BRAZIL: NINTH ANNUAL TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS (TIP) REPORT,

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BRASILIA 000348 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP MARK TAYLOR AND BARBARA FLECK, WHA/PPC FOR SCOTT MILLER, WHA/BSC FOR CAROLINE CROFT AND BOB WITAJEWSKI, INL, DRL, AND PRM. USAID. E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KTIP KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB BR SUBJECT: BRAZIL: NINTH ANNUAL TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS (TIP) REPORT, ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REFS: A. 08 STATE 132759, B. BRASILIA 250, B. BRASILIA 251, C. BRASILIA 252 ¶1. This message provides additional information on trafficking in persons in Brazil not previously reported in refs B, C, and D. With the exception of paragraph 4, the new information was provided by the National Secretariat of Justice (SNJ),which has been very cooperative and helpful to the Mission in the completion of this report, unlike in 2007 and 2008, when it refused to work with us on the report. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - THE COUNTRY'S TIP SITUATION - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (NOTE: Answer corresponds to questions in ref A, para. 23. END NOTE) Section E - - - - - ¶2. According to the SNJ, principal destination countries for Brazilian sex trafficking victims are Spain, The Netherlands, Venezuela, Italy, and Portugal, and the top destination countries for labor trafficking victims from Brazil are Bolivia and Paraguay. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - SETTING THE SCENE FOR THE GOVERNMENT'S ANTI-TIP EFFORTS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (NOTE: Answer corresponds to questions in ref A, para. 24. END NOTE) Section C - - - - - ¶3. According to the SNJ, TIP expenditures in the PRONASCI budget in 2008 were 750,000 reals (about USD 333,000). - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (NOTE: Answers correspond to questions in ref A, para. 25. END NOTE) Section E - - - - - ¶4. On March 4, 2009, a federal judge in, Maraba, Para state, convicted and sentenced 22 persons on slave labor charges, acquitted six on slave labor charges but convicted them of other, related charges, and acquitted another six defendants entirely of slave labor charges. According to official statements, the six who were completely acquitted could not be convicted because the charges dated from before 2003, before the alteration of Article 149 (Reducing a person to a condition analogous to slavery) to stipulate a prison sentence of greater than two years eight months. The sentences handed down ranged from three years, four months, in prison and fine of 100 "fine-days" to ten years, six months, in prison and 315 "fine-days" (Note. NFI on "fine-days," possibly based on minimum wage earnings. End note.) The defendants can appeal the sentences. According to a statement on the case from the Federal Prosecutor's office in Para, southeastern Para is the source of the greatest number of slave labor cases brought to the Federal Public Ministry, and of the 64 cases for Article 149 violations brought to the Federal Public Ministry in 2008, 46 concerned workers freed from farms in southeastern Para. This case is extremely important because it is the first instance of slave labor convictions in federal court that have resulted from the November 30, 2006, Supreme Court decision that gave federal courts the authority to try slave labor cases. Previously they were handled in state courts. Section F - - - - - ¶5. In September 2008, the National Secretariat of Justice (SNJ) carried out the First Training Course on Trafficking in Persons and BRASILIA 00000348 002 OF 003 Irregular Immigration, designed especially for officials who work in the restricted areas of the Guarulhos airport, Brazil's busiest, including federal police agents, phyto-sanitary inspectors, employees of Infraero (the airports authority),and the federal revenue service. In February 2007, the SNJ had provided a training course on the same subjects for airline employees, and federal and civil and police agents. Approximately 300 persons (total) participated in the two courses. ¶6. According to the SNJ, the government and the University of Brasilia have presented a distance learning course on TIP for 600 professionals (dates not specified). Section H - - - - - ¶7. According to the SNJ, Brazil has two pending extradition cases in which a judge in Bahia state requested the extradition from Spain of Brazilian women arrested in December 2008 on charges including international trafficking in persons. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - PROTECTION AND ASSISTANCE TO VICTIMS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (NOTE: Answers correspond to questions in ref A, para. 26. END NOTE) Section B - - - - - ¶8. According to the SNJ, the government works with shelters and health care providers to provide assistance to victims of trafficking and forced labor at over 600 sites, and a network of 400 centers work with children, including victims of commercial sexual exploitation and sex tourism. The government of the state of Sao Paulo continues working with an NGO to assist repatriated Brazilian women and adolescents who were trafficking victims. Also according to SNJ, the Assistance Program for Women and Adolescent Victims of Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation has been in continuous operation since October 2006 with funding from USAID, which provides it training, technical and financial assistance. The program has developed a judicial mechanism to provide social, psychological and legal assistance to child and adult victims, and was developed on the basis of the rights guaranteed to TIP victims in the Palermo Protocol. The program is being carried out in ten Brazilian cities, including Manaus, Sao Luis, Fortaleza, Natal, Foz do Iguacu, Rio Branco, Recife, Salvador, Sao Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro, all chosen because of their high incidence of trafficking in women and children. Section D - - - - - ¶9. According to the SNJ, over 20,000 Bolivians have been granted legal status in Brazil since the 2005 Brazil/Bolivia Migratory Regularization Agreement allowed them to adjust status. The SNJ states that the total number of Bolivians who have benefited is around 60,000 because the data do not include dependents. Section K - - - - - ¶10. According to the SNJ, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry recently (NFI) instructed its embassies and consulates to "map out" a network of support and shelter in order to provide partnerships and protection trafficking victims overseas. Section M - - - - - ¶11. According to the SNJ, a large number of NGOs with broad agendas are also involved in combatting trafficking in Brazil, including the Palmares Foundation, the "Cry for Life Network" (Rede Grito Pela Vida),as well as churches, working jointly with NGOs and the government. - - - - - - PREVENTION BRASILIA 00000348 003 OF 003 - - - - - - (NOTE: Answers correspond to questions in ref A, para. 27. END NOTE) Section A - - - - - ¶12. Following up on the successful First Libertas Prize competition, organized in 2008, the government plans to conduct a Second Libertas Prize competition in 2009. Section C - - - - - ¶13. Brazil and Portugal have a Cooperative Agreement for the Prevention and Repression of the Illicit Traffic in Immigrants. Under the auspices of the agreement, the SNJ and the government of Portugal are organizing the Second Luso-Brazilian Seminar on Trafficking in Persons and Irregular Immigration, to take place March 23 and 24, 2009, in Portugal. Section E - - - - - ¶14. The Sentinela victim assistance program has been renamed the Service to Confront Violence, Abuse and Sexual Exploitation Against Children and Adolescents. KUBISKE