Honduras TIP Update: EmbOffs Meet with Attorney

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TEGUCIGALPA 001339

SIPDIS

STATE FOR G/TIP, DRL/IL, DRL/PHD, AND INL/LP
STATE FOR WHA/PPC AND WHA/CEN
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CEN
DOL FOR ILAB
DOJ FOR OPDAT

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM SMIG KWMN ELAB PGOV PREL KJUS HO
SUBJECT: Honduras TIP Update: EmbOffs Meet with Attorney
General and Supreme Court President on Prosecutions

REF: (A) Tegucigalpa 926

(B) Tegucigalpa 576
(C) Tegucigalpa 382
(D) Tegucigalpa 116
(E) Tegucigalpa 70
(F) 03 Tegucigalpa 2965


1. Summary: EmbOffs met recently with the Honduran Attorney
General and the Supreme Court President to emphasize the
critical nature of successful prosecutions as part of an
overall GOH strategy to combat trafficking in persons.
Honduras has also been active in recent months on a number of
trafficking in persons (TIP) fronts. This cable provides an
update on these efforts. End Summary.

EmbOffs Meet With AG and SC President
--------------


2. PolCouns and PolOff met June 2 with Attorney General (AG)
Ramon Ovidio Navarro and his assistant Jaime Banegas
(subsequently sworn in as Director of Prosecutors June 9),
and June 7 with Supreme Court (SC) President Vilma Morales to
emphasize the critical nature of successful prosecutions as
part of an overall GOH strategy to combat trafficking in
persons. PolOffs gave both copies of the 2003 TIP, Human
Rights, and Supporting Human Rights and Democracy reports in
Spanish. PolOffs emphasized that the 2004 TIP report would
be released shortly and UNDERSCORED the importance of TIP in
the bilateral agenda.


3. The AG said the Public Ministry, which he heads and
includes all prosecutors, is committed to combating TIP and
to sharing information with the Embassy. PolOff noted the
close contact between EmbOffs and the Special Prosecutors for
Organized Crime, Children's Issues, and Women's Issues. The
AG agreed this was important, and subsequently held a meeting
June 7 with prosecutors from the Organized Crime and
Children's Issues offices to discuss Public Ministry efforts
against TIP and commercial sexual exploitation (CSEC) crimes.
He welcomed G/TIP-funded training via DOJ/OPDAT planned for
later this year. He pledged that the GOH would make a
concerted effort this year to prosecute TIP cases more
aggressively.


4. The Supreme Court President, who oversees the entire
judiciary, said there is a growing knowledge of TIP crimes
among judges, and the links to other crimes such as document
fraud and money laundering. She also pledged to raise the
importance of combating TIP and TIP-related crimes at the
next meeting of the GOH's inter-agency committee on the
application of the new Code of Criminal Procedure. She
explained that a revision of the Penal Code is under
consideration and suggested that it would be an opportunity
to strengthen laws against TIP. Post subsequently provided
her with a copy of the USG's model TIP law for consideration.


5. Morales said she understood the importance of following
cases all the way through to the end. She noted that in some
instances, there were alleged threats against judges involved
in TIP-related cases. (Note: Post notes that there was also
speculation about possible corruption by judges in those
cases. End Note.)


6. PolOffs discussed with both the AG and SC President the
importance of the Chinese cases, particularly the December
2003 arrests of Chinese naturalized Hondurans Hu Weng Rong
and He Jia Bin in San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa,
respectively, for involvement in an alien smuggling ring for
PRC nationals using fraudulent documents. Both are still in
jail. (See refs D-F and septel for more information on the
various Chinese smuggling cases.) The AG and SC President
have discussed these cases together and have been very
responsive to U.S. interest in these cases.

GOH Continues Raids of Massage Parlors
--------------


7. Honduran authorities continue to take action against the
commercial sexual exploitation of children in Honduras. Most
recently, on May 1 three owners of massage parlors were
arrested (two Hondurans and one Nicaraguan) and seven of
these establishments were closed. Three of the seven had
minor children working at the time they were raided. The
Special Prosecutor for Children has been and continues to
conduct operations jointly with the police, the Honduran
Institute for Children and the Family (IHNFA),judges, and
Casa Alianza, to rescue CSEC victims and arrest and prosecute
those responsible for these victims' exploitation.

Casa Alianza Signs Agreement with Immigration
--------------

8. The NGO Casa Alianza signed an agreement with the Ministry
of Government and Justice and the Directorate of Immigration
on April 22 to protect children that are TIP/CSEC victims
outside Honduras. As part of the agreement, the GOH
committed to informing Casa Alianza about any repatriation of
minors.

TIP Seminars Planned for August
--------------


9. The Honduran government is planning seminars for late
August in the Caribbean coast cities of Tela (a tourist
destination) and Puerto Cortes on the prevention and
eradication of the CSEC and trafficking in women and
children. The seminars are modeled after seminars held in
Tegucigalpa and La Ceiba in 2003, and in San Pedro Sula and
Santa Rosa de Copan in January 22-23, 2004. The Embassy
brought in first a U.S. NGO expert and then G/TIP Senior
Reporting Officer Phil Linderman (ref C) to be keynote
speakers at the seminars. The Embassy is working with IIP to
arrange to bring in the same NGO expert in August (ref A and
subsequent e-mails).

Palmer