By Samuel Miller
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America and Oceania

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States of America — U.S. lawmakers expressed concern Tuesday about whether the State Department’s annual global report on human trafficking may have been watered down due to political considerations and vowed to demand a full accounting at a Senate hearing this week. Last week, the U.S. State Department gave Malaysia, Cuba and Saudi Arabia upgrades from the lowest tier in its annual report on modern slavery.

The State Department denied that the country-by-country ratings in the latest report had been politicized.

A Reuters examination, based on interviews with more than a dozen sources in Washington and foreign capitals, showed that the State Department was pressured into inflating assessments of 14 countries in this year’s report. Analysts in the anti-trafficking office disagreed with U.S. diplomatic bureaus on ratings for 17 countries, the sources said.

The annual report examines 188 governments for their performance in the previous year in fighting exploitation, whether for sex, domestic labor, or work — from construction and fishing to farming and mining. Saudi Arabia, Cuba, and Malaysia were moved from Tier Three to Tier Two on the U.S. list of offenders because of their efforts to improve, according to the annual report on human trafficking.

The analysts, who are specialists in assessing efforts to combat modern slavery, won only three of those disputes, the worst ratio in the 15-year history of the unit. Among the countries that received higher rankings than recommended by the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons were Malaysia, Cuba, China, India, Uzbekistan and Mexico.

Human rights groups called for an investigation into why strategically important countries such as Malaysia, China, Mexico and Cuba were upgraded from the list of worst offenders in human trafficking.

With regard to Cuba, US Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights Sarah Sewall said Cuba had made progress in combating sex trafficking. But she said concerns remained over the country’s failures to address forced labor.

“The Government of Cuba does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so.” reads the report. The report uses the same language for its assessment of Malaysia.

The US also decided to remove Malaysia from the list of countries failing to address human trafficking, a decision criticized by human rights groups. Critics have noted the importance of Malaysia’s participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership as a possible political factor which may have had influence over the State Department’s decision.

Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and 18 Senate colleagues wrote Secretary of State John Kerry this month opposing an upgrade in ranking.

“The administration has turned its back on the victims of trafficking, turned a blind eye to the facts, and ignored the calls from Congress, leading human rights advocates, and Malaysian government officials to preserve the integrity of this important report,” Menendez said in an e-mailed statement Monday. “They have elevated politics over the most basic principles of human rights.”

For more information, please see:

Reuters — Lawmakers to demand full accounting on human trafficking report – 4 August 2015

BBC News — Cuba removed from US human trafficking list – 27 July 2015

Bloomberg — U.S. Upgrades Malaysia, Cuba in Human Trafficking Report – 27 July 2015

Politico — U.S.-Cuba relations get another upgrade – 27 July 2015

USA Today — Malaysia, Cuba upgraded on human trafficking report – 27 July 2015

Washington Post — U.S. drops Cuba and Malaysia from human trafficking blacklist – 27 July 2015