Manu
06-05-2002, 02:47 PM
The United States on Wednesday accused 19 countries of failing to act against the trafficking of humans for sexual and labor exploitation, including allies Afghanistan, Greece, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
"The overwhelming majority of victims are women and children," Secretary of State Colin Powell told reporters.
"Traffickers often force them into pornography and prostitution, subjecting them to terrible mental and physical abuse and putting them at risk from devastating diseases, such as HIV-AIDS."
Noted that 50,000 people were trafficked each year into his own country, he added: "Here and abroad, the victims of trafficking toil under inhuman conditions, in brothels, sweatshops, fields, and even in private homes."
Mandated by Congress, Powell released the second annual report on human trafficking in persons that put the annual number of victims between 700,000 and 4 million people.
The United States places countries from, through or to which victims pass in three tiers according to how much effort they have made to tackle the problem.
South Korea leapt to tier one, meaning it was in full compliance, from three, for making "extraordinary strides" in tacking the problem, the report said.
"Romania and Israel also made great strides in strengthening their efforts," it added. They rose to tier two.
Afghanistan appeared for the first time, in the lowest tier three. The report, which covered April 2001 to March 2002, noted that for most of that year the hardline Taliban was in charge of 90 percent of the country.
But it did not let the Afghan Interim Authority, installed with international support December 22, off the hook, saying it made no significant efforts to stop trafficking.
"There have been numerous reports that impoverished Afghan families have sold their children for purposes of forced sexual exploitation, marriage and labor," the report said.
Bahrain, Belarus, Bosnia, Greece, Indonesia, Lebanon, Myanmar, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates appeared in tier three for a second time.
If they stay there next year, they face sanctions under U.S. law. But President Bush can exempt any country if punishing them is seen as counter-productive -- or against U.S. national interests.
Cambodia and Kyrgyzstan fell into the third tier, where Armenia, Iran and Tajikistan made their first appearance.
Sex, labor, armies
Traffickers use threats, intimidation and violence to force victims to engage in sex acts or labor under conditions comparable to slavery, the report said.
Other forms include the abduction of children and their conscription into government forces or rebel armies, the sale of women and children into domestic servitude and the use of children as street beggars and camel jockeys, it added.
"Commercial sexual exploitation and demands for inexpensive labor have risen over the past several decades in many destination countries," it said.
The report named 89 countries found to have a significant number of trafficking victims.
Albania, Gabon, Israel, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Romania, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia moved up to tier two, where they are deemed to be trying hard to comply with standards that include punishing traffickers and making sustained efforts to stop the problem.
Thailand and Vietnam appeared in tier two for making significant efforts to tackle the problem, the report said.
Some countries were excluded because they had no problem but others were not on the list because of lack of data, including North Korea, Iraq and Somalia, it added.
If more data became available, other countries including Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Botswana could be added to the report, the report said.
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"The overwhelming majority of victims are women and children," Secretary of State Colin Powell told reporters.
"Traffickers often force them into pornography and prostitution, subjecting them to terrible mental and physical abuse and putting them at risk from devastating diseases, such as HIV-AIDS."
Noted that 50,000 people were trafficked each year into his own country, he added: "Here and abroad, the victims of trafficking toil under inhuman conditions, in brothels, sweatshops, fields, and even in private homes."
Mandated by Congress, Powell released the second annual report on human trafficking in persons that put the annual number of victims between 700,000 and 4 million people.
The United States places countries from, through or to which victims pass in three tiers according to how much effort they have made to tackle the problem.
South Korea leapt to tier one, meaning it was in full compliance, from three, for making "extraordinary strides" in tacking the problem, the report said.
"Romania and Israel also made great strides in strengthening their efforts," it added. They rose to tier two.
Afghanistan appeared for the first time, in the lowest tier three. The report, which covered April 2001 to March 2002, noted that for most of that year the hardline Taliban was in charge of 90 percent of the country.
But it did not let the Afghan Interim Authority, installed with international support December 22, off the hook, saying it made no significant efforts to stop trafficking.
"There have been numerous reports that impoverished Afghan families have sold their children for purposes of forced sexual exploitation, marriage and labor," the report said.
Bahrain, Belarus, Bosnia, Greece, Indonesia, Lebanon, Myanmar, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates appeared in tier three for a second time.
If they stay there next year, they face sanctions under U.S. law. But President Bush can exempt any country if punishing them is seen as counter-productive -- or against U.S. national interests.
Cambodia and Kyrgyzstan fell into the third tier, where Armenia, Iran and Tajikistan made their first appearance.
Sex, labor, armies
Traffickers use threats, intimidation and violence to force victims to engage in sex acts or labor under conditions comparable to slavery, the report said.
Other forms include the abduction of children and their conscription into government forces or rebel armies, the sale of women and children into domestic servitude and the use of children as street beggars and camel jockeys, it added.
"Commercial sexual exploitation and demands for inexpensive labor have risen over the past several decades in many destination countries," it said.
The report named 89 countries found to have a significant number of trafficking victims.
Albania, Gabon, Israel, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Romania, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia moved up to tier two, where they are deemed to be trying hard to comply with standards that include punishing traffickers and making sustained efforts to stop the problem.
Thailand and Vietnam appeared in tier two for making significant efforts to tackle the problem, the report said.
Some countries were excluded because they had no problem but others were not on the list because of lack of data, including North Korea, Iraq and Somalia, it added.
If more data became available, other countries including Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Botswana could be added to the report, the report said.
www.cnn.com