NICARAGUA 2006 ANTI-TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS

UNCLAS MANAGUA 000418

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, PRM, IWI, WHA/PPC,
WHA/CEN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB NU
SUBJECT: NICARAGUA 2006 ANTI-TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS
SUBMISSION

REF: A. STATE 3836

B. 04 MANAGUA 629

C. 05 MANAGUA 44

D. 05 MANAGUA 335

E. 05 MANAGUA 397

F. 05 MANAGUA 750

G. 05 MANAGUA 1242

H. 05 MANAGUA 1243

I. 05 MANAGUA 1660

J. 05 MANAGUA 2009

K. 05 MANAGUA 2142

L. 05 MANAGUA 2212

M. 05 MANAGUA 2399

N. 05 MANAGUA 2621

O. 05 MANAGUA 2852

P. 05 MANAGUA 2853

Q. 05 DEPT OF JUSTICE 262005

R. MANAGUA 177


1. (SBU) During the 2005-2006 reporting period, Nicaraguan
government has made important progress in all areas of its
fight against Trafficking in Persons (TIP),including
prevention and detection, victim assistance, and prosecution
of traffickers. Nicaraguan police dismantled two major
trafficking rings during 2005, and prosecutors secured four
convictions in the country's first international TIP court
case. The Foreign Ministry has grown increasingly skilled at
handling the repatriation of Nicaraguan TIP victims found in
neighboring countries and the Ministry of the Family is
working with NGOs to increase the country's ability to
provide support to victims and reintegrate them into society.
A package of TIP-related legal reforms that would bring
Nicaragua into full compliance with international TIP
standards is pending before the National Assembly and appears
to enjoy bipartisan support. Embassy Managua believes that
these and other positive developments warrant Nicaragua's
return to Tier 2 when the Department makes its annual Tier
rankings in the coming months. Responses below are keyed to
Department's questions in paragraphs 21-24 of reftel A.

OVERVIEW (Paragraph 21 A-D)
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2. (SBU) Paragraph A: Post has no evidence that Nicaragua is
a significant country of transit or destination for
internationally trafficked men, women, or children. However,
there is growing evidence that Nicaragua is a country of
origin for international trafficking in persons (TIP) and
that internal trafficking takes place in the country. While
there is widespread consensus that the underlying poverty and
unemployment that are pre-conditions for TIP exist in
Nicaragua, the country is only beginning to develop a
database of TIP statistics. Working with the Nicaraguan
Government (GON),post was able to confirm twelve distinct
TIP cases, many involving multiple victims (for a total of 40
victims in all twelve cases) during the period January 2005
through February 2006. By all accounts, those most at risk
of being trafficked in Nicaragua were women and girls
trafficked for purposes of sexual exploitation. The type of
internal trafficking activity that is believed to be the most
prevalent in Nicaragua is internal underage prostitution.
However, reports of young men being trafficked, particularly
from the area around the town of San Carlos, to Costa Rica
for purposes of labor exploitation have also begun to
surface. No numbers are available at this time on the extent
of this newly-reported labor exploitation.


3. (SBU) Paragraph B: Almost all verified cases of TIP in
Nicaragua were of women and girls trafficked for purposes
of sexual exploitation. Most cases of international
trafficking were women and girls recruited (nominally for
work as domestics, nannies, and waitresses in neighboring
countries) from poor neighborhoods in such cities as
Chinandega, Esteli, Managua, and Granada going to El
Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras or Mexico, where they were
forced to work as prostitutes. According to all of post's
government and NGO contacts, Guatemala City is overwhelmingly
the primary destination for Nicaraguans trafficked for
purposes of sexual exploitation. Internal cases of TIP
usually involved poor rural women and girls being drawn to
major urban centers to work as prostitutes, although the
adult prostitutes found working in nightclubs and massage
parlors are from both urban and rural areas. According to
the police, the types of businesses where prostitution is
most common are casinos, night clubs, discos, beauty salons,
and massage parlors. Young men reportedly being trafficked
to Costa Rica for purposes of labor exploitation are believed
to be primarily from rural areas in the southern parts of the
country.


4. (SBU) Paragraph B continued: Although reliable
information to confirm the extent of TIP in Nicaragua remains
limited, there is no indication of major changes in its
incidence over the past year, except for the anecdotal
reports of increasing trafficking to Costa Rica for purposes
of labor exploitation. Although some media reports have
suggested that the problem has grown in scope, there are no
reliable statistics to confirm this impression. TIP has
received growing public, media, and government attention, and
this awareness may account for the growing number of TIP
reports. It is not clear whether the trafficking of young
men to Costa Rica is something new, or is something that has
been ongoing for some time and is only now receiving
attention.


5. (SBU) Paragraph B continued: Implementation of the first
reliable TIP survey began in October 2004 and is still
ongoing. The survey instrument was designed by Johns Hopkins
University, supported by post, and has been distributed to
the 24 women's police stations operated nationwide by the
Nicaraguan National Police (NNP). The study is designed to
establish a uniform monitoring system and case evaluation to
identify and prevent human trafficking. The NNP gathers
information and sends it to the Ministry of Government for
analysis. The study instrument has also been distributed to
NGOs involved in anti-TIP efforts so that they too can
contribute verifiable information on TIP cases. This
accumulation of certified case data is unprecedented in
Nicaragua and should provide both the first reliable
statistics on the extent of the TIP problem in the country
and serve as a check on other sources of information. The
Johns Hopkins survey is intended to provide the GON with
constant updates on the nature and extent of the TIP problem,
including patterns of recruitment, transportation, routes,
and destinations, in order to allow it to adjust its anti-TIP
strategies and its allocation of resources to confront the
TIP challenge as effectively as possible. Numerous other TIP
studies have been done, but none have addressed the problem
systematically. Many previous surveys have confused distinct
issues such as migrant smuggling and TIP by mixing them
together or have combined reports on TIP with other issues
such as adult prostitution, sexual abuse, and disappearances
that do not meet the definition of TIP. Many reports,
particularly in the media, have also used anecdotal evidence
of limited statistical validity to draw broad conclusions.


6. (SBU) Paragraph B continued: Based on the nature of
trafficking, NGOs, the NNP, and post believe that young women
from poor areas of Managua and from border towns are at
greatest risk for both internal and external trafficking.
Some women and girls from poor rural areas have also been
trafficked. According to the National Police and media
reports, the victims of external trafficking are typically
approached by someone they know and tempted with lucrative
job offers in neighboring countries. There are also reports
that traffickers have approached women working in factories
in some of the country's free trade zones (FTZs) and
attempted to lure them into forced prostitution by offering
better paid and easier employment abroad. Usually victims
are smuggled across Nicaragua's porous northern border,
sometimes in the back of trucks and sometimes on foot along
well-traveled smugglers' routes. This year there were media
reports that some victims were also smuggled by boat across
the Gulf of Fonseca to Honduras and El Salvador en route to
Guatemala and Mexico. According to the NNP, most Nicaraguan
TIP victims are girls and women under 25 years of age with a
low level of education and few economic opportunities. Young
men in rural areas of southern Nicaragua are reportedly
approached by traffickers, who offer them paid agricultural
work on farms in Costa Rica. However, according to the
reports, after the men, who cross the border undocumented,
have worked for several months, their employers have them
deported back to Nicaragua rather than pay them for their
labor.



7. (SBU) Paragraph C: The GON has demonstrated political
will at the highest levels to combat trafficking in persons
and is making serious and sustained efforts to prevent
trafficking. CONAPINA, an inter-agency coordinating council
headed by First Lady Lila T. Abaunza de Bolanos, coordinates
GON policy on children's affairs, including trafficking
issues, with participation from every key government
ministry, the NGO community, and international donors. The
GON's anti-TIP action plan was described in detail in reftel
B and remains in effect. No government officials have been
linked to TIP, and post has every reason to believe that the
GON would take action against officials linked to
trafficking. Although government resources are limited, the
GON is doing what it can to prevent TIP, protect victims, and
prosecute traffickers. Among other efforts, during 2005 it
carried out a variety of campaigns to raise awareness of the
dangers of TIP, pressed the National Assembly to pass a
package of legal reforms that would greatly strengthen
anti-TIP legislation, and helped to repatriate Nicaraguan
victims from neighboring countries. The anti-TIP office in
the Ministry of Government has become an increasingly
effective coordinator of the anti-TIP efforts of both the
government and the national anti-TIP coalition. The GON has
remained cooperative with post on TIP issues and has welcomed
embassy involvement and support. The Vice Minister of
Government leads GON law enforcement efforts against TIP and
chairs the national anti-trafficking coalition.


8. (SBU) Paragraph C continued: There is no evidence that
government authorities or individual members of government
forces facilitate, condone, or are otherwise complicit in
trafficking. Nicaragua's borders are sufficiently porous for
smuggling of all types that there is little need for
traffickers to attempt to make government officials complicit
in their crimes.


9. (SBU) Paragraph C continued: Nicaragua is the second
poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and the GON suffers
from severe resource shortages. The GON simply cannot
allocate all the resources it would like to TIP issues.
Although the NNP is regarded as a relatively non-corrupt
institution and there is no evidence that police or
government officials are involved in TIP in Nicaragua, the
court system is very corrupt and subject to political
influence. Although there have been no cases of judicial
corruption allowing human traffickers to go free, drug
traffickers have escaped justice as a result of judicial
malfeasance and it is possible that the same could happen in
TIP cases. Some traffickers in persons have escaped justice
because of the impact of resource constraints on prosecutors,
police, and other institutions that support them (reftel O).
The GON has few resources to aid victims.


10. (SBU) Paragraph C continued: The police have arrested
traffickers and are committed to continuing to do so. In
cases where sufficient evidence existed, traffickers have
been prosecuted. Prosecution of some cases has been
complicated by the fact that the police stopped the
traffickers at the border, thus preventing TIP, making it
hard for prosecutors to prove that trafficking had actually
occurred. Because Nicaragua is a country of origin,
prosecution is hampered in other ways by the cross-border
nature of the crime. It is difficult for police in Managua
to investigate allegations in Guatemala City, for example, or
for a Nicaraguan court to compile enough evidence to convict
based on activities in another country. Recognizing the
regional nature of the TIP problem, the GON has worked to
improve cooperation with other governments in Central America
via Interpol, the Central American Commission on Migration,
and other regional and international organizations. Police
and prosecutors have often been hampered by uncooperative
victims and their families, whose help is needed to locate
external traffickers. During the year, all of the GON bodies
involved in fighting TIP developed a protocol detailing the
specific procedures to be followed in TIP cases, and the
individual responsibilities of each ministry or agency. The
protocol covers all aspects of a case, from the time it is
first reported and investigated, through the repatriation and
protection of the victim(s),and the prosecution of the
traffickers. The protocol is slated to be implemented during

2006.



11. (SBU) Paragraph D: The GON has designated CONAPINA as
the key agency for monitoring internal anti-trafficking
efforts. The National Action Plan on Commercial Sexual
Exploitation of Minors establishes an evaluation of its
progress against trafficking, with reports mandated every six
months. The reports are specifically designed to give an
account of how the plan is implemented, including which
objectives are achieved, using specific indicators to
measure results. All reports must detail the situation of
youth and adolescents at risk of sexual commercial
exploitation through an account of achievements and
obstacles, and must contain statistics. The Ministry of
Government, which oversees both the Directorate of Migration
and the National Police, monitors external anti-trafficking
efforts. The Ministry of Government is also involved in
monitoring internal anti-trafficking efforts when they
involve law enforcement, such as the investigation and
prosecution of brothel owners with underage prostitutes.
CONAPINA and Ministry of Government officials have regularly
held public meetings and seminars to report on both the
progress of anti-TIP efforts and refinements to the national
anti-TIP strategy.

CONFIRMED TIP CASES (January 2005-February 2006)
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12. (SBU) In late January 2005, Managua police broke up a
trafficking ring seeking to lure adolescent girls from the
capital to Guatemala for purposes of prostitution (reftel D).
Police arrested five suspected traffickers (four Nicaraguans
and a Guatemalan),who had deceived and imprisoned six girls
and who were in the process of preparing fake documentation
to smuggle them across international borders. The six girls,
all of whom were from poor Managua neighborhoods, informed
police and prosecutors that they had been deceived by offers
of lucrative domestic employment in Guatemala. According to
initial reports, the four suspected Nicaraguan traffickers
were using a fake travel agency as a front for their
activities. The fifth suspected trafficker arrested was the
Guatemalan owner of the nightclub for which the six TIP
victims were reportedly destined. After the traffickers were
arrested and the girls returned to their families, a Managua
judge ordered the suspected traffickers held for trial, which
took place in April. During the trial, evidence emerged that
the traffickers had been funneling Nicaraguan minors to
Guatemalan nightclubs for the purpose of prostitution at
least since 2002. The GON made the TIP case a major priority
and a wide range of state institutions and non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) worked together to assist the victims
and ensure effective prosecution. Strong physical and
witness evidence, including testimony by three TIP victims,
overcame efforts by the defense to bribe and intimidate
victims and smear them in court. In the end, four out of the
five traffickers were convicted. Three received eight year
sentences, and the fourth received a four year sentence.
Although Nicaraguan courts had previously convicted internal
traffickers of minors, this case was the country's first
successful prosecution of international traffickers (reftel
G).


13. (SBU) On February 24, 2005, police in El Salvador
informed the Nicaraguan consulate in that country that they
had rescued two Nicaraguan minors, Olga Maria Ruiz Tercero
(age 16) and Carmen Montiel Cruz (age 17),from situations of
sexual exploitation during a raid on the "Night Club Tequila
Bar." The Nicaraguan consulate coordinated the appropriate
GON efforts to return Cruz to her family and placed Tercero
in the care of the Ministry of the Family; both minors
returned to Nicaragua on March 14. The consulate
subsequently assisted Salvadoran authorities with
documentation needed for the prosecuting of the traffickers.


14. (SBU) On June 28, Salvadoran police informed the
Nicaraguan consulate that they had rescued Reyna Isabel
Valverde Rivera (age 17) from a situation of sexual
exploitation during a raid on the "Night Club Retorno del
Tren de la Noche." The Nicaraguan consulate coordinated the
GON efforts to repatriate the minor and she was returned to
her family on August 12.


15. (SBU) On July 13, Salvadoran authorities informed the
Nicaraguan consulate that Reyna Mercedes Gutierrez (age 17)
was in their custody and was a victim of sexual exploitation.
The Nicaraguan consulate coordinated the GON efforts to
repatriate the minor and she was returned to her family on
August 12.


16. (SBU) In late July, Managua police uncovered another
trafficking ring that was recruiting young girls for purposes
of sexual exploitation. In this internal TIP case, the girls
were being both recruited and exploited in the capital.
Police found a total of six minor victims, including three of
the traffickers' own children (reftel L). The traffickers
used a variety of methods to recruit and control their
victims, including kidnapping and drugs. Unfortunately,
systemic weaknesses of Nicaraguan government institutions led
to not guilty verdicts in the October jury trial of three
traffickers (reftel O). Defense lawyers took advantage of
the inability of police to provide sufficient evidence and of
the Ministry of the Family's inability to shelter the minor
victims from threats and bribes. The defense used threats,
bribes, and false testimony, and removed all potential female
jurors before the trial started. The attorneys took
advantage of what prosecutors describe as a "culture of
machismo", portraying child prostitution as a "normal"
characteristic of Nicaragua's poverty. Nicaraguan government
institutions have grown more adept at working together to
fight TIP and have demonstrated a growing commitment to doing
so, but inherent weaknesses remain an obstacle to successful
TIP prosecutions. Because of these weaknesses, every TIP
prosecution in Nicaragua is a major challenge, with success
or failure coming down to the ability of police to provide
evidence and the determination of witnesses to testify
against their traffickers. Though Post and prosecutors are
disappointed by the outcome in this case, we will use it as
an object lesson to strengthen future prosecutions as much as
possible. In late November, in response to an appeal from the
Fiscalia, a Managua judge declared the jury's verdict in this
case null and void because one juror had concealed that he
was deaf and another had covered up his criminal record. A
new jury trial was scheduled for December, but the three
traffickers disappeared, and are presently fugitives from
justice. GON authorities do not know whether the three
traffickers remain in Nicaragua.


17. (SBU) On September 20, Salvadoran authorities informed
the Nicaraguan consulate that they had taken custody of
Andrea Francisca Cuadra Zapata (age 15) when she was found
without travel documents attempting to cross into Guatemala
in the company of an unknown adult male. The Salvadoran
authorities reportedly informed the consulate that they had
reason to believe that the girl had been destined for sexual
exploitation in Guatemala. The consulate coordinated the GON
efforts to repatriate the minor and she was returned to her
family on October 28.


18. (SBU) On October 9, authorities in Guatemala informed the
Nicaraguan consulate in that country that they had rescued
three young Nicaraguans, Alba Johana Ocampos Martinez,
Veronica del Carmen Baquedano, and Maria Gabriela Estrada
Moreno (all age 20) from a situation of trafficking in
persons. The Nicaraguan consulate coordinated the GON
efforts to repatriate the young women and they returned to
Nicaragua on October 12.


19. (SBU) On October 13 authorities in Guatemala informed the
Nicaraguan consulate in that country that they had rescued
three more young Nicaraguans, Lucidalia Torres (age 15),
Martha Petrona Garcia Zapata (age 22) and Maribeli Urania
Acevedo Peralta (age 17) from a situation of trafficking in
persons. The Nicaraguan consulate coordinated the GON efforts
to repatriate the three Nicaraguans, but the Foreign Ministry
has not provided the date on which they returned to Nicaragua.


20. (SBU) On November 7, Salvadoran authorities informed the
Nicaraguan consulate that they had found Joselin Liseth
Romero Ortega (age 17) in a situation where she risked
becoming a victim of trafficking in persons. The Nicaraguan
consulate coordinated the GON efforts to repatriate the minor
and she was returned to Nicaragua on November 23.


21. (SBU) In November the Nicaraguan media reported that
Costa Rican authorities had arrested Indiana Salguera
(Nicaraguan) and Pedro Cespedes (Costa Rican) in May and put
them on trial in November for smuggling Nicaraguan minors
from Chichigalpa (in Nicaragua's northwestern Department of
Chinandega) to Costa Rica for purposes of sexual
exploitation. According to media accounts, Salguera and
Cespdedes illegally transported at least two teenage girls to
Costa Rica in March, where they were victims of commercial
sexual exploitation. The Costa Rican authorities charged the
traffickers with rape, corruption of minors, pimping,
trafficking in persons, and distribution of pornography,
among other charges. During the investigation and trial the
Nicaraguan authorities provided assistance to their Costa
Rican counterparts, and worked to repatriate the victims and
reintegrate them into their families and society. Media
accounts of the trial suggested that the case might indicate
a larger network of traffickers smuggling young women and
girls from Managua and other cities to Penas Blancas and then
across the border into Costa Rica. According to media
reports, the trial was scheduled to take place in February
2006, and the two minor victims would receive shelter in
Costa Rica until the trial concluded. Thereafter, they would
immediately be repatriated to Nicaragua and assisted in
reintegrating into their families and community.


22. (SBU) In January 2006, Border police at the Guasaule
crossing point on the Nicaragua-Honduras border found five
Nicaraguan minors hidden in the back of a truck. Upon
investigation, police learned that traffickers Alicia Maria
Perez Flores, Jacqueline Liseth Velasquez Perez, Damaris del
Carmen Osorio, Luis Abraham Perez Rodriguez and another
individual were operating a trafficking ring in the northern
department of Chinandega and had recruited the five girls
with offers of employment as cooks and nannies in El
Salvador. In reality, the traffickers intended the victims
to work as prostitutes in El Salvador. The five traffickers
arrested remain in custody awaiting trial while police and
prosecutors complete their investigation.


23. (SBU) In February 2006, the Ministry of Government
reported that the GON had repatriated nine Nicaraguan minors
(all girls) between 13 and 17 years old from El Salvador,
where they had been lured, prostituted, and advertised on the
internet by Salvadoran traffickers Oscar Ernesto Rodriguez
Perez, Jose Armando Sorto Rodriguez, and Jose Miguel Clara
Iriarte. The GON worked with the IOM to repatriate the nine
girls and return them to their families and schools.
Nicaraguan officials expressed frustration that a Salvadoran
judge freed the three traffickers on the spurious argument
that no trafficking occurred because the Nicaraguan minors
traveled to El Salvador and prostituted themselves
voluntarily. The Ministry of Government emphasized that the
minors were not old enough to make such decisions on their
own. According to media accounts, Salvadoran prosecutors
made similar arguments with the judge, but to no avail.

PREVENTION (Paragraph 22, A-J)
--------------


24. (SBU) Paragraph A: The GON acknowledges that trafficking
in persons is a problem in the country.


25. (SBU) Paragraph B: The National Council on Attention and
Integral Protection of Children and Adolescents (CONAPINA)
coordinates GON policy on children's affairs, including
trafficking, with participation from every key Government
Ministry, the NGO community, and international donors. The
two agencies most directly involved in anti-trafficking law
enforcement are the Directorate of Migration and the NNP,
both of which report to the Ministry of Government, which has
the leading role in day-to-day anti-trafficking efforts. The
Vice Minister of Government, Deyanira Arguello, who has the
primary responsibility for trafficking issues, has spoken out
regularly on the subject and has provided strong, committed
leadership to strengthen all of the anti-trafficking efforts
of her ministry and of the GON more generally. Arguello has
also lobbied the National Assembly to approve the
trafficking-related reforms to the criminal code described in
paragraph 37. When Migration officials detect fake documents
or other evidence of trafficking upon entry or exit, they
report it to the police, who are in charge of investigating
and arresting suspects. Migration and the police have
coordinated past trafficking cases detected by Migration.

Migration also enforces restrictions on transporting minors
out of Nicaragua.


26. (SBU) Paragraph B continued: The police maintain a
network of 24 women's police stations, which investigate
cases of abuse against women and children, including
allegations of trafficking. Migration, the police, and a
number of other GON agencies participate in the
U.S.-Nicaragua Joint Immigration Task Force (described in
reftel B),which coordinates activities to strengthen
migration controls and fight alien smuggling and trafficking.
The Office of the Human Rights Prosecutor has separate
Special Prosecutors for Women and Children and trafficking is
included in their portfolios. The office of the National
Prosecutor prosecutes trafficking cases when sufficient
evidence exists, and has a specialized Women's and Children's
unit dedicated to handling such cases.


27. (SBU) Paragraph C: The GON has a variety of successful
trafficking awareness campaigns, including those run by the
Women's Division of the National Police, the Ministry of
Education, and the Ministry of Government's anti-TIP office.
The Ministry of Government has also organized a multi-media
(print, radio, television) awareness campaign supported by
Save the Children and the Embassy. This campaign has
produced TIP manuals with a simple, clear message for
distribution in schools, as well as anti-TIP public service
messages that have been widely broadcast on television and
radio. The Ministry of Education's program is implemented in
high schools throughout Nicaragua to warn at-risk teenagers
about trafficking. The Ministry of Education has another
program aimed at teachers, which is designed to train them to
recognize and properly handle cases of child sexual
exploitation of any type. The Ministry of Government has
also held seminars on TIP for print, television and radio
reporters, in order to enable them to report more effectively
and accurately on the subject. In cooperation with the
Nicaraguan Tourism Institute (Intur),Ministry officials have
also regularly trained representatives of the tourism
industry on trafficking in persons and sex tourism. The
Ministry of Government, with financial support from the
Embassy, is currently preparing a number of new television
spots on the dangers of trafficking and has signed agreements
with local television stations to air them free of cost when
they are ready. Police report that almost all individuals
who come to them to report trafficking cases make reference
to having seen one element or more of the GON's
anti-trafficking awareness campaign.


28. (SBU) Paragraph D: The GON, through the Ministry of
Health, Family, and Education, funds a variety of programs
that have some impact on the factors of poverty and poor
education associated with trafficking. These programs are
administered in schools and health clinics that address
family needs. Many of these programs are supported by the
international donor community, including several innovative
programs supported by the U.S. Department of Labor designed
to persuade child laborers to attend school by offering
economic incentives to their parents and promoting
alternatives to work.


29. (SBU) Paragraph F (There is no paragraph E