Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06GEORGETOWN839
2006-08-23 16:54:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Georgetown
Cable title:  

CHILD LABOR AND TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS (TIP) DIGEST-JULY

Tags:  ELAB ECON PHUM SOCI KCRM GY 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0010
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHGE #0839/01 2351654
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 231654Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY GEORGETOWN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3977
INFO RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
UNCLAS GEORGETOWN 000839 

SIPDIS

G/TIP - RACHEL OWEN
WHA/PPC - MIKE PUCCETTI
LABOR FOR ILAB - DONNA CHUNG
JUSTICE FOR OPDAT - BOBBY LIPMAN

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB ECON PHUM SOCI KCRM GY
SUBJECT: CHILD LABOR AND TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS (TIP) DIGEST-JULY
2006

The following is a digest of child labor and Trafficking in Persons
(TIP) related news events as reported in Guyanese media outlets in
July 2006:

UNCLAS GEORGETOWN 000839

SIPDIS

G/TIP - RACHEL OWEN
WHA/PPC - MIKE PUCCETTI
LABOR FOR ILAB - DONNA CHUNG
JUSTICE FOR OPDAT - BOBBY LIPMAN

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB ECON PHUM SOCI KCRM GY
SUBJECT: CHILD LABOR AND TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS (TIP) DIGEST-JULY
2006

The following is a digest of child labor and Trafficking in Persons
(TIP) related news events as reported in Guyanese media outlets in
July 2006:


1. NGO in project to combat child labor in Region Three

2. Shadick: TIP Networks to be established countrywide

3. Indigenous group calls for intervention by people trafficking
unit in Region Seven

4. Shadick taps Amerindian Captains, Councillors for TIP training

5. Shadick Under Fire for Comments on Alleged Pornography Ring

6. Concern about Acting Police Commissioner

-------------- --------------
NGO in project to combat child labor in Region Three
-------------- --------------


1. (U) Partners of the Americas launched a planning session for
child labor eradication in Region Three (Essequibo Island/West
Demerara) on July 12. The three-and-a-half year, US$2.4M project,
entitled "EDUCARE Guyana", is being funded by the United States
Department of Labor and is being executed by Partners of the
Americas. Speaking at the formal session, EDUCARE Guyana Project
Director Ed Denham urged the Regional Education Department and the
schools of Region Three to be involved. Studies have shown that a
significant child labor problem exists in Region Three. Denham noted
that preliminary figures also show low attendance and high drop-out
rates from schools in the region. The study also revealed a high
degree of "Worst Forms of Child Labor" in all regions of Guyana.
Denham said that the program will encompass raising awareness of
child labor, institutional strengthening and policy development, and
strengthening of the education systems. The first step in the
program's implementation will be the creation of a database of
children who have dropped out of primary schools in the last two to
three years. Contact will then be made with the parents of these
students and the needs of these families will be identified.
Following this the project will provide mechanisms to surmount the
barriers that keep these children from assessing education. (Source:

Stabroek News, July 17, 2006)

--------------
TIP Networks to be established countrywide
--------------


2. (U) Community-level Trafficking in Persons (TIP) networks will be
established countrywide in the Guyana's effort to lift Guyana from a
Tier Two country to Tier One and place more emphasis on TIP
prevention. According to Minister within the Ministry of Labor,
Human Services and Social Security Bibi Shadick, the issue is one
that is still being given significant emphasis by the Government and
training of persons to establish these networks will commence in
early August 2006. Among the areas to benefit from the program,
which is partly funded by the U.S. Department of State and the
International Organization for Migration (IOM),are the Amerindian
communities in Region Five, Six and Eight. Minister Shadick also
noted that six members of the Guyana Police Force and two officers
of the Anti-TIP unit within the Ministry recently participated in a
two-week training workshop in the Bahamas. The workshop focused
extensively on the ways to investigate TIP and other measures to be
taken in the fight. The minister also noted that the Guyana Police
Force has already organized a training program for Police Officers
to deal with the crime. Officers of the TIP unit recently met with
the Chif Justice Carl Singh requesting that a Magistrate e
designated to handle all matters relating to TP and for the matters
to be brought before the Gorgetown Court. The decision was taken as
a resul of the lengthy time taken for the completion of a earlier
case against perpetrators. (Source: Guyna Chronicle, July 18,
2006)

-------------- ---
Indigenous grou calls for intervention by people trafficking unit
in Region Seven
-------------- ---


3. (U) The Guyana Organizatio of Indigenous People (GOIP) says
there is need or intervention with regard to Trafficking in Persons
(TIP) among other issues in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni). The
Regional Chairman Gordon Bradford said there is need for more
intervention from the Trafficking in Persons unit at the Ministry of
Labor, Human Services and Social Security as some girls who were
recently sold for prostitution purposes at Itaballi were later
diagnosed with sexually transmitted diseases. The Regional Chairman
said more indigenous citizens need to address this issue and pursue
the establishment of an institution for women as they recover from
their ordeal. It is noted that indigenous persons are part of the
problem and changes in their attitudes are needed if their

vulnerability to this type of exploitation is to stop. This group
needs to actively force themselves out of the cycle of poverty and
dependency and inform themselves about conditions laid out in the
Revised Amerindian Act. (Source: Source: Stabroek News, July 25,
2006)

-------------- --------------
Shadick taps Amerindian Captains, Councillors for TIP training
-------------- --------------


4. (U) Minister within the Ministry of Labor, Human Services and
Social Security, Bibi Shadick announced July 25 that Captains and
Councillors of Amerindian Villages countrywide are next in line to
be trained in the fight against TIP. The Minister noted that the
training of volunteer social workers (VSWs) in communities across
the country has proven very fruitful. Shadick said that more than
400 people have been coursed on how to identify and seek ways of
preventing the crime at the community level. The TIP unit in the
Ministry of Labor, Human Services and Social Security continues to
receive reports daily from members of the public and VSWs throughout
the country about cases that need to be investigated. However,
Guyana remains a signatory to the United Nations Convention against
Nationally Organized Crimes and the Supplemental Protocol to
prevent, suppress and to punish those guilty of TIP. (Source: Guyana
Chronicle Guyana Chronicle, July 26, 2006)

-------------- --------------
Shadick Under Fire for Comments on Alleged Pornography Ring
-------------- --------------


5. (SBU) GOG point person on Trafficking in Persons issues, Bibi
Shadick, has come under fire for comments related to an alleged
rape/pornography ring that made headelines in mid-July. The
independent, tabloid-style Kaieteur News reported victims' accounts
of being drugged and forced to engage in sexual activity by sons of
prominent Georgetown families, who then distributed photographs of
the incident on the internet and on a Video-CD "Guyana Girls Gone
Wild". One of the men in the video is Shadick's nephew. Widespread
outrage prompted the Guyanese police force to arrest employees at
video stores peddling pornographic videos made in Guyana, but the
investigation did not extend to store owners or the producers and
distributors of the video. When asked to comment on the incident,
Shadick reportedly said on the basis of two still photographs that
the victims appeared to be "willing participants" and that the
photographs in question appeared to depict consensual sexual
activity. The comments prompted several letters of condemnation in
local media outlets. Meanwhile, Shadick confided to EmbOff in late
August that, while her West Bank Demerara/Essequibo Islands
constituency is virtually guaranteed to vote her back into
Parliament in the August 28 election, she is not certain if she will
retain her current position in the Ministry of Labor, Human Services
and Social Security.

--------------
Concern about Acting Police Commissioner
--------------


6. (SBU) Crime Chief Henry Greene was elevated to Acting Police
Commissioner following the retirement of Police Commissioner Winston
Felix on July 24. The appointment marks a setback for victim
sensitization efforts. Of particular relevance to the TIP community:
Police sources report Greene has sexually assaulted several police
women during his tenure as a senior officer, and he has used his
rank to prevent victims from pursuing charges. Post is concerned
about Greene's disposition toward the Guyana Police Force's anti-TIP
and victim protection/advocacy efforts should he ultimately be
confirmed as Police Commissioner.


7. Post point of contact on Trafficking in Persons matters is Edward
Luchessi, Economic/Commercial Officer, tel: 011-592-226-4309,
e-mail: LuchessiEP@state.gov.

THOMAS