President Jagdeo Discusses Human Trafficking in Guyana

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 GEORGETOWN 000539

SIPDIS
NOFORN
G/TIP - AMY ROFMAN
G
INL
DRL
PRM
WHA/PPC - SCOTT MILLER
AMEMBASSY BRIDGETOWN PASS TO AMEMBASSY GRENADA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/12/02
TAGS: PHUM SMIG PREF ELAB KTIP KCRM KWMN KFRD GY
SUBJECT: President Jagdeo Discusses Human Trafficking in Guyana

CLASSIFIED BY: Karen L. Williams, Charge d'affaires; REASON: 1.4(B),
(D)


1. (C) Summary. In an unexpected meeting with a visiting G/TIP
Officer on November 24, President Bharatt Jagdeo said he views
trafficking in persons as a serious matter and would like to see
Guyana ranked higher than Tier 2 Watch list. He said there are
three on-going cases to prosecute traffickers, but that he cannot
"guarantee" a conviction to occur anytime soon. He cautioned
against placing too much credence on anecdotal evidence and
encouraged future visits by G/TIP to visit mining camp areas. End
Summary.


2. (C) Background. Although G/TIP Officer Amy Rofman was scheduled
to meet with Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee only, Rofman
and PolChief met with both Minister Rohee and President Jagdeo on
November 24 as both men were attending a two-day National Crime
Prevention Conference. The November 23-24 G/TIP visit also
involved high-level meetings with other senior GoG officials and
several NGO representatives as well as a meeting with a community
focal group in Charity on the East Coast of Guyana.


3. (C) President Jagdeo stated November 24 that while prostitution
does occur, there are very few trafficking cases in Guyana with
only three identified and that periodic alleged cases of
trafficking reported in mining camps and Chinese restaurants do not
meet the definition of trafficking but prostitution. He also
emphasized that ranking Guyana Tier 2 based on the fact that Guyana
has not had a trafficking conviction in recent years overlooks the
positive actions that the GoG has taken to combat trafficking. He
cited the establishment of a Child Protection and Care Agency and
community focal groups as positive GoG actions towards combating
trafficking. He also stated that he "would love to have
traffickers languish in jail," but that he "cannot guarantee that
the judiciary will move so quickly to prosecute a case." He
stressed that there is a huge backlog of existing cases and that
even a murder case in Guyana can take 10 years to complete.


4. (C) President Jagdeo said that he welcomes NGO involvement in
the fight against trafficking, but that NGOs only have anecdotal
evidence to provide. He cited the Guyana Human Rights Association
as an example: it has only one full-time representative on the
ground to examine trafficking and human rights issues. Therefore,
Jagdeo cautioned against placing too much credence on NGOs with
limited capacity and no documented evidence to base reports. He
did, however, welcome evidence from NGOs and other organizations
that identifies victims of trafficking so that those cases can be
brought to GoG attention for action. He ended the meeting by
offering to make a public statement on combating trafficking in
persons in hopes that such a statement would help move Guyana from
Tier 2 Watch list to a higher ranking.


5. (C) Minister of Human Services and Social Security Priya
Manikchand on November 23 said that the GoG is spending
considerable resources to keep focal groups in operation. She
emphasized that since 2004 the GoG has launched public awareness
campaigns to address trafficking in persons. She said the 2009 TIP
Report is not inaccurate, but that ranking Guyana Tier 2 Watch list
because it does not have a recent conviction is not justified. "We
have a problem on how you weigh things" and "you are dead wrong on
this issue" she argued. Minister Manikchand acknowledged that
there is a backlog of cases in the judicial system and that she
herself would like to see a conviction, but that court cases are
left to courts to decide. She argued that if the GoG is able to
meet nine out of ten requirements in its effort to combat
trafficking in persons but is punished for not being able to have a
conviction, the problem lies not with GoG efforts, but the process
through which Guyana is ranked in Washington.


6. (SBU) Meetings with representatives on November 23-24 from
United Nations Children's Fund, U.S.-based NGO Catholic Relief
Services and victim's assistance NGO Help and Shelter confirmed
earlier reports that no broad-based, thorough surveys regarding
trafficking exist in Guyana. We were told that Amerindian woman
were most vulnerable, that trafficking likely occurs in mining
camps and in Chinese restaurants along the East and West Coast, but

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representatives admitted that none of these reports were based on
firsthand evidence. A focal group team we met in Charity on the
East Coast of Guyana as well as NGO representatives pointed to
judicial branch "malaise" and the backlog of court cases as a
reason for lack of trafficking convictions.
WILLIAMS