PERU: REQUEST FOR FORCED LABOR AND CHILD LABOR

UNCLAS LIMA 001511

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE PASS TO USDOL FOR ANA ASLAN AND THERESA ESQUIBEL
DEPARTMENT FOR DRL/ILCSR GABRIELLA RIGG AND WHA/PPC MIKE
PUCCETTI

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECIN ECON ELAB ETRD EAID PE
SUBJECT: PERU: REQUEST FOR FORCED LABOR AND CHILD LABOR
INFORMATION FOR PTPA REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

REF: STATE 38551


1. Per reftel, post has contacted host government officials,
NGOs, business and labor groups, and international
organizations to obtain updated national-level information on
labor law and practice in Peru in 2006. In most cases, the
Ministry of Labor and Employment Promotion (MTPE) was the
most appropriate office for providing information, although
updated national-level data was not always available. The
responses are keyed to reftel.


2. Forced Labor: Nature and Incidence

A) Update on forced labor in the logging, agriculture, and
mining sectors.

In 2005, the MTPE and the International Labor Organization
(ILO) released a survey of labor conditions in the Amazonia
region of Peru (primarily in the departments of Ucayali,
Madre de Dios, and Loreto) that reported 33,000 persons were
involved in forced labor in the illegal logging industry.
The MTPE has not conducted additional surveys at the regional
or national level since 2005, but on January 9, 2007, Supreme
Decree 001-2007-TR created the National Intersectoral
Commission for the Eradication of Forced Labor (NCSFL) to
coordinate public policies and to document the incidence of
forced labor in the logging, agriculture, mining, fishing,
and other sectors. The NCSFL has drafted the National Action
Plan to Combat Forced Labor, which will detail GOP efforts to
prevent and eliminate forced labor. The government plans to
approve and release the National Action Plan May 1.

B) Update on forced labor among the mestizo, altoandino and
indigenous populations.

The 2005 MTPE and ILO survey found that the majority of
forced labor victims in the illegal logging industry were
members of ethnic groups. That information has not been
updated.

C) Update on number of forced laborers.

There is no nation-wide, official data on the numbers of
forced laborers in Peru. Studies done by NGOs and
international organizations have focused on specific
geographic areas, particularly cities, or on specific types
of work. In 2004, for example, the National Commission for
Development and Life without Drugs estimated that 5,000
children were employed in the illegal narcotics industry.

D) Provide the source and destination of persons who are
trafficked to and through Peru.

According to the Department of State's 2007 Anti-Trafficking
in Persons Report, there are no official GOP figures on the
extent or magnitude of the TIP problem. Cases of
international trafficking of women have been reported in the
past, but the scope of the problem is not known. The primary
designations for trafficked persons have been the United
States, Spain, Japan, and Italy. Internal trafficking is, by
far, the greater problem. NGOs and international
organizations maintain that significant domestic trafficking
occurs, particularly underage women from the poorest and
least developed regions east of the Andes--the Amazonia
jungle and the mountains--into the major cities or mining
areas to work as prostitutes or domestic servants.

In 2004, Supreme Decree 002-2004-IN created the Permanent
Multisectorial Committee, a ministerial-level group chaired
by the Director of the Office of Human Rights in the Ministry
of the Interior, to track and coordinate government anti-TIP
efforts. In 2006, the Commission cosponsored, along with the
International Organization on Migration and two local NGOs, a
report identifying three cities in Peru, Lima, Iquitos, and
Cuzco, as the primary destination points for TIP victims.

The Ministry of the Interior reports that in 2006 2,901
police operations were carried out to combat trafficking in

persons, procurement, and child prostitution.


3. Forced Labor: Laws and Enforcement

E) Updates to laws regarding forced labor

On January 16, 2007, the GOP passed Law 28950, which provides
protection for TIP victims and witnesses. Article 153
prohibits practices that promote, finance, or facilitate
"forced work or services, bondage, slavery or practices that
are analogous to slavery or other forms of work
exploitation,...."

F) Exceptions to laws prohibiting forced labor.

ILO Agreement 29, ratified by Peru, allows six exceptions to
laws prohibiting forced labor, but Peruvian law recognizes
only two exceptions: compulsory labor resulting from a
judicial sentence, as provided for by the criminal code; and
forced labor resulting from force majeure, as provided for in
Legislative Decree 854. Legislative Decree 854 allows an
employer to require overtime when an act of God presents a
serious danger to individuals or property in the workplace.

G) Agency responsible for enforcing labor laws

The regulatory entity responsible for enforcing and
implementing labor laws is the MTPE.

H) Prohibitions and Penalties for trafficking for forced
labor.

Trafficking for forced labor is prohibited under Peruvian
law. Article 153 of Law 28950 establishes penalties from
eight to 15 years for persons involved in trafficking;
article 153A establishes a penalty of 12 to 20 years for
aggravated forms of trafficking (if the victim is less than
18, for example); and a penalty of 25 years in prison if one
of three factors is involved: if the victim dies or is
seriously wounded; if the victim is under 14; and if the
trafficker is part of a criminal organization.

I) Level of resources devoted to investigating forced labor.

In the past, investigations of forced labor within the MTPE
have been financed through international cooperation funds.
The MTPE plans to request budgetary authority, as part of the
National Action Plan to Combat Forced Labor, to create a
separate office within the MTPE specifically tasked to
investigate cases involving violations of fundamental labor
rights, including forced labor. The MTPE plans to employ 30
inspectors by June 30 in this office.

J) Extent of investigations and violations

The GOP does not possess updated figures on the number of
forced labor investigations, prosecutions, and convictions.

K) Status of enforcement actions in the Atalya region.

The National Action Plan to Combat Forced Labor tasks the
NCSFL, as a first priority, to develop an integrated strategy
to reduce and eliminate forced labor in the Atalya region,
not only through legal sanctions but also through programs
designed to address the underlying causes of forced labor.


4. Forced Labor: Government Policies and Programs

L) History of government efforts to combat forced labor

In 2003, the GOP requested technical assistance from the ILO
to study and document the incidence of forced labor in the
Ucayali region of Peru. The GOP has continued to work with
the ILO to document forced labor practices in Peru.

In June 2005, Supreme Resolution 028-2005-TR created the
Intersectoral Commission, which met with social
organizations, labor and business groups, and local public

authorities to survey the extent of forced labor in the
cities of Iquitos, Ucayali, Puerto Maldonado, and Cuzco.
Supreme Resolution 056-2005-TR, issued in October 2005,
published an action plan to address the problems uncovered by
the Intersectoral Commission. The NCSFL is working with
regional authorities to develop a follow-up action plan to
continue implementing the recommendations of the
Intersectoral Commission.

The MTPE is continuing efforts to increase the numbers and
professionalism of labor inspectors and is developing an
Employment Sectorial Plan to strengthen fundamental labor
rights.

M) Recent Activities by the National Intersectoral Commission

Ministerial Resolution 2570-2006-IN/015 established the
Registration and Statistics System for Trafficking in Persons
Registry (RETA),which has been introduced into police
stations throughout Peru. The RETA system creates a
nationwide registry of TIP cases. The Ministry of the
Interior manages the RETA system and is working with the MTPE
to connect it to the Labor Inspections System.

In April of 2007, the NCSFL began offering integrated
programs to address the problem of forced labor in domestic
employment. The NCSFL has conducted public workshops
throughout Peru for employers, institutions, and the general
public to explain the rights of domestic workers and to
publicize the public services offered by the MTPE to
investigate allegations of abuse. The NCSFL also has
prepared and distributed informational pamphlets to inform
domestic workers of their rights and has developed free
courses in cooking, cleaning, and household security to help
domestic servants professionalize their work.

The Commission is also developing a public information
campaign, to be conducted via television and radio, to
explain basic workers' rights under Peruvian law.

Supreme Decree 005-2007-TR declared March 30 the National Day
of Workers.

Between February and March of 2007, the MTPE conducted 135
inspections that targeted recently hired workers; the
inspections revealed that 73 per cent of workers were unaware
of their labor rights under Peruvian law.

The NCSFL has begun a process of collaboration with the
Multisectoral Committee to coordinate actions against forced
labor. The Ministry of the Interior, for example, has begun
an investigation of trafficking in persons in the Madre de
Dios and Cuzco regions of Peru with the hope that greater
information regarding TIP cases will allow the NCSFL to
specifically create programs to reduce forced labor.

N) Additional programs to combat child labor

The MTPE, as a member of the Multisectoral Committee, is
participating in the final elaborations of the implementing
legislation for Law 28950.


5. Child Labor

O) Incidence of Child Labor

There have been no changes to the information provided in
Lima 4714, dated December 18, 2006.

P) Information on the Trafficking in Persons Law

The Multisectoral Committee has not completed the
implementing regulations required for Law 28950.

Article 153 of Law 28950 provides specific sanctions against
child trafficking. In addition to those penalties noted in
H),traffickers or promoters of sexual tourism exploiting
victims between 14 and 18 years of age are subject to a

sentence of two to six years; if the victim is under 14, the
penalty is six to eight years.


6. Source information for all documents cited will be
provided by the MTPE and pouched to OCFT.
POWERS