat-bed truck and driven away. Ultimately, we
were able to find the girls and Simla is now in good after-
care, being provided for.
Just 2 weeks ago, Mr. Chairman, I interviewed a victim who
escaped from a brothel several weeks ago. She told me the story
that before she escaped, two other girls had escaped from the
brothel, where there were 100 girls and 30 minors.
Two girls had escaped from the brothel, and the brothel
keeper picked up the phone and called the police. He called the
police and said that he wanted his property returned. Two hours
later, those two victims were returned to the brothel, bound by
rope, and beaten by the police in uniform.
They pulled up in a police car and were brought to the
brothel, where the brothel keeper put the other girls inside
another room and shot those two victims dead. This is the
complicity of local law enforcement that IJM has found in its
work.
Stories like this are repeated throughout the world where
local law enforcement do the bidding of traffickers and brothel
keepers. The fact is, without police protection, the brothel
keeper simply cannot succeed; and with it, he cannot fail.
Once the police switch sides, the brothel keeper is fatally
vulnerable and effective law enforcement can provide rescue and
secure arrests. Until they do, it is the girls that are fatally
vulnerable.
But in the end, it is this vulnerability of the brothel
keepers that is exceptionally good news; because it means that
sex trafficking is a disaster that can be prevented and that
can be stopped.
We saw just a glimpse of this when we were in Cambodia over
the last several years. We did a 3-year investigation that
ultimately found that there were at least 45 girls under the
age of 14 that were being trafficked and sold every day to
pedophiles, including American pedophiles, that would travel to
Cambodia.
Mr. Chairman, it was because of the courageous leadership
of Ambassador Charles Ray in Cambodia, and his insistence that
the Cambodian Government work with IJM, that we were able to
rescue 37 young girls and arrest some of the perpetrators.
Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to say that on October 15th,
thanks to the work of the U.S. Embassy and good law
enforcement, we were able to see the conviction of six
traffickers and brothel keepers in Cambodia who were sentenced
to terms of imprisonment from 5 to 15 years.
I should say that in the courtroom, Mr. Chairman, there was
half the brothel community that showed up for the trial to see
whether, in fact, anybody ever gets in trouble for selling
small children, the youngest of whom was 5.
I can say that the conviction resulted in the brothel
community looking upon their colleagues and seeing that they
were sentenced to terms of imprisonment and that, in fact, the
English, French, and continental newspapers published on the
first page the next day that, in fact, people do go to jail for
trafficking small children in Cambodia.
So I want to thank this subcommittee for holding this
hearing, but also commend the State Department's Trafficking In
Persons department, under the leadership of Congressman Miller,
that has just done a fantastic job in communicating to our
embassies overseas that it is the policy of this Government,
this Congress, and this administration, that it will not
tolerate sex trafficking among any of the allies that we work
with; and that, in fact, there are consequences for failure to
act.
I would encourage this subcommittee to continue to provide
not only encouragement to the State Department and to the
countries that it meets with; but also to provide the necessary
resources to provide effective capacity building for those
governments in law enforcement that are willing to, in fact,
effectively combat trafficking.
Thank you for your time, and I am available for questions.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Cohn follows:]
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Mr. Burton. Thank you, Ms. Cohn. We will have some
questions for you in just a minute.
Dr. Mattar.
Mr. Mattar. Mr. Chairman and distinguished members of the
subcommittee, I am really privileged to speak to you today on
the role of Government in combating the problem of trafficking
in persons.
First of all, let me point out that the basic duty of all
states is to ensure the fundamental human rights of all
citizens. The universal declaration of human rights states that
no one shall be held in slavery or servitude, and that slavery
and slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
However, our presence at this hearing today indicates that
trafficking in persons is indeed an ongoing tragedy, and that
the work has not yet done enough to protect the human rights of
victims of trafficking.
There have been some efforts made by governments to shift
the focus from treating the traffic person as a criminal to
recognizing such person as a victim. Unfortunately, many
countries today still do not respect the human rights of
victims of trafficking, charging them with immigration
violations; detaining them in prisons; and deporting them.
Governments have the responsibility to identify victims of
trafficking and assist them to come forward without fear of
punishment. I think the real challenge for us here in the
United States, and for many other countries, is to reach
victims of trafficking.
The Trafficking Victims Protection Act, for instance,
provides for 5,000 visas for victims of trafficking.
Unfortunately, very few victims have applied for these visas.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has put in
place successful programs of assistance to victims of
trafficking, but I believe that we need a specific program
identifying victims of trafficking around the country.
Governments have also the responsibility to address the
contributing factors to the trafficking infrastructure.
Governments must enact economic reforms, addressing the special
vulnerability of women and children. Here, I would like to urge
the USAID to expand its program to address the specific problem
of vulnerability, especially of women and children to
trafficking.
Furthermore, governments have the responsibility to enact
legislation to recognize all forms of sexual exploitation as a
crime, including the trafficking for the purpose of
prostitution, pornography, mail order brides, and sex tourism.
President Bush, in his speech to the United Nations on
September 26, 2003, referring to the sex tourism industry,
called upon governments to inform travelers of the harm this
industry does.
I urge Members of the House to pass H.R. 2620, the
Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2003, and
I want to commend Congressman Chris Smith for his excellent
work that requires airlines to develop and disseminate
information, alerting travelers that sex tourism is a crime.
Governments have the responsibility to punish all
participants involved in the trafficking scheme, including the
customer and the facilitators; especially public officials who
are corrupt. Unfortunately, few legal systems penalize the
customer, and very few countries are willing to prosecute
corrupt public officials.
I urge the U.S. Department of State Office to Monitor
Trafficking in Persons to take into account the link between
demand in trafficking and scathing of government efforts in the
annual Trafficking in Persons Report.
Governments have also the responsibility to enforce laws by
prosecuting cases of trafficking. To date, in many parts of the
world, the rates of prosecution are rather low, very low. I
urge the Department of Justice to expand its training programs
on prosecuting cases of trafficking to each of the countries
where the rates of prosecution are still very low, while the
problem of trafficking is growing.
However, it is important to reform not only the law, but
also what I call the functional equivalent of the law. By that,
I mean the customers, the traditions, the behavior. Countries
that tolerate or accommodate or normalize prostitution should
review their policies and inquire into whether such tolerance,
accommodation, and normalization may contribute to rising
numbers of victims of trafficking.
Governments have also the responsibility to cooperate with
NGO's, allowing them the freedom to work, and consult with them
in taking the necessary measures to combat trafficking.
Unfortunately, in many countries around the world, NGO's are
not allowed the freedom to function at all. I would like to see
the United States playing a more active role in promoting human
rights, especially in these countries.
In conclusion, I would like to report to you today that the
United Nations protocol to prevent, suppress, and punish
trafficking in persons, especially women and children, will
become international law this December 2003.
We needed under Article 17, 40 instruments of ratification
for the protocol to enter into force. On September 26, 2003, we
reached our goal. Countries that defied the protocol must now
comply with its mandates.
I would urge the United States to rectify the protocol. We
have created international consensus as to the recognition of
trafficking in persons as a human rights violation. It is now
time to take serious, effective, and comprehensive measures to
eliminate the ongoing tragedy of international slavery and
human trafficking.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Mattar follows:]
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Mr. Burton. Thank you, Mr. Mattar. Let me start with some
questions. Mr. Bales is on his way. I think he has landed now,
and when we arrives we will let him make his statement. But in
the interim, we will go ahead and start with questions. The
votes on the floor have been postponed for awhile, so maybe we
can get on with the business at hand.
Ms. Cohn, you mentioned a country where the police were
complicities in the prostitution, and were involved in killing
two ladies that escaped from one of these dens of inequity. Can
you tell us the name of that country?
Ms. Cohn. Mr. Chairman, I would be eager to discuss with
you or your staff any of the specifics of that case, but it is
an ongoing investigation and I would be reluctant to say it
publicly.
Mr. Burton. I see, because you think it might endanger
others that are there.
Ms. Cohn. And hinder whatever further investigation against
the police officers that might take place.
Mr. Burton. Well, we would like to know that, if it is
possible. Maybe you can give it to us in private, so that we
can maybe use whatever influence we might have on our agencies
to make sure that the government of that country knows of those
incidents and tries to clean up the mess and bring those to
justice that are involved in that.
There is nothing I can think of that is worse than people
who are in the position of law enforcement, who are supposed to
have the public trust and the public's interests in mind, that
are participating in criminal activities.
We have had a case here in the United States where one man
was put in jail for 30 some years for a crime he did not
commit, because of FBI agents that were corrupt. One of them
has been put in jail, and another one is now going to be tried
for murder.
So we need to clean that mess up, whether it is here in the
United States or elsewhere. So if you could give us that
information, we would really appreciate it.
Let me ask you what kind of surveillance they use; or is
that something else that you would like to keep under wraps?
Ms. Cohn. Mr. Chairman, IJM's investigators are former law
enforcement officers themselves from here in the United States
and from around the world. They use traditional surveillance
methods, including under-cover cameras and the like to show on
tape that a particular victim is being offered for a particular
act by a specific perpetrator.
We were able actually to use that under-cover video
surveillance at trial in Cambodia on October 15, and that was
the only evidence used to convict the perpetrators. I would be
very delighted to show you or your staff some of that video.
But to protect the privacy of the victims, we were not able to
show it today.
Mr. Burton. Let me ask you, the victims, when given a
chance to talk about their being brought into this business
through slavery methods, are they willing to talk privately
about it, or are they scared to death of the law enforcement?
Ms. Cohn. The victims are incredibly scared of law
enforcement, because they have often seen those same police
officers come into the brothels and abuse them; or have come
into the brothels to accept bribes.
They are, however, after counseling and after care in a
rehabilitative and after-care facility, willing to provide just
the most extraordinary horrific stories that I have ever heard.
When I get to the point where I think I have heard the worst
story of what can happen to a human ever, I talk to the next
girl and hear yet another story.
I would add, Mr. Chairman, just because I think this is an
important point with the increasing attention paid to the HIV/
AIDS global pandemic, I think it is important to note that the
real brutal end cruelty of human trafficking is that these
girls are dying by the thousands of HIV/AIDS, and traditional
methods to prevent AIDS or to give access to these girls to
HIV/AIDS prevention are not permitted, because the girls have
no ability to choose their sexual partners and are not given
any access to traditional preventive methods.
Anecdotes tell us that about 80 percent of trafficking
victims in South Asia are HIV positive upon rescue.
Mr. Burton. Eighty-percent?
Ms. Cohn. Eighty-percent.
Mr. Burton. So not only are they penalized with a shorter
life and a more difficult lifestyle because of that disease,
but also they are a walking epidemic.
Ms. Cohn. That is correct, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Burton. The Coalition Against Trafficking in Woman, you
said 80 percent of the women in the Netherlands, according to
your information, are forced into prostitution?
Ms. Cohn. No, I said 80 percent of the women in
prostitution in the Netherlands are from other countries.
Mr. Burton. Do you have any idea of how many of those that
are from other countries that are literally forced into that,
or do you have any idea about that?
Ms. Cohn. Well, Mr. Chairman, we do not make a distinction
between forced and free, in that sense, because we believe that
whether or not a person gives consent, they are still
exploited. But most of these women certainly have been
trafficked, in terms of coming in across the border.
The problem is, as we see it, when these women are brought
into a country, for example, what we have in the Netherlands
now is a policy, because many Dutch women do not want to be in
prostitution anymore, the Dutch Government has decided to make
the market bigger by actively searching for women in
prostitution, who will come into the country to service the
market, basically. So this means that they are, to a certain
extent, looking for women who will populate the brothels.
This is conditioned on the fact, as the government says,
that they will basically be independent contractors, and that
they will not be forced into the trade, etc.
But we know that women from different countries, whether
they come from Eastern Europe, or whether they come from Asia
or Latin America, do not facilitate their own migration into
countries like the Netherlands and Germany. They have to be
assisted in some way to do that, and that is trafficking.
But what we are seeing happen is that under the aegis of
this notion of voluntary trafficking, people are using
terminology such as voluntary migration for sex work at this
point. The trafficking is actually being redefined, because of
this very phony issue of voluntariness.
Mr. Burton. Thank you.
Mr. Johnson, you were talking about, I cannot remember, how
much the cost is. I am trying to recall the question now. My
notes are not too clear. How much money would it take to help
deal with the problem of these children being brought into
slavery? Do you have any idea?
Mr. Johnson. I think it is impossible to put an exact
number on it.
Mr. Burton. Well, let me ask you this, and I will ask all
of you this question. I talked to Mr. Miller when he was
testifying awhile ago about setting up a fund where we could
give rewards to people who turn in these people who are forcing
people into slavery, whether it is prostitution, child
prostitution, or whatever. Do you think that would be a
positive thing to do?
Mr. Johnson. I think that is an important step. To answer
your question, I think that money spent on prevention, in the
very beginning, when you are looking at this, is very
important, to engender a culture of protection within the
society itself.
Mr. Burton. No, I understand that prevention is very
important. But I am talking about, if you are going to stop
this, you are going to have to deal with the people who are
forcing people into slavery, whether it is prostitution or
anything else.
What I am asking is, from your experience and the
information that you have been given through your studies, do
you think that if we set up a fund, and there was money to be
given to people who turned in these people who are putting
people into slavery, do you think that would be effective?
Mr. Mattar. I think it is a good idea. Let me refer here to
the role which NGO's play in different countries, identifying
victims of trafficking and trying to work with the police and
law enforcement in identifying traffickers.
So I think NGO's are already playing that role, trying to
help the police identify traffickers and helping the police
with assisting victims.
Whether rewards would be given to NGO's or individuals who
would help in that process, I think it is a good idea. I am not
sure how it would be implemented in a certain mechanism.
Mr. Burton. Ms. Cohn.
Ms. Cohn. Mr. Chairman, I think that rewards could be an
effective mechanism in identifying traffickers. What we find,
at least in the countries where we work in Southeast Asia
though, is the traffickers are often not terribly hidden, but
there is so much freedom and such a culture of impunity in
their committing their crimes, that the challenge is not
actually finding them or even finding the evidence of them. The
challenge is getting the government to have the political will
and local enforcement to have the determination to arrest and
move forward in the case.
I would be concerned at local law enforcement, hoping to
profit from rewards and being paid to do something that their
job should already be paying them to do.
Mr. Burton. Well, let me just ask one more question and
then I will yield to my colleague, Mr. Smith. If could get the
IMF and the World Bank and these other institutions that loan
money to Third World countries that are involved in this kind
of activity, who wink at the law enforcement agencies that are
sanctioning prostitution, do you think, if they thought their
government was going to be cutoff or have their foreign and
foreign assistance reduced, that would be an effective tool to
get them on the stick and stop law enforcement from
participating and protecting the slave traders?
Ms. Cohn. I think that the U.S.'s leadership in the
Trafficking Victims Protection Act demonstrates that countries
do respond to the threat of losing non-humanitarian aid, and
would likewise respond to concerns about other sources of
funding. So, yes, I do think that might motivate them.
I should say on the other side, that there are people of
goodwill in all these countries, doing very good things,
including members of the Government; and that it is also, I
think, the responsibility of the U.S. Government to provide
them resources to combat this trafficking. That should not all
be the stick but, in fact, be a carrot, as well.
Mr. Burton. Did you have a comment before I yield to Mr.
Smith?
[No response.]
Mr. Burton. Mr. Smith.
Mr. Smith. Thank you, Mr. Chairman; and again, I want to
thank you for holding this very important hearing and for your
ongoing commitment to this issue.
I want to thank our panelists who are on the cutting edge
and have been instrumental in motivating Congress; not just
this Congress but other parliaments and Congresses around the
world, to be more pro-active and, above all, to help the
victims in each country.
I know that the International Justice Mission and so many
of you have been corroborating in the first writing of this
legislation. You have provided us an enormous amount of input
in the bill that hopefully will be up the floor next week. That
will take us another step forward.
As a matter of fact, as you know, Ms. Cohn, it was your
organization that was so insistent on the police side of this,
that some of the countries are maybe gaming the system. When we
asked for information, not only were they rather shoddy in what
they provide us, they talk about investigations and
prosecutions but not convictions and sentencing. That is
changed and fixed in this new piece of legislation.
We also have a presumption that if they fail to cooperate
with our request for data, at the Embassy and at Mr. Miller's
level, we will presume that they have a bad story to tell and
that it work be against them.
We have to say that this is so serious to us, and hopefully
it should be to you, that you risk being a Tier 3 sanctioned
country going forward by your lack of responsiveness. That
would be remedied in the new bill.
On the police side, all of you make very good points, and
Ms. Cohn, I think you make a very good point about that is the
Achilles Heel of all of our efforts. If they continue their
complicity, their protection, as you pointed out that
despicable example of the police collecting in kind; you know,
we will be at this and we will not win this.
So I think police training, that is contained in the bill.
But we have to get the political and all the other interested
parties to take more seriously complicity by the police.
I would point out and remind you, and you know it already,
but in our minimum standards, certainly whether or not a
country protects their victims. I say this to Mr. Johnson and
you might want to respond to that, what countries, in your
view, and maybe some of the more egregious ones, are not
protecting their victims?
Are there those that are not protecting that are on Tier 2,
for example, that should be on Tier 3, because that is an
essential minimum standard that was written in to the law?
Everywhere we go, and I know, Mr. Miller does it, as well,
and the State Department is doing it just like the NGO's, you
know, it is not just prosecution. That is not enough. It has to
be the concurrent, equal, if not more so, in terms of the human
concern, to make sure that those victims are protected.
So you might want to touch on that, as well, because you
did say other nations treat victims as offenders. If there are
some that are in Tier 2 or 1 that we are missing, please let us
know now and perhaps by additional followup comments.
You know, I have raised the issue with the Netherlands
several times, including with the Chair and Office for the
OSCE, which I chair. The lack of understanding that when you
have, as you said, Dr. Raymond, 80 percent of the women in the
Netherlands, and they are the Chair and Office at the OSCE, and
speak glowingly about their efforts to mitigate trafficking.
Yet, they have this, in their own back yard problem of all
these foreign nationals working in their brothels, it is
unclear how many of those are by force or some form of coercion
are there. But certainly the exploitation is profound.
I think, Mr. Chairman, and we ought to be looking at this
in our own country, we certainly have a problem in places like
Las Vegas. How many of those women have been trafficked? How
many of those are there perhaps against their own will? I think
that is ripe for investigation and, if necessary, if it yields
something, prosecution.
I would remind you and the members here, and the NGO's know
it and Mr. Miller knows it, what led to the South Korean expose
that women were being trafficked from Russia, from the
Philippines under this ruse of an entertainment visa that the
South Korean Government was giving out, and they were being
brought into be exploited, that is gone now, I am happy to say.
I would just note parenthetically that our Government and
General Laporte has put 661 brothels in places off limits that
previously had been permissible to go to, as a direct result of
this.
But they found, and a Fox reporter named Tom Merriman did
the spade work on this, that all of these South Korean women
were showing up in the United States, and it begged the
question, where were they coming from? What was the network?
This is here in the United States, so you might want to
touch on that, as well, and we are running out of time. Maybe
you want to touch on that, Mr. Johnson, on those who are not
treating the victims as victims, but as offenders.
Mr. Johnson. I think you are right in relation to what has
been raised already about the training of police, in which
getting the list of countries where the victims are actually
treated as offenders. That is really at the local level, unless
there is training to ensure that happens. That happens in my
own country. There are examples, but it certainly happens much
more in the developing world.
One form of slavery that we have not talked about today are
child soldiers; people who are forcing young boys and girls
taken into conflict. We would like to talk about the women and
children in the Conflict Protection Act, and we certainly thank
Representative Shays for his co-sponsorship of that.
Part of Save the Children's effort has been to look at a
protection score card, particularly in relation to conflict, in
relation to what countries they are doing in relation to
protection, and we can certainly provide that to members after
this hearing.
I think it really is important, when you are looking at the
countries, to look at the holistic nature of how we are dealing
with the issue of trafficking and this culture of protection,
whether it be in conflict or whether it be in a non-conflict
setting.
I think our earlier speakers talked about the four ``Ps.''
While law enforcement is very, very important, what one can do
on the prevention side at the local level; what one can do on
the recovery side; and the issue of funding is most important
at those two ends.
If we are able to get women and children out of these
situations, then unless we can help them in recovery, then that
will return back. Unless we stop the flow of these people to be
manipulated, then we can keep on going. The law enforcement
needs to happen, but we need to have the bookends, so to speak,
of both prevention and recovery.
Mr. Burton. Does anybody else have any comments they would
like to make?
Mr. Mattar. Very quickly, I just want to make reference to
the importance of repatriation in any program of assisting
victims of trafficking. What we are seeing in many countries of
origin, they failed the test. They fail to accept back women in
prostitution, who have been trafficked. They fail to provide
them with safe return. They fail to issue for them travel
documents very quickly and accept them back.
You see that in the newly independent states, Central Asia.
You see it in Moldavia. You see it in many countries. It think
something has to be done when you talk about training programs.
We have to be conscious of how to provide victims of
trafficking with some kind of repatriation programs.
Mr. Burton. I see Mr. Bales has arrived, but before we go
to Mr. Bales, I think we will let Congressman Shays ask his
questions.
Mr. Shays. Mr. Chairman, I really had questions to ask, but
I want Mr. Bales to go, and I have a feeling that we are going
to then have to cutoff for votes.
I just want to say what amazes me is, I used to look back
and think, how could the world have traded in slavery? How
could the civilized world have allowed it? Then there was this
big debate, and ultimately, it became the ``cause celebre.''
What surprises me, and not taking my full time, I would
love someone to explain to me why this is not a ``cause
celebre'' with women's organizations, why it is not the ``cause
celebre'' with major organizations within countries, why
countries do not treat it, including the United States, as a
big issue until this President launched it; why so many
countries yawned when the President talked about it as a major
initiative?
I do not understand that part of it, and I need someone to
explain that to me. If you do not know, we will leave the
question hanging, and let us hear from Mr. Bales, so we can
make sure his trip here was worth it. I am assuming, Mr.
Chairman, that this is not the last of your hearings.
Mr. Burton. No, it is not the last, but it is the first.
Mr. Bales, you are recognized.
Mr. Bales. Thank you so much.
Mr. Shays, let me take a quick attempt to answer your
question.
It is the case that in the past, the movements against
slavery in those times were based upon public redefinitions of
the reality of slavery as a moral issue.
In the past, if we go back 200 or 300 years, slavery was
seen as an economic topic, not a moral topic, possibly a
political question. It took the public redefining it, from
being an economic activity to being a moral concern, to turn it
into a political issue.
Mr. Shays. What about now, then?
Mr. Bales. Well, that is what happened in the past, and
that is what led to our own Constitutional amendment getting
rid of slavery.
Today, we are faced with a situation where the morality is
not doubted, but it is completely surrounded by a kind of
public ignorance. I believe that, in fact, it is not a question
of the fact that it is not a ``cause celebre'' into the future,
but that it is not a ``cause celebre'' yet.
But in fact, as the understanding of the realities of this,
the horrific physical realities and also the understanding of
this is what could be the fundamental moral question of the
21st century, it will become the ``cause celebre'' if that is
of any use at all. But it is a very big question, indeed. Shall
I proceed, sir?
Mr. Burton. Yes, we have been waiting. I know that you
missed your plane and you finally caught one, and we are glad
you are here. So we would like to hear what you have to say,
and then we will continue on with our questions.
Mr. Bales. Thank you very much, and I apologize for my
tardiness.
Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I cannot tell
you how encouraged I am that this subject has been taken up by
the House Human Rights and Wellness Subcommittee.
As president of Free the Slaves, as an American, like all
Americans, who loathes the crime of slavery, I am excited that
our political leaders are taking up the issue of modern
slavery.
Free the Slaves is the American sister organization of
Anti-Slavery International. It is the world's oldest human
rights group, formed in 1787 in order to combat the slavery of
that date. We want to build a positive relationship with the
Government and promise to help in any way that we can.
I want to add that Free the Slaves has already worked with
committed Republicans and committed Democrats on this issue,
and I believe that these hearings are an indication of how this
is the time to bring together and unite all sides of the aisle
and all kinds of voices around the issue and against the
realities of contemporary slavery.
This afternoon I would like to touch on four points very
briefly: the nature of modern slavery, how slavery touches our
lives, the urgent need for a consistent approach to slavery by
the U.S. Government and some practical suggestions about how
America can use its influence to end slavery once and for all.
Slavery, real slavery, has increased, and I know you have
been hearing about examples of it, dramatically across the
world in the last 50 years. It has grown rapidly, in part,
because of the belief among the public and even governments
that slavery ended in 1865 or in the 19th century.
But you know, for years, I have travelled the world,
meeting slaves and meeting slaveholders, and meeting those
people who are fighting slavery at the grassroots. I can assure
you that slavery is not dead. My conservative estimate is that
there are 27 million people in the world in slavery today.
Now let me be clear that I am talking about slavery; in its
most basic form, the holding of a person against their will
through violence, paying them nothing, and forcing them to
work. It is the same basic slavery that has dogged humanity for
at least 5,000 years, but today it has some pernicious modern
twists.
For example, and I think you mentioned this in your opening
remarks, slaves are cheaper today than they have ever been in
human history. Rapid population growth, combined with the
impacts of modernization and globalization on the economies of
the developing world, has generated a bumper crop of people
vulnerable to enslavement. When government corruption,
particularly police corruption, removes the protection of the
state, violence can be used to turn those vulnerable people
into slaves.
Now this is happening around the world, and once enslaved,
the victims can be transported even to those countries where
the rule of law is secure. The State Department, and I am sure
you have heard again today from John Miller, estimates that up
to 20,000 people are brought into the United States each year.
In research that we are currently carrying out for the
United Nations International Labor Organization, we estimate
that up to 100,000 people are currently held in situations of
forced labor in America. They may be forced to work as
prostitutes, or in agriculture, in sweatshops, or as domestic
servants.
Moreover, slave-made products flow into our homes. Despite
the clear prohibition on the importation of slave-made goods in
the 1930 Smoot-Hawley Tariff legislation, which is still in
force, a host of slave-made raw materials and products flow
into America.
A few years ago, we asked a slave newly freed on a cocoa
farm in West Africa if he knew what happened to the cocoa he
harvested. ``No,'' he said. Had he ever tasted chocolate?
Again, he said, ``No.''
So we asked him, what would you say to those millions of
people who eat the chocolate made from the cocoa you have grown
in slavery? ``Tell them,'' he said, ``when they eat chocolate,
they are eating my flesh.''
Now I am very happy to say that with the help of Congress,
and the active and energetic participation of the chocolate
industry, especially the chocolate industry of the United
States, we are making enormous progress in the area of cocoa,
and forced labor and slavery in cocoa. But this achievement
stands alone. Slave-free trade is not yet a reality in the land
of the free.
So the picture is a serious one; millions of people
enslaved, and both slaves and slave-made goods being bought and
sold within the United States.
There are, happily, several positive points. The
Trafficking Victims Protection Act passed at the end of 2000 is
now seen as a model for the world; and when it is amended this
session, it will be an even stronger instrument against the
trade in human beings.
The Trafficking Office and USAID have made sizable grants
having real impact in anti-slavery work abroad. The support by
the American Government to the International Labor
Organization, in their work to rehabilitate freed child slaves,
is crucial to that effort.
On the other hand, there are some serious problems.
Research that we have carried out for the Department of Justice
delivers one very clear message: that American law enforcement
is under-resourced and uncoordinated in addressing the crime of
slavery, forced labor, and the crime of human trafficking.
We must adequately resource our legislation. We have to
avoid the situation such as in India, a country with one of the
best and most comprehensive laws against slavery on the books
anywhere in the world, and many, many slaves waiting for the
enforcement of that law.
Confusion exists in other parts of the American Government,
as well. We have had some very courageous statements by Members
of Congress against slavery in parts of Africa.
In the past, however, the State Department asserts that
slavery has disappeared in some of those same countries. At
times, it has seemed that a succession of American governments
has chosen to recognize slavery according to their
international political goals.
Now I have to say, in the last 2 years, there has been a
very distinct improvement in this. I just recently returned
from Burma, and I have seen there the impact on the Government
of the very clear statements by Secretary Powell about the
crime of forced slavery in that country.
I travel all over America talking about slavery, and I have
talked about our Government's response to slavery with citizens
across the country. I want to say very clearly what they want
you to hear: what is morally wrong cannot be right. America
must not play politics with slavery.
If we are to imagine ourselves a bastion of freedom, our
foreign policy must apply this principle in a way that is
consistent and universal. Our belief in freedom is soiled and
diminished if we condemn slavery in one country, and turn a
blind eye to it in other. Happily, I think this is not fading
as part of our foreign policy.
At the same time, while the problem we confront is large,
the obstacles are not insurmountable. Three key battles are
already been won. We do not have to win the moral argument.
Virtually everyone in the world agrees that slavery is wrong.
Second, we do not have to win the economic argument. Ending
slavery does not threaten the economic well being of any
industry or any country. Third, we do not have to win the basic
legal argument. Laws against slavery exist in virtually every
country in the world.
Because this is truly an international crime, our
Government needs to press for more action within international
agencies. This is not a problem of just the United States or
any other single country. It is a global problem, and it needs
a global cooperation.
Eradicating slavery is a challenge shared by all humanity.
We all know about the United Nations teams that searched for
biological weapons in Iraq, and we know about international
efforts to protect minorities in the Balkans.
But where are the United Nations Teams to inspect and
locate slavery? Where are the contingents that could protect
freed slaves and help them toward reintegration in their own
societies? Working together, we can verify, assist, and ensure
that nations are doing all in their power to find, liberate,
and rehabilitate enslaved people.
Our own Government's law enforcement policy suggests other
tools we could use to confront this problem of slavery
worldwide. Our Department of Justice has located their anti-
slavery work very soundly on the 13th Amendment. They are
extremely expert, and that expertise can be shared.
The cooperation, funding, and training of foreign law
enforcement could be extended to help end the police corruption
that supports slavery. Assets confiscated from slaveholders and
traffickers could help provide desperately needed resources for
the rehabilitation of freed slaves.
We must remember that liberation is only the first step to
freedom. It must be followed by helping ex-slaves achieve a
decent independent life.
In many ways, our country still suffers from a botched
emancipation. Shelby Foote, the historian of our civil war, put
it this way, ``Slavery was the first great sin of this Nation.
The second great sin was emancipation, or rather the way it was
done. The Government told four million people, 'You are free,
hit the road.' Three-quarters of them could not read or write.
The tiniest fraction of them had any profession that they could
enter.''
We must not allow that mistake to be made again anywhere in
the world, or our children and our grandchildren will still be
dealing with the ugly legacy of slavery in the same way that we
have to deal with it today in the United States, following our
botched emancipation.
Of course, there is not a single solution to slavery.
Slavery is embedded in both local cultures and the global
economy. But our Government has a marvelous collection of
sticks and carrots that could be tailored to specific
situations. We must coordinate the sticks and carrots that
already exist in the hands of the State Department, the
Department of Labor, and the Department of Homeland Security to
a maximum effect.
Many governments want to maintain ties and build a more
positive image in the United States. We need to make it clear
that a positive image is one that includes working actively to
reduce slavery. As our Government brings its influence to bear,
the rapidly growing public movement calling for action on
slavery will support it.
After 5,000 years, if there is coordinated and integrated
leadership and effort, the eradication of slavery, I believe,
is possible in the 21st century. Founded upon the primacy of
individual liberty and given its role of leadership in the
world, the United States could reasonably mobilize an
international consensus to eradicate slavery.
There is historical precedence for this. In the 19th
century, the British Government led an international movement
to abolish legal slavery. Britain deployed, between 1819 to
1890, a sizable naval force devoted to the interdiction of
slave ships. That fleet peaked in size at 36 ships and the
operation to free slaves cost the lives of nearly 2,000 of Her
Majesty's sailors and marines.
Compared to that grim sacrifice, the human and financial
cost of eradication today would be minuscule. Recall that while
27 million is the largest number of slaves to ever live at one
time, it is also the smallest proportion of the world
population in slavery in human history.
Note that the extremely low cost of slaves worldwide means
that criminal slaveholders do not have large investments to
defend. In our work with partner organizations in Northern
India, we find the cost of freeing, rehabilitating, and
reintegrating slaves average about $30 per family, and this
does not involve paying criminals to set their slaves free.
The American people and the American Government must ask
this question: are we willing to live in a world with slaves?
If not, we are obligated to take responsibility for things that
connect us to slavery, even when those things are far away.
Unless we work to understand the links that tie us to
slavery and then take action to break those links, we are
puppets, subject to forces we cannot or will not control. If we
do not take action, we are just giving up and letting other
people jerk the strings that tie us to slavery.
Of course, there are many kinds of exploitation in the
world, many kinds of injustice and violence to be concerned
about. But slavery is exploitation, violence, and injustice,
all rolled together in its most potent combination.
If there is one fundamental violation of our humanity we
cannot allow, it is slavery. If there is one basic truth that
virtually every human being can agree on, it is that slavery
must end. What good is our economic and political power if we
cannot use it to free slaves? Indeed, if we cannot choose to
stop slavery, how can we say that we are free? Thank you very
much, sir.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Bales follows:]
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Mr. Burton. Thank you, Mr. Bales.
Mr. Shays.
Mr. Shays. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate having my
time for questions. I do want to get back to a basic question.
First off, I am not throwing stones, because I was not here a
year ago or 2 years ago like Chris Smith and others who were
very focused on this issue.
But as a world community, I did find it interesting that I
was having to defend why the President would take the U.N.'s
time, and why in this time of great terrorism he would spend
part of his speech talking about slavery. I found myself being
almost amazed and offended by the questions I was getting from
the news media.
So first off, break down the $27 million as to, as best we
know, what kinds of slavery, what is the most and so on. Who
wants to start? Mr. Bales, do you want to start?
Mr. Bales. The largest numbers of people in slavery are in
South Asia, across North and West Africa, Central and South
America, and Southeast Asia, as well. Probably the largest
proportion of those are people in forms of debt bondage in
South Asia, Nepal, Pakistan, and India. In part, that is simply
because of the very large populations in those countries.
Mr. Shays. And it is not necessarily prostitution, correct?
Mr. Bales. No, sir, it is not necessarily prostitution.
Mr. Shays. It can be working on the farms, working on the
cocoa factories, working on the plantations, working in
manufacturing, and so on.
Mr. Bales. Across all of those economic sectors and many
more; the only qualification would be to say that slaves are
almost never used in any form of sophisticated industry plant.
Mr. Shays. This does not have to be directed just to Mr.
Bales since I guess you all know the answers to these
questions, but I will continue with you, though. Does it tend
to be mostly children?
Mr. Bales. No, sir, it is a mixture of men, women, and
children. We do not know what the precise proportion is.
Mr. Shays. More women than men?
Mr. Bales. I would suspect it is more women than men.
Mr. Shays. If anybody disagrees with what is being told, I
am going to assume that you all agree, unless you disagree, OK?
Does anyone disagree with what Mr. Bales has said to me so far;
mostly more women than men, all ages, not necessarily most in
prostitution?
Ms. Cohn. I agree with what Mr. Bales said. I would add
only that we have seen, in some countries, whole villages
bonded to a particular industry, say, the quarry industry.
You will also see there that debts are inherited, so that
if a child went into slavery for a $20 medical debt to get
treatment for her mother, that she will be enslaved and then
when she has children, her children will be enslaved when they
are of working age; and then when she dies, that debt will be
inherited, as well.
Mr. Shays. At one point, and I do not know if you were the
one who mentioned this, but the young woman, the child who
lives with her mother while these sexual acts are taking place,
and maybe that was you, Mr. Johnson, the child is just doing
her thing or his thing, but in this case, it was a young girl.
But you almost sounded like there was some ethics to it,
that she did not become a prostitute at 13, but it was when she
became 14. It was almost like, you mentioned at 14 she became a
prostitute. Do not misunderstand it, but is there almost a
gross code of ethics, even within this system?
Mr. Johnson. I think in relation to that and those people
who control this particular brothel, it was that age that
children then were forced into prostitution.
What was interesting though was that it was only until we
started getting the children into school and the later of the
group of children, when she turned 14 it was a pivotal moment,
and she then was withdrawn from school because her mother was
ill. Poverty is one of the major issues, too. It is the cycle
that they are unable to get out of this situation.
Mr. Shays. So the children are allowed to go to school
before they become prostitutes?
Mr. Johnson. Well, the intervention that we had made was
that we had started working with the children, in trying to
enable them to get to school.
Once we realized that this young girl was being forced into
prostitution, due to the poverty of her mother and she had no
choice, there was much pressure brought to bear on this young
girl.
But the other children said, we do not want to live here
anymore, which was what prompted us to then start the cycle.
Then the girls were able to be removed at a distance far enough
beyond the control of the pimps, but close enough that they
could maintain contact with their mothers; and no girls have
returned.
Mr. Shays. Let me ask this question. Why does the U.N. not
make this a bigger issue? I mean, this seems to me, as I said
to someone in the press, like an issue no one should be able to
disagree with. In effect, I said, this was really an olive
branch to the U.N. to say, hey, let us find some things that we
can all agree on.
So were you puzzled by the reaction? First, were you happy
that the President spoke out? Did you feel like there was
sufficient congratulations on the part of those in our
community who may not like the President for other reasons? Did
you find the reaction of the U.N. satisfactory? Give me your
reaction, all of you. Dr. Mattar, you may start.
Mr. Mattar. I think what we are talking about here is a new
international consensus, as to what we consider trafficking in
persons. Let me go back to 1949.
Mr. Shays. I do not know if you are answering my question.
You may be, and I just may not understand it. First, I need to
know, did the U.N. respond favorably, or are you saying to me
they did not, but----
Mr. Mattar. No, I think the United Nations, by creating
that international consensus as to what we consider trafficking
in the protocol to prevent trafficking in persons, I think it
created an international consensus. I think countries have to
act now to do something about that.
I just want to say that this month, now we had 40
deratifications of the countries that defied the protocol. That
creates some kind of international consensus as to what we
consider trafficking in persons. This did not exist prior to
the 2000 protocol.
Mr. Shays. You are helping me understand that. Maybe it is
just our media. But was there great admiration for the United
States? You know, when I think, why do they hate us, which is a
question I do not think is a fair question; I think why does
the world have contempt for us? In some cases, the contempt is
because we are doing some good things.
Did the rest of the world say, well, this is the reason why
I want to like the United States; or did they say, the United
States is butting into our affairs, bug off? I mean, I am just
trying to understand.
Mr. Mattar. I think countries welcome every time the United
States is promoting human rights all over the world. That is
how I see the role of the United States in promoting combatting
trafficking in persons.
Mr. Shays. Just a few more minutes, Mr. Chairman; Mr.
Bales?
Mr. Bales. You were asking about, how did the United
Nations respond. I was in a room with representatives of six
United Nations agencies when the news came that the President
had made that statement in New York. I was in Southeast Asia at
the time. They were overjoyed and, of course, the United
Nations is no monolithic organization any more than any great
governmental organization.
At the grassroots, the many agencies that have to confront
human trafficking, enslavement, debt bondage, and so forth, in
the United Nations; they were very pleased that our President
had said those things.
Mr. Shays. Why did they keep it such a secret?
Mr. Bales. Those are the people at the grassroots. In the
same way that it is hard to get, you know, Lee Iacocca to have
exactly the same message as the guy on the shop floor; it is
hard for me to understand necessarily why that is the case, but
it filters up and it filters down.
Mr. Shays. Dr. Raymond.
Ms. Raymond. Yes, our reaction also was that people within
the U.N. system were very pleased, as were we, as were many
other NGO's.
But there was also a very negative reaction in the context
of the venue that the President chose to express it. The
negative reaction was basically that he was trying to soften
the problem in Iraq and the issue of terrorism by basically
launching that venue to discuss trafficking within that
location.
Mr. Shays. Was not this venue in the address of the
President of the United States to the U.N. totally confined?
Was he restricted to just talking about terrorism?
I mean, that may have been the expectation; but good grief,
he was a world leader, coming before the world community,
saying we disagree here. So we disagree; but can we agree here?
You have answered the question to me, but I have contempt for
the reaction.
Ms. Raymond. I do not disagree with what you are saying,
Mr. Shays. But I am telling you what we heard.
Mr. Shays. Thank you, I was shooting the messenger. I am
sorry, Dr. Raymond.
Ms. Raymond. But could I go back to something else that you
asked about; what Mr. Bales had said earlier about the numbers
in slavery and whether or not those numbers are numerically
more women and children than men, for example.
I would like to just take up this whole question of labor
trafficking versus sex trafficking, which I did in my longer
preparation and did not get a chance to say this in my
restricted remarks.
Obviously, these are both gross violations of human rights.
But I think that unfortunately, what we are seeing now is that
a number of NGO's in the human rights community are insisting
that labor trafficking is the real problem, and that sex
trafficking is comparatively minor; most of it being rather
harmless prostitution.
Now clearly, being trafficked into exploited farm work or
domestic labor or other forms of bonded labor is incompatible
with human rights, and it is harmful to those who are subjected
to it.
But I what think we have to ask here is the harm really as
severe as the harm to women and girls, who are trafficked into
prostitution in brothels and repeatedly subjected to intimate
violation; to rape, basically?
Mr. Shays. Right.
Ms. Raymond. I think also ignored is the fact that many of
the women trafficked for bonded labor, whether you are talking
about domestic labor or whether you are talking about farm work
or whatever else one is talking about, their exploitation
concludes with they are being sexually exploited, as well, and
is often turned into informal systems of prostitution. So I
think it is very important to emphasize that.
Mr. Shays. Thank you; could I just have Mr. Johnson
respond, since he is a constituent, maybe? Are you from Save
the Children in Westport, or are you somewhere else?
Mr. Johnson. No, actually, I represent Save the Children of
the United Nations, so I was around in the corridors that day.
There were two questions that you asked, and maybe I can answer
first the international question.
Mr. Shays. The records show, though, that Save the Children
is corporately headquartered in the Fourth District.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Johnson. Thank you; the international perspective, I
think it is a big issue. To give you one example, one of the
major films in Sweden last year was about the trafficking of a
young girl, which challenged Sweden's notions of how it deals
with this issue.
But it is getting on the headlines in other media outlets.
For example, there were two instances. The Child Soldiers
Campaign, which was very hard, looked at children being bonded
in conflict. The other was the Yokohama, the second world
conference on the commercial sexual exploitation of children.
So while I agree with you, we have still got a long way to
go. But I think that there are many initiatives, and certainly,
what the U.S. Government is doing is a great step forward and
is part of a wider world movement to do something about it.
So while I think sometimes the coverage is not what we
would hope for, I think that there are very good signs for us
taking the next big step. Certainly, what Congress is looking
at right now will be part of that big momentum forward.
Mr. Shays. I am going to just quickly respond to Dr.
Raymond, and then thank you, Mr. Chairman. You have been very
kind.
I do want to agree with one point. I think that the
President could have introduced it and said, I know the focus
is on this. But he could have then said, while we may disagree
here, could we also find ways that we can find common ground,
such as--and I think there are ways that just the tone of his
presentation might have taken some of that criticism that you
were saying that some people had.
This is a wonderful hearing to have, Mr. Chairman; thank
you for doing this.
Mr. Burton. We might collectively send a letter to the
administration suggesting some things they might incorporate
into the next human rights speech he makes before the U.N. That
might he helpful.
Mr. Shays. I would love to be part of that.
Mr. Burton. Mr. Smith, real quickly?
Mr. Smith. Thank you very much; very quickly, as a matter
of fact, we have a letter going over to the President to thank
him for the job that he did there.
I think it was just the tip of the iceberg. It is
unfortunate those who reacted negatively did not realize the
comprehensiveness of what this administration is doing.
You know, John Miller is a major part of that. He spoke
earlier and is still here. But I really do think that our
country has gotten it right and we are in the process,
hopefully, of making it better.
Also, just a thought, you know, we talk about the United
Nations. It has its strengths and weaknesses. But one of it is,
it is all a matter of priorities, it seems to me. The repleader
system exists, but in order for our repleader to have access,
he or she has to have the full compliance of the potentially
offending country. At any step along that investigation,
certain barriers can be put in place to bar their ability to
find out what really is going on. But obviously, we have to
keep pushing.
Then there is the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, which
has a lot of farcical aspects to it. It can do some good. There
is no doubt about it. But it also has the terrible situation
where you have rogue nations like Sudan and others.
Talk about slavery; the first hearing I ever had on slavery
was on the slavery that did exist and continues to exist. That
was almost 10 years ago. People did not believe it. They acted
as if we were making it up.
We talked about Mauritania. We talked about Sudan, and even
one of our former members of the International Relations
Committee, Congressman Dimally, was there as the Government
representative, defending Mauritania; which I found, and said
so during the hearing, to be offensive.
So I think very often, wittingly or unwittingly, some
people are going to put themselves on the line to say, this is
not as bad as you say it is. That just completely thwarts the
human rights message.
As human rights warriors, you work goes under-heralded,
unfocused upon. The people from America would understand this.
But the Valley Forge solders who were out there in the cold and
just surviving and overcoming; hopefully, we can give you some
implication and work side-by-side with you.
Let me also say, I think a big part of the problem is in
prosecutorial discretion here in the United States. Post-
September 11, despite the best efforts on the part of our U.S.
attorneys, they have become pre-occupied, as has the FBI, with
doing things other than trafficking. But where a U.S. attorney
has a heart and a mind and assets, he or she can really do a
job.
In my own state, and I would say to all of my colleagues,
ask your U.S. attorneys, what are you doing on trafficking? I
know the Attorney General, several times, has admonished his
U.S. attorneys to do more. But they still have that
prosecutorial discretion to pick and choose.
My U.S. attorney, for example, Chis Christy, went after
some Russian traffickers, liberated 30 Russian women, and he is
going to get, I think, a major sentencing of those who have
done it, who trafficked. He recently got one from some Mexican
women, and the traffickers, three of them, got 17 to 18 years
for what they did.
So all of us, I think, could do more to say to the FBI and
especially to Justice, this is a priority for us, and it
certainly is for you. You the heros and the warriors, and we
thank you so much. I join my colleagues in thanking you.
[Applause.]
Mr. Burton. Thank you; we really appreciate your hard work.
You do not get many accolades, especially from Congressmen. So
I want you to know that even though there are a few of us up
here, we represent a lot more than are in this meeting today.
Because of your being here today, Chris and I, and we will
get Mr. Shays as well, the two Chrises and Dan, we will write
some letters to some of the law enforcement people to start the
ball rolling to maybe go into some of the problems that we have
here in the United States regarding slavery and prostitution,
which hopefully you will be proud of when we get some results.
In any event, thank you for your patience. I know it has
been a long day. Thank you very much for being here. I want to
thank my former colleague for being here and all of the hard
work you are doing; thanks an awful lot. We stand adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 4:47 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned,
to reconvene at the call of the Chair.]
[The prepared statement of Hon. Elijah E. Cummings and
additional information submitted for the hearing record
follows:]
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