CHILD SEX TOURISM LAW IMMINENT?

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SINGAPORE 000470

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR INL/HSTC

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/07/2016
TAGS: PHUM PREL KCRM KWMN SN
SUBJECT: CHILD SEX TOURISM LAW IMMINENT?

REF: A. SINGAPORE 3614

B. SINGAPORE 3090

C. WILLETT-CLARK EMAILS

Classified By: Economic/Political Counselor Laurent D. Charbonnet
for reasons 1.4 (d)


1. (C) Summary. The GOS is preparing the legislative
measures necessary to make child sex tourism
extraterritorially illegal, according to a local NGO. The
timing of the changes remains uncertain, however, given
Parliament's current focus on the budget. Despite
Parliament's current heavy workload, the NGO representative
expressed hope that the government would enact the measures
in the next few months, and noted that in the interim the
Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Community
Development, Youth and Sports clearly are preparing to
implement the law. End summary.


2. (C) Saleemah Ismail, Vice President of the National
Committee for Unifem, Singapore (strictly protect),told
Emboff on February 8 that Members of Parliament and the
Ministry of Community Development, Youth, and Sports have
confirmed to her that the government will soon make having
sex with underage persons abroad an offense under Singapore
law. Ismail expected the government would amend the Penal
Code to enact the measure, and would do so in conjunction
with amendments raising the minimum age of consent for
commercial sex to 18 and lifting the ban on oral sex. Ismail
said that Indranee Rajah, Member of Parliament for the ruling
PAP and chair of the Parliamentary Committee for Law (who
spoke at Unifem and Shared Hope International's joint
trafficking conference in Singapore last April),told her
that she had drafted the amendments and expected to formally
propose them in Parliament soon.


3. (C) Ismail noted that the government has been
non-committal on when Parliament would entertain the proposed
amendments, and speculated that the government's current
focus on the budget (due to be completed by early March) and
a possible general election in the next few months might
prevent Parliament from addressing these matters until
summer. Ismail was hopeful, however, that the government
would want to address these issues before an election, as the
child sex tourism measure appears to have significant public
support, and the lifting of the ban on oral sex would lend
support to the government's assertion that Singapore is
"loosening up." The government had previously indicated it
would announce the changes at the end of 2005, but the
January 2006 sitting of Parliament was completely consumed by
investigations into a corruption scandal in a local charity
and the resulting fallout.


4. (C) For its part, the Ministry of Community Development,
Youth and Sports (MCYS) is preparing its public education
campaign to spread the message that persons engaging in sex
with children abroad will be prosecuted at home, according to
Ismail, who said that the posters and other materials were
already printed and ready for distribution. (The campaign is
also intended to fulfill the commitment made by all ASEAN
leaders at their summit in 2004, to do more to raise
awareness of child sex tourism.) Ismail said that MCYS had
contacted Unifem for advice on placement of the
advertisements, and she noted that Unifem has prepared its
own campaign to complement the government's and has offered
to coordinate with MCYS to ensure that Unifem puts its ads in
channels in which the government cannot pay for advertising
services, such as online sex forums.


5. (C) Ismail added that the Ministry of Home Affairs is also
gearing up for the enforcement of the new law. According to
her, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) already has several
undercover police officers working in Batam (the primary
destination for Singaporean sex tourists and a location where
around one-third of prostitutes are estimated to be underage)
to gain an understanding of the environment. Although they
do not yet have the legal authority to act, Ismail said that
the SPF has worked closely with the Batam police and has
passed on to them any leads it discovers. She said that the
recent creation of Riau Islands province has given the Batam
Police more autonomy to cooperate closely with the SPF
without Jakarta's knowledge, and pointed to the recent bust
of a baby-selling ring in Batam (the clients were Singaporean
couples) as a case that the SPF actually investigated, but
let the Batam police take full credit.


6. (C) Comment: Adoption of an extraterritorial child sex
tourism law has been a key USG recommendation for Singapore.
If enacted, the law will mark a major success in our efforts
to encourage the Singapore public and government to recognize
that child prostitution and sex-trafficking are a serious

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problem in the region, and that Singapore has an important
role to play in combating such crimes. The education
campaign that will follow the law's passage and resulting
increase in awareness of significant legal penalties for such
behavior likely will help deter Singaporeans engaging in the
underage sex trade abroad.
HERBOLD