GOC RESPONDS TO TIP DESIGNATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HAVANA 000437

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/15/2019
TAGS: PREL PHUM PGOV CU
SUBJECT: GOC RESPONDS TO TIP DESIGNATION

Classified By: CHG Buddy Williams for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary: MINREX presented us with a diplomatic note
(no. 3335, dated July 8) responding to our note that had
informed the GOC of the release of the 2009 Trafficking in
Persons (TIP) report and Cuba's Tier III designation. While
the GOC's 4-page note opens with a typically searing
rejection of the 2009 TIP report, it then continues with a
comparatively more measured (by GOC standards) listing of the
ways the GOC believes the USG erred in reporting the TIP
situation in Cuba. In spite of the intemperate tone of the
note, USINT views its more focused attention to the issue of
trafficking in persons as a positive development. End
Summary.


2. (SBU) The Cuban Foreign Ministry (MINREX) presented the
following note to USINT on July 9 (informal USINT
translation).

"The Ministry of Foreign relations presents its compliments
to the honorable Embassy of Switzerland, Section of United
States of America Interests in response to the Section's note
No. 360 of June 15 2009 through which it reported on the
decision to place Cuba once again in Category III of the
annual Trafficking in Persons Report of the Department of
State.

"The Ministry rejects categorically the contents of this new
report from the Department of State that distorts the reality
of Cuba for political reasons in a renewed attempt to justify
its failed policy of hostility and blockade against Cuba.

"Once again the Government of the United States misses the
truth of the real situation. It ignores in an arbitrary
fashion the Constitution and current legislation in Cuba that
make up the Law of Childhood and Adolescence and the Law of
the Family, among other key instruments for the protection of
women and children in Cuban society. Moreover, it ignores
the modifications introduced to the Criminal Code by Decree
Laws 175 of June 17, 1997 and 87 of February 16 1999, which
ratified severe punishment in the prosecution of crimes
connected with trafficking in persons and (pimping),as well
as the traffic and sale of minors, among others. It fails to
acknowledge the worldwide recognition of the exemplary
performance of Cuba in the promotion and protection of its
women and children.

"The Ministry of Foreign Relations wishes to recall that
throughout its history Cuba has signed and ratified 10
international agreements related to the theme of trafficking
in persons, among the most recent the Convention on the
Rights of the Child, ratified by Cuba on August 21 1991; the
Operative Protocol of the Convention on the Rights of the
Child concerning the sale of children, child prostitution,
and the use of children in pornography, adopted on May 25
2000 and ratified on September 25, 2001; and the United
Nations Convention against Transnational Organized crime,
signed December 13, 2000 and ratified February 9, 2007.

"The Department of State's report pays no attention to the
information provided by Cuba in international fora concerning
trafficking in persons, in which the measures taken in
confronting, preventing, and combating this scourge are
listed. In the same way, it is surprising that the
Government of the United States does not even recall that on
June 13, 2008, Cuban authorities returned at your request
U.S. citizen Leonard B. Auerbach, arrested in Cuba on May 7,
2008, for whom there was an outstanding arrest warrant in the
U.S. for the crimes of sexual exploitation of a minor, and
transportation and possession of child pornography. In
making that decision, the Government of Cuba took into
consideration the gravity of those crimes, against which
Cuban authorities struggle hard and in collaboration with
other countries.

"The Ministry of Foreign Relations sees no value in the
report of the Department of State, whose contents constitute
a clear and unilateral manipulation of international
cooperation in the fight against the scourge of trafficking
in persons, besides ignoring the recognized and respected
social achievements and guarantees that Cuba offers its
citizens, especially its women, children, and elderly, in the
areas of health, education, and social security and well
being.

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"Likewise, the Ministry refutes the unilateral exercise
through which the Government of the United States annually
grants itself the illegitimate right to act as judge in
evaluating the conduct of others, ignoring its own record on
the subject. Instead of trying to lecture Cuba, the
Government of the United States ought to concern itself with
the grave problems found inside its own borders, where much
needs to be done to confront the phenomena of rampant
prostitution, sexual exploitation, forced labor, and
trafficking in persons.

"To cite only a few examples, according to data published by
the United Nations, it is estimated that between 45 thousand
and 50 thousand women and children are transported by human
traffickers for purposes of sexual exploitation and forced
labor in the United States. The number of boys, girls, and
teenagers who are victims of sexual exploitation in the
United States is even greater, possibly at least 300
thousand. Moreover, the Armed Forces of the United States
stationed abroad is one of the principal sources of sexual
exploitation in the world.

"Cuba and the world hope that the Government of the United
States fulfills its promises of change and, finally, puts an
end to the criminal blockade that it maintains against the
Cuban people, and leaves behind the disgraceful legacy of the
Bush administration, that made campaigns to discredit Cuba
like this one a substantial part of its aggressive policy,
which is unsustainable and damages the international
credibility of the United States.

"Complimentary close"


3. (C) COMMENT: In spite of the harsh tone of the note,
USINT sees it as a small step forward on the trafficking in
persons issue. Previous reports had prompted the delivery of
notes that contained little more than invective and which
invariably referred exclusively to alien smuggling rather
than trafficking in persons. USINT believes that putting the
focus of this year's TIP report on the GOC's absolute lack of
transparency on the issue of trafficking in persons, forced
it to address the subject more seriously than in the past.
With the GOC it is always more important to judge it by its
actions rather than by its rhetoric. It will be interesting
to talk to some of our diplomatic colleagues who handle the
TIP issue and work more directly with the GOC to gauge
whether or not the Cuban government is beginning to change
its ways.
WILLIAMS