BELIZE - EIGHTH ANNUAL TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS (TIP) REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 BELMOPAN 000148 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR G/TIP (FLECK),G, INL, PRM DEPT FOR WHA/PPC (PUCCETTI), WHA/CEN (BEAL) GUATEMALA FOR USAID E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB BH SUBJECT: BELIZE - EIGHTH ANNUAL TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS (TIP) REPORT (PART TWO OF THREE) REF: A) STATE 02731, B) 06 BELIZE 673 This cable is sensitive but unclassified. ¶3. (SBU) Investigation and Prosecution of Traffickers ¶A. No new anti-trafficking legislation was enacted during the reporting period. The Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Act was enacted on June 23, 2003 and came into force on August 1, 2003. The law prohibits both sexual and non-sexual (including forced labor and the illicit removal of human organs) forms of trafficking. Because the Act also includes the text of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, it covers both national and transnational forms of trafficking. Belize laws prohibiting trafficking in persons include: Under the Criminal Code: carnal knowledge; rape; procurement; defilement by force or fraud or administration of drugs; assault and battery; unlawful imprisonment; child stealing; abduction; kidnapping; and forcible marriage. Under the Labor Act: prohibition of forced labor; employment of women and children; and prohibition of night work. Under the Families and Children Act: child abuse; child neglect; and harmful employment. Under the Summary Jurisdiction (Offenses) Act: loitering for prostitution; keeping a brothel; and trading on prostitution. Laws that allow civil penalties against trafficking crimes include: The Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Act - restitution; The Act - fines; The Intoxicating Liquor Licenses (Amendment) Act - forfeiture of license; The Immigration Act - forfeiture of vehicle, vessel or aircraft; payment of costs of sending the victim outside of Belize; The Families and Children Act; The Summary Jurisdiction (Offenses) Act - determination of tenancy; and The Indictable Procedure Act - divesting of guardianship or custody. ¶B. Under the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Act, an individual convicted of trafficking in persons for sexual exploitation can receive between one and five years in prison and/or a fine of USD $5,000. In addition, an individual convicted of transporting a person for the purpose of exploiting such person as a prostitute can receive a prison sentence of not less than three years. Further, the prison term may be extended to eight years when the number of persons transported exceeds five, when the persons transported include children, or when the transportation is part of the activity of a gang or organized criminal network. ¶C. The Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Act also prescribes and imposes penalties for labor trafficking offenses. The Act defines labor exploitation as: keeping a person in a state of slavery; subjecting a person to practices similar to slavery; compelling or causing a person to provide forced labor or services; or keeping a person in a state of servitude, including sexual servitude. The Act also provides for criminal punishment against any person who acts or purports to act as another's employer, manager, supervisor, contractor, employment agency or solicitor of clients and knowingly procures, destroys, conceals, removes, confiscates, or possesses any passport, birth certificate, immigration document or other governmental document belonging to another person. ¶D. Rape - including marital rape - carries a penalty of eight years to life imprisonment. Life imprisonment is mandated for habitual sex offenders. (Note: the majority of rape convictions result in penalties far less than life imprisonment. End note). The Criminal Code of Belize does not define sexual assault, but categorizes any such assaults as aggravated assault, the penalty for which is two years imprisonment. The law further states that an indecent aggravated assault upon a female, or child results in a three year sentence. ¶E. The act of prostitution itself is neither legal nor illegal under Belize law. The government considers prostitution immoral but has yet to take steps to directly address it in the Criminal Code. BELMOPAN 00000148 002 OF 004 Other activities on the periphery of prostitution are illegal. For example, loitering by a common prostitute in any street or public place for the purpose of prostitution is illegal. On a first offense, a person can be fined no more than $200 or imprisoned for up to two months. Second and subsequent offenses result in fines of up to $400 or imprisonment of up to six months. In addition, the Summary Jurisdiction (Offenses) Act states that it is illegal to own, manage, assist in the management of, or act as a tenant, lessee or occupier of a brothel. First-time offenses are punishable by up to six months in jail or a $500 fine; for second offenses the penalties are doubled. Further, the law states that it is illegal for any male person to: knowingly live wholly or in part on the earnings of prostitution; persistently solicit or importune for immoral purposes; or loiter about or importune a person in any street or other place for the purposes of prostitution. A first offense results in a fine of up to $100 or six months in jail; second and subsequent offenses result in up to twelve months in jail. Finally, Section 49 of the Criminal Code states that any person who procures or attempts to procure any female under the age of eighteen years of age, not being a common prostitute or of known immoral character, to have unlawful carnal knowledge either within or without Belize any other person or persons has committed an offense. The Code does not explain what constitutes immoral character. (Note: unlawful carnal knowledge is defined as sexual relations with a female child between the ages of 14 and 16. End note). An individual convicted of these charges faces five years imprisonment. ¶F. There were no successful prosecutions against traffickers during the reporting period. A case against a bar owner in Corozal in which a 19-year-old Guatemalan woman was hired to work in a restaurant but after arriving, was asked repeatedly to sexually satisfy male patrons was dismissed - the victim and witnesses had left the country and could not be located. (Ref B) Trafficking was suspected in a case of a Honduran minor found in a bar in Dangriga. She was given temporary residence status by the immigration department pending investigation and was subsequently repatriated to Honduras through the Honduran Embassy. No charges were filed. A case of a man arrested and charged in October 2007 with trafficking a minor found in his bar without her own travel documents is still pending. A case of two police officers facing several counts of trafficking after a brothel was raided in Corozal is pending final adjournment on March 31, 2008. Nine Salvadorans were determined by the police and immigration to be smuggled into Belize after a traffic accident placed some of them in the hospital. The "victims" were charged with illegal entry and deported. In January 2008, Nepalese construction workers employed to construct a dam alleged that their passports are being withheld by their employer. The police and immigration are inspecting the site to make a determination. Officials note that the case is being investigated. UNICEF has described the country's judicial system as a "black hole", noting that TIP cases - along with rape and sexual abuse cases - are rarely prosecuted successfully. The majority of Supreme Court criminal cases involving sexual offenses resulted in acquittals or "nolle prosequi" (the prosecutor declines to proceed). One notable difficulty in prosecuting trafficking cases is the unwillingness of victims and witnesses to come forward to testify. Without their testimony, prosecutors have little evidence to pursue a case. The Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Act requires the prosecution of labor trafficking offenses such as the confiscation of workers' travel documents, the switching of contracts or employment terms without the worker's consent, the use of physical or sexual abuse or the threat of such abuse to keep workers in a state of service, or the withholding of salary as a means to keep workers in a state of service. According to the law, convicted traffickers must serve their entire sentence. There is no reliable information pointing to who is behind trafficking in Belize. Anecdotal evidence suggests that most are freelance operators or members of a loose network of taxi drivers and brothel owners. There is no evidence of employment, travel, or tourism agencies or marriage brokers fronting for traffickers. Post does monitor terrorism financing and money laundering, but to date we have no information about where TIP profits are being channeled. ¶G. Investigations are coordinated by the Anti-Trafficking in BELMOPAN 00000148 003 OF 004 Persons Committee. The Committee uses a tripartite approach: all trafficking investigations involve police, immigration officials, and social workers. During the reporting period the government, in conjunction with the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Committee and a number of NGOs and international organizations including the U.S. Government, offered specialized training to government officials in how to recognize, investigate, and prosecute trafficking. For example, the government offered training to magistrates and crown counsels, police and immigration officials on TIP legislation, identification of the elements of trafficking, and investigative and prosecution techniques. During the year the Chairperson of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Committee and a consultant conducted sensitization sessions on trafficking. The program targeted police, customs officials, labor officers, immigration officers and social workers In February the Organization of American States (OAS) sponsored a two day meeting in Jamaica where Trafficking was an item on the agenda. The Chairperson, the Director of Immigration and a representative from Ministry of Foreign Affairs attended. In October, the OAS) also sponsored a meeting in Guatemala City for parliamentarians. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss and review the model of anti-trafficking legislation in the region. ¶H. The government of Belize does cooperate with other governments on trafficking issues, including the investigation and prosecution of trafficking cases. Staff of the Ministry of Human Development represented the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Committee at an IDB sponsored workshop in Guatemala in April 2007. The workshop was entitled "The Construction of a regional Public Good in the Area of Human Trafficking." Belize was also represented at the meeting of Regional Conference on Migration in April 2007, in New Orleans by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs along with the Director of Immigration. The Government also co-sponsored a resolution at the OAS General Assembly in June 2007 which was aimed at exploring the possibility of establishing a Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism to assess countries' efforts in the hemisphere to combat trafficking in persons. The Government of Belize recognizes that trafficking in persons is a transnational crime and effective action to prevent and combat trafficking requires cooperation among governments. Belize has cooperated with Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico in the investigation of trafficking cases. Belize stands ready to cooperate with any requesting government in the investigation and prosecution of trafficking cases in accordance with the laws of Belize. It should also be noted that there are several mechanisms in place to facilitate cooperation including a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty between Belize and the United States, the Central American Regional Security Strategy, and the Regional Conference on Migration. The Government is not aware of any request for cooperation from a foreign government. I. The government will extradite persons when an extradition treaty exists between Belize and the requesting state. The treaty between the United States and Belize lists trafficking in persons as an extraditable offense. According to the government of Belize, to date no state with which Belize has an extradition treaty has requested the extradition of a suspected trafficker. Belizean nationals are also subject to extradition for certain offenses, including trafficking in persons. ¶J. The Anti-Trafficking in Persons Committee has made great strides in organizing and providing training to immigration officials, police, and social workers. The Minister and Chief Executive Officer of Human Development have spoken out often against these crimes and raised public awareness. However, there are still lingering signs of alleged police involvement as demonstrated in the case of two police officers facing charges of trafficking in Corozal. For several years, despite the efforts of the Anti-Trafficking Committee, no one has been prosecuted for trafficking though the government, the police, and social workers acknowledge the presence of trafficking in Belize. ¶K. To Post's knowledge, there have been no government investigations into allegations of official corruption or tolerance of trafficking, nor have there been any prosecutions or convictions. ¶L. Also, Belize does not have any military troops assigned abroad so there has been no incidence of military troop overseas being involved in trafficking. BELMOPAN 00000148 004 OF 004 During the year 2007, the Government of Belize did not prosecute or deport any foreign pedophile. Likewise there was no other national charged with such offence. During 2007, four American fugitives were returned to various states in the U.S. to face outstanding warrants for sex crimes. ¶M. Although Belize has not been identified as a sex tourism destination, the potential exists and the November 2006 release of the report (sponsored by the International Labor Office's International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor) on the commercial sexual exploitation of children in Belize supports this. The government supported the drafting of a code of conduct to protect children from sexual exploitation in the tourist and travel industries. The government has signed or ratified the following international instruments: - ILO Convention 182 concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor: ratified March 6, 2000 - ILO Convention 29 and 105 on Forced or Compulsory Labor: both ratified on December 15, 1983 - The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution, and Child Pornography: ratified on December 1, 2003 - The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, supplementing the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime: acceded September 26, 2003. HILL