Identifier | Created | Classification | Origin |
---|---|---|---|
09SANTODOMINGO1299 | 2009-11-19 18:43:00 | UNCLASSIFIED | Embassy Santo Domingo |
VZCZCXYZ0006 RR RUEHWEB DE RUEHDG #1299 3231843 ZNR UUUUU ZZH R 191843Z NOV 09 FM AMEMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0055 INFO RUEHBH/AMEMBASSY NASSAU RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS RUEHDG/AMEMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO RUEHKG/AMEMBASSY KINGSTON RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID 0001 RUEHPU/AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE RUEHSP/AMEMBASSY PORT OF SPAIN RUEHWN/AMEMBASSY BRIDGETOWN RUEHZP/AMEMBASSY PANAMA |
UNCLAS SANTO DOMINGO 001299 |
1. SUMMARY: Although the issue of addressing trafficking in
persons is given support from the highest levels of the Government of the Dominican Republic (GoDR), including the office of the First Lady, there is limited progress to report for the interim period. The GoDR has developed a National Action Plan to Combat Trafficking, but we have not received any response to our requests for information on efforts to prosecute cases. Please refer to Post's email providing the 2009 Human Rights Report to DRL of 28Oct2009 (Trafficking in Persons section) for more details about the TIP situation in the DR. END SUMMARY. 2. Background: The good news is that G/TIP is providing funding to assist non-governmental organizations to work on TIP-related issues, and the GoDR appears to have good relations with two of the main grantees: The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and FINJUS (the Foundation for Institutionalization and Justice). A significant portion of this money will go to help the GoDR implement parts of the National Action Plan to Combat Trafficking, which has yet to receive GoDR funding. GoDR underfunding of education and ineffectiveness in combating corruption, as well as widespread poverty on the island (both in Haiti and the DR) constitute the context in which trafficking takes place in, to and from the DR. 3. With respect to the TIP situation generally, please refer to the email containing Post's Human Rights Report (Trafficking in Persons section) of 28OCT2009 (Ref B). With respect to the specific items requested in section "I" of Ref A, Post submits the following responses, with the understanding that additional information will be provided as warranted: a) Post has requested the latest data from the office of the Assistant Attorney General in charge of prosecuting trafficking cases, but has not yet received a substantive response. b) Post is checking with labor-organizing NGOs about the extent to which "potential" situations involving "labor trafficking" (a person in a relatively low-paying job being forced to accept worse labor conditions, or involuntary servitude) are being investigated. c) Victim assistance and shelter activities continued as before, with the prospect of some additional shelters thanks to G/TIP funding. d) As noted in the last TIP report, "victims' rights were generally respected once individuals were recognized as victims, and the victims were not typically jailed or penalized for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked." This continues to be the case. e) The National anti-TIP Action Plan contains various activities designed to increase prevention and demand-reduction efforts, that have yet to begin, but should start with the receipt of G/TIP monies. f & g) Again, the National anti-TIP Action Plan, once its implementation begins in earnest, should result in "increased" efforts with respect to (i) identifying possible victims and (ii) training appropriate officials. 5. COMMENT: GoDR statements, laws and plans provide hope that anti-trafficking efforts will generally increase or improve. G/TIP funding will, as indicated, help to some extent. Nevertheless, until/unless government funding to implement the National Action Plan to Combat Trafficking is forthcoming, and until the Attorney General's Office commences serious trafficking investigations and prosecutions, progress on combating trafficking in persons in the Dominican Republic will remain a hope, not a reality. END COMMENT. Lambert |