Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05PANAMA390
2005-02-18 22:39:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Panama
Cable title:  

PANAMA ATTORNEY GENERAL CONVOKES ANTI-TRAFFICKING

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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PANAMA 000390 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR WHA/PPC/MICHAEL PUCCETTI, G/TIP/RACHEL
OWEN/ANTHONY ETERNO, WHA/CEN/THOMAS PIERCE
INL/CTR

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PREL KCRM SMIG ELAB PM KTIP LABOR HUMAN RIGHTSPOLMIL
SUBJECT: PANAMA ATTORNEY GENERAL CONVOKES ANTI-TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS COMMISSION

REF: A. 04 PANAMA 2153

B. PANAMA 00088

C. PANAMA 00338

SUMMARY
-------

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PANAMA 000390

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR WHA/PPC/MICHAEL PUCCETTI, G/TIP/RACHEL
OWEN/ANTHONY ETERNO, WHA/CEN/THOMAS PIERCE
INL/CTR

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PREL KCRM SMIG ELAB PM KTIP LABOR HUMAN RIGHTSPOLMIL
SUBJECT: PANAMA ATTORNEY GENERAL CONVOKES ANTI-TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS COMMISSION

REF: A. 04 PANAMA 2153

B. PANAMA 00088

C. PANAMA 00338

SUMMARY
--------------


1. (SBU) In a big move forward for Panama's anti-TIP
efforts, on February 15 Panama's new attorney general Ana
Matilde Gomez convoked the anti-TIP commission (CONAPREDES)
as contemplated by Panama's March 2004 anti-TIP law (see
reftel A). The new commission institutionalizes anti-TIP
policy coordination and legally is required to create a fund
from a special tax source to finance anti-TIP training,
prevention, and victims' assistance. The Attorney General's
swift convocation of the commission signals her commitment to
anti-TIP efforts and places a politically independent ally
squarely in the anti-TIP camp. A list of the institutions
and the representatives comprising CONAPREDES is included in
Annex A.


HIGH PROFILE, PROMPT CONVOCATION
--------------


2. (U) With less than 45 days in office, Attorney General
Gomez convoked Panama's anti-TIP commission in a high-profile
ceremony involving three cabinet members. Journalists,
anti-TIP allies, and the U.S. and Spanish diplomatic
community, including Ambassador Watt, also attended.


3. (U) Both Attorney General Gomez and Youth, Women,
Children, and Family (MINJUMFA) Minister Leonor Calderon
spoke at the event and reiterated their commitment to
fighting TIP, especially child commercial sexual
exploitation. Attorney General Gomez also emphasized the new
tools available to prosecute TIP crimes under the March 2004
anti-TIP law. Attorney General Gomez and Minister Calderon
have worked closely to focus attention on the TIP problem and
to bring services to TIP victims, especially in the
historically neglected Darien Province (see reftels B and C).
Press reports after the event brought attention to child
sexual exploitation, child pornography, sex tourism, the link
between TIP and international crime, and the provisions of
the new anti-TIP law.


KEY ASPECTS, SPECIAL FUND

--------------


4. (SBU) The March 2004 anti-TIP law called for the
creation of a new official entity - the National Commission
for the Prevention of Sexual Exploitation (CONAPREDES),and
named the independent Attorney General its president. (Note:
CONAPREDES existed on paper only until February 15. The
outgoing Attorney General failed to convoke the commission,
at first waiting for the change of GoP administration on
September 1, then canceling the convocation in November
because of flooding in the Darien, and finally deferring to
the incoming Attorney General.)


5. (U) Under the March 2004 anti-TIP law, CONAPREDES is:

- composed of high ranking GoP officials and civil society
members key in the anti-TIP fight (see Annex A);

- a technical-administrative body for the study of the
prevention and eradication of crimes of sexual exploitation;

- must create a special anti-TIP fund, from a special $1 tax
on foreigners leaving Panama, a special 5% tax on adult
videos, and property confiscated in TIP crimes; and

- must use the special anti-TIP fund to finance training,
prevention, and victims' assistance programs.


MAINTAINING MOMENTUM
--------------


6. (SBU) The Attorney General's office expressed a firm
desire to maintain CONAPREDES's momentum, setting its first
meeting for March 2 and working with commission members to
identify technical experts. The Attorney General's office
and the Embassy are coordinating with the Justice Department
for CONAPREDES's participation in DOJ-sponsored anti-TIP
training scheduled for March 7-9 in Panama.


COMMENT
--------------

7. (SBU) The new Attorney General's swift convocation of
CONAPREDES was a further strong signal of her commitment to
combat TIP, which she previously expressed to the Ambassador
and through submission of an anti-TIP prevention and
protection proposal (see reftels B and C). The Attorney
General is a key anti-TIP ally because she heads a
politically independent institution and was appointed for a
ten-year term (see reftel B). As head of CONAPREDES, the
Attorney General will preside over the institutionalization
of high-level anti-TIP policy coordination. CONAPREDES's
role as a technical body may increase TIP coordination at the
"nuts and bolts" level, often challenging because of
institutional divisions created to prevent tyranny as a
response to the 1968-1989 military dictatorship. MINJUMFA
Minister Calderon's high visibility at the event reflected
her interest in TIP awareness and victims' assistance, seen
previously in MINJUMFA's anti-TIP campaign and its attention
to TIP victims in the Darien (see reftel C).


ANNEX A: CONAPREDES MEMBERS
--------------

The commission members are:


1. Attorney General, Ana Matilde Gomez (President)

2. Minister of Youth, Women, Children, and Family, Leonor
Calderon

3. Minister of Government and Justice, Hector Aleman (signed
by Vice Minister Olga Golcher)

4. Minister of Economy and Finance, Ricaurte Vasquez (signed
by Secretary General Patricia de Gonzales)

5. Minister of Health, Dr. Camilo Alleyne

6. Minister of Education, Juan Bosco Bernal

7. President of the Child and Adolescent Courts, Judge
Milixa Hernandez de Rojas

8. President of the Commission of Women's Issues, Rights of
Children, Youth, and Family of the National Assembly, Mayra
Zuniga

9. Director of the Judicial Technical Police, Jaime Jacome

10. Executive Branch Coordinator, Dr. Silvo Guerra

11. Representative of the Ombudsman's Office, Juan A. Tejada
Espino

12. Representative of the National Network of Children and
Adolescents, Sister Idian Reiis

13. Representative of National Bar Association, Carlos
Vasquez

WATT