TIP SUBMISSION - ST. LUCIA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BRIDGETOWN 000385

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR G/TIP AND WHA/CAR

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN ELAB SMIG ASEC KFRD PREF ST XL
SUBJECT: TIP SUBMISSION - ST. LUCIA

REF: STATE 3836


1. (U) As requested in reftel, below are Post's responses to
questions regarding St. Lucia for the annual Trafficking in
Persons Report.

Paragraph 21 - Overview
--------------


2. (SBU)

-- A) Is the country a country of origin, transit, or
destination for internationally trafficked men, women, or
children? Evidence suggests that St. Lucia is a destination
for trafficking. The country has a growing sex tourism
industry with a number of strip clubs and brothels, many of
which are staffed by women from the Dominican Republic and
other Caribbean islands. There have been anecdotal reports
that women have been trafficked internationally and minors
have been trafficked internally to work in the sex industry.


-- B) Please provide a general overview of the trafficking
situation in the country and any changes since the last TIP
Report. In June 2005, the International Organization for
Migration (IOM) released its Exploratory Assessment of
Trafficking in Persons in the Caribbean Region, the findings
of which suggested that persons, including children, were
trafficked to and within St. Lucia to work in prostitution.
The IOM report cited anecdotal evidence of women from other
Caribbean countries who had been promised jobs as waitresses
in St. Lucia, only to find themselves coerced into working as
prostitutes. In 2004, a local newspaper reported on a woman
who traveled from the Dominican Republic to St. Lucia to work
as a waitress but was coerced into working as a prostitute.
To date, this is the only documented case of trafficking.
All other evidence is largely anecdotal. The government,
however, has acknowledged that despite a lack of documented
cases of trafficking, surveys and media reports indicate that
it has occurred.

-- C) What are the limitations on the government's ability to
address this problem in practice? The government has limited
resources with which to address trafficking. The lead agency
on the issue, the Office of Gender Relations, a part of the
Ministry of Health, Human Services, Family Affairs, and
Gender Relations, has limited staff and resources at its
disposal. The police force also has limited resources to
devote to tackling illegal prostitution and potential
trafficking.

-- D) To what extent does the government systematically
monitor its anti-trafficking efforts? The government's
anti-trafficking efforts are in their beginning stages and
the number of government employees dealing with trafficking
are few. As a result, monitoring is limited or non-existent.

Paragraph 22 ) Prevention
--------------


3. (SBU)

-- A) Does the government acknowledge that trafficking is a
problem? Yes, the government acknowledges that a limited
amount of trafficking may be occurring.

-- B) Which government agencies are involved in
anti-trafficking efforts? The key agencies are the Office of
Gender Relations, a part of the Ministry of Health, Human
Services, Family Affairs, and Gender Relations, and the Royal
St. Lucia Police Force. Representatives of the Ministries of
Justice, External Affairs, Labour, and Tourism attended
training seminars on trafficking given by IOM in 2004.

-- C) Are there or have there been government-run
anti-trafficking information or education campaigns? Yes.
In October 2005, the government's Office of Gender Relations
held two workshops addressing the role of both the public and
private sectors in curbing trafficking. The government also
began training healthcare professionals and police officers
on how to identify situations in which trafficking may have
occurred.

-- D) Does the government support other programs to prevent
trafficking? No.

-- E) Is the government able to support prevention programs?
No, the government does not have the resources to carry out
programs other than the training mentioned above and basic
law enforcement efforts.

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-- F) What is the relationship between the government, NGOs,
and civil society on the trafficking issue? Because of their
limited size, number and capacity, NGOs and civil society in
this small country and have not begun to address trafficking.
The government is on the forefront of the issue.

-- G) Does it monitor immigration and emigration patterns for
evidence of trafficking? Do law enforcement agencies screen
for potential trafficking victims along borders? Yes. In
response to the number of women traveling from the Dominican
Republic, presumably to work as prostitutes, the government
instituted a visa regime in 2005 that has successfully
reduced the number of such arrivals.

-- H) Is there a mechanism for coordination and communication
between various agencies, internal, international, and
multilateral on trafficking related matters, such as a
multi-agency working group or a task force? Coordination and
communication is on an informal basis owing to the small size
of the government and the limited number of people dealing
with the trafficking issue.

-- I) Does the government participate in multinational or
international working groups to combat trafficking? Yes.
Government representatives have received trafficking related
training from IOM.

-- J) Does the government have a national plan of action to
address trafficking? No.

Paragraph 23 - Investigations and Prosecution of Traffickers
-------------- --------------


4. (SBU)

-- A) Does the country have a law specifically prohibiting
trafficking in persons*-both trafficking for sexual
exploitation and trafficking for non-sexual purposes? No,
traffickers could potentially be charged under laws
prohibiting slavery, forced labor, forced imprisonment or
kidnapping. No trafficking cases have been prosecuted.
Current laws are inadequate to cover the full scope of
trafficking in persons.

-- B) What are the penalties for traffickers of people for
sexual or labor exploitation? There are no specific
penalties for traffickers of people for sexual or labor
exploitation. They could, however, face penalties for
immigration violations, labor violations, or enticement for
immoral purposes.

-- C) What are the penalties for rape and sexual assault?
The penalty for rape is 14 years to life imprisonment.

-- D) Is prostitution legalized or decriminalized? No,
prostitution and pimping are illegal.

-- E) Has the government prosecuted any cases against
traffickers? No.

-- F) Is there any information or reports of who is behind
the trafficking? No specific information is available,
although the police believe that the owners of strip clubs
and brothels could be involved.

-- G) Does the government actively investigate cases of
trafficking? Yes. To date, however, reports of trafficking
have been limited.

-- H) Does the government provide any specialized training
for government officials in how to recognize, investigate,
and prosecute instances of trafficking? Yes, in 2005 the
government began training healthcare professionals and police
officers how to identify situations in which trafficking may
have occurred.

-- I) Does the government cooperate with other governments in
the investigation and prosecution of trafficking cases? No
such cases have arisen.

-- J) Does the government extradite persons who are charged
with trafficking in other countries? No such cases have been
reported.

-- K) Is there evidence of government involvement in or
tolerance of trafficking, on a local or institutional level?
In the single reported case of trafficking from 2004, the
media reported that a police officer or immigration official
may have helped a brothel owner gain entry for a woman into

BRIDGETOWN 00000385 003 OF 003


the country. In addition, local police officers may turn a
blind eye to prostitution.

-- L) If government officials are involved in trafficking,
what steps has the government taken to end such
participation? N/A

-- M) If the country has an identified child sex tourism
problem, how many foreign pedophiles has the government
prosecuted? While it is believed that minors may be engaging
in prostitution, there is no evidence of child sex tourism.

-- N) Has the government signed, ratified and/or taken steps
to implement the following international instruments:

a) ILO Convention 182 on worst forms of child labor.
Ratified.

b) ILO Convention 29 and 105 on forced or compulsory labor.
Ratified.

c) Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of
Children. Signed the Convention but not the Protocol.

d) The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking
in Persons, especially Women and Children, supplementing the
UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime.
Signed the Convention but not the Protocol.

Paragraph 24 - Protection and Assistance to Victims
-------------- --------------


5. (SBU)

-- A) Does the government assist victims? In the one
reported case of trafficking from 2004, the police assisted
the woman involved to recover her passport. Since then, the
government has become more sensitive to the issue of
trafficking and would likely offer more assistance to
victims.

-- B) Does the government provide funding or other forms of
support to foreign and domestic NGOs for services to victims?
The government has no specific facilities to assist
trafficking victims, although they could be helped by local
NGOs that assist women and children who are victims of abuse.

-- C) Is there a screening and referral process in place? No.

-- D) Are the rights of victims respected, or are victims
also treated as criminals? Considering the limited amount of
training given to a limited number of officials, it is
unknown whether the skills and sensitivity to assist victims
and respect their rights have been passed on to officers in
the field.

-- E) Does the government encourage victims to assist in the
investigation and prosecution of trafficking? N/A

-- F) What kind of protection is the government able to
provide for victims and witnesses? The government has a
shelter for victims of domestic violence that could
potentially be used to protect victims of trafficking. The
victim or witness could also be detained for their own
protection.

-- G) Does the government provide any specialized training
for government officials in recognizing trafficking? Yes, in
2005 the government began training healthcare professionals
and police officers how to identify situations in which
trafficking may have occurred.

-- H) Does the government provide assistance to its
repatriated nationals who are victims of trafficking? N/A

-- I) Which international organizations or NGOs, if any, work
with trafficking victims? N/A
KRAMER