HAITI RESPONSE: INFORMATION ON HOST GOVERNMENT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 PORT AU PRINCE 001831 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/EX AND WHA/CAR S/CRS SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR INR/IAA WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS, DHS, NCTC S/CT KEN MCKUNE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ASEC CVIS KVPR PGOV PINR PTER KHLS HA SUBJECT: HAITI RESPONSE: INFORMATION ON HOST GOVERNMENT PRACTICES - INFORMATION COLLECTION, SCREENING, AND SHARING REF: SECSTATE 133921 PORT AU PR 00001831 001.2 OF 004 ¶1. (U) This message is sensitive but unclassified -- please protect accordingly. ¶2. (SBU) The following information on Haiti's government practices concerning collection, screening and sharing in items (A-K) was collected from authorities within the government of Haiti's Office of Immigration, and via informal channels due to the sensitivity of the questions. ¶A. Watchlisting -------------- ¶1. Does the GoH maintain a watchlist? Yes, the Haitian immigration maintains a watch list. The number of records in the list is unknown, and the records are not terrorist-related. The Immigration Office, within the Ministry of Interior, maintains the list. ¶B. Traveler Information Collection -------------- ¶1. Policies and legislation: the reference immigration law of September 1978 allows for the collection of information on travelers. ¶2. Policy for Air, Sea, land and domestic flights: the policy is technically the same for air, sea and land, but is more relaxed for domestic flights. ¶3. Who collects travel information? The GoH Immigration Office collects information on travelers both inbound and outbound and the information collected is the same for air, sea, and land (if applicable). Only the most basic passenger information is collected (date of arrival, passenger biographical information, method of arrival and corresponding information). Sharing of the information is only permitted with authorization from the Ministry of Interior. The GoH Immigration Office does not collect Passenger Name Record (PNR) data. ¶4. Policy for sharing ith foreign governments? The GoH shares informaion with foreign governments. Simple requests are handled on a hoc-basis; complicated requests are handled through Diplomatic Notes. ¶C. Border Control and Screening -------------- ¶1. Does host government employ software to screen travelers of security interest? Yes. ¶2. Are all travelers tracked electronically or only non-host countries? All. ¶3. What is the frequency of travelers being waved through? Virtually zero, as all are tracked electronically. ¶4. Estimated percent of non-recorded crossings? The GoH Office of Immigration maintains a system to control and track travelers. The estimated percentage of non-recorded crossings is 30 percent; this is due to frequent power outages and system failures. The GoH Immigration Office may detain and question individuals while verifying admissibility. ¶5. Do host country government border control officers have the authority to use other criminal data when making decisions on who can enter the country? N/A ¶6. Host government,s policies on questioning, detaining and denying entries to travelers: there is no set policy, but GOH immigration officials do question, detain and deny entry. The Immigration Office does the questioning and the denying of entry and the Haitian National Police detains. ¶7. How well does information sharing function within the host government? Information sharing appears to function fairly well. Information is regularly shared between the Ministry PORT AU PR 00001831 002.2 OF 004 of Interior and the Ministry of Justice. ¶D. Biometric Collection -------------- ¶1. Are biometric systems integrated for all active POEs? Systems and models used? No. Biometrics are collected only for lost passports and residence permits for foreigners and deportees from the U.S. (since 2006) and only at the Port-au-Prince airport. The system used is an ORACLE database. ¶2. Are all passengers screened for the biometrics or a specific population is targeted? Only a specific population (lost passport cases, foreigners with resident permits and deportees). ¶3. Are comparisons a one-to-one or one-to-many? The comparison is one to many. ¶4. If biometric systems are in place, does the host government know of any countermeasures used to defeat biometric checkpoints? Yes, travelers have altered their names and or DOB in order to defeat the system. GOH countermeasures include continuous training for immigration officers in order to recognize suspicious travelers. ¶5. Host Government policies on collecting the fingerprint (FP) on incoming travelers? It is not done for all cases; however, it is done for cases of specific populations as noted in item D (2). ¶6. Which agency is responsible for the host government FP system? Immigration Office under the Ministry of Interior. ¶7. Are FP programs in place NIST, INT-I, EFTS, UK1, or RTID compliant? They are NIST compliant at this time; GOH would like to upgrade to a better system but cannot due to financial restraints. ¶8. Are FP flat or rolled? Flat; electronically collected. The Immigration Office manages the collections. ¶E. Passports -------------- ¶1. Machine-readable passports containing biometric information? The GoH issues machine-readable passports and does not share the information with other governments. We do not believe the passports contain biometric information. ¶2. Does the host government share the public key? Host Government bought this key from a German company and it is a standard key used by ICAO. ¶3. Does host government issue full or limited validity replacement passport? Limited validity. ¶4. Special regulations on multiple losers of passports? After two lost passports, travelers have to wait until the initial passport,s expiration date to apply again (few exceptions are allowed). Individuals that lose their passports are fingerprinted before a new passport is issued. ¶5. Replacement passport appearance and number of pages? The replacement has the same appearance and the same number of pages. ¶6. Emergency passport? No emergency passports are issued. ¶7. Has post noticed any increased in number of replacement or clean passports used to apply for U.S. visas? No. ¶8. Are replacement passports assigned special identifiable numbers? No. ¶F. Fraud Detection -------------- PORT AU PR 00001831 003.2 OF 004 ¶1. How robust is fraud detection and how actively are instances of fraud involving document follow up? The GoH Office of Immigration is responsible for the detection of fraudulent entry documents. If a fraudulent document is discovered it is confiscated and the individual is immediately turned over to the Haitian National Police. ¶2. How are potentially fraudulently issued documents taken out of circulation made harder to use? The Immigration Office confiscates the fraudulent passport. The Office of Immigration also coordinates multilaterally with foreign consular offices to assist in retrieving fraudulent documents. ¶G. Privacy and Data Security -------------- ¶1. Policies on records related to the questioning, detention or removing of travelers encountered at point of entries into Haiti? There is no clear-cut policy in place for record management. Foreigners are removed, Haitians are sent to the police for detention. ¶2. How are those records stored and for how long? Computer records and paper records are kept for 5 years. ¶3. What are the countries restrictions on the collections or use of sensitive data? The GoH Office of Immigration restricts database access to immigration officials. A non-citizen/resident does not have the right to sue the government to obtain any information contained in the immigration database. ¶4. What are the requirements to provide notice to the public on the implementation of new databases of records? No requirements, and the public is not notified. ¶5. Are there any laws relating to security features for government computer systems that hold personal identifying information? None. ¶6. What are the rules on an individual,s ability to access data that homeland security agencies holds about them? Individuals may access suchdata, but only with an authorization from the Miistry of Interior or though a formal requestsubmitted by a lawyer with power of attorney. ¶7. Are there different rules for raw data versus case files? No. ¶8. Does a non citizen/resident have the right to sue the government to obtain these types of data? Yes - but they virtually always lose. ¶H. Immigration Database -------------- ¶1. What computerized immigration databases are used to track entries and exits? Oracle database. ¶2. Is the immigration database available at all POEs? No - Port-au-Prince only. ¶3. Which POE will receive the tool? Port-au-Prince only because it is the main entry/exit point. ¶4. What problems limit the effectiveness of the system? Lack of resources. ¶5. How often are national immigration databases are updated? Every 6 months. ¶I. Watch list and Information Sharing -------------- ¶1. Is there a name base system used to screen travelers at the POE? Yes. IMAGO, a software program from D&G (Germany). PORT AU PR 00001831 004.2 OF 004 ¶2. Domestic sources of information that populate the name base watch list? Some information comes from the Haitian National Police, the Department of State and other foreign governments, MINUSTAH and other Haitian law enforcement agencies. ¶3. What international watchlists does the host government use for screening? Interpol, TSA and No Fly List, UN. ¶4. What bilateral/multilateral watchlist agreements exist between host government and its neighbors? Agreements exist with U.S. government. ¶J. Biometrics -------------- ¶1. Are biometrics systems in place for air land, and sea? No biometric systems exist at POEs, except at Port au Prince. The Immigration Office plans to install them shortly at other POEs but is constrained by the associated expenses. ¶2. If biometric not available at all POEs, which port receives it? Currently only Port-au-Prince. Next, Malpasse and Ouanaminth are scheduled to receive biometric systems (both on the Haiti/ Dominican Republic border). ¶3. What biometric technologies if any does the Host Government use? Fingerprint identification only. ¶4. Are the systems ICAO compliant? Yes ¶5. Does the Host government issue a passport containing biometric information? No, host government issues machine readable-passports without biometric information. ¶6. If E-passports are issued, what biometric information is included? E-passports have not yet been issued by the GOH. ¶K. Identifying Appropriate Partners -------------- ¶1. Are there political realities which would preclude a country from entering into a formal data sharing agreement with the U.S.? Yes. There are no political constraints per se, but host country government is plagued by corruption and security issues, although it is working to overcome them. ¶2. Is the host country legal system adequately developed to provide safeguards for the non disclosure of information? No. ¶3. How much information sharing does the host country do internally? Internal sharing of information remains a challenge; however, information is regularly shared between the Ministry of Interior and Justice. ¶4. Is there a single consolidated database for example? Yes. It is kept by the Office of Immigration. If not do different ministries share information amongst themselves? N/A ¶5. How does the country define terrorism? The Government of Haiti lacks a legal definition or in-depth understanding of terrorism; informally defined as any threat or use of violence as an act of terrorism. ¶6. Are there legal statutes that do so? No. SANDERSON