Kathianne
08-03-2015, 10:42 PM
Overrule the State Department Experts. Very unusual:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/03/us-usa-humantrafficking-disputes-special-idUSKCN0Q821Y20150803?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=twitter
Politics| Mon Aug 3, 2015 7:30pm EDT
Special Report: State Department watered down human trafficking report
WASHINGTON | BY JASON SZEP (http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&n=jason.szep&) AND MATT SPETALNICK (http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&n=matt.spetalnick&)
...
State Department officials say the ratings are not politicized. “As is always the case, final decisions are reached only after rigorous analysis and discussion between the TIP office, relevant regional bureaus and senior State Department leaders,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said in response to queries by Reuters.
Still, by the time the report was released on July 27, Malaysia and Cuba were both removed from the "Tier 3" blacklist, even though the State Department’s own trafficking experts believed neither had made notable improvements, according to the sources.
The Malaysian upgrade, which was highly criticized by human rights groups, could smooth the way for an ambitious proposed U.S.-led free-trade deal with the Southeast Asian nation and 11 other countries.
Ending Communist-ruled Cuba’s 12 years on the report’s blacklist came as the two nations reopened embassies on each other’s soil following their historic détente over the past eight months.
And for China (http://www.reuters.com/places/china), the experts’ recommendation to downgrade it to the worst ranking, Tier 3, was overruled despite the report’s conclusion that Beijing did not undertake increased anti-trafficking efforts.
That would have put China alongside the likes of Syria and North Korea, regarded by the United Nations as among the world’s worst human right abusers.
Typically, J/TIP wins more than half of what officials call “disputes” with diplomatic sections of the State Department, according to people familiar with the process.
“Certainly we have never seen that kind of an outcome,” said one U.S. official with direct knowledge of the department.
...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/03/us-usa-humantrafficking-disputes-special-idUSKCN0Q821Y20150803?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=twitter
Politics| Mon Aug 3, 2015 7:30pm EDT
Special Report: State Department watered down human trafficking report
WASHINGTON | BY JASON SZEP (http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&n=jason.szep&) AND MATT SPETALNICK (http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&n=matt.spetalnick&)
...
State Department officials say the ratings are not politicized. “As is always the case, final decisions are reached only after rigorous analysis and discussion between the TIP office, relevant regional bureaus and senior State Department leaders,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said in response to queries by Reuters.
Still, by the time the report was released on July 27, Malaysia and Cuba were both removed from the "Tier 3" blacklist, even though the State Department’s own trafficking experts believed neither had made notable improvements, according to the sources.
The Malaysian upgrade, which was highly criticized by human rights groups, could smooth the way for an ambitious proposed U.S.-led free-trade deal with the Southeast Asian nation and 11 other countries.
Ending Communist-ruled Cuba’s 12 years on the report’s blacklist came as the two nations reopened embassies on each other’s soil following their historic détente over the past eight months.
And for China (http://www.reuters.com/places/china), the experts’ recommendation to downgrade it to the worst ranking, Tier 3, was overruled despite the report’s conclusion that Beijing did not undertake increased anti-trafficking efforts.
That would have put China alongside the likes of Syria and North Korea, regarded by the United Nations as among the world’s worst human right abusers.
Typically, J/TIP wins more than half of what officials call “disputes” with diplomatic sections of the State Department, according to people familiar with the process.
“Certainly we have never seen that kind of an outcome,” said one U.S. official with direct knowledge of the department.
...