Us Presidential Determination

Presidential Determination in 2011

United States views on international law (based on the document “Digest of U.S. Practice in International Law”): Consistent with § 110(c) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, as amended, 22 U.S.C. § 7107, the President annually submits to Congress notification of one of four specified determinations with respect to “each foreign country whose government, according to [the annual Trafficking in Persons report]—(A) does not comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; and (B) is not making significant efforts to bring itself into compliance.” The four determination options are set forth in § 110(d)(1)–(4).

Developments

On September 30, 2011, President Obama issued a memorandum for the Secretary of State, “Presidential Determination With Respect to Foreign Governments' Efforts Regarding Trafficking in Persons.” Presidential Determination No. 2011-18, 76 Fed. Reg. 62,599 (Oct. 11, 2011). The President's memorandum contained determinations concerning the 23 countries that the 2011 Trafficking in Persons Report listed as Tier 3 countries. The President's determinations are excerpted below. see in the content of this world legal encyclopedia 3.B.3.a. supra for discussion of the 2011 report. The Memorandum of Justification Consistent with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, Regarding Determinations with Respect to “Tier 3” Countries set forth the determinations the President made and their effect; the memorandum also included a separate discussion of each of the named countries. The memorandum of justification is available at (internet link) state.gov/g/tip/rls/other/2011/175577.htm.

Details

Consistent with section 110 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (Division A of Public Law 106-386), as amended (the “Act”), I hereby: Make the determination provided in section 110(d)(1)(A)(i) of the Act, with respect to Burma, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Zimbabwe, not to provide certain funding for those countries' governments for fiscal year 2012, until such governments comply with the minimum standards or make significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance, as may be determined by the Secretary of State in a report to the Congress pursuant to section 110(b) of the Act; Make the determination provided in section 110(d)(l)(A)(ii) of the Act, with respect to Cuba, the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea (DPRK), Eritrea, Iran, Madagascar, and Venezuela, not to provide certain funding for those countries' governments for fiscal year 2012, until such governments comply with the minimum standards or make significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance, as may be determined by the Secretary of State in a report to the Congress pursuant to section 110(b) of the Act; Determine, consistent with section 110(d)(4) of the Act, with respect to Algeria, the Central African Republic, Guinea-Bissau, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkmenistan, and Yemen that provision to these countries' governments of all programs, projects, or activities of assistance described in sections 110(d)(l)(A)(i)-(ii) and 110(d)(l)(B) of the Act would promote the purposes of the Act or is otherwise in the national interest of the United States; Determine, consistent with section 110(d)(4) of the Act, with respect to Burma, that a partial waiver to allow funding for programs described in section 110(d)(1)(A)(i) of the Act to support government labs and offices that work to combat infectious disease and to support government participation in nongovernmental organization-run civil society programs and Association of South East Asian Nations programs addressing vulnerable populations would promote the purposes of the Act or is otherwise in the national interest of the United States; Determine, consistent with section 110(d)(4) of the Act, with respect to Cuba and Venezuela, that a partial waiver to allow funding for educational and cultural exchange programs described in section 110(d)(1)(A)(ii) of the Act that are related to democracy or the rule of law programming would promote the purposes of the Act or is otherwise in the national interest of the United States; Determine, consistent with section 110(d)(4) of the Act, with respect to Iran, that a partial waiver to allow funding for educational and cultural exchange programs described in section 110(d)(1)(A)(ii) of the Act would promote the purposes of the Act or is otherwise in the national interest of the United States; Determine, consistent with section 110(d)(4) of the Act, with respect to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, that assistance and programs described in section 110(d)(1)(A)(i) and 110(d)(1)(B) of the Act, with the exception of Foreign Military Sales and Foreign Military Financing, would promote the purposes of the Act or is otherwise in the national interest of the United States; Determine, consistent with section 110(d)(4) of the Act, with respect to Venezuela, that a partial waiver to allow funding for programs described in section 110(d)(1)(A)(i) of the Act to support programs designed to strengthen the democratic process in Venezuela would promote the purposes of the Act or is otherwise in the national interest of the United States; Determine, consistent with section 110(d)(4) of the Act, with respect to Equatorial Guinea, that a partial waiver to allow funding for programs described in section 110(d)(1)(A)(i) of the Act to support programs to study and combat the spread of infectious diseases and to advance sustainable natural resource management and biodiversity would promote the purposes of the Act or is otherwise in the national interest of the United States; Determine, consistent with section 110(d)(4) of the Act, with respect to Equatorial Guinea, that assistance described in section 110(d)(1)(B) of the Act would promote the purposes of the Act or is otherwise in the national interest of the United States; Determine, consistent with section 110(d)(4) of the Act, with respect to Zimbabwe, that a partial waiver to allow funding for programs described in section 110(d)(l)(A)(i) of the Act for assistance for victims of trafficking in persons or to combat such trafficking, and for programs to support the promotion of health, good governance, education, agriculture and food security, poverty reduction, livelihoods, family planning, and macroeconomic growth including anticorruption, and programs that would have a significant adverse effect on vulnerable populations if suspended, would promote the purposes of the Act or is otherwise in the national interest of the United States; And determine, consistent with section 110(d)(4) of the Act, with respect to Venezuela and Zimbabwe, that assistance described in section 110(d)(1)(B) of the Act, which: (1) is a regional program, project, or activity under which the total benefit to Venezuela or Zimbabwe does not exceed 10 percent of the total value of such program, project or activity; or (2) has as its primary objective the addressing of basic human needs, as defined by the Department of the Treasury with respect to other, existing legislative mandates concerning U.S. participation in the multilateral development banks; or (3) is complementary to or has similar policy objectives to programs being implemented bilaterally by the United States Government; or (4) has as its primary objective the improvement of Venezuela or Zimbabwe's legal system, including in areas that impact Venezuela or Zimbabwe's ability to investigate and prosecute trafficking cases or otherwise improve implementation of its anti-trafficking policy, regulations or legislation; or (5) is engaging a government, international organization, or civil society organization, and seeks as its primary objective(s) to: (a) increase efforts to investigate and prosecute trafficking in persons crimes; (b) increase protection for victims of trafficking through better screening, identification, rescue or removal; aftercare (shelter, counseling) training and reintegration; or (c) expand prevention efforts through education and awareness campaigns highlighting the dangers of trafficking or training and economic empowerment of populations clearly at risk of falling victim to trafficking, would promote the purposes of the Act or is otherwise in the national interest of the United States.

Resources

See Also

• International Criminal Law
• International Crimes
• Trafficking In Persons