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THE STATE DEPARTMENT 2013 TRAFFICKING IN

PERSONS REPORT

HEARING

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH, 

GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS, AND 

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

JULY 11, 2013

Serial No. 113–80

Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs

(

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/ or

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/

(II)

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, Chairman 

CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey 

ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida 

DANA ROHRABACHER, California 

STEVE CHABOT, Ohio 

JOE WILSON, South Carolina 

MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas 

TED POE, Texas 

MATT SALMON, Arizona 

TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania 

JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina 

ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois 

MO BROOKS, Alabama 

TOM COTTON, Arkansas 

PAUL COOK, California 

GEORGE HOLDING, North Carolina 

RANDY K. WEBER SR., Texas 

SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania 

STEVE STOCKMAN, Texas 

RON DESANTIS, Florida 

TREY RADEL, Florida 

DOUG COLLINS, Georgia 

MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina 

TED S. YOHO, Florida 

LUKE MESSER, Indiana 

ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York 

ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American 

Samoa 

BRAD SHERMAN, California 

GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York 

ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey 

GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia 

THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida 

BRIAN HIGGINS, New York 

KAREN BASS, California 

WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts 

DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island 

ALAN GRAYSON, Florida 

JUAN VARGAS, California 

BRADLEY S. SCHNEIDER, Illinois 

JOSEPH P. KENNEDY III, Massachusetts 

AMI BERA, California 

ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California 

GRACE MENG, New York 

LOIS FRANKEL, Florida 

TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii 

JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas

AMY PORTER, Chief of Staff THOMAS SHEEHY, Staff Director

JASON STEINBAUM, Democratic Staff Director 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH, GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS, AND

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, Chairman 

TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania 

RANDY K. WEBER SR., Texas 

STEVE STOCKMAN, Texas 

MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina 

KAREN BASS, California 

DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island 

AMI BERA, California 

(III)

C O N T E N T S 

Page

WITNESS 

The Honorable Luis CdeBaca, Ambassador-at-Large, Office to Monitor and 

Combat Trafficking in Persons, U.S. Department of State .............................. 9

LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING 

The Honorable Luis CdeBaca: Prepared statement .............................................. 12

APPENDIX 

Hearing notice .......................................................................................................... 38

Hearing minutes ...................................................................................................... 39

(1)

THE STATE DEPARTMENT 2013 TRAFFICKING 

IN PERSONS REPORT 

THURSDAY, JULY 11, 2013

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH, GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS, AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS,

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS,

Washington, DC. 

The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 11 o’clock a. m., in 

room 2172 Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Christopher H. 

Smith (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. 

Mr. SMITH. The subcommittee will come to order. Good morning, 

everybody and thank you for joining us today for the second in a 

series of hearings on the Trafficking in Persons Report and U.S. efforts to combat human trafficking. In April, our subcommittee took 

a close look at the records of six countries which had exhausted all 

of their allotted time on the Tier II Watch list and must, by law, 

be moved to Tier II or Tier III in this year’s Trafficking in Persons 

Report. One of those who testified, Ambassador CdeBaca’s predecessor in the job was Mark Lagon and we heard very, very insightful testimony, from him and others, about why countries including 

China, Russia, and Uzbekistan ought to have been put on Tier III. 

An upgrade to Tier II would have been completely unmerited and 

would have damaged the credibility of the Trafficking in Persons 

Report. 

The TIP Report was released late last month, and I was pleased 

to see that it is one of the best and that it faithfully reported and 

graded the records of China, Russia, and Uzbekistan, which had 

been skirting accountability for far too long. Now, the administration is faced with next steps including what sanctions might be imposed to press these nations to reform. 

When I wrote the law, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 

2000 that created not only this report, but also the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons and Ambassador Luis 

CdeBaca’s position in the U.S. Department of State, and several 

other provisions to prevent both sex and labor trafficking, protect 

victims, and prosecute traffickers, it was sincerely hoped that this 

report would become the international gold standard and primary 

means of antitrafficking accountability around the world. I am 

happy to say it has. From the halls of Parliaments globally to police stations in remote corners of the world, this report is today 

being used to focus antitrafficking work—a search light on the 

work that is occurring or not occurring in some 186 countries. 

2

But with the power of this report to improve situations came the 

risk that it could also be used to whitewash the truth about a country’s trafficking record. It could fail to report accurately and inadvertently give cover to negligent or complicit governments. 

I am very happy to say that the 2013 report is one of the best 

ever produced. Special thanks are especially in order for Ambassador Luis CdeBaca and his very dedicated staff for faithfully highlighting the good, while exposing the bad and the ugly. The TIP 

Report is faithful and reflects the hard, meticulous work and leadership of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. 

This office not only analyzes whether a country is complying with 

the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking, 

but also sets specific recommendations as to how that country can 

move forward. 

With this report, countries should have no question whatsoever 

about where they rank, as well as how they can improve. Many 

countries have publicly or privately credited the report as the impetus for real improvement in their trafficking laws and policies. 

Since the TIP Report’s inception, more than 130 countries have enacted antitrafficking laws, and many countries have taken other 

steps required to significantly raise their tier earnings. 

I just returned from Istanbul on Saturday from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and offered a resolution there on trafficking 

and specially on some of the best practices that Ambassador 

CdeBaca and I have been talking about where flight attendants can 

be trained as to how to spot a trafficking as it occurs, while victims 

are being moved and transported. Not only did it pass unanimously, but many of the heads of delegation have made it very 

clear that they are going to go back to their capitals and take up 

that idea. 

I also talked to many of the heads of delegation and members of 

Parliament about the TIP Report. Many of them knew about it, 

some of them were unhappy that our country takes it upon itself 

to hold them accountable, but as I told each and every one of them, 

not only do we rate ourselves, but even more importantly, borders 

are no excuse for human rights abuse. And if we really want to end 

modern-day slavery, what is contained in this all-important book, 

helps them, and helps all of us, as a guide to help improve our efforts. 

This year, China, Russia, and Uzbekistan finally have to confront 

their records. The report tells it like it is. For instance, the TIP Report states that, and I quote in pertinent part:

‘‘The Chinese Government’s birth limitation policy and a cultural preference for sons, created a skewed sex ratio of 118 

boys to 100 girls in China, which served as a key source of demand for the trafficking of foreign women as brides for Chinese 

men and forced prostitution. Women from Burma, Malaysia, 

Vietnam, and Mongolia are transported to China after being 

recruited through marriage brokers or fraudulent employment 

offers where they are subsequently subjected to forced prostitution or forced labor. Traffickers recruited girls and young 

women, often rural areas of China, using a combination of 

fraudulent job offers, imposition of large travel fees, and 

3

threats of physical or financial harm to obtain and maintain 

their service in prostitution.’’

Because tens of millions of girls have been systematically killed 

by sex-selection-abortion over the past three decades, resulting in 

an unprecedented number of ‘‘missing’’ women and girls in China, 

demand for prostitutes and so-called ‘‘brides’’ is absolutely exploding in China. And it is not getting any better any time soon. 

As a direct consequence of the barbaric one-child-per-couple policy in effect since 1979, China has become the global magnet for 

sex traffickers. Women and young girls have been and are today 

being reduced to commodities and coerced into prostitution. Without serious and sustained action by Beijing and the international 

community, it is only going to get worse. 

The TIP Report also makes clear that ‘‘Chinese law remains inadequate to combat all forms of trafficking. and the Government of 

China’s efforts to protect trafficking victims remained inadequate.’’ 

In addition, China’s ‘‘Government continued to perpetuate human 

trafficking in at least 320 state-run institutions.’’

I, along with Congressman Frank Wolf, visited one of those staterun institutions in the early 1990s, Beijing Prison #1. We were 

shocked to observe the horrific conditions imposed on inmates including more than 40 Tiananmen Square human rights activists. 

The report makes clear that state-sponsored forced labor is part of 

a systemic form of repression known as ‘‘reeducation through labor. 

The government reportedly profits from this forced labor, and many 

prisoners and detainees . . . .’’

With this report, we have done right by the millions of trafficking victims in China. With this report, we are holding China to 

account for its complicity in profits off of modern-day slavery. It is 

my sincere hope that the truth will turn the tide in China. 

However, I am disappointed and I would say this with all respect 

to my friend, Ambassador CdeBaca, we were disappointed, many of 

us, to see that Vietnam was not downgraded to the Tier II Watch 

List or Tier III. Vietnam’s labor export companies, most of which 

are owned by or affiliated with the Government of Vietnam, have 

been engaged in practices that lead to debt bondage and forced 

labor. The Government of Vietnam has yet to pay millions of dollars in damages to Vietnamese labor trafficking victims found in 

the United States and its territories, as ordered by U.S. courts. 

Vietnamese trafficking victims in other countries report that the 

Government of Vietnam sides with the traffickers to keep them in 

bondage when the victims seek help. Other reports indicate that 

the Vietnamese Embassy in Russia, and we had a hearing on this, 

is actively working with organized crime to enslave Vietnamese nationals in sweatshops and brothels, and the TIP Report itself notes 

reports that officials at border crossings and checkpoints accept 

bribes from traffickers. 

Some notable trends in the 2013 report include: Tier I, 30 countries as compared with 33 in 2012; Tier II, 92 countries as compared with 93 in 2012; Tier II Watch List, 44 countries as compared with 42 in 2012; and Tier III, 20 countries as compared with 

17 in 2012. 

The Africa region increased its prosecutions by 45 percent. According to the report, labor prosecutions by 500 percent, its convicVerDate 0ct 09 2002 08:42 Nov 23, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\_AGH\071113\81872 HFA PsN: SHIRL
4

tions by 16 percent, and its victim identification by 13 percent. The 

African region, however, is the region with the greatest number of 

Tier III countries, and does not contain any Tier I countries. 

The East Asia and Pacific region saw a 23-percent decrease in 

prosecutions, but a 28-percent increase in convictions and a slight 

increase in the number of victims who were identified. The number 

of victims identified remains alarmingly low, however, at 8,521 in 

a region where the International Labor Organization believes there 

are nearly 12 million people enslaved. The number of labor convictions, 103, also remains extremely low in the region of the world 

most plagued by labor trafficking. 

The European region saw a slight drop in prosecutions, but a 13-

percent increase in convictions and a 17-percent increase in victims 

identified. I would note parenthetically that that in 2008 in the European space, some 54,000 victims have been identified. So there 

is a robust effort underway there to find, identify, and help victims. 

The Near East region saw a 19-percent increase in prosecutions 

in 2012, and more than doubled its conviction rate, largely due to 

efforts in the United Arab Emirates. The Near East region also 

more than doubled its number of victims identified. This region has 

the greatest relative proportion, however, of Tier III countries. 

The South and Central Asia region saw slight, but appreciable 

increases in its prosecutions, some 7 percent; convictions, 5 percent; 

and number of victims identified at 13 percent. India, one of the 

first countries to be moved off of the Tier II Watch List under the 

TVPRA of 2008 2-year rule, remained a questionable Tier II ranking for a second year. Out of nearly 2 billion people, only 4,415 victims were identified. 

Finally, the Western Hemisphere region, in which the United 

States, of course, is included, prosecutions increased by 72 percent, 

and convictions increased by 44 percent, including a 650-percent increase in labor trafficking convictions. However, victim identification, sadly, decreased by 15 percent. Eight countries in this region 

improved their antitrafficking laws in 2012. Cuba is the only country in the region to be Tier III. Colombia and Nicaragua share Tier 

I status with the United States and with Canada. 

I look forward to the testimony by our very distinguished witness, Ambassador Luis CdeBaca, but before that will yield to my 

friend and colleague, the ranking member, Ms. Bass. 

Ms. BASS. Mr. Chairman, once again, I want to thank you for 

your on-going efforts to combat human trafficking. I always appreciate your focus and your steadfast commitment and I look forward 

to continuing to work with you to develop smart policies that protect victims and prevent human trafficking globally and domestically. 

I also want to express my deep gratitude to Ambassador 

CdeBaca. And I especially appreciate your inclusion about what is 

going on in the United States in the report. I know that is always 

there, but you had a slightly different focus this time. 

The United Nations defines trafficking in persons as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of persons. 

While we hold this hearing annually, this definition of trafficking 

reminds us that efforts to end human trafficking are needed more 

today than ever before. The International Labor Organization estiVerDate 0ct 09 2002 08:42 Nov 23, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\_AGH\071113\81872 HFA PsN: SHIRL
5

mates that human trafficking generates well over $30 billion annually, a figure that rivals some nation’s gross domestic product. The 

2013 TIP Report clearly indicates that far too few victims have 

been identified and my fear is that if we don’t quickly identify more 

victims they will be lost to organized crime, pimps, johns, and others that care little about their well-being or physical, mental, or 

emotional safety. 

With social scientists estimating that 27 million women, children, and men are trafficked, the fact that only 40,000 have been 

identified is woefully inadequate and frankly disturbing. We can 

and must do more to assist nations everywhere with helping identify and protect victims and not treating them as criminals. 

I am pleased that this year’s TIP Report is themed Victim Identification. 

Ambassador, once again, I commend your leadership on this 

issue, working through the interagencies as well through your direct foreign government engagement to ensure that a comprehensive response to fight trafficking includes thorough enforcement, 

alongside compassionate care for vulnerable communities including 

runaways, foster youth, disabled, stateless, ethnic minorities, and 

migrants. 

As I look at this year’s tier ranking map of Africa, there appears 

to be progress in nations like Madagascar, Sierra Leone, Senegal, 

and the Republic of Congo, yet other nations have not progressed 

and have fallen backwards. The good news however, is that prosecutions, convictions, victim identifications, and new legislation 

across the continent appear to be at an all-time high. 

I am eager to hear what new efforts can help increase focus on 

issues of child soldiers, sexual exploitation, as well as forced servitude and labor throughout Africa. The TIP Office should be congratulated for efforts to work with the South African Government 

to advocate for and advise on passage of legislation that prohibits 

all forms of trafficking in persons. I am pleased that the TIP Report continues also to evaluate the United States’ efforts to address 

human trafficking. In this section, the TIP Report highlights the 

critical needs to strengthen efforts to serve and protect domestic 

populations vulnerable to trafficking including the nearly 1⁄2 million children in foster care. Sadly, the instability and traumatic experience of foster children make them particularly susceptible to 

commercial exploitation. Worse still, recent headlines indicate that 

pimps are now targeting foster youth group homes as hubs to recruit vulnerable girls right here in this city as well as around the 

country. 

Across the country, data shows that between 65 and 85 percent 

of domestic minor trafficking victims are current or former foster 

youth. In Los Angeles County alone, my home county, hundreds of 

domestic youth are commercially exploited each year. In 2012, the 

Los Angeles County reported that at least 60 percent of youth identified as victims of sex trafficking were in the foster care system. 

Estimates by local authorities indicate that the actual numbers are 

much higher, but there is a lack of available data to confirm these 

statistics. 

As an advocate of our nation’s foster youth, I am pleased to see 

that the TIP Report urges the United States to increase training 

6

to case workers and other professionals who serve children in the 

child welfare system, similar to as the chair mentioned with the 

airline industry. We need to train our own service providers here. 

The report specifically notes that the Federal Government should 

issue official guidance to provide child welfare agencies with specific tools and information to better identify and serve foster youth 

who are trafficked or at risk of being trafficked. 

Furthermore, the TIP Report outlines the need for enhanced data 

collection to better understand the scope and scale of domestic 

human trafficking. In order to address these very gaps, I am proud 

to have introduced the Strengthening Child Welfare Response to 

Trafficking Act, along with my colleague on the subcommittee representative, Tom Marino. This bill will direct the Department of 

Health and Human Services to issue guidance to child welfare 

agencies with appropriate tools to identify, document, educate and 

counsel child victims of trafficking and those at risk and require 

child welfare agencies to report the numbers of victims of trafficking in foster care as well as their plans to combat trafficking 

to the Federal Government. I don’t know and perhaps we can get 

into it in questions, I don’t know if you work with Human Services 

here, but it would be great to have that collaboration going. 

In closing, Ambassador, I want to urge you to continue to pursue 

an interagency process that calls on all relevant departments and 

agencies to address this issue, like I described a minute ago. I have 

been generally impressed by the work of the Interagency Task 

Force to develop a comprehensive strategic action plan on victim 

services here in the U.S. to ensure that our limited resources are 

being maximized. The decision to include a public comment period 

to incorporate the input of broader civil society including survivors 

of trafficking into the plan increases its chance for success to increase awareness, identify more victims, and improve services. 

I look forward to posing some questions later on in this hearing. 

Thank you. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you very much. I now yield to the distinguished chairman of the full committee, Mr. Ed Royce of California. 

Mr. ROYCE. I thank Chairman Smith for holding this important 

hearing. I just want to also take a moment and thank Chris Smith 

for all he has tried to do to drive this issue as well as our former 

Speaker of the State Assembly, Karen Bass, a member of this committee for everything that she is attempting to do to stop human 

trafficking, especially trafficking of children. And the definition of 

a civilized world is one that comes to the aid of those who are most 

defenseless. And when you look at the situations around the world 

of children sold into slavery, sold into trafficking, or these situations that Karen has been talking about in terms of the group 

homes, we have girls as young as 13, 14 years old, these Romeos 

are sent there, these girls never have any idea the end goal that 

these men have for them. They think they are being rescued. But 

what is about to happen to them is a very, very horrendous situation followed by a very short lifespan for most of these young children. 

We want to thank Ambassador CdeBaca for his work and for 

being here today with the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking of Persons. 

7

We had a hearing earlier this year on this subject, prior to the 

report, and this modern-day slavery is what it is, is something that 

affects the lives of so many millions around the world, but also as 

we heard in testimony, also the lives of people here in the United 

States. And the commitment of the Foreign Affairs Committee as 

Chris Smith will attest is deep, it is longstanding, it is fully bipartisan, and our goal is to put a whole lot of more pressure on governments around the world to get engaged here. 

Earlier this year, I supported the Violence Against Women Act 

reauthorization, but I have concerns that cuts to the TIP Office and 

other aspects of the trafficking reauthorization contained in that 

bill might harm the important work of the TIP Office. I know that 

Chairman Smith is working hard to make certain that at the end 

of the day we do more to lean in on these governments. And 

against this background all of us were closely watching this country’s peer rankings to see how the State Department would handle 

the statutory limit on how long countries could stay parked on the 

Tier II Watch List. And so I was somewhat encouraged that for the 

first time in memory, this year’s TIP Report accurately ranks certain important countries such as China and Russia, based on the 

facts on the ground. And based on their lack of significant efforts 

to address the problem. 

I do wonder why other countries were not similarly treated. For 

example, I am very concerned that the Government of Cambodia 

remains part of the problem. My chief of staff spent her vacation 

in the past working with children in Cambodia who had been sold, 

who had been trafficked with the knowledge of local police, with 

the knowledge, full knowledge, of the local government. But I do 

believe that these new Tier III downgrades are well deserved. And 

I think that increased the credibility of the TIP Report, but at the 

end of the day I want to see more done across the board, especially 

with governments like Cambodia. 

The Report also underscores the broader challenges we face. 

Twice as many countries slip backwards in this year’s report than 

have been improved since last year. 

And finally, in terms of this global issue, hitting close to home, 

just yesterday, the Orange County District Attorney, Tony 

Rackauckas, filed human trafficking charges against a Saudi princess accused of exploiting a Kenyan victim in California, so we will 

be following that case with interest. 

I thank you again, Mr. Chairman. I yield back. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you very much, Chairman Royce, for your 

leadership and for your very eloquent comments today. 

Dr. Bera. 

Mr. BERA. Thank you, Chairman Smith, Ranking Member Bass. 

Again, this is an incredibly important series of hearings and even 

one case of human trafficking is one case too many, but when you 

are talking about millions, this is an epidemic that requires all of 

our resources. And again, I applaud this committee for taking it up 

and making it a priority and we have to make it a priority for the 

entire population in America. It goes to our core values of human 

decency, human respect, and dignity. 

We certainly have to focus in on what is happening internationally, but we also have to look at the supply side of this as well. We 

8

have to raise our standards of values. So when we are shopping 

someplace, when we are buying our goods and services, we know 

we are not spending resources at places that are engaging in 

human trafficking. 

We also have to hone our conversation. Ambassador CdeBaca, 

you pointed out the importance of just basic education so that our 

first responders can recognize and report potential cases that our 

healthcare providers, that our teachers, that everyone in this country can recognize it, so we stop it here domestically as well and 

stamp that out. And you identified a case of a police officer in Sacramento who just with a single day of training really raised his 

awareness. So this is an epidemic that has to stop and again, it 

goes to our basic values as just human beings. 

So again, I applaud the efforts of this committee. Again, this is 

a bipartisan issue that just is about human decency and what we 

stand for. So we look forward to working with you and you clearly 

have the full support of all of us. Thank you. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you, Dr. Bera. Mr. Meadows. 

Mr. MEADOWS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Ambassador, for being here to testify. As most of us in this room know, 

this annual Trafficking in Persons Report is one of the best tools 

that we have in terms of identifying human trafficking and reports 

on some 186 countries, utilizes U.S. Government research, foreign 

government statistics, NGO information, evaluates really whether 

a country is meeting, and may I stress minimum standards to 

eliminate human trafficking. But really none of that matters. We 

have had a number of hearings here, none of that matters if the 

Report is not acted on. And for me, I think that is what I look forward is how can we make sure that if a bad report is presented, 

that it has consequences that comes with that. We look over and 

over and we have heard testimony in this very room how if there 

are no consequences or if there is not a consistent standard, what 

we find is is that human trafficking really doesn’t change. 

The State Department has not let us know if they will put on 

sanctions for any Tier III countries. And yet, they have the law and 

the capability to do that and we seem to resist that. 

There is obviously some very encouraging statistics we have seen 

here in this report, some that are not quite as encouraging, but 

what we all know is that this will not improve unless there is an 

incentive, a real incentive, not just empty words and empty rhetoric, but a real incentive to make sure that we stop this. It is bipartisan. Both the chairman and the ranking member have said it so 

well that we have to place an emphasis on this, not just abroad, 

but here in the United States. My daughter has been involved in 

human trafficking issues in the United States for a long time to 

highlight that and what we have happening also in our neighborhoods, in our communities around us must be stopped. 

So with that, Mr. Ambassador, I thank you for your heart and 

what it represents. 

Chairman Royce pointed out one other thing with regards to 

VAWA. When it passed, I was deeply concerned about reduction in 

some of the emphasis in human trafficking both from a reporting 

standpoint, a jurisdictional standpoint, and a funding standpoint 

that I look forward to working with the chairman and the ranking 

9

member to hopefully correct. I look forward to hearing your testimony on that. 

I yield back, Mr. Chairman, and I thank you. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you, Mr. Meadows. Now we turn to our distinguished witness and thank him for being here. Ambassador Luis 

CdeBaca coordinates U.S. Government activities in a global fight 

against contemporary forms of slavery. He serves as senior advisor 

to the Secretary of State and directs the State Department’s Office 

to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons which, as we all 

know, assesses global trends, provides training and technical assistance, and advocates for the end of modern-day slavery. 

Ambassador CdeBaca formerly served as counsel to the House 

Committee on the Judiciary, whereas his portfolio included modern 

slavery issues, among many others. He also served as a Federal 

prosecutor with the Department of Justice where he prosecuted 

and successfully convicted dozens of pimps and abusive employers 

and helped liberate hundreds of victims from servitude. 

So Mr. Ambassador, the floor is yours. 

STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE LUIS CDEBACA, AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE, OFFICE TO MONITOR AND COMBAT TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE 

Ambassador CDEBACA. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Ranking 

Member Bass, and other members of the committee. Thank you for 

the invitation to testify today about the 2013 Trafficking in Persons 

Report. But most importantly, thank you for your on-going concern 

and leadership in our country’s effort to combat modern slavery. 

Since I became Ambassador-at-Large 4 years ago, a lot has 

changed in the antitrafficking movement for governments are living up to their responsibility to fight this crime. More stakeholders 

are contributing expertise and resources. And more individuals are 

aware of the way that modern slavery affects their lives. But one 

thing that has not changed is the partnership across the United 

States Government when it comes to fighting human trafficking, in 

both the administration and on Capitol Hill, in both the House and 

the Senate and in both sides of the aisle. 

It is a partnership that secured the renewal of the antitrafficking 

law earlier this year, a partnership rooted in the idea that we as 

a nation need to stand up for universal values, values of freedom, 

justice, and dignity of all people, here at home and around the 

world. These are the values that drive our work to fight modern 

slavery. These are the values that drive our imperative to deliver 

on the 150-year-old promise of freedom made by President Lincoln. 

At the same time, we also make combatting trafficking in persons a priority in domestic and foreign policy because doing so is 

in our country’s strategic interest. Trafficking persons is a crime 

that threatens rule of law. It feeds on the vulnerability of 

marginalized populations, creates further instability and damages 

communities, corrupts labor markets and global supply chains, the 

very things that are essential to a thriving global economy. 

So it is not only the right thing to do, but the smart thing to do. 

And as President Obama made clear in this speech of the Clinton 

Global Initiative meeting last fall, the United States will continue 

to be a leader in this global movement. President Clinton said 

10

something right after that. He said that ‘‘the foundation world and 

all of us in public life have not necessarily done enough to deliver 

on that promise.’’ And so that challenge that was put down not just 

by President Obama that day, but by President Clinton as well, is 

a challenge that should ring out for all of us. It is the challenge 

that Mr. Bera suggests. What am I doing? What are we doing in 

our own lives as consumers, as policy makers, as Americans? 

We ask ourselves that question each day at the State Department. And what we do is we try to press forward through assistance to organizations working on the front lines, providing aid to 

victims and helping governments build up their capacity. We bring 

more stakeholders to the table through partnership efforts, harness 

civil society, the resources and innovativeness of the private and 

the commitment of groups and individuals who, like us, reject slavery in the 21st century. And through diplomacy, we urge governments to fully embrace their responsibility to deal with this crime 

and we will work with any government that takes this problem seriously. 

One of our most important tools along this line is the annual 

Trafficking in Persons Report. I would like to say a few words 

about our major findings this year. My prepared testimony goes 

into greater detail, and Mr. Chairman, you gave us a very good 

overview as well of some of the trends that we are seeing out there. 

Once again, this report tells us that trafficking in persons affects 

every country in the world. And it also tells us that there is no government in the world that is doing enough to fight it. 

Our major focus this year is the importance and challenge of effective victim identification. When done well, victim identification 

opens the door to the support and services trafficking victims, trafficking survivors need. Victim identification leads to more investigations and prosecutions and allows survivors the opportunity, if 

they choose, to share their experiences and have a voice in the way 

that we shape our antitrafficking policies and practices. It is the 

critical first step in stopping this crime. 

And yet, only about 47,000 victims were brought to light in the 

last year, compared to that 27 million people living in slavery. That 

massive gap represents the millions who toil unseen and beyond 

the reach of law and it shows how far we have to go in this effort. 

At the same time, we do see modest gains, more victims identified, 

more countries adopted modern antitrafficking laws, more countries moving toward a whole of government approach so necessary 

to confront this crime. 

Now beyond the global trends, the report includes the assessments of the countries and territories on their government’s effectiveness in combatting this crime. And we have seen an unfortunate reversal of the trend over the last few years. More countries 

were downgraded this year than were upgraded by a margin of 

nearly two to one. This year, 30 counties, including the United 

States are on Tier I in the report, meaning the governments of 

these countries are complying with the minimum standards set by 

Congress. And I would like to be clear and I would like to repeat 

what Mr. Meadows has said, these are only minimum standards. 

A Tier I is not a perfect score. A Tier I is merely a passing grade. 

11

Every country, every government, can be doing more to deal with 

this challenge. 

This year, 92 countries are in Tier II. Those governments don’t 

meet all the minimum standards, but we are seeing some serious 

efforts there. And 44 countries are on the Tier II Watch List, countries that despite making some efforts aren’t getting positive results or the situation may actually be getting worse. An example 

I think that reflects Chairman Royce’s concerns, Cambodia, the 

downgrade of Cambodia to Tier II Watch List this year very much 

reflecting a downward trend in that country. 

And then, of course, Tier III, those countries where the governments aren’t doing much at all to deal with this crime and this 

year there are 21 countries. 

This report doesn’t pull any punches. It is thorough and candid 

and as Secretary Kerry said at the rollout of the report, this report 

is tough because this is a tough issue and it demands serious attention. It is tough, but it isn’t necessarily punitive, we are not 

claiming to have the answers because we don’t. Know that the better information that we have about modern slavery, what works 

there and what works here, the more we are able to share those 

best practices, that we are able to learn from our partners, and we 

are able to share what we are doing correctly, the better we all will 

be in confronting it. 

So we are not just pointing a finger. We are extending a hand 

to anyone who agrees that this is a problem that we need to grapple with. The Trafficking in Persons Office’s 60 staff members are 

committed abolitionists, subject matter experts, and experienced 

diplomats and they work with their colleagues in the field with 

ever-intensifying expertise across the U.S. Foreign Service and 

across civil society. One of those staff members, Senior Coordinator 

for Reports and Political Affairs, Mark Taylor, is leaving us next 

week for an exciting opportunity in Southeast Asia. We all owe him 

a debt of gratitude for his decade of leadership because under his 

command, the Reports and Political Affairs Section has seen a report that has shone a light in the dark corners of the world and 

driven policy change for the better for the vulnerable around the 

world. 

So this report is a guide for ourselves, for governments, and for 

everyone who shares our goal of a world without slavery. 

Thank you all for your commitment and your partnership. 

[The prepared statement of Ambassador CdeBaca follows:]

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Mr. SMITH. Mr. Ambassador, thank you again for your testimony 

and again, thank you for your extraordinary leadership. 

Let me just begin with a couple of questions. Nigeria was a Tier 

I country in 2010 and 2011. I actually visited Nigeria and met with 

their JTIP, their equivalent of our office to combat trafficking. They 

seem to be very, very focused. I visited two shelters. They were inadequately housed, but it was a resourcing problem. And I am wondering if you might speak to why they are Tier II? Of course, they 

are not Tier III and they are not a Watch List country, but when 

Nigeria was put on Tier I, it was cause for celebration that one of 

the most populous of the African countries had made such 

progress. What has happened? 

Ambassador CDEBACA. Mr. Smith, I am glad you asked about Nigeria because to us there is so much promise in NAPTIP, the Nigerian antitrafficking structure. The very structure of NAPTIP and 

the way that they are staffing their offices to us is an innovation 

that all countries in the world should look to. 

This notion of bringing together police officers, prosecutors, and 

social workers assigned to the same case on the same day, it is not 

police officers work a case for a year and then they maybe take it 

to a prosecutor who turns it down because they have never met the 

victim. It is not social workers as an afterthought. It is actually integrating those three things. And that was I think one of the things 

that drove us in 2009 as far as the upgrade was concerned. 

There has been leadership changes in NAPTIP over the last year 

or so and I think that those are also things that we are looking at 

that will have a very positive effect. The new head of NAPTIP is 

energetic, she is innovative, and she is serious. And we think that 

that is putting them on an upward trajectory. I can’t say what the 

tier rankings would be for Nigeria in any given year. We have to 

look at the evidence for those 12-month periods. But we do think 

that there is positive movement in Nigeria. 

Nigeria as a model, I think one of the things that we have seen 

is whether a country is a Tier I country or a Tier II country. If 

there is an innovation, we need to call people’s effect to that. And 

I, on the Senate side, was in front of an Asia Subcommittee that 

was perhaps a little more skeptical about Nigeria and skeptical 

about the fact that we would think that much wealthier or other 

high-status countries in the Asia region could learn from a Nigeria 

on a law-enforcement issue. And frankly, that was something that 

we took back and we went straight to those governments and said 

Nigeria is doing this right and we all need to look at them as a 

model. 

Again, each year we look at the rankings and we will see where 

we go. But we are heartened by some of the innovations that we 

see out of NAPTIP. 

Mr. SMITH. A few weeks ago, Mr. Ambassador, the chairwoman 

of the Foreign Affairs Committee for China, Madame Fu, sat right 

where you are sitting, but facing the other way and we had a dialogue, members of our committee. I brought up the trafficking issue 

and the nexus with the one-child-per-couple policy and the 

gendercide that has occurred systematically over the last 30 years 

through sex-selection, abortion, and the fact that tens of millions 

of girls and now young women are missing simply because of sexVerDate 0ct 09 2002 08:42 Nov 23, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\_AGH\071113\81872 HFA PsN: SHIRL
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selection abortion. And as I pointed out in my opening, straight 

from the TIP Report, you point out that the skewed sex ratio of 118 

boys to 100 girls in China has served as a key source of demand 

for the trafficking of foreign women. And I would also add for domestic women moving in country around in China. 

Madame Fu was indignant that I even brought it up. When I 

mentioned to her that 600 women, just under 600 women per day 

commit suicide in China, it is the only place in the world where the 

numbers far exceed male suicides, directly attributable to the onechild-per-couple policy and now this horrible consequence of trafficking, she said I was making it up. But I pointed out that our 

State Department’s country reports and human rights practices 

makes very clear that that number came from their Chinese Government’s equivalent of the Centers for Disease Control. And she 

looked at it and walked away in a huff. 

My question is what was the Chinese reaction to being placed on 

Tier III? If you could maybe elaborate on how this demand is only 

getting worse, especially for the ASEAN countries where women 

are being trafficked, and that goes for North Korea as well, into 

China because of the scarcity of women. They don’t exist relative 

to the number of males in that country, so demand has been skyrocketing. If you can speak to that as well. 

And thirdly, where do you think the administration may go on 

enforcing or implementing a sanctions regime on the PRC? 

Ambassador CDEBACA. Perhaps I will take those backwards. 

Mr. SMITH. Sure. 

Ambassador CDEBACA. Once the Trafficking in Persons Report 

comes out, there is then a 90-day period in which we look at the 

possibility of sanctions for the Tier III countries. And we work with 

our colleagues in the regional bureaus. We work with the White 

House and others in looking to see to what extent there is aid to 

those countries that we would then be having impact on, to what 

extent there are things that we would want to preserve the working relationship around, especially things like law enforcement 

training and other things that go directly to the human trafficking 

issue. Because, of course, you don’t want to cut off the way that you 

can make change with a particular country, and so trying to figure 

out what the universe actually is as far as U.S. foreign assistance 

that would be subject to sanctions. And that is the process that is 

going on right now. I can’t speak to where that is going to end up. 

I can certainly tell you though that we are taking it with all seriousness and not just in China’s situation, but in all of the Tier III 

countries. And there are some new Tier III countries. There are 

also countries that have been in Tier III in the past. And each year 

we want to look at those with a fresh slate because we want to 

make sure that the sanctions regime is tied to the rankings, but 

also tied to the situation on the ground. And that typically, I think 

we are usually talking about a mid-September date as far as the 

sanctions decision by the President. 

As you point out, Mr. Smith, the Trafficking in Persons Report 

does not shy away from recognizing the interrelationship between 

the one-child policy, the sex ratios, and the demand, especially for 

women, not just for bride trafficking, but for sex trafficking as a 

whole. That notion of the disposability of women that we see, as 

18

Kevin Bales calls the situation of trafficking the problem of disposable people. I think that that is something that we have raised 

with the Chinese, not simply in the context of the report, but when 

I am sitting down with my counterparts talking about human trafficking, it should come as no surprise that this is one of the concerns that we have. And we certainly communicate that to them. 

Their response this year without necessarily getting into the 

middle of particular diplomatic conversations, and I think just as 

we had had a fruitful visit a few months ago to China, we feel that 

there is some room to work with the Chinese. The ratification of 

the Palermo Protocol, finally, the new Plan of Action, these are 

very positive things. The new Plan of Action came out after the reporting period closed and so it is not something that is necessarily 

reflected in this report. But the new Plan of Action for the first 

time actually says let us look at unofficial work. It had been that 

trafficking could only happen officially in China if you had an 

abuse within a labor unit. And if you weren’t in an official labor 

unit, you weren’t employed and so therefore you couldn’t be held 

in forced labor. So all of the underground economy was exempted 

from the application of the law. So the notion of them closing that 

loophole, the notion of them looking with the All-China Women’s 

Federation so that you could have the screening of people who were 

found in prostitution as a matter of course, these are all things 

that we are enthusiastic about when we look at that action plan. 

That action plan is a future promise and future promises under the 

Trafficking Victims Protection Act are Tier II Watch List criteria. 

And so when we look at that action plan, when we look at what 

may come from it, we are going to be working with the Chinese 

and I think that their response to the report and the discussions 

that we are going to be having with them coming out of their response shows that there is, I think, a lot of places that we can work 

together on this, rather than being at loggerheads. 

Mr. SMITH. I do have many other questions, but I will yield to 

my friend, Ms. Bass. 

Ms. BASS. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, for yielding. I 

actually want to ask you a couple of questions, but not as Ambassador, in your prior role, thinking about the U.S. and giving your 

years of experience as a prosecutor, so we are grappling with a couple of things. I mean right now we know ten states have passed 

safe harbor laws to protect children from being criminalized and 

charged with prostitution when I don’t believe a person under the 

age of consent could be considered a prostitute. 

So my question would be what would you advise Congress to do 

in order to encourage or incentivize states to enact strong safe harbor laws? And then until those laws are passed, I am also concerned about girls that have already have that on their record. 

Then they try to turn their life around and they have soliciting. So 

how do we address that? And I want to know if you are familiar 

with any states that have been successful in eliminating charges 

related to sexual exploitation. California has led the way in one 

area, but——

Ambassador CDEBACA. Well, this is actually part of my ambassadorial hat as well because of the senior policy operating group 

which I chair is a way in which we bring the entire interagency toVerDate 0ct 09 2002 08:42 Nov 23, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\_AGH\071113\81872 HFA PsN: SHIRL
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gether to wrestle with these. I think I am probably unique among 

the ambassadorial corps in that I have the domestic responsibility 

as well. We try to do that as collaborators and with a relatively 

light touch across the administration, getting everybody moving in 

the same direction, especially as the President has, I think, shown 

such leadership on this over the last 8 months or so. 

What we have seen is a very exciting set of legislative sessions 

this spring. There are some states in which this was the only session because they are on 2-year cycles. And so we have seen an explosion in not just laws being passed and sent to the governor for 

signature in places not just in your states that have done a lot on 

this over the years like California and New Jersey, but also in 

places like West Virginia and even Wyoming finally passing their 

state antitrafficking statute. But that notion of safe harbor and the 

notion of expungement we are starting to now see that. 

And something that my office has been working with the States’ 

Attorneys General and the National Conference of State Legislators on, it is something that our friends over at DOJ and HHS, especially, have been working with. 

Ms. BASS. Can we get that information from about the states and 

all, get that information? 

Ambassador CDEBACA. Very much so. I mean I think a lot of that 

ends up being kind of the normal type of intergovernmental work, 

the phone calls of encouragement and things like that. I have testified by phone, for instance, in the West Virginia legislature. We 

don’t have a product that we are sending out to them, etcetera, but 

we can certainly get you some more information about what we 

have been doing. And I think that part of it is that again, the bipartisan effort of the National Attorneys General Association led by 

Martha Coakley last year, but then really pushing out now as not 

just a 1-year Presidential initiative, but something that is going to 

sustain itself. I think that is one of the things that we have seen. 

When you hear the stories of these women who have been able 

to get their records expunged, they are able to get a cosmetology 

license. They are able to move on with their lives. 

[Additional information follows:]

ADDITIONAL WRITTEN INFORMATION RECEIVED FROM THE HONORABLE LUIS CDEBACA

TO QUESTION ASKED DURING THE HEARING BY THE HONORABLE KAREN BASS

According to the 2013 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, all states and all but 

one territory have enacted modern anti-trafficking criminal statutes in recent years. 

All 50 states prohibit the prostitution of children under state and local laws that 

predate the Trafficking Victims Protection Act; however, the application of these 

laws continues to result in some trafficked children being treated as criminal offenders. By the close of the reporting period (FY 12), some states had passed additional 

protections such as asset-forfeiture provisions, access to civil remedies, and training 

for law enforcement; 14 states had enacted ‘‘safe harbor’’ laws to ensure that children are treated as victims and provided services rather than being prosecuted for 

prostitution; and eight states had enacted laws to allow trafficking victims to petition the court to vacate prostitution-related criminal convictions that result from 

trafficking. While these laws reflect an increased effort by state legislatures, observers report that state anti-trafficking laws generally lack uniformity and consistency 

across jurisdictions. 

Since our reporting on ‘‘safe harbor’’ laws in the 2013 TIP Report, five additional 

states have passed some form of this type of law. States have also improved upon 

and implemented existing ‘‘safe harbor’’ laws including, but not limited to, New 

York and Minnesota. The state of New York amended their ‘‘safe harbor’’ law to protect 16- and 17-year old trafficking victims in addition to those aged 15 and youngVerDate 0ct 09 2002 08:42 Nov 23, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00023 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 F:\WORK\_AGH\071113\81872 HFA PsN: SHIRL
20

er. The Minnesota Legislature approved $2.8 million in funding to implement their 

‘‘safe harbor’’ law enabling the state to hire a statewide director of child trafficking 

prevention and six regional coordinators, to train law enforcement and prosecutors, 

and to provide shelter and housing to child victims.

Mr. SMITH. Mr. Ambassador, let me just ask you with regards to 

Vietnam which is one of the disappointing parts. I know you don’t 

make all of the decisions, the regional bureaus certainly have input 

to say the least and there is very often, I have heard this from the 

previous Ambassadors, including Ambassador Mark Lagon, that it 

is a battle, fighting to ensure that the right tier ranking occurs. 

I recently introduced and got passed in full committee, the Vietnam Human Rights Act. This will be the third time that I tried to 

get that bill enacted into law and held a hearing on it. There were 

actually two hearings. Vietnam is deteriorating when it comes to 

human rights at breakneck speed. There have been more show 

trials in Vietnam in 2013, in the first 3 months of 2013, 40, than 

there were in all of 2012. As a matter of fact, it was pointed out 

by Human Rights Watch that there has been a huge deterioration 

across the board when it comes to human rights in Vietnam. 

When it comes to trafficking, as well as designation of CPC, 

country of particular concern, I think there has been a missed opportunity on our part to so designate Vietnam such a country because on religious persecution they have also been in a race to the 

bottom. But when it comes to the TIP, Vietnam certainly, both 

labor and sex trafficking, I believe, has really deteriorated. The TIP 

Report acknowledges that Vietnam’s anti-TIP law has not been implemented because criminal penalties have not been established. 

Prosecution is limited to two provisions in the existing penal code, 

Article 119 on trafficking of women and Article 120, but none of the 

labor trafficking activities committed under the government’s labor 

export program involving government-owned or sanctioned labor 

export companies have been prosecuted. 

And I am wondering, given that record and that you were personally involved with the first case to be prosecuted under the law 

that I wrote, the TVPA of 2000, concerning Daewoosa in American 

Samoa and they still have not been forthcoming with the judgments that were rendered in that decision either. So that is 13 

years old. But that pattern continues, and as I said before in my 

opening, we heard from a woman who testified right where you sit 

whose sister was trafficked to Russia, forced into a brothel, and at 

least three people in the Vietnamese Embassy tipped off the brothel owner when the Russian Government was going to send in police 

to liberate those women. So they are complicit. It couldn’t have 

been more clear. And she told the story of her sister who had been 

so ill-treated and to this day others who have spoken out in Vietnam fear for their lives. She said she feared for her life and her 

family members who are still in Vietnam. 

It would seem that the government has done an awful job and 

if you could speak to that issue because it seems to me that Vietnam should be, it seems to me there ought to be, they deserve to 

be, on Tier III just like China. 

Ambassador CDEBACA. I think one of the things that we have 

seen in Vietnam over the last year or so is that there have been 

some of the structural activities on the part of the government, the 

21

decrees that put out guidance on victim identification; a new policy 

on people who are arrested for drug offenses, not immediately 

being put into those re-education camp, detention facility-type 

things where they were facing forced labor, but as the report this 

year sets out, this is a situation which is very much as you recognize, a mixed bag. We see almost 500 offenders being sentenced. 

That is a positive. On the other hand, we also see these situations 

with the labor export. We see a good track record of identifying almost 900 victims, but when you look at that it is 900 victims almost all of whom who are of internal sex trafficking cases as opposed to looking at the forced labor, whether it is external or otherwise. And I think that that is where we see kind of this mixed bag 

situation. There is something good that is happening and then 

there are these kind of bigger overarching structural issues. 

And so it is certainly something that we are taking into account 

as we now switch over to kind of the diplomatic phase after this 

initial report situation. And I think it is something that as you 

mention, I have had personal experience with the overseas labor 

issues on Vietnam and it is something that we are continuing to 

look at. We are continuing to monitor. And especially our Embassy 

in Moscow because that seems like this pipeline has opened up, 

garment factories east of Moscow, whether it is in service industries or light construction, that notion of the Vietnamese and Russian guest worker situation has always been present, but it seems 

to be perhaps if not intensifying, it is being reported on more when 

the abuses are coming out in the Russian press. 

And so it is one of those things where we have to look at, not 

simply what are we monitoring that is happening within Vietnam, 

but starting to look more at where the Vietnamese are being sent 

and what is happening to them once they get there. 

Mr. SMITH. Let me just ask you, has the Vietnamese Government 

initiated charges against labor export companies or against traffickers involved with the Russian case? 

Ambassador CDEBACA. Not to my knowledge, but I would have 

to check back. 

Mr. SMITH. If you could get back to us on that that would be 

helpful. 

[The information referred to follows:]

WRITTEN RESPONSE RECEIVED FROM THE HONORABLE LUIS CDEBACA TO QUESTION

ASKED DURING THE HEARING BY THE HONORABLE CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

It is our understanding that Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security (MPS) last 

year concluded an investigation into allegations that more than 80 Vietnamese 

workers were recruited to work in textile factories in Moscow and subjected to 

forced labor. The MPS investigative unit for trafficking publicly recommended that 

the Government of Vietnam charge the Vietnamese labor export company in the 

case—Hanoi Investment and Construction Joint Stock Company 1 (HICC1)—with 

human trafficking. However, the Supreme People’s Procuracy rejected the recommendation to bring trafficking charges due to ‘‘lack of evidence’’ and returned the 

case file for further police investigation. Our understanding is that the case is now 

under additional investigation. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), 

on international labor trafficking cases, Vietnam’s criminal justice system requires 

extensive legal assistance from the police forces of the countries where the exploitation occurred in order to successfully prosecute on human trafficking charges.

Mr. SMITH. And again, I would just say that Vietnam did a very 

good job of fooling people when the bilateral agreement was coming 

22

forward that they would make serious efforts on religious freedom 

and other human rights abuses and even people who signed Block 

8406, similar to Vaclav Havel’s Charter 77, a great human rights 

manifesto, they have become targeted in a very systematic way. So 

what I am suggesting is that the backdrop of decrees being promulgated need to be looked at like a grain of salt when that is exactly 

what they did with religious freedom. 

I remember our Ambassador-at-Large for Religious Freedom 

under the Bush administration thought that he had what he called 

deliverables when it came to religious freedom issues and not one 

of them was acted upon and it got them off the CPC designation. 

And they never went back on it as they ought to have. So I think 

they are very good at gaming the situation and talking a good 

game, but they don’t walk the walk. So I would hope that you 

would take that back and I know you care about this deeply so 

take a good, hard look at if you would on Vietnam. 

The report also indicates that the Government of India provided 

no information on investigations or prosecutions of trafficking offenses or on convictions or punishments of trafficking offenders. So 

my question would be many of us, I remember vividly Gary 

Haugen who you know and I know so well, 10 years ago sat where 

you sat at one of the hearings I had on trafficking and showed a 

video of police being tipped off in Mumbai when these young, 13-

, 12-, 11-year-old girls had been hidden. They had the video of 

these little girls who were hidden and they were brought up out 

of a cellar. They could barely see because they were in a dark cellar, but the police had been tipped off and that seems to be the 

modus operandi in many situations in India. And certainly police 

are under the minimum standards by definition, are considered 

part of the government, because I am the one who wrote those minimum standards with a great deal of assistance from my colleagues. But we made sure that government complicity was inclusive of police. 

And I am wondering again how India can qualify as Tier II and 

not Tier III or at least Tier II Watch List? 

Ambassador CDEBACA. Well, India is certainly a country that has 

a very serious trafficking problem, I think certainly the scope of the 

problem. Also, the way it manifests as you mentioned the brothels 

with children, the folks on farms and rice mills and brick kilns and 

other factory-type settings. It is a multi-faceted trafficking problem 

in one of the largest countries in the world and manifests itself differently in different states and different regions. 

I think one of the things that we have seen that is important 

over the last few years in India is that notion of the—especially the 

Interior Ministry coming together around this issue, the leadership 

from the ministers themselves and some of the high-ranking staff 

that is showing that kind of political will that it takes to fight 

human trafficking, the creation of the antitrafficking units out in 

the field. And we recognize that some of those are a work in 

progress, the notion that you have got about almost 500 antitrafficking units and the police and some of those are clicking along 

and especially if they have relationships with the non-governmental organizations, and not just the international non-governmental organizations from the U.S. or from Europe, but the IndiVerDate 0ct 09 2002 08:42 Nov 23, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 F:\WORK\_AGH\071113\81872 HFA PsN: SHIRL
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ans who are working on this. A number of those organizations 

played a key role in the passage of the trafficking legislation this 

last year in India. And that is something that we can’t overstate. 

India had been going in a different direction than the rest of the 

world over the last 10 years on human trafficking legal regime. 

Their Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act actually was something that applied to the persons in prostitution as much as it did 

to the pimps and traffickers who were abusing them. And so one 

of the reasons why we were suspect of the numbers that one would 

get historically from India was that many of those numbers were 

very probably women and children in prostitution who had been 

prosecuted under the Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act. 

Now we finally have a modern anti-slavery, antitrafficking law 

that aims at the abusers, not at the victim. That came in right at 

the end of the reporting period. It came in because of, we think, 

that new relationship between the Ministry of Interior and civil society responding, of course, to the horrible tragic gang rapes that 

were being reported upon this spring. But it was, I think, a situation where we look at kind of where we are in India this year. 

What have we seen over the last 12 years? I think especially the 

work of the HTUs which is a rebuke of sorts to those who had 

claimed in the past that the Indian Government could not have a 

centrally-managed antitrafficking effort because of their constitution. The home ministry has proven them wrong and I think it is 

something that we want to continue to support the home ministry 

and as they continue to do their work. 

Mr. SMITH. That obviously happened before the report was published or before the time closed. Have you been pleased with the 

progress they have made in enforcing their new law? 

Ambassador CDEBACA. Well, I think it always takes some 

months for laws to get out of the blocks, as it were. It is not a drag 

race. And so I think it is something that we are going to be really 

looking to see as to how that law comes out. 

One of the things we saw in a similar——

Mr. SMITH. Does it treat the dalits equally? 

Ambassador CDEBACA. Excuse me? 

Mr. SMITH. Does it treat the dalits equally? 

Ambassador CDEBACA. The dalits, it applies to them as well as 

everyone else in India. Now the proof is in the pudding and I think 

that that is what we are going to see is is the enforcement then 

done in the same kind of neutrality that the text of the law itself 

would have. 

Mr. SMITH. The report shows that the victim identification in the 

Western Hemisphere decreased by 15 percent. Is there a reason for 

that? 

Ambassador CDEBACA. You know, I don’t think that we have 

enough to really go from that as to speculate as to exactly why. 

Mr. SMITH. Okay. 

Ambassador CDEBACA. I think one of the things that we are seeing is that there is a little bit of a double-edged sword without increased attention to the data collection efforts in that we are really 

interrogating the data which sometimes means that we end up 

looking at claimed victims identified by government and we will 

say now what you are actually telling us is about alien-smuggling 

24

cases or those are people who you prosecuted for prostitution offenses. So by interrogating the data, in some countries will end up 

having a circumstance where it looks like there are less victims 

identified than in prior years, when in fact what was happening is 

those prior years victim identification claims may have not been as 

accurate as this year’s. 

So I think it is something we are working through, especially 

with a lot of the Latin American governments as we are bringing 

them into the modern definitions of human trafficking. 

The OAS Plan of Action and some of the work that UNODC has 

done in the Western Hemisphere is getting more and more countries to be able to differentiate between alien smuggling on the one 

hand and human trafficking on the other. And so I think that we 

are going to be seeing much more accurate reporting as far as victims identified, but it all comes back to that definition whether in 

the Indian context, whether in the Western Hemisphere context. 

Mr. SMITH. Mr. Ambassador, let me ask you about Cuba which 

is the only Tier III country in the Western Hemisphere. According 

to the report, Cuba still does not prohibit prostitution of children 

age 16 and older. This is of great concern, given the administration’s effort to open tourism between the U.S. and Cuba. And over 

the past several years, I have read many reports about the abuse 

of children in Cuba for child sex tourism, particularly to Europe 

and to Canada. I remember I was in Geneva when it was still 

called the U.N. Human Rights Commission before it became the 

Council and there was one report that some activists had that 

clearly showed that this a big money maker for Fidel Castro. And 

the man that had it was actually hit by some of the Cuban—he 

was out running, a van stopped. He was cold-cocked in the head 

by some of these thugs because he was raising this issue among 

delegations, including the U.S. delegation, in Geneva. 

I read the report and it was horrible how children are exploited 

in Cuba. And I am wondering if you might want to expand upon 

that and whether or not sex tourism prosecutions might be included in the report to give a further sense of just how bad it is. 

Parenthetically, I remember I was in Brasilia some years ago meeting with parliamentarians there on trafficking and learned just 

how many child predators make their way to Brazil. And they were 

fully aware of it, were trying to combat it and they did a Plan of 

Action that was wonderful, but it is still a problem. But Cuba, obviously, is not visited by predators from this country, at least not in 

large numbers, and not yet. But that could become a major problem. If you could expand upon that? 

Ambassador CDEBACA. Well, I think with Cuba, obviously, there 

are challenges not only as far as doing the type of law enforcement 

that would be necessary. As you rightly point out, the fact that the 

U.S. travel to Cuba is as limited as it is, I think that you have seen 

other countries in the region that have had more of a destination 

status for U.S. child sex tourists, whether it is the Dominican Republic or some of the Central American countries. 

I think that one of the things that we have seen though is that 

this issue of child sex tourism, this issue of child abuse is traditionally an area that we are able to work on with countries around the 

world no matter how the relationship may be on other issues. And 

25

it is something that just as with the migration talks and other 

things that we hold with Cuba, it is something that we would want 

to continue to try to have dialogue on with the Cuban Government. 

We all have a shared goal of protecting our children, whether 

those are our citizens or children here in the hemisphere and it is 

something that we will work with any government in the hemisphere or around the world that is willing to work with us in protecting children. 

Mr. SMITH. Just let me ask you, when do you expect action on 

the sanctions regime as prescribed by the TVPA 2000 and all the 

subsequent authorizations? Soon? Is it being looked at country by 

country to ensure that there is a second shoe to drop? 

Ambassador CDEBACA. Indeed. That is what we are doing right 

now, the sanctions regime starts now. We are a little bit of walking 

and chewing gum at the same time in that we are also out 

demarching governments, talking to governments. The Tier II 

Watch List countries, especially the ones that are on the autodowngrade provisions for next year are places where we are going 

to be spending a lot of our time and attention. We are doing that 

and working on the sanctions and restrictions analysis right now 

and we typically have had that out the door in the September-October area. So I think we are looking at a couple of months as far 

as getting that out and getting that up to you. 

Mr. SMITH. Madagascar, since the coup in 2009, the country has 

been excluded from AGOA as well as the Millennium Challenge account and the report on Madagascar places it on the Tier II Watch 

List and points out that trafficking has increased there. And of 

course, we need to follow our own laws and when there are serious 

human rights abuses, and in this case a coup, we do have to implement the law. But something I am wondering about—there is mention made in the report that parents are forcing their own children 

into various forms of prostitution. Could you just perhaps focus a 

bit on Madagascar and what we might do to help mitigate a worsening problem there? 

Ambassador CDEBACA. Well, I think it is several things. Obviously, post-coup, post-March of 2009, fighting trafficking has just 

not been a huge priority, but we did see increase in law enforcement efforts by folks at the working level and I think that that is 

one of the things that this year’s ranking reflects is the fact that 

maybe not at the policy level, maybe not at the central level, but 

the folks out in the field are doing this. 

We have been, I think, positively struck by how many goodhearted law enforcement folks there are in countries that have otherwise abysmal records on whether it is human rights or access to 

justice and rule of law. And somehow those people end up finding 

out about and working on human trafficking. I think it shows that 

there are people we can work with across the board on a lot of 

these governments. 

One of the things that we have seen is this notion of 30 or so 

prosecutions that have been brought, a couple convictions obtained. 

That is not insubstantial in a country that had not been doing anything basically. 

I think that one of the things though that we really look at going 

forward is what are the shelter opportunities? What are the ways 

26

that we can go after the complicit government officials and we are 

starting to see the same trend, the very worrisome trend as in 

other parts of East Africa which is Malagasy women who are now 

ending up in the Persian Gulf as domestic servants. I think that 

that is something especially as we look at the Africa situation, the 

notion of whether it is in Lebanon, for instance, in a case of the 

Malagasy women, whether it is in Lebanon, whether it is in the 

Gulf countries, other parts of the Near East region where traditionally the servants were coming from Indonesia, were coming from 

the Philippines, etcetera. How we are starting to see in this situation folks from Madagascar, but also from Kenya, from Ethiopia, 

from Uganda. And they are coming into a situation where there is 

not the same type of robust presence in their countries’ Embassies 

as the Indonesians and the Filipinos perhaps have. There is not the 

way to call and get help or a place to flee to. And we are very concerned as we look at that situation. If you look at many of the narratives in that part of Africa, I think you will see that reflected in 

something that we are going to have to look at more carefully, especially because it is cutting across a couple of our regional, the 

way that we separate up the world. 

The case that Chairman Royce mentioned today, I think is an example of that. The woman who was liberated yesterday, the 

charges were brought against her abusers in California was a Kenyan woman who had initially been trafficked to a Middle Eastern 

country and then brought to the United States. Luckily, when she 

left the Middle Eastern country where she was working for that 

family, she was given a pamphlet by our consular officer, the Wilberforce pamphlet, that comes directly out of the 2008 Trafficking 

Victims Protection Act that you sponsored. And I think because of 

that, that was one of the reasons why when she flagged down the 

bus and asked for help, as she ran away the other day, she actually 

said I think I might be one of these trafficking victims, according 

to press reports. Obviously, this is a case that is under development and we don’t have any inside information. But we have been 

able to look at this briefly just this morning and it sounds as 

though one of the things that let her know that there was a possibility of freedom was that she got the Wilberforce pamphlet from 

our folks at the Embassy before she came to the U.S. 

So I think it shows that we think about the Africa Subcommittee. 

We think about the AF region or the NEA region or United States, 

we have all of our bureaucratic silos and we tend to think of those 

as all separate. I think this case, for us, shows how it really is actually interconnected and we have to be able to, whether it is as 

Congress or whether it is as the State Department, we have to figure out how to make those interconnectiveness to help these people 

because it reflects the interconnectiveness of their lives. 

Mr. SMITH. As the TIP rollout occurred, and I want to applaud 

Secretary Kerry for his leadership as well, as well as your own, I 

headed over to the African Center for Strategic Studies, organized 

a forum with African security officials including several chiefs of 

staff and others. Not only did I give them a copy of the TIP Report, 

every one of them, and thank you for the carton that you gave me 

as I left the State Department, but over the course of about 1 hour, 

27

it became very clear how hungry they were for information on best 

practices for their own militaries to curb abuses by their soldiers. 

Similarly and parallel to that is the U.N. peacekeeper problem. 

The report indicates that in 2012 there were 59 allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse lodged against U.N. peacekeeping personnel. Fifty percent of the allegations were against non-uniform 

personnel; 30 percent involved children under the age of 18; most 

occurred at the U.N. missions in the DR Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Haiti, and Sudan. According to the report, no information is 

available regarding disciplinary action such as suspension, dismissal, censure, demotion, and referral to employers. However, the 

U.N. itself claims to know the outcomes in 27 of those cases. 

So my question would be why after 7 years of addressing this 

issue in the DRC, for example, is this still a crisis? I would note 

parenthetically that I chaired three hearings. Jane Holl Lute, who 

was at Homeland Security was number two under Kofi Annan and 

they had a zero tolerance policy for the U.N. And she tried to do 

her level best to make sure that when it got to the field level this 

terrible complicity and actual abuse by U.N. peacekeepers was 

ended. But now we can’t seemingly get information about this and 

I know that some of the investigators were moved out of Nigeria 

or I should say out of Gombe, and I actually met with them when 

they were there to places elsewhere which makes it harder for investigators to look into what peacekeepers might be doing. 

But it seems troubling in the extreme that we can’t get basic information from the U.N. as to what becomes of a U.N. peacekeeper 

who rapes a 13-year-old in Gombe, who is then either sent back to 

his home country or what happens to him? And we don’t know. I 

wonder if you might want to speak to that. 

Ambassador CDEBACA. Well, we share your frustration. The 

baseline on this is that notion of what we have been able to do 

whether it is with trying to have pre-deployment training for our 

own folks when they are going out or working through NATO 

structures and others, but we recognize that it is not always folks 

that are going out through the NATO structure. These are not U.S. 

service personnel who we are dealing with. And so while it has 

been helpful to point this out and to include it in the narratives, 

I think you are right that the road does lead back to U.N. headquarters. And that is something that we need to continue to press. 

It is something that just as we see the idea that there should be 

a zero tolerance policy across government procurement and other 

standards of conduct for say, for instance, diplomats and other government personnel, that the peacekeeper issue continues to have to 

be examined. And not simply examined in saying that this is a 

problem, but needs to be dealt with a little bit more head on. 

So I think at the end of the day, this is a shared frustration that 

we have. There is no reason why the very people who are supposed 

to bringing stability to an area should be engaged in this type of 

activity. 

Mr. SMITH. Let me just ask you briefly on the issue of juicy bars 

in South Korea, the report states that despite increased regulations 

on the E6 entertainment visas, some foreign women and they are 

mostly Filipino women who enter the country on this visa are 

forced into prostitution. We know from the past that many of these 

28

women, like I said are Filipino women and they are forced to prostitute themselves in these bars. If they don’t meet their quota, they 

don’t get paid or they are forced to make it up with prostitution. 

We know for a fact, as a matter of fact, I held hearings on that 

as well, that the U.S. has tried to put these places off limits, yet 

there still is a problem and it seems to have made a comeback as 

is in the report. And I have heard independent analyses, too, some 

in Stars and Stripes and some of the other newspapers that have 

reported on this as well. It continues to be a problem. 

What can we do both in countries like the Philippines to try to 

ensure that these women are not lured in under false pretenses; 

and South Korea which obviously has done a fine job with its own 

legislation and its own policy and our own armed forces there to 

make sure that this issue ends? 

Ambassador CDEBACA. I do think that as you said the legislative 

framework in South Korea is certainly adequate for this. It has 

only been now a few months in which we have had the new antitrafficking law and I think that that is something that again, as 

with some of these other countries that have new laws, we are hoping that that will end up having a good effect on some of these situations. 

Frankly, the 2004 antitrafficking law was cumbersome. It really 

wasn’t something that was as useful as a number of the modern 

antitrafficking laws around the world. While I haven’t specifically 

had a chance to talk to our South Korean counterparts about is 

that one of the things that was getting in the way of prosecuting 

the juicy bars, I do know that that was getting in the way of prosecuting all of the forms of both sex trafficking and labor trafficking. 

And so it is something that we think will have kind of a lifts all 

boats, that type of effect on this area of the economy as well. 

I think we all look at the last 10 years as far as U.S. armed 

forces in Korea and trying to clean up some of the situations there 

as a success. It seems as though, however, our overt nature of the 

sex industry that we saw at the beginning of the last decade with 

easily exposed child prostitution and other things just by having 

folks with hidden cameras walking down the street, that those 

things have now kind of passed from the stage. And so we see that 

notion of the juicy bars, for instance, as being something that is 

more difficult to investigate and prosecute, because you have to 

really peel back what is going on. It is not the overt brothel type 

of situation that we saw in the past. But it is something that as 

we work with our Korean counterparts, we have seen a lot of intensive engagement on their part in the last year, very encouraging 

and I think that with this new law hopefully that will provide the 

tools that are necessary to go out and investigate these cases. 

Mr. SMITH. Let me ask you with regards to the Roma, which 

most people in America are probably unfamiliar with, but they are 

the largest most discriminated group in all of Europe. There was 

a report done by the European Roma Rights Center, as a matter 

of fact, I offered a resolution at the OSE Parliamentary Assembly 

focusing on the Roma and the disproportionality of how many 

Roma women are trafficked into sex work. And I am wondering 

what our country is doing, while Roma are not a problem here in 

any large numbers, to encourage our European friends whether it 

29

be Romania or any other nations where they are trafficked to really 

take a serious effort to enfranchise the Roma, to work on education 

opportunities, job opportunities, to go after the systemic problems 

that lead to the trafficking and the statelessness that they so often 

suffer from? 

Ambassador CDEBACA. Indeed, I think that some of the broader 

issues that you raise with the Roma are things that our counterparts in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor deal 

with more directly. But for our part in the Trafficking Office, the 

Roma are always on the agenda when we are dealing with the European countries. I think that we have seen as a result of that, especially the uptick in cases being done to protect the children that 

are in the child begging situation. Five years ago, you would see 

even after I started as Ambassador-at-Large, you would have those 

conversations with our European counterparts and the response 

was those are a bunch of little criminals or oh, well, that is just 

a child protection type of situation that they should be in school 

rather than out begging. 

Now we have seen, especially in the last 2 years, a recognition 

on the part of a number of European governments in the ways that 

matter by arresting the gang leaders and helping the children, that 

the children, the Roma children and the begging rings are not little 

criminals. They are actually victims. I think that that is something 

that anything that we can do to make that more of a compassionate rather than an immediate rejection on the part of Western 

European law enforcement toward Roma community, opens up that 

space in which they can treat the Roma with the respect and dignity that we are looking for on our broader human rights response 

to Roma issues. 

Mr. SMITH. Ms. Bass? 

Ms. BASS. Just switching subjects a little bit, there is this case 

of a Nigerian woman who was in a European country who cooperated. She was a sex trafficking victim. She cooperated. She testified. The trafficking folks were put in prison. And then they decided to deport her and my question to you is what are we doing? 

I know we have those cases here occasionally. But what are we 

doing with other countries? It was Denmark. Are we working with 

other countries to get them to—and for this specific case which is 

one that is going on now. I don’t know if there is a way for us 

to——

Ambassador CDEBACA. I think one of the things that as we look 

at the situation, what you described, unfortunately, especially after 

the 1996 Immigration Reform Act, became the norm for a few years 

because we didn’t have a way to keep trafficking victims in the 

United States. There was 1 year where I think I used, when I was 

a prosecutor, I used the full allotment of the visas that were created by Congress for people who flipped against their organized 

crime counterparts. I just went out and used them for trafficking 

victims because nobody told me not to. I think that what we see 

in the European context is that that ability to freelance a little bit, 

that we see on the part of innovative law enforcement folks here 

in the U.S. is not kind of within the cultural DNA of European law 

enforcement. It is very much you only do something if there is a 

30

law that authorizes you to do it and then you apply the other law. 

So there is kind of two systems of law, authorizing and otherwise. 

What we see in the European context, I think, though is that 

starting with the Italians in 1998 and then moving across Europe, 

that notion that trafficking victims should not be jailed and deported and it starts off with the idea of a reflection period, time to 

stabilize, time to be able to have social services. But on the back 

end, that notion that you should have the opportunity to stay in 

the country and work and be a productive member of the society 

that you had tried to go to but then were abused in. And I think 

that that is something that as we look at the European context, the 

European Directive which is their piece of legislation on trafficking 

that now applies to the entire European Union, it has in it that notion of non-deportation-based remedies for the trafficking victims. 

It is the one reservation, as I understand it, that the Danes when 

they signed the European Directive, they actually reserved that 

and so they chose to not be governed by that provision. 

We have seen the effect of Article 4 of the European Directive 

even just in the last few weeks when the High Court in London 

issued an order saying that the children who were being found in 

drug manufacturing factories in Britain could not be deported and 

cannot be jailed and deported because they were victims. That certainly is the type of response that we would like to see on the part 

of Denmark. It is the type of response that the rest of Europe 

seems to be moving toward organically and we hope that as colleagues, as folks who have a good human rights background on 

other issues and folks who want to be with the rest of us on kind 

of the cutting edge of victim care, that we can prevail upon our 

friends in Denmark to look at the situations like the one that you 

described perhaps from a different angle. We have got a new Ambassador going out this fall and I think it is something that hopefully we will be able to talk with him about what the priorities 

could be. Thank you, Ms. Bass. 

Mr. SMITH. Just a few final questions and then we have another 

vote. On the Demmick case. I was just in Istanbul and did a side 

meeting with the lawyer with two of the exploited boys by the 

former Justice Minister Demmick from the Netherlands. The newest information is that he was there, according to the Turkish Government in 1996. He had denied that he was there and I am wondering, I know you had looked into it when you, too, were in Turkey. If you might be able to shed some light on that case. 

And if you could speak to Egypt. I have actually chaired three 

hearings and I am so frustrated that we have been unable to get 

any kind of traction with the administration. And I don’t mean you, 

but with Ambassador Patterson or with the DRL Office on the 

forced abduction of Coptic Christian girls who are then forced into 

Islamic marriages and they can never go back because if they go 

back they are accused of apostasy and subjected to a horrible potential fate. And yet, Michele Clark, the former number two at the 

ODIHR in the OSCE worked on trafficking, investigated it herself 

and said that this is a very serious problem and it has gotten worse 

under the Morsi regime. Although he is not there now, it did get 

worse during his time in office. And I am wondering if you might 

31

shed some light on that terrible cruelty of again abducting children 

and then forcing them into marriages in Egypt. 

Ambassador CDEBACA. One of the things that we have seen with 

especially in the Egyptian context in the forced marriages and the 

thing I think that there has been more widespread reporting on is 

the other half of that, the abduction and sale of girls for what has 

been called the summer marriages. It is something that we have 

seen as an on-going problem and something that we are starting 

to be able to get our hands around. 

As far as the forced abduction of Coptic girls, whether that is 

forced abduction for the bringing in of marriages or for conversion, 

it is something that we continue to look at. I think you are correct, 

Mr. Smith, the notion of the changes in the government have made 

it harder to have our hands around. 

One last thing and for the record with Mr. Smith having left, it 

is good to hear that there is some new information on the Demmick 

situation coming out of the chairman’s trip to Turkey and it is 

something that we will certainly be wanting to follow up with as 

far as making sure that we have the most current information 

about what your steps to investigate that case are so that we are 

able to inform ourselves in our discussions with the folks over in 

the Netherlands and in the Turkish Government. So it is something that we will follow up on with staff as well. 

Mr. MEADOWS [presiding]. I thank you and the chairman is stepping out for votes. This has been one of those days where nothing 

goes according to plan, so I appreciate your flexibility. 

If you could perhaps share a little bit about the encouragements 

or discouragements with regards to Russia and Uzbekistan, what 

are some of the things we need to look at or highlight and help 

with you to work on? 

Ambassador CDEBACA. You know, I think one of the things that 

we have seen this last year with Russia as part of—obviously, we 

have got the six countries that we are facing the auto-downgrade 

provisions of the TVPA. So that was Iraq, Azerbaijan, CongoBrazzaville, Russia, China, and Uzbekistan. I think it is illustrative when you are looking at the three countries that ended up 

going down to look at the countries that went up because it is kind 

of—by looking at the negative, we can see what could have happened. 

Even a country with as little capacity as Congo-Brazzaville was 

able to investigate and bring prosecutions for the first time. Iraq, 

being able to pass antitrafficking legislation, sending people into 

the women’s prisons to sort folks out who had been arrested for 

prostitution offenses and identifying a handful of women to let out 

of prison saying these were actually victims rather than perpetrators. Azerbaijan doing the first cases against people who were holding men in forced labor in the construction industry. All of those 

countries then being able to look at them and bring them up to 

Tier II on the report. 

If you compare that then to Russia, Uzbekistan, and also China, 

especially I think in the Russian context you have got a country 

that is in a different trajectory, a situation where while there are 

some sex trafficking prosecutions that were being done and there 

are some very good folks both at the Health Ministry and even 

32

some of the police guys who are out there doing the cases, systemically we don’t see the creation even under their own Action Plan, 

the Commonwealth of Independent States Action Plan. Most of the 

other signatories to the CIS Action Plan have gone out and brought 

together the kind of interagency working group that that plan calls 

for. The Russian Federation has not. 

Victim care, shelters closing for lack of government funding as 

opposed to opening. So it is just a different trajectory than we saw 

with some of the other countries that were on that Tier II Watch 

List auto-downgrade six. 

In Uzbekistan again, there are some things that were done, especially around sex trafficking cases which were laudable, but they 

are eclipsed by the notion of the cotton harvest and all of the problems with the state enforcing the labor of its citizens out into that 

annual exercise without bringing in the folks from the international community and others to really look at whether or not 

that practice was being brought to an end. So I think that we have 

seen in both Russia and Uzbekistan the need for continued support 

from not just having the State Department out there talking about 

this, but we see the Europeans, we see even the business community talking to Uzbekistan. This is not simply the TIP Office going 

to Uzbekistan, it is properly our partners around the world, our 

partners in the interagency and you here in Congress as well. So 

I think it is that kind of the big voice that all of us speaking together can take out into the world and I think it is starting to have 

an effect in some of these countries. 

Mr. MEADOWS. Do you see some of this—is there any correlation 

with regards to demographics in terms of a younger population? Is 

that something that will exacerbate the problem? Are you looking 

at that correlation or not? 

Ambassador CDEBACA. I do think that we have some concerns 

and it is concerns that when we were working with the Russians 

on the U.S.-Russia Presidential Bilateral Commission under President Medvedev and President Obama, it was something that very 

much in the work of my subcommittee which was looking at migration and issues as well as human trafficking that notion of a population in Russia that is kind of emptying out, the notion of a country that is so far below replacement rate, where are the factory 

workers coming from? Increasingly, they are coming from Vietnam 

and it was interesting to be in a garment factory, east of Moscow 

where there was actually a mixed group and to see Vietnamese 

workers who had learned Russian and were working side by side 

with their Russian counterparts. That would be, I think, a model 

of how you have a guest worker situation as opposed to all Vietnamese factories with guards and exploitation and then Russians 

who would be looking for a job in their own hometown and not 

being able to get a job down at the garment factory. 

So we saw one of the good factories when we were there as part 

of the Bilateral Commission. But you could tell from talking to our 

Russian counterparts and others that the demographic shifts in 

Russia, the weakening of the next generation is of great concern. 

Mr. MEADOWS. So you can see the problem potentially getting 

worse from a human trafficking standpoint? Because I know in this 

room we have heard testimony with Vietnam in particular in terms 

33

of what we have seen with the trafficking of girls and men, to Russia with a really systemic problem from just the magnitude of what 

it is. So do you see that continuing to get worse without a concentrated effort to curtail it? 

Ambassador CDEBACA. I think one of the things that we have 

seen in the Russian context is that notion of an economy that still 

wants to grow very much and especially in the building trades. 

Both from Vietnam and Central Asia, the notion of just how powerful of a magnet the Russian economy is for foreign guest workers. 

So it is a Vietnamese problem, but it is also a Kyrgyz problem, an 

Uzbek problem, a Tajik problem. The estimates that were reflected 

in the report this year from some of the academics in Russia are 

that there are upward of 1 million people being held in forced labor 

in Russia. This is a country of about 140 million people. This is not 

a country of 350 million or this is not an India or China where you 

are talking in billions. 

Mr. MEADOWS. Right. 

Ambassador CDEBACA. So the notion that that high of a percentage already within their workforce is in these circumstances indicative of forced labor, I think is a really warning shot for everyone. 

Mr. MEADOWS. And you mentioned earlier about ID and I know 

that we have ID’d, I guess, 40,000 victims of human trafficking, 

and yet the problem is probably 27 million, according to your testimony, 27 million people involved in it. How do we do a better job 

of identifying those victims? Because when we do identify those 

and we can apply pressures, either diplomatically or through oneon-one exchange, how do we do a better job of identifying that? Is 

that a resource problem? Is that a strategic problem? You have 

gone, as you mentioned, 60 people within your organization that I 

would assume have a heart for these victims. And I recognize that. 

And what I am saying is I want to give you the tools to make sure 

that we just don’t have these hearings that continue to go on. And 

we turn the other way. If Members of the Congress have to be 

heavy, we are willing to do that, I think because of this. We understand that you are in a tough situation, but I want to take the compassionate heart of your 60 employees and say how do we give you 

the tools to identify the victims and then make sure that we take 

the appropriate actions, put some teeth to the TIP Report? 

Ambassador CDEBACA. I think that in many ways, Mr. Meadows, 

the situation often comes down to not just the structures, not just 

the resources, etcetera, but it comes down to political will, that notion of if you have got the head of a ministry or the head of a government who really wants to see numbers of victims who have been 

helped, then typically the bureaucracy will respond to that in a 

positive way. And if they don’t, it is not going to happen. It is 

something that about 11⁄2 years ago when we were in the process 

of the changing relationship with Burma, about 3 weeks or so after 

Secretary Clinton was there, I was able to go in to Rangoon and 

I met with Aung San Suu Kyi in the house where she had been 

held for so many years. And she had a copy of the training manual 

for the Burmese Police and they have a pretty good little antitrafficking unit even before we opened up the relationship. 

And she asked the most important and most inconvenient question that anybody could ask about that training manual. She said 

34

of the 84 people that went to that training last month were any 

of them now being assigned to work on human trafficking cases? 

Mr. MEADOWS. Wow. 

Ambassador CDEBACA. And I think that to me really showed me 

kind of what is that next question. We don’t always ask. We look 

at whether it is in State or USAID, we will often be muttering how 

many people were trained? How much training materials did we 

get out? Did we get a new, good curriculum? How many laws have 

been passed around the world? And those are all very important, 

but then that question that Aung San Suu Kyi asked is the one 

that can undo all of those other data. 

And when we come to you, whether it is in a report like this or 

telling you how we are spending the money that you guys are able 

to appropriate to us, we are often not able to answer that last question. And to me, that is one of the most important things so that 

the work of not just my 60 people, but all of the people around the 

world who want to work on human trafficking is meaningful. I 

think that that is probably, if I had to say one thing, that is the 

key. It is not simply providing the training, providing the technical 

assistance, all of the things that we can and do do, but then providing the expectation. Now that we have trained you, are you 

going to be able to go out and do it? Maybe you call that mentoring, 

maybe you call that follow up, monitoring and evaluation. There 

are a lot of things you can call it, but at the end of the day we are 

looking at what are the results that we can tie back to the training 

that we are able to provide. I think that when we are able to answer that question better, we are not going to be stuck at 47,000 

victims. 

Mr. MEADOWS. Right. Let me ask one other question and I will 

yield back to the chairman as he has come back. When we look at 

sanctions, when we look at enforcement, what I have found because 

we have a unique position of bipartisan support with a strong leader like Chairman Smith who is willing to articulate it, even in 

times when it creates a very uncomfortable situation with people 

from either Ambassadors or people in leadership of other countries, 

but we have a bipartisan support that will not only talk about 

sanctions, but will go to action. And without naming names, the 

chairman had mentioned about a sanction on a particular country 

and about putting forth some legislation to support that and resolutions to support it. 

It got the attention, as it should because it was not a bluff. It 

should have gotten the attention, but it got the attention of that 

particular nation. And because of that we have got a meeting coming up that will start to address some of the human rights violations in this particular country. 

Can we do that and working with the State Department in a 

more effective where it is again, not the words of somebody with 

a mic on a hearing, but it is really the actions that are backed up 

by that? Do you think that would be helpful? 

Ambassador CDEBACA. I think that type of engagement is always 

helpful. I think the details of any particular—whether it is a sanctions package or whether it is a particular diplomatic approach, we 

have to look at the context in a particular government, but I think 

that that notion of lashing up as much as we can and more than 

35

we have been doing, I realized the other day when I was talking 

to my staff that we have been so busy on a lot of these things that 

we haven’t necessarily been suggesting or supporting congressional 

travel and so a lot of members have not been to the shelter. They 

haven’t met with the antitrafficking police unit out there. And it 

is something that we know that we need to step up so that you 

guys can see that when you are on the road, whether it is part of 

a previously scheduled trip or something specific to this. I use that 

only as an example of that notion that we need to perhaps look at 

how we are doing this and how that lashes up with the work of 

the committee and the work of the individual members so that we 

can make sure, especially in a time of shrinking budgets and challenges around the resources that we have, that we are making up 

for those things by having not just the 60 people in my office, but 

535 others and their staff who can go out and help get this message out around the world. 

Mr. MEADOWS. Well, if you would take the message back to your 

staff and to all of those that are there that we appreciate the effort 

that they are putting forth on behalf of this unbelievable just blight 

on our world. And with that that we appreciate it. It is very easy 

when you look at 27 million people to start looking at them as 

numbers that are too big to handle. But every little girl that is trafficked is someone. They have a dad. They have a mom that cares 

individually about that person. We have heard just unbelievable 

testimony on this who are parents who have talked about their 

children where people have been sold into slavery as wives twice 

and it just breaks my heart. And so there is a tendency to look at 

it as big numbers. 

I want to say that every single one of those is an individual case 

and I want to encourage those to not look at budget cutbacks and 

anything else as an indictment on their work. It is a sign of the 

times, but we are willing to work with you in a real way to make 

a real difference. 

I yield back to the chairman. I thank him for his work. 

Mr. SMITH [presiding]. Thank you very much, Mr. Meadows. 

Thank you, Ambassador CdeBaca, for your testimony, your leadership. Is there anything you would like to say before we close? 

Ambassador CDEBACA. One last thing I would like to say, Mr. 

Smith, if you look at this year’s report, there is a lot of ways that 

people read the report. The first day a lot of people from the press 

they read it for ups and downs and what the horse race aspect of 

it are. A lot of folks, they will read it just as what does it say about 

the country that I am from or the country that I care about, 

etcetera. The reason that victim identification as a theme of the report this year, I think had some resonance. If you look at the introduction of the report, it really sets out that notion of kind of what 

is victim identification? What is best practices, etcetera. And I 

think it all flows back to this point that Mr. Meadows just made, 

that notion that every one of these is a person. We are doing this 

because people are being enslaved. 

We all have to work on big, important issues that are more kind 

of policy issues where we are dealing with the ebb and flow of 

international commerce or geopolitics or things like that, but at its 

heart human trafficking is evil because individual people are being 

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victimized. And that is something that I think that this committee 

and you through your leadership, but I think everyone in the U.S. 

Government has come to realize. And so it should be no surprise 

when folks look at the last page of the report, the note from my 

staff that what we focus on is that notion of the victim. There is 

many ways to read this report, but we hope that people take away 

are not the tragedies that are in it, but on that last page the picture of those nine or ten victims who have now become survivors, 

who have become advocates. It shouldn’t be their tears that we 

think about or that we say that defines them, it should be their 

smiles and their determination because they know that they have 

a voice and that this is a room where it can be heard. 

Mr. SMITH. On that, thank you very, very much. The hearing is 

adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 1:11 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.] 

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