Following an investigation requested by Congressman Chris Smith (R-Hamilton), the Pentagon’s number two official has issued a stern memorandum to top Department of Defense brass that stipulates a clear and unambiguous “zero tolerance” policy to trafficking in persons. 

    In the memo, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz stated the DoD’s policy “that trafficking in persons will not be facilitated in any way by the activities of our Service members, civilian employees, indirect hires, or DoD contract personnel.” He went on to point out that trafficking “is a violation of human rights; it is cruel and demeaning; it is linked to organized crime; it undermines our peacekeeping efforts; and it is incompatible with military core values.”

    “I am very pleased to see the entire Department of Defense, under the direction of President Bush, Secretary Rumsfeld, and Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz, take a clear and uncompromising zero-tolerance stance against the brutal crime of human trafficking,” Smith said. 

    “In his address to the United Nations last September, President Bush called on all nations of the world to work together to address this horrible crime. The DoD’s policy will give U.S. commanders, Service members, and civilian personnel the guidance necessary to join with other U.S. Government agencies in an ongoing battle against a brutal form of abuse and oppression,” he added. 

    Smith, the author of our nation’s two laws on human trafficking, requested an investigation by the Pentagon’s Inspector General after watching a Fox News report in spring 2002 that showed U.S. military personnel stationed in South Korea knowingly frequenting establishments where women, trafficked from nations such as Russia and the Philippines, were forced to work as sex slaves. 

    “As Secretary Wolfowitz pointed out in his memorandum, trafficking is a gross abuse of human rights and is most incompatible with the core values of our military, which is a symbol of freedom to the world,” Smith said. 

    The four objectives set forth by the DoD are:

• Educate DOD military and civilian personnel who serve overseas about human trafficking and our nation’s laws and policies against trafficking;
• Increase efforts by DoD commanders and military police to look for signs of trafficking and to place off-limits establishments where trafficked women are believed to work. Additionally, increased efforts would be taken to work with authorities in the host country to combat trafficking;
• Prohibit contract employees working for the DoD overseas from engaging in activities that support or promote trafficking;
• Establish ongoing evaluations of DoD efforts to combat trafficking in persons.

    “If properly implemented and followed, the objectives set forth by the Department of Defense will help prevent future instances of U.S. military complicity with human trafficking, as was discovered in South Korea. Moreover, these steps will greatly support U.S. efforts to arrest and prosecute trafficking kingpins, stop the flow of money to traffickers, provide real aid to the victims, and – ultimately – eradicate human trafficking,” Smith said.

    “Also, our nation owes a ‘thank you’ to reporter Tom Merriman and his team at WJW – Fox 8 in Cleveland. What began as an investigation into the massage parlors and brothels in the Cleveland suburbs took Tom and his team around the world where they uncovered the activities in Korea. Tom and WJW should be congratulated for calling their city – and the nation’s – attention to the crime of human trafficking,” he added.