U.S. says human trafficking report not softened for political reasons

Source: Yahoo! News / Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - This year's U.S. State Department human trafficking report was not watered down because of concerns about how it might affect trade deals or diplomatic relations, State Department officials said on Wednesday.

Members of a House of Representatives subcommittee grilled State officials at a hearing about the Trafficking in Persons report, which has raised concerns that politics trumped human rights in the rankings of countries such as Malaysia and Cuba.

"We must get the report right. No fudging, no favors to nations based on other agendas, or we risk losing the most effective tool we have to help the more than 20 million victims of trafficking enslaved around the world," said U.S. Representative Chris Smith, the Republican subcommittee chairman and an author of the law that led to the report.

Lawmakers became concerned when this year's report took Malaysia off the list of the worst offenders in human trafficking in July, removing a possible barrier to a major Asia-Pacific trade pact.

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