CHILE: SUBMISSION FOR SIXTH ANNUAL TIP REPORT

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 000439

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR G/TIP LBROWN, WHA/PPC MPUCCETTI, WHA/BSC ISHERIDAN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN ELAB GTIP CI
SUBJECT: CHILE: SUBMISSION FOR SIXTH ANNUAL TIP REPORT
(PART 2 OF 2)

REF: A. STATE 3836

B. 05 SANTIAG0 465

C. 05 SANTIAGO 466

(U) Following text continues Chile's Trafficking in Persons
report submission for 2006.


5. (SBU) INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION OF TRAFFICKERS:
Information provided below is keyed to questions from ref A
paragraph 23.

-- A. In Chile, trafficking is defined as a cross-border
activity under Penal Code Law 19.927, Article 367. Other
provisions of the Penal Code target TIP-related crimes within
Chile. The laws currently in place that could be used to
prosecute traffickers are those governing sexual crimes
(rape, sexual abuse, and child pornography),criminal
association and kidnapping. There are legal protections for
potential victims that are focused on children, regardless of
national origin. In addition, Chile joined international
efforts to ban slavery when it ratified the International
Convention on Civil and Political Rights in May 1972. Chile
has also signed the Organization of American States' San Jose
Pact. Article 6 of this agreement prohibits slavery and
forced labor. Chilean laws, taken together, are adequate to
cover the full scope of trafficking in persons. Chile
ratified the Palermo Protocols in February 2005, and is
drafting legislation which explicitly recognizes TIP as a
crime.

-- B. Persons suspected of trafficking for sexual
exploitation would be tried under one of the sexual crimes
laws noted above, or another law, e.g., criminal
association. Penalties for sexual crimes range from 5 to 20
years, as defined under Penal Code Law 19.927, Article 361.
Under Chilean law, labor code violations are subject to civil
penalties only. However, if victims were held in bondage or
slavery-like conditions, traffickers could be prosecuted
criminally for kidnapping with penalties ranging from one to
20 years as defined under Section Three of the Penal Code, or
for 15 years to life if the crime included serious physical
harm, sexual assault, or the death of the victim. Violation
of a person's constitutional rights, specifically including
the right to personal liberty, can be punished by 15-20 years
in prison. Section Ten of the Criminal Code sets penalties
for criminal association, which includes offenses defined in
the Palermo Protocols, at five to 20 years imprisonment.

-- C. The penalties for rape and forcible sexual assault are
five to 20 years as defined under Penal Code Law 19.927,
Article 361. These penalties are comparable to those for sex
trafficking.

-- D. Prostitution is legal in Chile. Prostitutes must be at
least 18 years old, registered with the national health
service, and undergo monthly medical examinations. It is
illegal to operate a brothel, to pander or procure. Inducing
a minor to have sex in exchange for money or other favors is
illegal. Punishment ranges from three to 20 years in prison
and a USD 1,000 fine depending on the age of the minor.
Procurement, pandering and operating brothels are prosecuted
under the criminal association provisions of the Criminal
Code, providing for penalties from five to 15 years. While
enforcement and prosecution of CSEM is generally vigorous,
Post has not been able to obtain information on prosecutions
in adult prostitution cases.

-- E. Chile actively investigates cases of trafficking (see
paragraph 3 subsection A above). Consolidated statistics on
trafficking investigations, prosecutions, convictions and
sentences are not available because neither the GOC nor the
MP has identified TIP as a separate category of crime and
systematically gathered information on it. This should not
be taken as an indication the GOC does not effectively
investigate, prosecute, and sanction trafficking cases. As
noted above, Chilean authorities are aggressively pursuing a
number of cross-border trafficking and child sexual
exploitation cases. The National Prosecutor's Office (MP,
Ministerio Publico) is attempting to compile interim
statistics for release to Post, but this may take some time.

-- F. According to law enforcement officials, those involved
in TIP in Chile are mostly individuals, and are not
affiliated with organized criminal groups (child pornography
rings) or members of local or international criminal
organizations. Most of the known cases of commercial sexual
exploitation of minors have involved small local groups or
individuals acting alone. There have been isolated cases of
illicit groups posing as employment brokers, but these also
appear to be small operations. However, GOC officials are

concerned about the potential for organized criminal
involvement in trafficking and are actively looking for those
links in their investigations. There are no reports that
profits from human trafficking in Chile are being funneled to
terrorist organizations or other armed groups.

-- G. Chile actively investigates cases of trafficking (see
paragraph 3 subsection A and paragraph 5 subsection E above).
Under current law, the police may use electronic
surveillance and undercover operations in investigations with
permission from a judge. Mitigated punishment and immunity
for cooperating suspects is available under the new judicial
system implemented throughout Chile as of June 2005.

Recently enacted judicial reforms were partially designed to
assist Chilean authorities in the prosecution of sexual
offenders or traffickers. Previously, reports of abuse were
handled by SENAME, which did not have the expertise or
manpower to conduct efficient and professional
investigations. The new reforms require regional and
national prosecutors to investigate these cases and conduct
criminal prosecutions.

In May 2005, the GOC sealed an accord with Save the Children
to develop a missing persons database, which will interface
with 21 other countries in the region. The database will
track missing persons of all ages, and be useful for tracking
reports of trafficking and child prostitution. The Interior
Ministry, MP, SENAME, Carabineros (Chilean national police),
and PICH are cooperating in this effort.

-- H. In response to heightened awareness of pedophilia
cases, the GOC reorganized the Cybercrime and Sex Crimes
Units within the PICH in 2003 and placed more officers in
these units. They receive specialized training in
investigating trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation
cases. The National Police Academy plans to integrate TIP
training in its curricula for all recruit classes from 2006
onward.

The MP has an International Cooperation Unit and a Sexual
Crimes Unit, both focusing on TIP as well as other crimes.
The MP sponsored an international seminar on "Fighting Child
Pornography and the Trafficking of Persons for the Sex Trade"
in May 2005, which was the basis for the anti-TIP module to
be taught at the National Police Academy. The MP has
expressed interest in specific training for prosecutors to
handle trafficking cases. To this end, the MP sent 20
regional prosecutors to a Post-sponsored seminar on TIP in

2004.

Directorate of Labor inspectors do not receive any training
in detecting trafficking cases.

-- I. The 2005 arrest of two women involved in the "La
Preferida" employment agency trafficking scheme was the
result of a joint investigation by Peruvian and Chilean
authorities. The GOC has worked with the Government of Japan
to facilitate the return of Chilean women who had been
trafficked there to work as prostitutes. The GOC also worked
with the Government of Bolivia in 2005 to return four
Bolivian minors brought to Chile to work as domestic
servants.

-- J. Chile has bilateral extradition treaties with many
countries, and does extradite individuals for criminal
offenses on a case-by-case basis. The U.S.-Chilean
extradition law is over 100 years old and extremely limited.
Since 2001, several U.S. citizens wanted in the U.S. on
pedophilia charges have been discovered in Chile. The lack
of a functional extradition treaty had made returning them to
the U.S. difficult. However, improved law enforcement agency
cooperation and GOC flexibility in 2005 led to the
extradition or expulsion from Chile to the U.S. of three
individuals wanted by U.S. law enforcement on commercial
sexual exploitation of minors (CSEM) charges. The U.S. and
Chile are discussing the drafting of a new extradition treaty
to facilitate law-enforcement cooperation and extraditions.

Post is not aware of any cases in which third countries have
requested the extradition of individuals, whether Chilean or
other, for trafficking offenses.

Chilean laws on CSEM apply extraterritorially -- Chilean
nationals engaging in CSEM abroad can face criminal in Chile.

-- K. There is no evidence that the GOC tolerates
trafficking. The GOC is increasingly focusing on TIP as a
domestic problem and is active in regional anti-TIP efforts.

-- L. There are no GOC officials known to be involved in
trafficking.

-- M. Chile does not have an identified child sex tourism
problem. The GOC has prosecuted both domestic and foreign
pedophiles in the past. Enhanced sanctions for pedophilia,
child prostitution and solicitation, and pornography should
make Chile a less attractive destination for these activities.

-- N. The GOC has ratified all relevant international
instruments referring to trafficking in persons.

-- Chile signed and ratified ILO Convention 182 on July 17,

2000.

-- Chile signed and ratified ILO Conventions 29 and 105 on
Forced or Compulsory Labor on May 31, 1993 and February 1,
1999, respectively.

-- Chile signed the Optional Protocol to the Convention on
the Rights of the Child on June 28, 2000 and ratified it on
November 6, 2002.

-- Chile signed the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish
Trafficking in Persons on August 8, 2002 and ratified it on
February 16, 2005.

According to officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
the GOC is reviewing Chile's legal framework to ensure that
it is consistent with Chile's international commitments.


6. (SBU) PROTECTION AND ASSISTANCE TO VICTIMS: Information
provided below is keyed to questions from ref A, paragraph 24.

-- A. The GOC provides assistance to trafficking victims and
other victims of violent crime. The MP provides
psychological and medical assistance to trafficking victims
through SERNAM and its own staff, and through hospitals.
Post does not have information on the number of victims
currently being assisted.

The GOC provides relief from deportation to victims during
legal proceedings against their traffickers. However, once a
case is concluded, the victim must apply for legal migratory
status (residency) and could face deportation or expulsion to
their country of origin.

-- B. The GOC provides funding to NGOs for victim assistance
programs. For example, nearly 80 percent of SENAME's budget
goes to NGOs that operate shelters or other programs for
at-risk children.

-- C. In the case of adult victims, the MP's victim
assistance program manages the care of trafficking victims.
This program employs professional psychologists and medical
personnel to ensure victims receive appropriate support.
Juvenile victims are assisted by SENAME and often referred to
NGO programs that provide rehabilitation and other services.
Juvenile courts can also direct the placement of a victim in
a particular program.

-- D. Trafficking victims are generally not treated as
criminals or prosecuted for crimes they committed as part of
their trafficked condition (i.e. prostitution or
immigration/work permit violations). Victims' names are
generally not released, although they are recorded in public
records. Victims, particularly juveniles, can be placed in
protective custody. Adult victims are generally referred to
a regional MP victim assistance program and provided shelter,
food, and other services.

-- E. The MP encourages victims to assist in the
investigation and prosecution of their traffickers. Many
assistance programs for juvenile victims attempt to elicit
information from victims for use in prosecutions. Under
judicial reforms instituted in 2005, victims may file civil
suits against traffickers for damages, and are not impeded
from doing so. Cross-border trafficking victims are not
allowed to work while the investigation and prosecution of
their trafficker(s) is underway. Trafficking victims may be
allowed to leave the country if not facing other charges.

-- F. The GOC has mechanisms to assist victims of trafficking
and sexual exploitation. In recent cases of child
prostitution and pedophilia, the victims were placed in
protective custody with SENAME and given counseling. Where
possible without placing the child at risk, SENAME tries to
place juvenile victims in rehabilitation with family or in
foster care. Juvenile victims are kept segregated from
juvenile criminal offenders. The Centro de Transito y

Diagnostico (CTD -- Diagnostic and Transit Center) is a
halfway house for minors with substance abuse problems and
for those living on the streets. The minors are evaluated
and then transferred to appropriate programs. SENAME
supports 16 centers for physically and sexually abused
children.

The MP has referred victims in its recent trafficking cases
to its regional victim assistance units, where trained
attorneys and psychologists work with victims. Independent
lawyers (generally working in practices specializing in human
rights or women's cases) are also assigned to protect the
victim's interests. In the ongoing case of the Chinese
victims, the MP also provided neutral interpreters to assist
assigned attorneys. The PICH has a Centro de Atencion a
Victimas de Atentados Sexuales (CAVAS; Center for Attention
to the Victims of Sexual Abuse),which, along with 17 other
government centers, provides counseling and psychological
assistance.

-- G. See paragraph 5 subsection H above. SENAME and SERNAM
have permanent staff for assisting victims of sexual abuse
and trafficking. In January 2006, nearly 100 local
government officials in northern Chile attended G/TIP-funded
seminars on recognizing TIP, prosecuting it using existing
laws, and protecting victims. The MP sponsored a May 2005
"Fighting Child Pornography and the Trafficking of Persons
for the Sex Trade" seminar and 20 regional prosecutors took
part in an Embassy-sponsored program in 2004.

The members of the Victims Assistance unit in the Ministerio
Publico (which has offices in all 12 of Chile's regions and
the Santiago metropolitan area) are trained to work with
victims of crime, as are officers within the PICH and
Interpol who work with victims of sexual crime. Juvenile
victims are referred to SENAME for psychological evaluation
and assistance. JUNJI (the National Board of Child Care
Centers) published a manual for all child care centers on how
to recognize victims of sexual abuse. SERNAM provides
training to law enforcement, health care and social service
personnel on dealing with victims of domestic violence.

-- H. There is no information available about whether any
government assistance was requested by, or provided to,
repatriated Chilean trafficking victims.

-- I. The International Organization for Migration (IOM)
started a project in 2004 for victims of juvenile commercial
sexual exploitation in the port city of San Antonio, funded
by a State Department PRM grant. The project provides
counseling and rehabilitation to victims and at-risk youth.
That project is currently being funded and operated through
SENAME. IOM's office in Chile has also been working with the
GOC on a review of Chile's legal framework and trafficking
laws, and has proposed a baseline study of trafficking in
Chile. ILO has a program in Chile to combat the worst forms
of child labor. The following local NGOs work on women's
issues, if not specifically on trafficking:

--(1) Raices (Roots - the premiere NGO working in trafficking
issues - works with the GOC, UNICEF and UNESCO).
--(2) Solidaridad y Organizacion Social (Solidarity and
Social Organization).
--(3) Servicio de Paz y Justicia (Service for Peace and
Justice).
--(4) Red de Salud de las Mujeres Latinoamericanas y del
Caribe (Latin American and Caribbean Women's Health Network).
--(5) Red Chilena Contra la Violencia Domestica y Sexual
(Chilean Network against Domestic and Sexual Violence).
--(6) Movimiento Pro Emancipacion de la Mujer Chilena
(Chilean Women's Pro-Emancipation Movement).
--(7) ISIS Internacional.
--(8) Instituto Chileno para Medicina Reproductiva (Chilean
Institute for Reproductive Medicine).
--(9) Grupo Iniciativa Mujeres (Women's Intiative Group).
--(10) Foro Abierto de Salud y Derechos Sexuales y
Reproductivos (Open Forum on Health, Reproductive and Sexual
Rights).
--(11) Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencas Sociales (Latin
American Faculty of Social Sciences).
--(12) Educacion Popular en Salud (Popular Health Education).
--(13) Corporacion de la Salud y Politicas Sociales (Social
Politics and Health Corporation).
--(14) Comite Latinoamericano y del Caribe para la Defensa de
los Derechos de la Mujer (Latin American and Caribbean
Committee for the Defense of Women's Rights).
--(15) Centro por la Justicia y el Derecho Internacional
(Center for Justice and International Rights).
--(16) Centro de Salud Mental y Derechos Humanos (Center for
Mental Health and Human Rights).

--(17) Centro de Estudios para el Desarrollo de la Mujer
(Center for Women's Development Studies).
--(18) Centro de Accion y Estudios de Genero (Center for
Action and Gender Studies).
--(19) Casa de la Mujer de Valparaiso (Valparaiso Women's
Shelter).
--(20) Asociacion Nacional de Mujeres Rurales e Indigenas
(National Association of Rural and Indigenous Women).
--(21) Asociacion de Proteccion de la Familia (Family
Protection Association).
--(22) Asociacion Cristiana Femenina de Chile (Christian
Women's Association of Chile).
--(23) Asociacion de Abogadas Matilde Troup (Matilde Troup
Lawyers' Association).
--(24) Asociacion Nacional de Centros Femeninos (National
Association of Women's Centers).
--(25) Casa de la Mujer Mapuche (Mapuche Women's Shelter).
--(26) Centro de Estudios, Asesoria y Capacitacion, Mujer y
Trabajo (Center for Studies, Consulting and Training, Women
and Work).
--(27) Colectivo Conspirando (Conspiracy Collective).
--(28) Federacion Mujeres de Negocios y Profesionales de
Chile (Chilean Women's Professional and Business Federation).
--(29) B.P.W. International.
--(30) Asociacion Chilena para Naciones Unidas (Chilena
United Nations Association).
--(31) Fundacion Margen (Margin Foundation)
--(32) Instituto Interamericano del Nino (Interamerican
Institute of the Child).
--(33) Casa Alianza (Costa Rican-based NGO that works with
ACHNU).
--(34) La Liga Chilena contra la Pedofilia (Chilean League
against Pedophilia).
--(35) Fundacion Chile 21 (Chile Foundation 21).


KELLY