GUATEMALA RESPONSE FOR 2009 TIP INTERIM ASSESSMENT

UNCLAS GUATEMALA 001292

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KTIP SMIG KCRM KWMN GT
SUBJECT: GUATEMALA RESPONSE FOR 2009 TIP INTERIM ASSESSMENT

REF: A) 09 STATE 11043; B) 09 GUATEMALA 108


1. (U) Below is Post's response to Ref. A request for an interim
TIP assessment.

IMPLEMENTING AND ENFORCING THE NEW ANTI-TRAFFICKING LAW

2.(SBU) Since the passage of the Law against Sexual Violence,
Exploitation and Trafficking in Persons in March 2009, the GoG has
done little to implement or enforce the law. As required by the
new law, the government established a new Secretariat within Vice
President Rafael Espada's office to administer and coordinate
anti-trafficking efforts within the GoG. However, civil society
contacts with whom poloffs met complained that the Secretariat has
so far done little more than hold meetings. The Secretariat's
director, Oscar Perdomo, said that since April the group has
consulted with Congress regarding the law and the Secretariat's
mandate and begun to map different institutions within government
and civil society to identify what officials are doing.

INCREASING EFFORTS TO INVESTIGATE AND PROSECUTE TRAFFICKING
OFFENSES, AND CONVICTING AND PUNISHING TRAFFICKING OFFENDERS,
INCLUDING PUBLIC OFFICIALS COMPLICIT IN TRAFFICKING ACTIVITY


3. (SBU) The Attorney General (Public Ministry) has an office
dedicated to issues of human trafficking and illegal adoption.
According to press reports and civil society contacts, however, the
office lacks adequate resources and funding to effectively
investigate and prosecute trafficking perpetrators in Guatemala.
Though the office has had up to three prosecutors this year, it
currently only has two, the same as for 2008. The office has
achieved only two trafficking-related convictions thus far this
year, bringing to seven the total number of convictions since its
establishment in 2007. The lead prosecutor in the office said he
has not seen any concrete evidence to suggest that public officials
are complicit with trafficking activity. Civil society contacts
dispute this assertion, however, claiming that there is plenty of
evidence to suggest otherwise, particularly among public officials
located along Guatemala's borders.

PURSUING SUSPECTED CASES OF FORCED LABOR AND DOMESTIC SERVITUDE
CRIMES, IN ADDITION TO SUSPECTED CASES OF ADULT SEX-TRAFFICKING


4. (U) The office within the Public Ministry dedicated to TIP and
irregular adoptions noted that the prosecution of labor crimes is
also within its purview, but admitted to not having prosecuted any
such cases thus far. Irregular adoptions make up 75 percent of the
unit's case load while TIP cases account for the other 25 percent.
Civil society representatives noted that cases of forced labor are
just beginning to be treated as trafficking cases, rather than
labor violations. The Ministry of Labor has started to work on the
issue over the past year, however, there are even fewer resources
for labor-related trafficking than there are for sexual
trafficking.

IMPROVING VICTIM SERVICES AND ASSISTANCE


5. (U) Currently, all services specially designed for trafficking
victims are run by civil society and humanitarian organizations.
The situation in Guatemala deteriorated further during 2009 as one
of the primary shelters for trafficking victims, Alliance House,
closed for financial reasons (Ref B). (Note: Alliance House was
the Guatemalan operation of Covenant House, a US based non-profit
organization. Last month Covenant House won a grant from G/TIP to
re-establish its shelter operation in Guatemala City). The
government continues to treat detained trafficking victims and
migrants without distinction. In a migrant detention center in
Guatemala City, the trafficking victims have access to a small
private space, but there are no social services specifically
dedicated to trafficking and victims are deported to their
respective home countries utilizing the same procedures used for
migrants.

INCREASING ANTI-TRAFFICKING TRAINING FOR JUDGES AND POLICE


6. (U) Many members of civil society indicated to poloffs that
judges and police are poorly informed or ignorant with regard to
trafficking. There has been minimal effort beyond that required by
official protocol to promulgate or train justice officials in the
new law since it entered into force. The Ministry of Foreign
Affairs noted that while some outreach efforts have continued, they
are mostly ad hoc. Unfortunately, training opportunities for the
justice sector on trafficking issues have not increased due to a
lack of resources.

INCREASING FUNDING FOR ANTI-TRAFFICKING EFFORTS, PARTICULARLY FOR
THE COUNTRY'S DEDICATED PROSECUTORIAL AND POLICE UNITS


7. (U) Over the past six months, funds dedicated to
anti-trafficking efforts have remained unchanged or decreased, with
the exception of the Secretary for Trafficking within Vice
President Espada's office, which received a small budget of
approximately USD 25,000 during 2009. While the new trafficking
law mandates that the office receive approximately USD 700,000 each
year, the officer director, Oscar Perdomo, predicted that his
office would most likely not receive anything close to that amount
in 2010. Various civil society representatives noted that
additional resources were desperately needed by government
institutions, especially within the Attorney General's Office, in
order to effectively combat trafficking.
MCFARLAND