Forced Labor2008
Iraq IQ
Enforcement's involvement is unknown. The Kuwaiti contractor announced that it would return them to their home countries and pay them back salaries. Najlaa officials contended that they've cared for the men's basic needs while the company has tried to find them jobs in Iraq. The laborers said they paid middlemen more than $2,000 to get to Iraq for jobs that they were told would earn them $600 to $800 a month. Some of the men took out loans to cover the fees. "They promised us the moon and stars," said Davidson Peters, 42, a Sri Lankan. "While we are here, wives have left their husbands and children have been shut out of their schools" because money for the families has dried up. The men live in three warehouses with long rows of bunk beds crammed tightly together. Reporters who tried to get a better glimpse inside were ushered away by armed guards. According to McClatchy, the conditions in which the men have been held appear to violate guidelines the U.S. military handed down in 2006 that urged contractors to deter human trafficking to the war zone by shunning recruiters that charged excessive fees. The guidelines also defined "minimum acceptable" living spaces — 50 square feet per person — and required companies to fulfill the pledges they made to employees in contracts. A U.S. military spokesman for the Multi-National Force-Iraq referred questions to KBR, a Texas-based former subsidiary of Halliburton. The spokesman said that the American military wasn't aware of the warehouses until McClatchy and the Times of London began asking questions about it on Monday. Some of the men who've been living in the warehouses said that KBR representatives visited the site two weeks ago. They said Najlaa held their passports until the KBR inspection, which Najlaa officials denied. Seizing passports is a violation of the U.S. military's 2006 instructions to contractors. KBR didn't answer direct questions about the warehouses but issued a two-paragraph statement. "When KBR becomes aware of potential violations of international laws regarding trafficking in persons, we work, within our authority, to remediate the problem and report the matter to proper authorities. KBR then works with authorities to rectify the matter," it said. Reached in Kuwait, Najlaa chief executive Marwan Rizk said the company recruited the laborers for contracts it expected to begin servicing, but the work didn't materialize. He didn't specify which contracts fell through or why they were delayed. The company offers a number of services in Iraq, including catering at U.S. military bases. "We had some obstacles with the services we were contracted to do," Rizk said. "These obstacles were not forecasted." He said it's the company's practice to begin paying its employees once they start their jobs, though Najlaa credits them from the time they arrive in Iraq.
Sex Trafficking2008
Thailand TH
Nikki, who is from Central Asia, was desperate to find a job after her husband died of a heart attack. A friend told her that she could make a lot of money in Bangkok serving as a "companion" for wealthy clients at exclusive hotels. So she left her two children in her home country to try out the new job in Bangkok. She didn't realize until her first night in Bangkok that she would be prostituting herself, and she did not realize it would turn into three years of hell. But by then it was too late. The owners of the hotel intimidated and threatened her into submission.
Sex Trafficking2008
Belgium BE
Komitov was originally sentenced to six years in prison, however on October 15, 2008, the Belgium Appellate Court increased his sentence to eight years because of the human rights violations and violence used against victims.
CSEC2008
South Africa ZA
A neighbor witnessed the incident and when child was reported missing, led police to the trafficker's location. After denying it, woman admits she had taken the girl to be sold into a marriage. She led police to where the girl had been locked in a dark room for a day.
Forced Criminality2008
Germany DE
A gang of 30 Vietnamese, two Germans and Czech citizen were using several places in Berlin and in the States of Brandenburg and Saxony for trafficking at least 130 Vietnamese people via Russia and the Czech Republic. While their hideouts in Germany were used as a stop, the "shipment" was destined for France or the UK. According to the police the Dong Xuan Center, a large Asian market in Berlin, was playing a key role in the business.
Sex Trafficking2008
Germany DE
male, 40 years old male, 42 years old owners of the bar "Jaysons" had agentur for modeling in Berlin Kreuzberg asked boys to model for them made them drunk sold them to other man
Sex Trafficking2008
United States US
William Strunk, Chun Yong Madden, and John Evans Jr. operated a prostitution business located in Berwyn, PA on Lancaster Ave. called “Swan Day Spa.” From April 2005 to January 2008 Evans recruited women from China to come to the spa to provide sexual services to clients. Victims believed they would have legitimate jobs as masseuses. When the victims refused to work, they were told they could not leave and were threatened that immigration authorities would be called. The women were available to customers 12 hours a day, six days a week. The victims were give $15 for each customer, of the $60 to $65 fee they were charged. Total profits from the business totaled $195,000.
CSEC2008
United States US
The police would not prosecute the men for trafficking because at the time there was no federal law against trafficking, kidnapping, or rape and the case was too late to prosecute.
Forced Criminality2008
South Africa ZA
http://www.ldh.org.mz/index.php/en/projects-and-research/trafficking-body-parts This interview was conducted in Bloemspruit with a woman who confirmed she was instructed by a “Sangoma” (Traditional Healer) to use children’s fingers and penises, which she wore as a belt under her clothes to solve a problem she had with a pregnancy. Previous to the visit to the Sangoma, she appeared to be pregnant and then suffered a miscarriage. However, she seemed not prepared to accept this and despite visits to hospitals and clinics who confirmed she was not actually pregnant, she instead visited a Sangoma who made a belt for her. From the belt hung two fingers and three penises from children. She was also instructed to drink a concoction she believed contained human blood and fat and she was given a piece of flesh which she believed to be a human organ, perhaps a heart. She sliced small pieces from the flesh each night and fried them on a stove. She followed these instructions for about one month and became ill, burnt the items prescribed by the Sangoma and went to hospital. Interviewer: Have you ever used the Traditional Healers? Informant: Yes Interviewer: Do you mind telling us about your visit to the Traditional Healer? Informant: I went to that Sangoma and he gave me Muti to drink, a mixture of herbs. And another Muti that I had to burn at night. Interviewer: Can you say what kind of Muti did you have to burn at night? Informant: That Muti looked like a person’s heart. You could see that it was like a heart from a person. Interviewer: So it was something for you to drink and then it was something for you to burn at night? Informant: That Muti to drink, it was three bottles. Those bottles when I was drinking that Muti, it looked like blood. I don’t know what to say, because when I was drinking I wanted to vomit. I wanted to vomit that Muti. I was starting to be scared. I thought I cannot drink this. Interviewer: And were you drinking it from a cup or out from the bottle. Informant: From a cup. Then the Traditional Healer, he gave me a belt with fingers and penises of children. It looked like a necklace with penises and fingers hanging. Interviewer: So, it was a finger and a penis, a finger and a penis and they were they all sewed to the belt? Informant: Yes. Interviewer: Were they dry or wet? Informant: Dry. Interviewer: Are you able to tell me how many fingers and how many penises were hanging from the belt? Informant: Two fingers and three penises. Interviewer: How could you say these fingers and penises were from children? Informant: They were very small, very small. Interviewer: Couldn’t it be from animals? Informant: No, they were human. I know human penises. Interviewer: Do you feel that everything that the Traditional Healer gave you has helped? Informant: No. Interviewer: Can you tell me if the Traditional Healer charged you any price? Informant: R4000 in cash (approximately US$ 400, ed.). Interviewer: Going back to the belt, can you describe it a bit more? Informant: It was a brown belt. On the front it had the penises and fingers hanged and on the back it had a pillow with needles. Interviewer: Did you ever take it out or were you wearing all the time? Informant: All the time. Always. Interviewer: How long were you using the belt and using this Muti? Informant: I used it only for one month. Interviewer: That time that the Traditional Healer gave you that Muti did you ask what was it? What was inside? Informant: No, I was so desperate. Interviewer: Can that be because you didn’t want to know? Informant: I was so sick, so sick…that if someone told me to go to the toilet and eat I would do it. Interviewer: Where do you think those fingers and penises came from? Informant: They kill the babies.
Sex Trafficking2008
United States US
Todd B. Barkau, with the assistance of the victim’s mother, obtained control of the then-12-year-old girl in 2000. With her mother’s knowledge and consent, Barkau sexually groomed and trained the child to become a BDSM (bondage-domination-sadism-masochism) sexual dominatrix. He did so by engaging in BDSM activities with the child himself, forcing her to engage in sexual activities with other men while he watched, and using BDSM pornography over the Internet to teach her techniques and skills to use as a dominatrix. Barkau resided in the same home as the child and her mother, who allowed Barkau to engage in BDSM activities with the child and teach the child techniques to become a sexual dominatrix. When the child was 14 years old, Barkau created a business out of the home where he advertised the child over the Internet as a 19-to-20-year-old BDSM dominatrix, “Mistress Alisha,” on a website that he created called www.EvilMistressAlisha.com. The victim’s mother suggested the name “Alisha” for the child because it was her own former stripper name. For two years, Barkau sold the child, as “Mistress Alisha,” to sexually dominate men during online web sessions and in-person BDSM activities. This included, among other things, bondage, beatings, burning, and genital mutilation. The customers paid for the sexual services via PayPal cash transfers and with “tributes,” which were products that served in lieu of cash payment; for example, a DVD player, a cappuccino machin,e and other electronics. The victim’s mother knew the child was performing as “Mistress Alisha” on the Internet and in her home and witnessed some of the sessions herself. In committing the offenses, Barkau utilized the victim’s mother to assist and encourage the child to serve as the dominatrix for Barkau’s illegal BDSM business. The victim’s mother accepted financial benefits from Barkau in exchange for her cooperation and support of the child’s BDSM activities. http://kansascity.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel10/kc050510a.htm
Sex Trafficking2008
United States US
47 year old man nicknamed " Prince" and 49 year old women nicknamed "China" both from the New Jersey area. They used heorin and beatings to mantain control over the many victims.
Forced Criminality2008
United States US
Authorities were contacted multiple times before the workers were finally emancipated. Some of the first to report their suspicions were neighbors of the crime family. They noticed and reported domestic violence they saw suspected from the house. The neighbors also realized that an unsually large amount of people lived in one house. All 62 victims lived in one house, including 12 children, and three pregnant women. At first, neighbors were too scared to call police because they thought that the Mexicans were illegal aliens. When police began to make searches of the house, they came during working hours, while no one was home. As of 2006, 27 of the victims still inhabited the US. Two of the ringleaders in the crime, a decade after the fact, were given 13 year sentences, although there likely sentences will be five years. However, the Paoletti-Lemus ramily was court ordered to give out $1.4 million in restitution.
CSEC2008
United States US
The FBI and local law enforcement agents orchestrated a nationwide sting. Undercover cops posed as Jons and arrested prostitutes soliciting sex at bars/nightclubs, casinos, truck stops, and Internet sites such as Craig’s list. The sting operations were used to determine whether or not the girls were less than 18 years of age. If so, they were taken into custody and treated as a trafficking victim.
CSEC2008
United States US
This case was investigated by a law enforcement team that was spearheaded by FBI Special Agent Sean O'Malley. Special Agent O'Malley was assisted by IRS Special Agent Colin Burns; the Bridgeport, Conn., Stratford, Conn., Colonie, N.Y., Miami Beach, Fla., and Milford, Mass., Police Departments; and the Connecticut State Police. (this information was found in an article on http://www2.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/03-14-2008/0004774504&EDATE=)
Sex Trafficking2008
United States US
In 2004, Roman Valdma was sentenced to 41 months in prison and three years supervised release for charges of importation of aliens for immoral purposes, transportation for illegal sexual activity, persuading and enticing illegal sexual activity, encouraging and inducing aliens to come to the US in violation of the law, brining na alien to the US without official authorization for commercial advantage, and visa fraud. Valdma was also ordered to pay a $75,000 fine, and to forfeit $80,000 in cash, a car, and a condo to the government.
Domestic Servitude2008
United States US
Jefferson Calimlim Sr. and his wife Elnora, doctors in Milwaukee, recruited and brought the victim from the Philippines to the U.S. in 1985 when she was 19 years old. The victim was not allowed to go outside of the couple's home, communicate or socialize, and had to hide in the basement whenever non-family members were at the house. The victim was told she would be arrested and deported is she was found. The couple told the victim that her wages would be kept in an account, however she had no idea where the account was and could not access it.
Domestic Servitude2008
United States US
Tahira Juma, a Boston University School of Public Health graduate student, and her husband Saleem Al-Khaboriof, an engineer, faced a federal lawsuit for "engaging in human trafficking and modern day slavery" in 2004. The couple came to Boston in January 2003, from their native country of Oman so that Juma could study at Boston University, according to the suit. Naseem Mohamed Siraj, who had been a member of the couple's household staff in Oman, alleged that the couple threatened to abandon her in Oman with no money to return to her family in India, where she has three children, if she didn't come with them to Boston. In Boston, Siraj was forced to care around-the-clock for four children ages 4-10 and was paid sporadic amounts totaling about $1,250 for 15 months. She had no bed and was fed only the children's leftovers, according to the suit. She was never allowed to leave the home alone and endured "a constant barrage of verbal taunts, abusive language and disobedient behavior from the children," the suit claims. When she vowed to leave, her employers "intimidated Mrs. Siraj by telling her that if she left, she would be arrested and thrown in jail."
Sex Trafficking2008
United States US
Chai Hock Ng trafficked three women from Indonesia to work in brothels first in Connecticut then in Brooklyn. The victims knew the man as Johnny, who recruited them, saying that for $3,000 the women would receive a falsified visa, a plane ticket, and a restaurant job in New York. After arriving, the women were told they would be working as prostitutes, and threatened with being shot by Ng and several of his friends. The victims were forced to have sex with men, who were charged $140 for 45 minutes, and told that they now owed Ng $30,000 and that he would make arrangements to sell them to brothels in order to collect his money.
Bonded Labor2008
United States US
Lev Trakhtenberg and two associates recruited Russian women to come to the US with the promise of legitimate jobs performing cultural dance shows, good pay, and housing accomnnodations. After arriving, the victims were forced to work in strip clubs and threatened physically and emotionally if they did not do as they were told. After one of the victims escaped, Trakhtenberg threatened to physically harm her family in Russia if they did not pay the money he claimed she owed. Between summer of 1999 and August, 2002 Trakhtenberg and his associates brought more than 25 victims to the US to work in his clubs. Victims worked dancing nude in clubs six days a week, for eight to ten hours a day. They were forced to pay $1,200 to Trakhtenberg. They had their passports and travel documents taken
Sex Trafficking2008
United States US
Alex Babaev and Asker Memmedov recruited women to come to the US from Azerbajaijan to work as prostitutes. From March 2003 to March 2004 women were forced to work through violence and verbal threats. The victims were told they could keep half of the earning from working, but received none of it, and had their passports taken.
Forced Criminality2008
Romania RO
In July 2008 Detectives from the Garda National Immigration Bureau were backed up by officers from the Wexford division in the investigation. The Romanian Police were also a part of the investigation. The immigration bureau investigated several crime gangs last year that were suspected of using human trafficking and then discovered the violence used by the Romanian gypsies. When the initial raid happened in July, there were numerous arms confiscated from the Romanians.
Sex Trafficking2008
United States US
Multiple arrests were made, with 4 convictions to date: *Ronald H. Tills (18 months in prison) *John Trowbridge (two years probation after) *Michael R. Stebick (probation for two years, ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and directed to provide 250 hours of community service) *Len Wah Chong (six years in prison, five years supervised release)
Child Labor2008
Egypt EG
wo American couples, Suzan Hagoulf & Medhat Metyas and Iris Botros & Louis Andros, were arrested in December of 2008 after applying for US passports for two children through the US Embassy in Cairo. The embassy officials identified the documents as fraudulent, notified the Egyptian Authorities, which resulted in the couples arrest. The investigation revealed collusion with orphanage employees who regularly forged documents for Christian adoptions. The trial began in May of 2009, in conjunction with another couple accused of the same crime. Sept. 7, 2009.The four were convicted of human trafficking and each received two years in jail and fine of $18,153US.
CSEC2008
United States US
Specific details unknown. Only information known is that a neighbor took the child to a local hospital because she was complaining of stomach pain. By this time the girl was 13 years old. It was soon discovered that she was 6 months pregnant. She had an emergency C-section ahd gave birth to a baby boy.