22100 Hon. Edolphus Towns

22100 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS, Vol. 152, Pt. 17 November 15, 2006 Today, the TIP Report is the essential ref- In part because of Ambassador Miller’s ef- and holding another 52,000 as political pris- erence for global benchmarks that challenge forts, since 2003 over 30 American pedophiles oners; killing Muslims by the tens of thou- all governments to join the 21st century aboli- have been extradited back to the U.S. and sands in Kashmir, where more than 90,000 tionist movement. The annual Trafficking in sent to jail. have been killed, Gujarat, where between Persons Report serves as the primary diplo- With Ambassador Miller’s prodding, the 2,000 and 5,000 died in a massacre pre- matic tool through which the U.S. Government United States last December became an offi- planned by the government, and elsewhere; encourages partnership and increased deter- cial party to the U.N. Protocol to Prevent, Sup- killing Christians throughout the country, in- mination in the fight against forced labor, sex- press and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Es- cluding over 300,000 just in Nagaland; and ual exploitation, and modern-day slavery. pecially Women and Children, also known as mass killing many other minorities. Yet India ‘‘In our judgment,’’ declared Dr. Mohamed the Palermo Protocol. The Trafficking in Per- proclaims itself the victim of terrorism and pro- Mattar, Executive Director of the Protection sons (TIP) Protocol, which supplements the claims itself a democracy. Well, Mr. Speaker, Project, ‘‘this report constitutes the primary ref- U.N. Convention Against Transnational Orga- it certainly doesn’t act that way. erence and main source of information on ef- nized Crime, is an important multilateral com- The repression and terrorism must be forts made by foreign governments to combat ponent of the worldwide effort to combat mod- stopped. We should end all aid and trade with trafficking in persons.’’ ern-day slavery. It seeks to prevent trafficking, India until such time as the repression ends Armed with the report, Ambassador Miller protect victims, and promote anti-trafficking co- and people enjoy the most basic human has engaged with governments from Japan to operation among nations. rights, and we should throw our full support Jamaica, from Belize to Bangladesh, to bring As chairman of the interagency Senior Pol- behind self-determination in Punjab, Khalistan, about improved law enforcement, victim pro- icy Operating Group, Ambassador Miller has in Kashmir, in Nagalim, and wherever people are trying to be free. In addition, we should tection, and prevention of this odious crime. improved coordination among U.S. agencies, designate India a terrorist state and impose Worldwide, Ambassador Miller’s diplomatic helping to make the panel a decision-making leadership helped spur new or improved anti- the sanctions that that designation brings. body whose participants have furthered the Mr. Speaker, I would like to insert the Coun- human trafficking legislation in 41 countries in U.S. effort against trafficking in person both at cil of Khalistan’s open letter into the RECORD. 2005, along with the establishment of dozens home and abroad. For example, the Depart- It is a frightening record of Indian terrorism. of new survivor shelters. That effort paid huge ment of Justice (DOJ), in 2005 charged 116 dividends: anti-trafficking convictions world- COUNCIL OF KHALISTAN, individuals with human trafficking, almost dou- Washington, DC, October 10, 2006. wide increased from several hundred, before bling the number charged in FY 2004. Ap- OPEN LETTER TO INDIAN PRIME MINISTER Ambassador Miller arrived at the State Depart- proximately 80 percent of those defendants MANMOHAN SINGH: INDIA ISATERRORIST ment, to over 4,700 in 2005. Last year’s fig- were charged under the federal Trafficking STATE, NOT A VICTIM ure—an increase from about 3,000 the year Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000. Forty- DEAR PRIME MINISTER SINGH: On October 4, before—was especially dramatic among coun- five traffickers were convicted, of which 35 you said that India is it victim of tries in Africa (from 29 TIP convictions in 2004 were implicated in sexual exploitation. As of crossborder terrorism. India is a terrorist to 58 in 2005) and East Asia and Pacific na- May 22, 2006, the Department of Health and state itself and should be subject to the pen- tions (from 348 TIP convictions in 2004 to Human Services (HHS) had certified 1,000 alties that are imposed on terrorist states. 2,347 in 2005). On January 2, 2002, the Washington Times victims of human trafficking since the TVPA reported that India is supporting cross-bor- Specifically, Ambassador Miller’s diplomatic was signed into law in October 2000. In FY der terrorism in Sindh, a province of Paki- efforts helped persuade Japan to vastly re- 2005, HHS certified 230 foreign victims of stan, the very same kind of thing that Prime duce the number of TIP-exploitable ‘‘entertain- human trafficking from a remarkably diverse Minister Singh was claiming is victimizing ment visas’’ Japan issued for young women array of countries. India. In addition, India’s leading newsmaga- from the Philippines—to fewer than 5,000, On a personal note, during his tenure as Di- zine, India Today, reported that the Indan from a high of 80,000 a year. In addition, Am- rector of the State Department’s Office to government created the Liberation Tigers of bassador Miller has carefully honed the re- Tamil Eelam (LTTE), identified by the U.S. Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, government as a terrorist organization, and port’s system of tier rankings to cultivate glob- Ambassador John R. Miller has been a friend its leaders were put up by the Indian govern- al anti-TIP efforts. This year, for example, Ma- and colleague to those of us in Congress who ment in the finest hotel in Delhi, How can lawi rose from Tier 2 to Tier 1 on the TIP Re- have taken a leadership role against modern- you blame Pakistan when India started port, while Ecuador rose from Tier 3 to Tier 2. day slavery. We wish him well in his future cross-border terrorism with its own actions? Over the last 2 years, Ambassador Miller work as a Professor of International Studies at The Indian government has committed ter- helped enhance the U.S. government’s anti- George Washington University. rorism against its own minorities. It has trafficking efforts to include a greater focus murdered over 250,000 Sikh infants, children, f youth, men, women, and elderly since 1984, against child sex tourism (CST), a crime in COUNCIL OF KHALISTAN HAS as well as more than 300,000 Christians in which people travel from their own country to Nagaland, over 90,000 Mulims in Kashmir, developing countries, such as Laos or Cam- SUCCESSFUL CONVENTION tens of thousands of Christians and Muslims bodia, looking for anonymity and the avail- throughout the country, and tens of thou- ability of children in prostitution. Ambassador HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS sands of Assamese, Bodos, Dalits, Manipuris, Tamils, and other minorities. A report by Miller’s leadership against CST has netted OF NEW YORK the Movement Against State Repression success, as Time magazine recently ob- IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES served: (MASR) states that 52,268 Sikhs are being Wednesday, November 15, 2006 held as political prisoners in India without Those working to protect children in Cam- charge or trial, mostly under a repressive bodia agree that the police force has recently Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, recently, Indian law known as the ‘‘Terrorist and Disruptive shown a far stronger commitment to tar- Prime Minister Manmohan Singh publicly stat- Activities Act’’ (TADA), which expired in geting pedophiles. But it’s not just law and ed that India is the victim of cross-border ter- 1995. Many have been in illegal custody since order that is doing the trick. A new political ror. The Council of Khalistan under the leader- 1984! There has been no list published of will to root them out is the result of diplo- those who were acquitted under TADA and matic incentives and pressures, both the car- ship of Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh wrote to Prime Minister Singh and reminded him that those who are still rotting in Indian jails, rots of international donors and the stick of Tens of thousands of other minorities are the U.S. State Department, say child protec- India has been sponsoring cross-border ter- also being held as political prisoners, accord- tion workers. But the stick came in 2005 rorism in Sindh, a province of Pakistan, as the ing to Amnesty International. Tell the fami- when the U.S. State Department, fed up with Washington Times reported on January 2, lies of these innocent Sikhs and others that the impunity enjoyed by traffickers here, 2002 and that it created the Liberation Tigers there is no terrorism in India. relegated Cambodia to it lowest tier three of Tamil Eclam, which our government has lndian police arrested human-rights activ- rating on its global trafficking report. Cam- identified as a terrorist organization, according ist Jaswant Singh Khalra after he exposed bodia was lumped in with Burma, Cuba and to Indian Today, which is the leading news their policy of mass cremation of Sikhs, in North Korea, and Washington threatened which over 50,000 Sikhs have been arrested, sanctions against Phnom Penh for its inabil- magazine in India. tortured, and murdered, then their bodies ity to comply with ‘‘minimum standards’’ to It has also sponsored domestic terrorism were declared unidentified and secretly cre- combat human trafficking and convict offi- against the minorities within its borders, in- mated. Khalra was murdered in police cus- cials involved.

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