TIP SUBMISSION - ST. KITTS AND NEVIS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 BRIDGETOWN 000122

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, PRM, AND WHA/CAR STATE PASS
TO USAID/LAC/CAR-BOUNCY

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KTIP XL PHUM KWMN ELAB SMIG ASEC KFRD PREF VC
SUBJECT: TIP SUBMISSION - ST. KITTS AND NEVIS

REF: STATE 132759


1. (U) As requested in reftel, below are Post's responses to
questions regarding St. Kitts and Nevis for the annual
Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report.

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PARA 23 - THE COUNTRY'S TIP SITUATION
--------------


2. (SBU)
-- A. What is (are) the source(s) of available information on
trafficking in persons? What plans are in place (if any) to
undertake further documentation of human trafficking? How
reliable are these sources?

There are four sources of TIP information available: the
press, the police, the Ministry of Gender Affairs, and the
Prime Minister's office, which is primarily contacted through
the press secretary. All sources are reliable, however, the
government has been unhappy with information in past State
Department reports and is careful about what information it
releases to the Embassy. The government and civil society do
not consider TIP to be problem in the country.

-- B. Is the country a country of origin, transit, and/or
destination for internationally trafficked men, women, or
children? Does trafficking occur within the country's
borders? If so, does internal trafficking occur in territory
outside of the government's control (e.g. in a civil war
situation)? To where are people trafficked? For what
purposes are they trafficked? Provide, where possible,
numbers or estimates for each group of trafficking victims.
Have there been any changes in the TIP situation since the
last TIP Report (e.g. changes in destinations)?

St. Kitts and Nevis (SKN) is a small twin-island nation with
a population of 38,500. There have been no reports of TIP
from the government or the press during the reporting period.
In conversations with TIP contacts, the only potential TIP
concerns are persons being trafficked through St. Kitts and
Nevis to the U.S., Europe or Canada. St. Kitts and Nevis has
the potential to become a country of transit primarily for
young women from the Dominican Republic, Guyana, Venezuela or
other countries in the region. There are no reports of
trafficking occurring within the country's borders. There
are no sources of TIP statistics and estimates point to a
minimal problem, if any. The only change in the TIP
situation from last year was the passing of anti-TIP
legislation by the St. Kitts and Nevis parliament in August,

2008.


-- C. What kind of conditions are the victims trafficked into?

There have been no reports of women traveling or being
trafficked to SKN to engage in prostitution, but prostitution
exists. There have been no reports of sexual slavery or
trafficking of children for prostitution.


-- D. Vulnerability to TIP: Are certain groups of persons
more at risk of being trafficked (e.g. women and children,
boys versus girls, certain ethnic groups, refugees, IDPs,
etc.)?

Young women are the most vulnerable group in SKN, but there
is currently no evidence that they are being trafficked.


-- E. Traffickers and Their Methods: Who are the
traffickers/exploiters? Are they independent business
people? Small or family-based crime groups? Large
international organized crime syndicates? What methods are
used to approach victims? For example, are they offered
lucrative jobs, sold by their families, or approached by
friends of friends? What methods are used to move the
victims (e.g., are false documents being used?). Are
employment, travel, and tourism agencies or marriage brokers
involved with or fronting for traffickers or crime groups to
traffic individuals?

There have been no reports of TIP by the press or the
government. Small business owners of establishments such as
bars and/or brothels may offer women employment as

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prostitutes, however there is no evidence any women have been
trafficked against their will. There is no indication that
employment, travel, or tourism agencies, or marriage brokers,
are involved in TIP.


--------------
PARA 24 - SETTING THE SCENE FOR
THE GOVERNMENT'S ANTI-TIP EFFORTS
--------------


3. (SBU)

-- A. Does the government acknowledge that trafficking is a
problem in the country? If not, why not?

The government does not deny that TIP may occur in isolated
incidents, but does not acknowledge TIP is a serious problem,
and there have been no reports of TIP.


-- B. Which government agencies are involved in
anti-trafficking efforts and which agency, if any, has the
lead?

The police, Ministry of Gender affairs, Ministry of Justice
and the Ministry of National security are all involved in
anti-TIP efforts. The Ministry of Justice and the police
have the lead. The police investigate TIP cases and the
Ministry of Justice is responsible for prosecuting TIP cases.


-- C. What are the limitations on the government's ability to
address this problem in practice? For example, is funding
for police or other institutions inadequate? Is overall
corruption a problem? Does the government lack the resources
to aid victims?

Almost every government agency in St. Kitts and Nevis lacks
sufficient resources, including funding and staffing. The
police suffer from a lack of experience and training in TIP,
and are pre-occupied with a serious and escalating crime
situation. They have few resources dedicated to potential
trafficking cases and enforcement against prostitution is
almost non-existent. The St. Kitts and Nevis Defense Force's
ability to patrol its coast line is limited.


-- D. To what extent does the government systematically
monitor its anti-trafficking efforts (on all fronts --
prosecution, victim protection, and prevention) and
periodically make available, publicly or privately and
directly or through regional/international organizations, its
assessments of these anti-trafficking efforts?

The government does not take specific measures to monitor
potential trafficking and has no official reports or
statistics.

--------------
PARA 25 - INVESTIGATION AND
PROSECUTION OF TRAFFICKERS
--------------


4. (SBU)

-- A. Existing Laws against TIP: Does the country have a law
or laws specifically prohibiting trafficking in persons --
both for sexual exploitation and labor? If so, please
specifically cite the name of the law(s) and its date of
enactment and provide the exact language (actual copies
preferable) of the TIP provisions. Please provide a full
inventory of trafficking laws, including non-criminal
statutes that allow for civil penalties against alleged
trafficking crimes (e.g., civil forfeiture laws and laws
against illegal debt). Does the law(s) cover both internal
and transnational forms of trafficking? If not, under what
other laws can traffickers be prosecuted? For example, are
there laws against slavery or the exploitation of
prostitution by means of force, fraud, or coercion? Are
these other laws being used in trafficking cases?

In August, 2008, St. Kitts and Nevis passed the Trafficking
in Persons Prevention Act in order to prevent, punish and
suppress trafficking in persons for both sexual exploitation

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and labor. The trafficking in persons laws criminalize the
act of trafficking in persons and include all elements of the
offense so that the person who masterminds the trafficking is
just as culpable as the person who actively participates in
the offense. The law covers both internal and transnational
forms of trafficking. The law also addresses the restricting
of a person's movement by unlawfully withholding
identification of travel documents and allows the courts to
order the perpetrator of the trafficking to pay restitution
to the victims.

-- B. Punishment of Sex Trafficking Offenses: What are the
prescribed and imposed penalties for trafficking people for
sexual exploitation?

The penalties for trafficking people for sexual exploitation
is 20 years imprisonment or a $250,000 EC($92,500 US) fine,
or both, based on the court's discretion.

-- C. Punishment of Labor Trafficking Offenses: What are the
prescribed and imposed penalties for trafficking for labor
exploitation, such as forced or bonded labor? If your
country is a source country for labor migrants, do the
government's laws provide for criminal punishment -- i.e.
jail time -- for labor recruiters who engage in recruitment
of workers using knowingly fraudulent or deceptive offers
with the purpose of subjecting workers to trafficking in the
destination country? If your country is a destination for
labor migrants, are there laws punishing employers or labor
agents who confiscate workers' passports or travel documents
for the purpose of trafficking, switch contracts without the
worker's consent as a means to keep the worker in a state of
service, or withhold payment of salaries as means of keeping
the worker in a state of service?

The penalties for trafficking people for sexual exploitation
is 20 years imprisonment or a $250,000 EC ($92,500 US) fine,
or both, based on the court's discretion. St. Kitts is a
labor destination country, and under the Trafficking in
Persons Prevention Act, the government may prosecute anyone
who participates in TIP at any level.

-- D. What are the prescribed penalties for rape or forcible
sexual assault?

The maximum penalty for rape or forcible sexual assault is
life imprisonment. Indecent assault on a minor carries a
maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment.

-- E. Law Enforcement Statistics: Did the government
prosecute any cases against human trafficking offenders
during the reporting period? If so, provide numbers of
investigations, prosecutions, convictions, and sentences
imposed, including details on plea bargains and fines, if
relevant and available. Please note the number of convicted
traffickers who received suspended sentences and the number
who received only a fine as punishment. Please indicate which
laws were used to investigate, prosecute, convict, and
sentence traffickers. Also, if possible, please disaggregate
numbers of cases by type of TIP (labor vs. commercial sexual
exploitation) and victims (children under 18 years of age vs.
adults). If in a labor source country, did the government
criminally prosecute labor recruiters who recruit workers
using knowingly fraudulent or deceptive offers or by imposing
fees or commissions for the purpose of subjecting the worker
to debt bondage? Did the government in a labor destination
country criminally prosecute employers or labor agents who
confiscate workers' passports/travel documents for the
purpose of trafficking, switch contracts or terms of
employment without the worker's consent to keep workers in a
state of service, use physical or sexual abuse or the threat
of such abuse to keep workers in a state of service, or
withhold payment of salaries as a means to keep workers in a
state of service? What were the actual punishments imposed
on persons convicted of these offenses? Are the traffickers
serving the time sentenced? If not, why not?

The government did not prosecute any cases against human
trafficking offenders. St. Kitts and Nevis is a labor
destination country, but there were no cases of labor agents
confiscating workers' travel documents.

-- F. Does the government provide any specialized training
for government officials in how to recognize, investigate,
and prosecute instances of trafficking? Specify whether NGOs,

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international organizations, and/or the USG provide
specialized training for host government officials.

The government has partnered with the International
Organization for Migration to provide some training on how to
recognize and investigate instances of trafficking.

--G. Does the government cooperate with other governments in
the investigation and prosecution of trafficking cases? If
possible, provide the number of cooperative international
investigations on trafficking during the reporting period.

There are no such cases on record.

-- H. Does the government extradite persons who are charged
with trafficking in other countries? If so, please provide
the number of traffickers extradited during the reporting
period, and the number of trafficking extraditions pending.
In particular, please report on any pending or concluded
extraditions of trafficking offenders to the United States.

The government has never extradited or charged anyone with
TIP-related crimes. Under the Trafficking in Persons
Prevention Act, TIP is an extraditable offense.

-- I. Is there evidence of government involvement in or
tolerance of trafficking, on a local or institutional level?
If so, please explain in detail.

The only reports of the government's potential involvement in
the tolerance of TIP are local police officers tolerating
prostitution.

-- J. If government officials are involved in trafficking,
what steps has the government taken to end such
participation? Please indicate the number of government
officials investigated and prosecuted for involvement in
trafficking or trafficking-related corruption during the
reporting period. Have any been convicted? What sentence(s)
was imposed? Please specify if officials received suspended
sentences, or were given a fine, fired, or reassigned to
another position within the government as punishment. Please
indicate the number of convicted officials that received
suspended sentences or received only a fine as punishment.

There is no evidence suggesting government officials are
involved in TIP, and no government officials have been
charged or prosecuted for TIP-related offenses.

-- K. Is prostitution legalized or decriminalized?
Specifically, are the activities of the prostitute
criminalized? Are the activities of the brothel
owner/operator, clients, pimps, and enforcers criminalized?
Are these laws enforced? If prostitution is legal and
regulated, what is the legal minimum age for this activity?
Note that in countries with federalist systems, prostitution
laws may be under state or local jurisdiction and may differ
among jurisdictions.

Prostitution is illegal, but there is almost no enforcement.

-- L. For countries that contribute troops to international
peacekeeping efforts, please indicate whether the government
vigorously investigated, prosecuted, convicted and sentenced
nationals of the country deployed abroad as
part of a peacekeeping or other similar mission who engaged
in or facilitated severe forms of trafficking or who
exploited victims of such trafficking.

St. Kitts and Nevis does not generally contribute troops to
international peacekeeping efforts.

-- M. If the country has an identified problem of child sex
tourists coming to the country, what are the countries of
origin for sex tourists? How many foreign pedophiles did the
government prosecute or deport/extradite to their country of
origin? If your host country's nationals are perpetrators of
child sex tourism, do the country's child sexual abuse laws
have extraterritorial coverage (similar to the U.S. PROTECT
Act) to allow the prosecution of suspected sex tourists for
crimes committed abroad? If so, how many of the country's
nationals were prosecuted and/or convicted during the
reporting period under the extraterritorial provision(s) for
traveling to other countries to engage in child sex tourism?


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St. Kitts and Nevis does not have an identified problem of
child sex tourists coming to the country.

-------------- -
PARA 26 - PROTECTION AND ASSISTANCE TO VICTIMS
-------------- -


5. (SBU)

-- A. What kind of protection is the government able under
existing law to provide for victims and witnesses? Does it
provide these protections in practice?

The Trafficking in Persons Prevention Act provides protection
for victims of TIP and includes protections against
recapture, threats, reprisals and intimidation by the
traffickers and associates. These same protections apply to
the victim's family.

-- B. Does the country have victim care facilities (shelters
or drop-in centers) which are accessible to trafficking
victims? Do foreign victims have the same access to care as
domestic trafficking victims? Where are child victims placed
(e.g., in shelters, foster care, or juvenile justice
detention centers)? Does the country have specialized care
for adults in addition to children? Does the country have
specialized care for male victims as well as female? Does
the country have specialized facilities dedicated to helping
victims of trafficking? Are these facilities operated by the
government or by NGOs? What is the funding source of these
facilities? Please estimate the amount the government spent
(in U.S. dollar equivalent) on these specialized facilities
dedicated to helping trafficking victims during the reporting
period.

St. Kitts and Nevis does not operate a victim care facility
or shelter.

-- C. Does the government provide trafficking victims with
access to legal, medical and psychological services? If so,
please specify the kind of assistance provided. Does the
government provide funding or other forms of support to
foreign or domestic NGOs and/or international organizations
for providing these services to trafficking victims? Please
explain and provide any funding amounts in U.S. dollar
equivalent. If assistance provided was in-kind, please
specify exact assistance. Please specify if funding for
assistance comes from a federal budget or from regional or
local governments.

The Ministry of Gender affairs is able to provide minimal
counseling for victims, but the government does not currently
provide funding or shelter.

-- D. Does the government assist foreign trafficking victims,
for example, by providing temporary to permanent residency
status, or other relief from deportation? If so, please
explain.

The government does not provide access to legal and
psychological services, but would provide basic medical
services to victims of TIP through the state-run hospital.

-- E. Does the government provide longer-term shelter or
housing benefits to victims or other resources to aid the
victims in rebuilding their lives?

No.

-- F. Does the government have a referral process to transfer
victims detained, arrested or placed in protective custody by
law enforcement authorities to institutions that provide
short- or long-term care (either government or NGO-run)?

No.

-- G. What is the total number of trafficking victims
identified during the reporting period? Of these, how many
victims were referred to care facilities for assistance by
law enforcement authorities during the reporting period? By
social services officials? What is the number of victims
assisted by government-funded assistance programs and those
not funded by the government during the reporting period?

There were no reports of TIP victims during the reporting

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period.

-- H. Do the government's law enforcement, immigration, and
social services personnel have a formal system of proactively
identifying victims of trafficking among high-risk persons
with whom they come in contact (e.g., foreign persons
arrested for prostitution or immigration violations)? For
countries with legalized prostitution, does the government
have a mechanism for screening for trafficking victims among
persons involved in the legal/regulated commercial sex trade?

There is no system in place to proactively identify TIP
victims.

-- I. Are the rights of victims respected? Are trafficking
victims detained or jailed? If so, for how long? Are
victims fined? Are victims prosecuted for violations of
other laws, such as those governing immigration or
prostitution?

Since there were no reports of TIP victims, this information
is unavailable.

-- J. Does the government encourage victims to assist in the
investigation and prosecution of trafficking? How many
victims assisted in the investigation and prosecution of
traffickers during the reporting period? May victims file
civil suits or seek legal action against traffickers? Does
anyone impede victim access to such legal redress? If a
victim is a material witness in a court case against a former
employer, is the victim permitted to obtain other employment
or to leave the country pending trial proceedings? Are there
means by which a victim may obtain restitution?

Since there were no reports of TIP victims, this information
is unavailable.

-- K. Does the government provide any specialized training
for government officials in identifying trafficking victims
and in the provision of assistance to trafficked victims,
including the special needs of trafficked children? Does the
government provide training on protections and assistance to
its embassies and consulates in foreign countries that are
destination or transit countries? What is the number of
trafficking victims assisted by the host country's embassies
or consulates abroad during the reporting period? Please
explain the type of assistance provided (travel documents,
referrals to assistance, payment for transportation home).

Various government employees have received training in
identifying potential TIP victims, but this training has not
reached all relevant personnel. There are no reports of the
embassies of St. Kitts and Nevis assisting TIP victims abroad.

- L. Does the government provide assistance, such as medical
aid, shelter, or financial help, to its nationals who are
repatriated as victims of trafficking?

The government does not provide any special services specific
to TIP victims. If victims of TIP who are nationals of St.
Kitts and Nevis are repatriated, only the normal social
services are available.

-- M. Which international organizations or NGOs, if any, work
with trafficking victims? What type of services do they
provide? What sort of cooperation do they receive from local
authorities?

International Organization for Migration has provided some
training and assistance in developing standards and action
plans, and receives good cooperation from the government.

--------------
PARA 27 - PREVENTION
--------------


6. (SBU)

-- A. Did the government conduct anti-trafficking information
or education campaigns during the reporting period? If so,
briefly describe the campaign(s),including their objectives
and effectiveness. Please provide the number of people
reached by such awareness efforts, if available. Do these
campaigns target potential trafficking victims and/or the
demand for trafficking (e.g. "clients" of prostitutes or

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beneficiaries of forced labor)? (Note: This can be an
especially noteworthy effort where prostitution is legal. End
Note.)

The government did not conduct anti-trafficking for education
campaigns.

-- B. Does the government monitor immigration and emigration
patterns for evidence of trafficking?

The government does not monitor immigration and emigration
patterns for evidence of trafficking.

-- C. Is there a mechanism for coordination and communication
between various agencies, internal, international, and
multilateral on trafficking-related matters, such as a
multi-agency working group or a task force?

There are no specific mechanisms for coordination and
communication between various agencies on trafficking-related
matters aside from normal communication on criminal activity
among government agencies.

-- D. Does the government have a national plan of action to
address trafficking in persons? If the plan was developed
during the reporting period, which agencies were involved in
developing it? Were NGOs consulted in the process? What
steps has the government taken to implement the action plan?

There is no government plan of action to address TIP.

-- E: What measures has the government taken during the
reporting period to reduce the demand for commercial sex
acts? (see ref B, para. 9(3) for examples)

The government undertakes minimal action to stop prostitution
as part of its regular law enforcement responsibilities.

-- F. Required of all Posts: What measures has the government
taken during the reporting period to reduce the participation
in international child sex tourism by nationals of the
country?

There is no evidence of participation in international child
sex tourism by nationals of St. Kitts and Nevis.
HARDT