DEMARCHE ON TIP TIER 2 WATCH ACTION PLAN (2007-08)

UNCLAS GUATEMALA 001906

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR G/TIP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KCRM KPAO KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG GT
SUBJECT: DEMARCHE ON TIP TIER 2 WATCH ACTION PLAN (2007-08)

REF: A. STATE 116186

B. STATE 78791


1. Poloff delivered Ref A demarche and non-paper to Alma de
Migoya, Chief of the Prosecutor's Office for Women, Unit of
Adolescent and Child Victims, and Alexander Colop, prosecutor
in charge of Trafficking in Persons (TIP),in the Attorney
General's Office. Migoya said that her office as well as the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs have been actively collaborating
with civil society to address the problem of TIP.


2. Migoya said they have collaborated with civil society in
public awareness campaigns and efforts to assist victims.
They have a mechanism in place for identifying trafficked
victims and for referring such victims to appropriate
protective services. Their Standard Operating Procedures,
publicly available on the website of the Attorney General's
Office, provides instructions on how to handle sex crimes,
including specific provisions on TIP victims. The Guatemalan
government has also collaborated with Mexico, Nicaragua, El
Salvador, and Honduras to address the TIP problem, especially
in the border areas.


3. Migoya noted, however, the many challenges faced by her
office, in particular the lack of formal complaints filed by
trafficked victims who fear retaliation, the shortage of
prosecutors and investigators, and the decentralization of
the functions of her office to regional offices. She
attributed the lack of raids this year to the lack of legal
complaints filed by trafficked victims, explaining that her
office, unlike the National Civil Police, is authorized to
participate in a police raid against an alleged trafficker
only if a formal complaint has been filed.


4. She agreed that Guatemala's current anti-trafficking law,
Article 194 of the Penal Code, needed to be reformed but
asserted that Congress would not likely reach consensus on
proposed reform during this transition year. However, she
hoped that Congress would take action early in the next
session, which begins in January 2008. She noted that she
has approached various congressional benches to press for
legislative reform to strengthen the government's ability to
prosecute TIP cases.


5. Migoya expressed appreciation for the list of recommended
measures for moving Guatemala to a more favorable tier
placement and our offer to collaborate on a strategy, and
promised to provide statistics on TIP training for
prosecutors and other measures undertaken by the government
for our interim assessment.
Derham