PANAMA RESPONSE TO TIP PROTECTION (ESF) PROPOSAL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 PANAMA 000338

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CEN
WHA/PPC MICHAEL PUCCETTI
G/TIP ANTHONY ETERNO CARLA MENARES BURY
A/LM/AQM/IP JOANNA PISCIOTTA SNEARLY

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ASEC ELAB EAID KWMN KCRM KDEM PHUM SMIG PM
SUBJECT: PANAMA RESPONSE TO TIP PROTECTION (ESF) PROPOSAL
SOLICITATION

REF: A. 04 STATE 265981


B. 04 STATE 247994

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SUMMARY
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1. (U) Embassy is pleased to submit three anti-TIP
bilateral project proposals (including two from the same
government ministry),chosen from five submissions. Since
the passage of the GOP's groundbreaking anti-TIP law in March
2004, the GOP has worked hard with its limited resources to
promote citizen awareness of the new law and to provide
services to the victims identified through the law's
implementation. Embassy is confident that the following
bilateral proposals will create a sustainable increase in TIP
prevention and victims' services. The institutions involved
already have taken marked steps to implement the new law on a
shoe-string budget. Also, the new law provides for a special
funding source that post expects will be fully functional as
the projects end. A list of the unsubmitted projects will be
sent by electronic mail, as per reftel A.

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PROJECT #1
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2. (U) Name of the Project: "Optimizing Victim Attention
by Improving Expertise and Coordination in Sex Crime Cases."
This is post's top funding priority.


3. (U) Name of Government Agency: Attorney General's
Office, specifically the Public Ministry (Prosecutor's
Office) and Judicial Technical Police (PTJ).


4. (U) Objective: Optimize attention and minimize stress
to TIP victims by elevating an entire prosecutor's office to
the status of "Specialized Prosecutor's Office for Sex
Crimes" and integrating it with the PTJ's Sex Crimes Unit.


5. (U) Duration of the Project: 18 months.

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JUSTIFICATION
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6. (U) Victims of sex trafficking are easily
"re-victimized" by the justice system if the investigators
and prosecutors who work their cases are not trained in or do
not have the vocation for interviewing victims. Similarly,
victims suffer if they are forced to constantly repeat their
stories as they struggle through an endless maze of
bureaucrats unable to orient them to assistance resources.


7. (SBU) Despite having several prosecutors and
investigators trained in and with the vocation for working
trafficking cases, Panama's criminal justice bureaucracy
needs to be restructured to better serve victims. Since
March 2004, both PTJ investigators and individual prosecutors
have the authority to open investigations into sexual
trafficking cases. Unfortunately, cases worked by the PTJ
Sex Crime Unit are often assigned to prosecutors who have no
specialization in this area. Prosecutors with a
specialization in sex crimes are burdened with case loads in
other areas. Prosecutors with no experience in sex crimes
open investigations without help from the PTJ's specialized
sex crimes unit. Victims fortunate enough to have the
assistance of expert investigators and prosecutors still must
shuttle from an overcrowded and dingy PTJ office to a similar
prosecutor's office, repeating their stories with almost no
privacy. Placing authority for all TIP cases in a
specialized prosecutor's office near the PTJ Sex Crime Unit
is critical to making sure that victims are empowered, rather
than "re-vitimized" by the system.


8. (U) Activities:

- Take an entire prosecutor's office and turn it into a
Specialized Prosecutor's Office for Sex Crimes for the entire
country.

- Integrate the Specialized Prosecutor's Office with the PTJ
Sex Crimes Unit.

- Name Prosecutor Maruquel Castroverde as Special Sex Crimes
Prosecutor. (Castroverde, who helped pass the new anti-TIP
law, has expertise in investigating and prosecuting TIP cases
and in working with TIP victims).

- Remodel office space (to integrate PTJ staff, create
private interview areas, and victim reception areas).

- Add, equip, and train two additional assistants for the
Specialized Prosecutor (to assist the Specialized Prosecutor
in the training and supervision of all investigators and
prosecutors working sex crimes cases within Panama).

- Train prosecutors and investigators involved in
trafficking cases (emphasizing skills in working with victims
and drawing on lessons learned from Costa Rican counterparts)

- Publish and distribute pamphlets (to prevent trafficking
and to inform victims of services).

- Design and introduce a legal proposal to give prosecutors
more tools to prosecute TIP cases that do not involve sexual
exploitation. (bringing these TIP victims under the
attention of the Specialized Prosecutor's Office).

- Assign only investigators and prosecutors to work TIP
cases who have a vocation for working with TIP victims.


9. (SBU) Sustainability: This project will permanently
improve treatment of TIP victims by permanently enhancing the
method of assigning TIP cases to prosecutors, the structure
and case load of a prosecutor's office, and interview rooms
and reception areas. Most of the project funds are for
start-up costs associated with changing the facilities,
equipment, and training needed to make the Specialized
Prosecutor's Office and its personnel fully functional and
responsive to victim's needs. Panama's new anti-TIP law also
provides for a commission, CONAPREDES, empowered with an
independent tax source for training, prevention, and victim's
assistance. Once the commission is fully functional and
begins to accumulate funds (the new Attorney General convoked
CONAPREDES on February 15 (see septel)),the Specialized
Prosecutor's Office can seek funding to maintain and improve
its assistance to victims. Embassy expects that
implementation of the new tax and accumulation of funds will
take approximately one year. Panama's new Attorney General
told Embassy that addressing TIP issues, particularly in
Darien province, is one of her top priorities. Prosecutor
Castroverde and the PTJ's Sex Crimes Unit have already taken
steps to improve prevention and protection of victims under
the new anti-TIP law without special funding.


10. (U) Performance Indicators: Creation of a Specialized
Prosecutor's Office integrated with the PTJ Sex Crimes Unit,
number of private interview rooms, number of victims rescued
and placed in shelters or substitute families, number of
personnel trained in attention to victims, and number of TIP
cases investigated by the PTJ Sex Crimes Unit and prosecuted
under the supervision of the Specialized Prosecutor's Office.


11. (U) Evaluation Plan: Representatives from Embassy will
meet with the Special Sex Crimes Prosecutor and investigators
from the PTJ Sex Crimes Unit every four months to verify
integration of the offices, review the status of the cases
detected, and identify critical areas of the country where
TIP (whether or not involving commercial sexual exploitation)
is a problem. The Specialized Prosecutor's Office will
present a final report of its achievements in providing
victim's assistance under the new anti-TIP law and any other
new anti-TIP laws.


12. (U) Budget/Government Contribution: The Attorney
General's Office is requesting $114,000. The Attorney
General will devote at least the entire 15th Circuit's
Prosecutor's Office, with an actual annual budget of $107,100
(or $160,650 for 18 months). While appointment as a Special
Prosecutor generally involves a substantial increase in
salary, Prosecutor Maruquel Castroverde has agreed to go
forward with organizing the office and training personnel in
these cases without the additional $44,000 in salary and
representational funds that would ordinarily come with the
position of Specialized Prosecutor. The PTJ's Sex Crime
Unit's annual budget is approximately $750,000. The
following is a budget breakout:


Remodel Facilities $30,000
Assistant Equipment $14,000
Office Equipment $ 6,000
Two Assistants - 18 mos. $30,000
at half salary
Training
Panama City $ 9,000
Provinces, Costa Rica $25,000
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$114,000


13. (U) Proposed Funding Mechanism: Cooperative agreement.

14. (U) Embassy Point of Contact: Debra Steigerwalt,
Political Office, (507) 207-7183, SteigerwaltDA@state.gov.


15. (U) Other Donors: The Attorney General's Office has
received technical assistance in the past in combating TIP
from the International Labor Organization and the Spanish
Embassy.

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Project #2
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16. (U) Project Title: "Protection and Assistance to
Victims of Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation." This is
post's second funding priority.


17. (U) Name of Government Agency: Ministry of Youth,
Women, Children and the Family (MINJUMFA) - Office of
Childhood and Adoption. (Note: MINJUMFA also submitted a
prevention project, Project #3).


18. (U) Duration of Project: A new, one-year project.


19. (U) Objectives:

- Assist TIP victims by creating secure TIP shelters staffed
by social, psychological, and legal specialists.

- Improve civil society's and foster families' ability to
assist TIP victims.

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JUSTIFICATION
--------------


20. (SBU) Panama's March 2004 anti-TIP law increased law
enforcement capabilities and prohibited additional TIP
activities. As a result, MINJUMFA has had to work hard,
despite limited resources, to provide immediate services to
new victims. The new victims differ from the abused and
abandoned children MINJUMFA usually helps. TIP victims are
often older, have suffered sexual trauma, confront a complex
legal process, are located in remote locations, or face
retaliation from criminal elements.


21. (SBU) Although MINJUMFA has one 40-person shelter and
cooperates with a non-governmental shelter, these shelters
are full with abused and abandoned children. When not full,
the shelters are not structured to meet the needs of TIP
victims. Moreover, shelter staff are not trained in special
protocols for victims of commercial sexual exploitation.
Although MINJUMFA has placed TIP victims with foster
families, such families lack specialized training to assist
TIP victims.


22. (SBU) Moreover, despite the fact that a 1998 Panamanian
law gives victims the right to participate actively in the
prosecution of their cases, MINJUMFA lacks resources to
provide legal assistance. MINJUMFA believes there are as
many as 100 child and adolescent victims of TIP (child
commercial exploitation) in the Darien region alone who need
victim assistance. Nonetheless, MINJUMFA lacks a full
understanding of the scope and nature of TIP victims in
Panama.


23. (U) Activities:

- Remodel MINJUMFA's child shelter to accommodate TIP
victims.

- Construct a 50-person shelter for child TIP victims on the
campus of NGO shelter Casa Malambo. (Casa Malambo's pleasant
campus includes psychological assistance, a clinic, a primary
school, and pool).

- Train foster families in assistance to TIP victims.

- Train MINJUMFA and shelter staff in assistance to TIP
victims.

- Coordinate with relevant government and civil society
groups.

- Provide legal assistance to victims in the prosecution of
their cases. (Panamanian law allows victims an active role
in prosecution).

- Provide social and psychological assistance to victims.

- Profile the nature of TIP victims.

- Conduct pre-treatment and post-treatment evaluations.



24. (U) Sustainability: The project will permanently
increase shelter space and institutional capacity for
assisting TIP victims at MINJUMFA and at Casa Malambo. (Casa
Malambo is a well established NGO with an annual budget of
approximately $650,000, only 20% of which is subsidized by
MINJUMFA. The Director of Casa Malambo also also sits on
CONAPREDES, the new anti-TIP commission.) Moreover, the new
anti-TIP law requires MINJUMFA to provide legal assistance to
TIP victims and MINJUMFA traditionally provides services to
abused minors. When the CONAPREDES fund is fully functional
(see para 9 above),MINJUMFA can solicit additional funds for
victim's assistance. Despite a shoe-string budget, MINJUMFA
already provides services to victims under the new anti-TIP
law. In addition, MINJUMFA is member of networks that will
help sustain its actions, including the Committee for the
Eradication of Child Labor and the Ombudsman's Network to
Combat Commercial Sexual Exploitation.


25. (U) Performance Indicators: Number of beds available
to TIP victims at shelters; number of victims in the program
(including victims not staying at the shelters); number of
TIP victims receiving legal, psychological, and social
services; results of pre-treatment and post-treatment
evaluations; and final evaluation results.


26. (U) Evaluation Plan: The Director of MINJUMFA's Child
and Adoption Office, the project coordinator, and a
representative from Casa Malambo will meet with Embassy
personnel every three months to review performance
indicators. The program will conduct a final evaluation.


27. (U) Budget Breakout/Host Government Contribution: The
requested funding is $126,624, but does not include
MINJUMFA's provision of technical assistance, transportation,
and a new help/support line for abuse victims. MINJUMFA is
also purchasing a vehicle to transport service providers to
victims. Moreover, MINJUMFA provides approximately $130,000
per year in funding to the non-profit shelter Casa Malambo.
The project proposes using students studying social work,
psychology, and law to help implement the project.

Remodel MINJUMFA's Victim Center: $10,000
Build TIP Shelter at Casa Malambo:$50,000
Staff Training $ 3,000
Studies $ 3,500
Administrative Personnel $ 3,600
Program Coordinator $ 8,400
Social Workers $ 7,200
Students in Social Work $ 0
Psychologists $ 7,200
Psychology students $ 0
Lawyers $ 9,600
Law Students $ 0
Equipping Victim's Center $10,342
Office Supplies $ 8,200
Teaching Materials $ 5,600
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$126,624


28. (U) Proposed Funding Mechanism: Cooperative agreement.


29. (U) Embassy Point of Contact: Debra Steigerwalt,
Political Office, (507) 207-7183, SteigerwaltDA@state.gov.


30. (U) Other Donors: Under the project, the non-profit
shelter Casa Malambo will incorporate shelter facilities for
TIP victims onto its campus. Casa Malambo's annual budget is
approximately $650,000, 20% of which is subsidized by
MINJUMFA. MINJUMFA will also seek technical assistance from
the International Labor Organization.

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PROJECT #3
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31. (U) Title of Project: "Campaign Against Sexual
Commercial Exploitation of Children and Adolescents"

32. (U) Name Of Recipient Government Agency: MINJUMFA -
Women's Office. (Note: MINJUMFA also submitted a protection
project, Project #2).

33. (U) Duration of the Project: April 2005 - December

2005. Supplements ongoing TIP prevention program.


34. (U) Objectives:

- Create anti-TIP awareness, especially with hotel,
restaurant, tourist, and nightclub establishments; public
transportation, security, and government officials; and civil
society.

- Disseminate information about the March 2004 anti-TIP law,
especially the provisions against child sexual exploitation.


35. (SBU) Justification: Panama's March 2004 anti-TIP law
requires MINJUMFA to take measures to prevent TIP. Despite
limited resources and disruption due to a change in
government, in November MINJUMFA conducted an
intergovernmental forum to study the best approach to TIP
prevention. In November, MINJUMFA also launched a campaign
to publicize the new anti-TIP law and the problem of
commercial sexual exploitation of children. MINJUMFA
discovered during its campaign that the tourist and
entertainment sectors resisted informing their patrons about
the new law. MINJUMFA believes Panama is at a crucial time
for TIP prevention, as it pushes to become a preferred
tourist destination and seeks to avoid entrenched problems
with TIP tourism experienced by some of its neighbors. The
project will permit MINJUMFA to make its anti-TIP campaign
more comprehensive and bring special attention to sectors
resistant to prevention. The project will also set a high
standard for prevention programs once the new law's special
anti-TIP funding is implemented (see paragraph 9).


36. (U) Activities:

- Design campaign materials.

- Conduct press conferences at airports, ports, and frontier
areas.

- Distribute anti-TIP tourist postcards at airports, ports,
and frontier areas.

- Place TIP awareness ads at the GOP's bus stop kiosks in
Panama City.

- Distribute promotional items (hats, T-shirts, etc.) in
tourist sector establishments.

- Create accords with tourist sector establishments to
continue to warn clients about TIP.

- Distribute a popular version of the new anti-TIP law.

- Conduct a radio campaign (to reach the largest audience).

- Hold an anti-TIP Folk Rhymes Contest (to target the rural
population).

- Transmit TIP victim human interest stories.

- Conduct a TV-spot campaign (that examines masculine values
that create TIP).

- Place anti-TIP banners strategically.



37. (SBU) Sustainability: MINJUMFA started a prevention
campaign on its own initiative, is required by law to prevent
public sexual exploitation, and will be able to solicit funds
for prevention programs from the new anti-TIP commission once
the commission's anti-TIP fund is fully functional (see
paragraph 8). MINJUMFA has a sustainable strategy: to
develop agreements with hotels, clubs, and transportation
companies to continue distributing prevention literature to
their patrons. Also, at the end of the program MINJUMFA will
have campaign material designs that it can continue to use.


38. (U) Performance Indicators: Distribution of 34,000
promotional items; 20,000 posters, 100,000 post cards; 129
public ads; and 5,000 copies of a popular version of the
anti-TIP law; transmission of 2,160 15-second radio spots on
6 stations and 284 television spots; recording of Folk
Rhymes; transmission of victim stories; and mid-term and
final evaluations.


39. (U) Evaluation Plan: MINJUMFA will contract a
consultant to design the campaign and perform mid-term and
final evaluations and will meet with U.S. Embassy personnel
regarding the project every 3 months. (MINJUMFA suggested
the use of an outside contractor to evaluate the program
because of the technical material involved and because the
European Union required an outside evaluator for a past
project).


40. (U) Budget Breakout/Host Government Contribution.
MINJUMFA is requesting $151,300 and will contribute $65,132.
The total cost of the project is $216,432. In addition, the
MINJUMFA will contribute use of the GOP's public notice areas
at bus stops throughout Panama City.


A. Amount Requested: $151,300

PLANNING
Campaign Plan $15,000
Popular Version of new law $ 2,000
Folk Rhyme Prizes $ 5,000

NATIONAL CAMPAIGN
Printing/publicity $31,900
Promotional items $19,900
Television ads $49,500
Radio Ads $ 9,000
Print Media $ 9,000

CAMPAIGN EVALUATION $ 5,000


B. Government Contribution: $65,432

Technical Team $43,200
Secretarial Team $ 5,352
Transportation Costs $ 6,000
Office Materials $ 6,180
Per Diem $ 1,400
Video history $ 3,000



41. (U) Proposed Funding Mechanism: Cooperative agreement.


42. (U) Embassy Point of Contact: Debra Steigerwalt,
Political Office, (507) 207-7183, SteigerwaltDA@state.gov.


43. (U) Other Donors: MINJUMFA received technical assistance
from the International Labor Organization and funding from
the United Nations Population Fund for the initial stages of
its campaign and will request UN assistance with additional
publicity materials.

WATT