16702: Chamberlain: Haiti avoids people-trafficking sanctions by US (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     WASHINGTON, Sept 10 (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush imposed
sanctions on North Korea, Myanmar and Cuba  on Wednesday for failing to do
enough to stop the trafficking of people forced into servitude or the sex
trade.
     The war-ravaged countries of Liberia and Sudan also failed to meet
U.S. standards and are subject to sanctions. But the White House said
providing them with some aid was "in the national interest of the United
States."
     In Sudan's case, the White House said assistance would be "limited to
that which may be necessary to implement a peace accord."
     The United States already has sweeping sanctions in place on North
Korea, Myanmar and Cuba, so the new ones should have minimal effect. An
administration official said Bush's announcement could translate into
further travel restrictions, and may bring to an end some educational and
cultural exchanges.
      Ten countries avoided sanctions under the so-called Trafficking
Victims Protection Act because of "significant steps their governments have
taken to fight trafficking in persons," the White House said. They are
Belize, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Dominican Republic, Georgia, Greece,
Haiti, Kazakhstan, Suriname, Turkey and Uzbekistan.
     "These important actions will punish the perpetrators and help the
victims of this heinous crime around the world," White House spokesman
Scott McClellan said.
     The announcement followed the release in June of the State
Department's annual "Trafficking in Persons Report" on the 800,000 to
900,000 people the United States estimates are smuggled across
international borders each year, many of them forced into prostitution or
other involuntary servitude.