11 May 2005
Sanctions Against Human Traffickers
Each year, the State Department's Trafficking in Persons Report identifies countries whose governments do not fully comply with the minimum standards in U.S. law for prohibiting severe forms of trafficking in persons and do not make significant efforts to do so. The 2004 report identified Bangladesh, Burma, Cuba, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Guyana, North Korea, Sierra Leone, Sudan, and Venezuela in this "Tier 3" category. Under U.S. law, the United States can impose on such nations sanctions that include:
• withholding non-humanitarian, non-trade-related assistance;
• withholding funding for participation in educational and cultural exchange programs, when the country does not receive other assistance;
• opposing loans and grants — except for humanitarian, trade-related, and certain development-related assistance — from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and other international financial institutions. For example, in 2004 the United States voted against IMF and World Bank loans to Venezuela as a result of Tier 3 placement.
U.S. law allows the president some discretion in waiving these sanctions, particularly if he feels that the waiver would be in the U.S. national interest or would avoid a significant adverse effect on vulnerable populations such as women and children, or if he finds that a government has come into compliance with the minimum standards after the report was issued. Waivers were granted in 2004 for Bangladesh, because of its increasing efforts to prosecute traffickers and rescue victims; for Guyana, because of its new action plan to provide more resources for victims and its new public awareness efforts; for Sierra Leone, for training police officers on trafficking prevention and enforcement and for designating a high government official as the coordinator for trafficking in persons; and for Ecuador, for increasing police raids on traffickers and for raising public awareness. [see http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/prsrl/36127.htm for the full presidential determination.]
Sanctions are a last resort and one of only many tools used to stimulate foreign government action on behalf of victims and potential victims of modern-day slavery. Other U.S. efforts in 2004 included providing more than $96 million in anti-trafficking funding abroad, participating in extensive bilateral discussions and partnerships, undertaking numerous anti-trafficking activities in cooperation with international organizations, and staging far-reaching public awareness and outreach programs.
From the May 2005 edition of eJournal USA
