EMBASSY MANAGUA ENDORSES MODIFIED OPDAT ANTI-TIP

UNCLAS MANAGUA 000435

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CEN, WHA/PPC, AND G/TIP
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE FOR OPDAT

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM KWMN KCRM ELAB PREL SMIG ASEC NU
SUBJECT: EMBASSY MANAGUA ENDORSES MODIFIED OPDAT ANTI-TIP
PROJECT PROPOSAL

REF: A. 05 STATE 221183


B. MANAGUA 230


1. In reftel B, Embassy Managua submitted an anti-trafficking
in persons (TIP) project proposal to the Department that
focuses on strengthening the capacity of the Ministry of
Government to fight trafficking. Subsequently, post learned
that the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Overseas
Prosecutorial, Development Assistance and Training (OPDAT)
program submitted a separate proposal to the Department that
would offer training to various Nicaraguan anti-TIP actors.


2. Post's anti-TIP working group has been in contact with
OPDAT to discuss OPDAT's project proposal, and has encouraged
OPDAT to narrow its original submission to focus on two key
areas: training to enhance the capacity of key Nicaraguan law
enforcement officials (prosecutors, investigators, and border
officials) and a regional anti-TIP conference for key
government and non-government TIP specialists. This
conference would be held in Managua and would focus on
Nicaragua as a TIP source country and Nicaragua's Central
American neighbors as the primary destination for most
Nicaraguan TIP victims. It would seek to increase regional
cooperation in preventing trafficking from Nicaragua,
prosecuting traffickers, and repatriating Nicaraguan victims.
Post understands that OPDAT has already submitted this
modified proposal to the Department.


3. Although the project proposal post already submitted
(reftel B) remains our top funding priority, we believe that
the modified OPDAT proposal would dovetail well with our
previous submission, and would help to address one of the
anti-TIP weaknesses that the Department has highlighted in
its annual TIP reports on Nicaragua: the relative lack of
effective prosecutions of traffickers caused by poor
interinstitutional cooperation and flawed police gathering of
evidence.


4. In addition to assisting the development of an operational
handbook for the effective investigation and prosecution of
TIP cases, OPDAT's proposal will encourage the law
enforcement institutions to analyze Nicaragua's current laws
and recommend changes to the current substantive criminal and
procedural laws that will recognize the modus operandi of
organized crime in these offenses and improve enforcement
operations by giving the police the procedural tools
necessary to conduct more proactive, large-scale
investigations and prosecutions and prosecutors the ability
to preserve victim testimony. Embassy Managua thus endorses
the modified OPDAT proposal and, if sufficient money is
available, requests that the Department fund both post's
original submission and the modified OPDAT proposal.
TRIVELLI