DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: INTERIM TIP ASSESSMENT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SANTO DOMINGO 005050

SIPDIS

FOR WHA/CAR, WHA/PPC AND G/TIP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM KCRM KWMN DR
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: INTERIM TIP ASSESSMENT

REF: STATE 185386


1. The following interim assessement for trafficking in
persons (TIP) addresses the questions in paragraph 6(I) of
reftel.


2. The Government of the Dominican Republic emphasizes TIP
issues in public communications and has made some progress in
enforcement. Institutional changes include the creation of
an anti-trafficking department in the Migration Directorate
in March. This department coordinates with the Attorney
General,s office and the National Police to find and
prosecute persons dedicated to trafficking women for
prostitution and commercial sexual exploitation.


3. Law Enforcement Efforts

The National Police has a unit assigned full-time to
enforcement of laws on trafficking in persons and illegal
migration. The chief of this unit expressed his commitment
actions against TIP, but in fact, only two of the sixty cases
on its active roster deal with TIP. The rest are in the area
of illegal migration and alien smuggling. Resources are
limited but the police investigate TIP cases assigned to
them. The Embassy raised with the Assistant Attorney General
three specific cases brought to Embassy attention by the
International Organization for Migration, in which women
enticed abroad for "door to door sales" wound up in
prostitution but eventually returned to the Dominican
Republic; the Assistant Attorney General said that in each
case the apparent victim had refused to testify, fearing
reprisals from the former employer.


4. Raids and Rescuing TIP Victims

Dominican authorities conducted a number of raids and
interventions under the anti-trafficking law, all during the
first half of the calendar year. For example, in April the
National Directorate of Investigations dismantled a child
prostitution and pornography ring in Sosua where police
arrested two men. In April, on instructions of the Attorney
General, police closed down several bars, nightclubs, and
"massage parlors" in Santiago, Santo Domingo, and Boca Chica
alleged to be involved in prostitution of vulnerable women
and children. The Assistant Attorney General did not have a
summary list with specifics on the numbers of establishments
closed by the provincial district attorneys.


5. Government Reponse

Senior Dominican officials have spoken out publicly against
TIP. In numerous contacts with the national press Attorney
General Francisco Dominguez Brito has emphasized the
administration's rejection of trafficking and his intention
to investigate and prosecute trafficking cases. Assistant
Attorney General for Trafficking in Persons and Illegal
Migration Frank Soto maintained a high profile and opened a
new public awareness campaign highlighting the gravity of
trafficking and of the penalties provided in TIP Law 137-03.



6. TIP Training

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has compulsory training at
its Diplomatic and Consular School for consular
representatives with emphasis on identifying trafficking and
assisting victims. In addition, the Ministry gave
specialized training on trafficking for consular officers
posted in the Caribbean and Europe. As a result, consular
officials posted in the Caribbean re-established their
consular network to fight TIP. In March, the International
Organization for Migration (IOM) carried out training for 100
officers from the Migration Directorate, at a two-day session
opened by Minister of the Interior and Police Franklin
Almeyda and Director of Migration Carlos Amarnte Baret. IOM
has provided technical advice to Migration regarding the
organization of the department, its functioning mechanisms,
and the selection of suitable personnel.


7. Prosecutions of TIP cases

- - In May a judge convicted three men under Trafficking Law
137-03 and sentenced them to 15 years in prison, relying on
extensive evidence assembled by a U.S. non-governmental
organization, including videotapes. A fourth suspect in the
case is now in detention and awaiting trail. The four men
were caught last year in a raid in Boca Chica, which resulted
in the rescues of 24 children, the youngest of them only 7
years old.

- - In August 2004 in a conclusive judicial review Maria
Martinez Nunez was sentenced to 5 years in prison and ordered
to pay a 500,000 peso fine (USD 16,000).

- - In March 2005 the Supreme Court resumed proceedings in
the trial of Congressman Radhames Ramos Garcia on charges of
alien smuggling. The Court found Ramos Garcia guilty and
sentenced him to 18 months in prison. He was paroled in
October after completing 9 months and 8 days of his sentence,
including periods of pre-trail detention.


8. Other items.

-- On November 13 a coalition of civil society organizations
working with the mayor of Boca Chica put together
demonstrations against the sexual exploitation of children.
The authorities published and put up in the town a poster
warning that sexual exploitation of children is a criminal
offense.
HERTELL