PANAMA: G/TIP AND WHA/PPC VISIT TO PANAMA FEBRUARY

UNCLAS PANAMA 000320 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS G/TIP LINDA BROWN WHA/PPC MIKE PUCCETTI WHA/CEN GREG SCHIFFER -------------- C O R R E C T E D COPY -------------- ADDING CAPTION E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PM SUBJECT: PANAMA: G/TIP AND WHA/PPC VISIT TO PANAMA FEBRUARY 8-9, 2006 -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (SBU) Embassy greatly appreciated the visit of GTIP Reports Officer Linda Brown and WHA/PPC Senior Advisor Mike Puccetti. Meetings with Government of Panama (GOP),EmbOffs, and visits to NGO were productive and helpful. Embassy looks forward to working with GTIP to complete the annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report. End summary. ¶2. (SBU) GTIP's February 2006 visit to Panama began with the Pol Counselor and DHS/ICE Attache providing an in-depth overview of the trafficking situation in Panama. Brown and Puccetti accompanied by EmbOffs then visited three shelters for trafficking and abuse victims. Hogar Malambo, the first shelter visited, was the most impressive. Hogar Malambo shelters 160 children from infants to age 18 in small group homes. Seven nuns, 70 employees, and volunteers create a warm and caring environment for the children. Hogar Malambo receives 85% of its funding through private donations. The remainder of its funding is a $160,000 grant from the GOP's Ministry of Social Development (MIDES). Panama recently received a $126,000 GTIP ESF grant to assist trafficking victims and Hogar Malambo will receive $50,000 of this award to construct a shelter for TIP victims. The grant will nearly match the GOP's annual funding to Hogar Malambo. ¶3. (SBU) The NGO portion of the visit continued with a tour of Casa Esperanza, an NGO funded children's center in Panama's gritty Curundu neighborhood. The center provides a broad range of services in a difficult neighborhood including preschool programs to prepare children for kindergarten, after school programs for older children, and even "Parenting 101" classes. Casa Esperanza operates 41 centers throughout Panama including 14 school programs on coffee plantations. Although Casa Esperanza does not specifically help trafficking victims, its work illustrates the strong partnership between the GOP and NGOs in addressing social problems. The last shelter visited was Casa Hogar, a center for juveniles who committed petty offenses. Casa Hogar's environment is different from the other shelters visited. MIDES will use $10,000 of the GTIP ESF grant to remodel a shelter at Casa Hogar for TIP victims. ¶4. (SBU) GTIP and WHA/PPC also met with Panama Attorney General Ana Matilde Gomez during the first day of the visit. Gomez serves as President of the National Committee to Prevent Sex Crimes (CONAPREDES),which coordinates the GOP's overall anti-TIP efforts. CONAPREDES draws on membership from MIDES, the Ministry of Government and Justice, the Director of the Judicial Technical (Investigative) Police, and the Ministries of Education and Health. Gomez spoke about a variety of anti-TIP programs and answered questions. She also emphatically stated her opposition to Panama's "alternadora" visa for prostitutes. In February, she plans to write a formal letter to President Torrijos asking him to sponsor legislation to abolish the visa. (Note: During the meeting, Gomez also asked to meet with GTIP Ambassador Miller during her March visit to Washington.) ¶5. (SBU) On the second day of their visit, Brown and Puccetti had a two-hour meeting the Vice Minister of Government and Justice (MOGJ) Olga Golcher and the Director of Immigration Ricardo Vargas. The meeting featured an in-depth discussion of the "alternadora" visa program. Vargas outlined the administrative details of the program. The owner of a business, their attorney, and the applicant for the visa must appear in Immigration to initiate the visa application. The business must post $350 to guarantee its compliance with the employment contract. The alternadora visa recipients are then required to come to Immigration by themselves every three months with their passport and visa. The quarterly visits also allows Immigration to verify their safety and well being. Brown inquired about situations where business owners had confiscated women's passports. Vargas replied he had not seen any situations like that since he began his work in Immigration. Vargas did describe a situation in 2003 where a club owner was holding the passports of alternadora visa holders. The Ombudsman's Office, where Vargas worked at that time, received a report about the situation. Immigration intervened to ensure the passports were returned to the women. ¶6. (SBU) Vargas spoke about the overall immigration situation in Panama. Approximately 150,000 Colombians live in Panama, a country of only 3 million people. Colombians hold 90% of the alternadora visas, a reflection of the traditional migration patterns and information sharing in this community. Puccetti asked Vargas how the GOP controls the inflow of alternadora applicants since Colombians do not require visas to enter Panama. Vargas responded that Colombians arriving at the airport must have $500 to show solvency or they are returned to their country. Immigration also controls the issuance of the alternadora visas. Visa holders must leave the country after one year. Immigration does not issue new alternadora visas until a current holder departs Panama. Vice Minister Golcher was receptive to Brown's suggestion that Panamanian "visa cards" sold for $5 in Colombia should include TIP information along with phone numbers to relevant Panamanian authorities. ¶7. (SBU) The remainder of the second day was spent visiting other GOP officials. MFA Legal Director Iani Quadri gave the visitors a printed report on Panama's anti-TIP efforts with statistical information. Quadri spoke about plans to strengthen Panama's anti-TIP law and ongoing cooperation between the GOP, UNESCO, and IOM to stop TIP. UNESCO recently developed a map of routes used by traffickers throughout Central America. Also, in March the seven nation Central American Integration Committee (SICA) will discuss regional TIP issues. MIDES Vice Minister Doris Zapata thanked Brown and Puccetti for the recently approved TIP grant and spoke of its importance to Panama. The final meeting occurred at the Judicial Technical (Investigative) Police (PTJ) Sex Crimes Unit. PTJ Inspector Ortega described how TIP reports are received form hotline calls, citizen complaints, Interpol, and international cooperation. Ortega's office concentrates their efforts on sexual exploitation and human trafficking. Once his unit receives a complaint, they have 60 days to investigate it and forward their opinion to the Public Ministry. During January 2006, the PTJ hotline received over 200 calls. ¶8. (SBU) Panama appears to be making sincere efforts to stop trafficking and to enhance its current programs and law enforcement efforts. Embassy believes the GOP should dedicate more resources to anti-TIP efforts, improve interagency coordination, and inform the public about the often hidden dangers of the problem. Although Panama enacted a strong anti-TIP law in 2004, the courts have not yet convicted anyone. However, this is not surprising since on average, a court case in Panama takes two years to move from the initial arrest to conviction. In March a preliminary hearing will take place for a massage parlor owner accused of trafficking. Successfully prosecuting and convicting a Panamanian under the 2004 anti-TIP legislation would send a strong signal that Panama means business. EATON