Senior Honduran Officials Emphasize Importance of

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TEGUCIGALPA 000456

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

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

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM SMIG KWMN ELAB PGOV PREL KJUS HO
SUBJECT: Senior Honduran Officials Emphasize Importance of
Prosecution of TIP Cases to Visiting State Officials



1. (U) Summary: Rachel Owen of G/TIP and Michael Puccetti of
WHA/PPC visited Honduras for meetings on trafficking in
persons (TIP) February 9-11. Owen, Puccetti, INR TDYer, and
PolOff met with key GOH officials to get updates on current
Honduran anti-TIP efforts and emphasize USG interest. GOH
meetings included Supreme Court President Vilma Morales,
Attorney General Ovidio Navarro (with special prosecutors
for women, children, and organized crime),Minister of
Public Security Oscar Alvarez (with the heads of the
Criminal Investigative Police and Frontier Police),and the
inter-institutional commission on the commercial sexual
exploitation of children. GOH officials strongly stated the
importance of preventing and prosecuting TIP, and welcomed
USG interest and technical assistance on the issue. End
Summary.


2. (U) Rachel Owen, G/TIP and Michael Puccetti, WHA/PPC of
the Department of State visited Honduras for meetings on
trafficking in persons (TIP) February 9-11. Owen, Puccetti,
INR TDYer, and PolOff met with key GOH officials to get
updates on current Honduran anti-TIP efforts and emphasize
USG interest. In each meeting, PolOff gave senior GOH
officials copies of the 2004 TIP report and TIP interim
assessment in Spanish, as well as a press release outlining
the reasons for Owens and Puccetti's visit.

Attorney General: TIP a High Priority
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3. (SBU) Attorney General Ovidio Navarro (accompanied by the
special prosecutors for women, children, and organized
crime) told USG officials February 11 that combating TIP was
a high priority. Navarro said the Public Ministry was
making progress, despite severe budgetary limitations. He
said there was an internal Public Ministry working group on
the issue, in addition to the inter-institutional
commission. Navarro noted that he had pressed Supreme Court
President Vilma Morales on the importance of the pending
draft legislation on commercial sexual
exploitation/trafficking in persons (CSE/TIP) that was
awaiting a Supreme Court opinion. In the absence of this
augmented legislation, Navarro and his prosecutors made
clear the Public Ministry was willing and able to
investigate and prosecute TIP cases on related charges.

Supreme Court President: Legislative Reform Needed
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4. (SBU) Supreme Court President Vilma Morales reiterated
her previous commitment to EmbOffs on strengthening
Honduras' legal regime during a February 10 meeting with USG
officials on TIP, and said that the Supreme Court would soon
complete its judicial opinion on the pending draft CSE/TIP
legislation, which she hoped would be sent back to the
Congress shortly. She said that globalization made urgent
the need for action and reform of the law, which she noted
did not cover many aspects of CSE. She highlighted the role
of the inter-institutional commission on the administration
of justice (AOJ),formed to implement the relatively new
Code of Criminal Procedure, and noted it was addressing AOJ
issues also important in TIP cases, such as establishing a
provisional witness protection policy.

Minister of Public Security: Political Will to Combat TIP
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5. (SBU) Minister of Public Security Oscar Alvarez
(accompanied by the heads of the Criminal Investigative
Police and Frontier Police) told USG officials February 11
there was political will to combat TIP/CSE. Alvarez noted
that "we have our problems, but we are doing what we can
with what we have." He noted that there was greater
awareness of the problem, a higher number of cases being
reported, and a greater number of cases being investigated
by the police. He noted that TIP/CSE was often difficult to
investigate, and but said the police was seeking to attack
the problem more directly.

CSEC Inter-Institutional Commission Coordinates Efforts
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6. (U) All three institutions discussed above are members of
the inter-institutional commission on commercial sexual
exploitation of children led by Ambassador Soledad de
Ramirez Soto, the GOH delegate to the OAS Inter-American
Commission on Women. The commission, which is essentially
functioning as a task force on TIP, held a special session
February 11 for the benefit of Owens and Puccetti to brief
them on advances and challenges in combating TIP/CSEC. The
commission now includes 52 GOH entities, NGOs, and
international organizations.

Law Enforcement/Judiciary Officials Share Interest in TIP
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7. (SBU) Comment: As Post notes in the 2004/2005 TIP report
(septel),the GOH has continued its already existing efforts
and made noticeable progress over the last year combating
TIP. In general, recognition of the problem and motivation
to combat it has become widespread within the GOH. While
senior GOH officials were candid about their institutions'
shortcomings and the need for USG technical assistance, it
was also apparent that TIP/CSE was a key issue for top
Honduran law enforcement and judicial officials. End
Comment.


8. (U) Owens and Puccetti did not clear on this cable.

Palmer