TIP REPORT 2009 Q SUBMISSION FROM EMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO,

UNCLAS SANTO DOMINGO 000278 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR G/TIP, G-ACBLANK, SKRONENBERG, WHA/CAR BPREMONT E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KTIP ELAB KCRM KFRD KWMN PGOV PHUM PREF DR SUBJECT: TIP REPORT 2009 Q SUBMISSION FROM EMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO, DR REF: A) 08 STATE 132759, B) 08 SANTO DOMINGO 1717, C) 08 SANTO DOMINGO 1815, D) SANTO DOMINGO 260 ¶1. (U) This constitutes Embassy Santo DomingoQs initial submission and response to ref A for the 2009 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) annual report. Post may add information if/as GODR officials or other sources provide any further details. Per ref A paragraph 1, the following is submitted in response to, and keyed to, questions posed in ref A paragraphs 23-27. See also comment section in this cable to help put the DRQs TIP situation in full perspective. ¶2. (SBU) Comment and Overview: The Dominican Republic ranks as a middle-income country but 43 percent of its 9 million people live in poverty. Therefore, progress on combating trafficking in persons competes for government attention with issues such as lack of potable water, health, job creation, and the recurrence of Dengue fever outbreaks. Several non-governmental organizations have taken the lead and are working with the GODR on prevention and/or protection and assistance to victims of human smuggling and trafficking in persons Q concepts covered by the same Dominican law. Data on human trafficking are uncertain, and such data as may be mentioned by governmental or non-governmental sources tend to mix smuggling and trafficking together. Thus, in late 2007, the NGO QCentro de Orientacion e Investigacion IntegralQ (COIN) indicated that a hotline it operated received 150 to 200 calls a month from people with Qirregular migration, human smuggling and trafficking issues. One concrete figure that has emerged is that IOM helped 28 trafficking victims during the reporting period. While most of these seem not to have been Dominican, IOM reported that the GODR referred apparent trafficking victims to IOM for their assistance. As with other countries, the number of smuggling prosecutions and convictions over the last several years has been far greater than QtraffickingQ cases. End Comment. ¶3. (SBU) The countryQs TIP situation (reftel A para 23): ¶A. Sources of information: Information on trafficking comes mostly from NGOs and GODR officials, as well as some press reports. ¶B. Nature/circumstances of trafficking: The DR appears to be a source, transit and destination country. There is no civil war or area outside GODR control (but see ref B). People are trafficked in the DR and from there to wealthier countries. People are trafficked for the purpose of making money for unscrupulous persons. It is possible that any sector might have trafficked individuals, but there are generally no reliable data. One exception is a recent Centro Solidaridad study. That NGO indicated that, in the construction sector, three (3) percent of those Haitians who were smuggled into the DR considered themselves to have been trafficked. The overall situation remains the same since the last TIP report: poverty (43 percent of the DRQs population),corruption (see Transparency International reports),under-education and under-employment (unemployment officially stands at about 14 percent),continue to set the stage for the exploitation of individuals, sometimes including the Qforce, fraud and coercion that Qtrafficking in personsQ involves. ¶C. Conditions: Victims are trafficked from desperate poverty to desperate poverty, in all likelihood. Principal destination countries were in Europe, the Caribbean, and Latin America. ¶D. Vulnerability: As noted, 43 percent of Dominicans are in poverty, with 16-18 percent in dire poverty. Almost certainly, women, children and Haitians are generally worse off among those poor. ¶E. TIP Methods: Unknown because hidden. Press reports indicate that low-level traffickers, or at least brokers for traffickers, live and operate at the community level and seek to recruit among persons looking for some sort of work. Complicity at various levels of officialdom, thanks to bribery or payoffs, is widely believed to facilitate or permit smuggling, of which a portion may constitute trafficking. ¶4. (SBU) Government Anti-TIP Efforts (ref A para 24): ¶A. Government views: The GODR tends to see human smuggling as a greater problem than trafficking, in terms both of quantity (i.e. more people are victims of human smuggling) and socio-politically (i.e., the smuggling of cheap Haitian labor into the country and of Dominicans out of the DR to seek work have real and perceived impacts on the DRQs society and economy). ¶B. Government agencies: Numerous government agencies are involved in dealing with human smuggling and trafficking, including a National Commission against Trafficking in Persons (whose aim is to facilitate interagency cooperation) in which the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Interior and Police, Education, Tourism, Public Health, Women, and the National Council for Children, among others, participate. CESFRONT is a military entity designed to secure the land border with Haiti; accordingly it may indirectly help fight trafficking by seeking to block human smuggling of Haitians to the extent, if any, that such smuggling may also encompass trafficking. (Note: Sources for the GODR point out that Haitian cane workers Qare technically able to leave worksites.Q End Note.) ¶C. Government limitations: Lack of resources, corruption, and generally weak rule of law limit the governmentQs ability to address trafficking in persons. ¶D. Government oversight: The prosecution service and the inter-agency commission to combat trafficking provided information on anti-TIP efforts. The GODR also provided, via its Embassy in Washington, D.C., a lengthy document describing the DRQs efforts. ¶5. (SBU) Investigation and Prosecution (ref A para 25): ¶A. Relevant law: The DR has a law that covers both human smuggling and human trafficking, Law 137-03, which prescribes penalties of up to 20 yearsQ imprisonment as well as fines. Also, according to the prosecutorQs service, persons who may have been involved in trafficking have been prosecuted for Qpimping.Q Law 136-03 may be applied when, in a given case, minors are involved. Other relevant laws worth noting include: - Law 53-07 (Technology Crime Law) (2007),criminalizing the electronic distribution of child pornography as well as prescribing penalties of 2 to 4 years imprisonment for the purchase or possession of child pornography; - Labor Code, Principle II, prohibiting forced labor; - Penal Code, various provisions. ¶B. Sex Trafficking penalties: Same as above regarding Law 137-03: 15 to 20 years of prison, plus fines. ¶C. Labor Trafficking: Once again, Law 137-03 would apply, with its Article 3 being used if/when passports are taken away or contractually agreed work conditions are altered. See also Embassy Santo DomingoQs report regarding labor issues in the country (ref D). ¶D. Rape penalties: The law on trafficking in persons and human smuggling contains no provisions regarding rape, as sexual assault (QaggressionQ or rape) is covered by the Criminal Code. ¶E. Law Enforcement Statistics: See ref C. There are currently four known investigations underway for trafficking in persons. It is important to note that the GODR has been prosecuting human smuggling, and has 23 investigations underway. Also, the GODRQs submission, subsequent to the Interim Assessment, to the State Department in Washington includes the following enforcement actions by the GODR: -- Over the past three years the Migration Directorate has fired 400 inspectors for possible involvement in smuggling and trafficking of persons; other agencies have taken similar actions against their officials who abuse their positions. In the first four months of the current Fernandez administration (since August 2008),45 inspectors have been removed from their positions. Five of them are Qin the legal systemQ (presumably meaning under active investigation) and two already are under preventative detention. Numerous other officials have been suspended or disciplined. -- The National District prosecuting attorney filed charges in June 2007 against Doris Altagracia Vasquez, a high-level official in the Ministry of Labor, for involvement in a trafficking scheme that lured citizens with false offers of employment in Spain and Canada. Post awaits information from the ProsecutorQs office of any recent developments. In addition, the GODR reports the following cases or actions: -- Renato Bregu, Albanian citizen, for Trafficking in Persons. In May 2007, two victims lodged charges against Bregu for violation of Law 137-03 for the organization of illegal trips. Through Resolution No. 613-07-00184, dated May 2007, the Magistrate Judge of the Dajabon Judicial District imposed an order of custody. -- Santo Valdez Cuello, Farcoleni Rivera Santana and joint-parties, were convicted and sentenced to 20, five and three years imprisonment (under Law 137-03),by the Court of First Instance of the Judicial District of Santo Domingo. With respect to the case involving Dominicans trafficked to Istanbul, Turkey, the GODR reports that a court in Altagracia has issued an arrest warrant for Yeyto Toledo. No new information has been provided, to date, by the GODR regarding the case, dating from August 2007, of a foreigner alleged to have been involved in trafficking and forcing 14 Haitian women to perform lewd acts in front of a video camera. However, it is known that the Santo Domingo national district prosecutor charged one foreigner, and two other foreigners were deported in this case. Finally, the Attorney GeneralQs office reports that criminal laws other than Law 137-03 may be used to provide a legal basis for prosecutions, and that such laws may be preferable Qwhen a risk of re-victimization exists. ¶F. Training: The GODR has reported that there have been multiple training opportunities for government officials. For example, in August 2008 a QWorkshop InspectionQ course was given for migration officials on detecting of false and altered documents, enhancing technical abilities for inspection of travel documents and visas, detecting imposters. This training was done in coordination with the IOM and the Undersecretary for Consular and Migratory Affairs of the Foreign Ministry. NGOs report that efforts were also underway in 2008 to develop methodologies for future training. ¶G. Inter-governmental cooperation: The GODR cooperates with other nations, including the United States on trafficking cases. See item H, below, and ref C. During the reporting period, the Office of the Prosecutor agreed in principle to establishing a specialized Human Trafficking and Sex Crimes Unit to include prosecutors from the Attorney GeneralQs office, vetted members of the National Police, Dominican Customs and Dominican Immigration officers, assuming USG funding becomes available. ¶H. Extraditions: There are no pending requests for extradition to the U.S. of alleged trafficking offenders. As indicated previously, the GODR has worked with other governments, but whether extradition was involved is unknown. For instance, the government also worked with Swiss authorities, who have arrested several German citizens on charges of suspected trafficking. ¶I. Government involvement: As noted above, corruption in the DR is pervasive. The NGO community generally thinks it reasonable to believe that smuggling, of which a portion may constitute trafficking, may sometimes be facilitated by the corruption of government officials. ¶J. Steps to counter possible official complicity: The prosecutorQs service acknowledged that no officials were prosecuted during the reporting period. However, as noted above, various officials have been fired or otherwise punished (see item E, above). ¶K. Prostitution: While prostitution is not prohibited by law, activities often associated with it, such as pimping, are illegal. ¶L. Peace-keeping forces: Question not applicable; the DR does not contribute troops to international peace-keeping operations. ¶M. Child Sex Tourism and extraterritorial application of DR law: Child sex tourism appears to exist, but the GODR has cooperated, for instance, with U.S. law enforcement in one or more cases. One NGO reports that brothel owners now card women, so as to prevent under-aged females from being sex workers. The extraterritorial application of Dominican law does not exist, but a proposal to amend Law 137-03 to permit extraterritorial application was under consideration in 2008. The GODR reports that Qthe Prevention Unit of the Department of Alien Smuggling and Trafficking in Persons, in coordination with the Ministries of Labor and Education, has (undertaken) outreach training at schools around the country. The courses warn children of the dangers of alien smuggling, commercial sexual exploitation, and trafficking.Q The GODR has also noted that the QNational Association of Hotels and Restaurants (ASONAHORES) signed the Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism sponsored by UNICEF and ECPAT (End Child Prostitution, Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes). For several years, training has been provided to workers in the tourism industry through the module QRole of the tourist sector in the prevention of abuse and commercial sexual exploitation of children and adolescents,Q based on material produced by the World Tourism Organization. Individual companies also are active in these efforts, including a national campaign against the commercial sexual exploitation of children and adolescents by Burger King restaurants and advertisements in Palacio del Cine cinemas.Q Also, notices are posted in Santo DomingoQs international airport listing the penalties under Dominican law for the criminal offense of the commercial sexual exploitation of minors. In addition to the several international labor conventions to which the DR is a party, the country has specific laws of some relevance including: - Labor Code, Articles 410 and 411, criminalizing child prostitution and pornography, prescribing penalties for sexual abuse of children of 20 to 30 years imprisonment and fines from 100 to 150 times the minimum wage - Law 136-03, Articles 34 Q 44 (Code for Protection of Fundamental Rights of Children and Adolescents),assigning high priority to the rights of children and adolescents, defining legal obligations and responsibility for children and adolescents, coordinating design and execution of policies, services and assistance, and defining relative obligations of the government and family and participation of NGOs - Law 53-07 (2007),criminalizing the electronic distribution of child pornography See also ref D, as already indicated, for additional information. ¶6. (SBU) Protection and Assistance (ref A para 26): ¶A. Protection of victims: The Dominican Criminal Procedure Code contains mechanisms for the protection of witnesses and victims. An office for this purpose exists in the Public Ministry, but is non-functional. In practice, authorities tend to assist victims when they may act as witnesses. ¶B. Shelters: The QRed de Religiosas contra la TrataQ run by the Adoratrices sisters, a Spanish order of nuns, provides religious refugee centers for assistance to trafficking victims (one large shelter is reportedly in Haina and another in San Cristobal, with smaller ones around the country). These facilities are used by IOM to assist victims, but IOM was working closely with the GODR to identify a new location that can be adapted to assist only trafficking victims. IOM plans to turn such a facility over to the GODR after running it for one year. Also, COIN operates a shelter or case center (El Centro de Acogida) for trafficked women returned to the DR, assisting with medical and legal services, and reintegration by promoting continued education, as well as helping victims find employment. For minors, shelters are managed by the GODR agency CONANI (the Consejo Nacional para la Ninez y la Adolescencia). IOM helped 28 victims during the reporting period, of whom 75 percent used a shelter, and 95 percent of those victims were foreigners. The GODR helps to fund the shelters run by the above-mentioned religious order. The amount the GODR spends to help support shelters has not yet been shared with Post. ¶C. Government services: With the exception of CONANIQs services to minors, the GODR does not have facilities where legal assistance, medical or psychological services are provided to victims of trafficking. However, through CIPROM (Comite Inter-institucional de Proteccion a la Mujer Migrante) and the involvement of the GODR Ministry for Women, as well as management by COIN, a lawyer and a psychologist are available to victims. Additionally, a national hotline, QLlama y Vive (Call and Live)Q, for prevention and victim assistance in cases of sexual and labor exploitation, was launched in July 2007 by the Attorney GeneralQs office with support from the Ricky Martin Foundation and International Organization for Migration (IOM). ¶D. (Non-) Deportation of Victims: Generally, the GODR prevents deportation by utilizing the services of IOM to facilitate the return of trafficking victims to their homelands. In at least one case during the reporting period, the GODR QvalidatedQ the permission of one victim to maintain residency status in the DR. ¶E. Reintegration assistance: While the GODR does not appear to have formal long-term reintegration assistance programs, the First LadyQs office has facilitated access by trafficking victims to medium and long-term social assistance programs, particularly linked to psychological, financial and/or counseling support. At the same time, the GODRQs Instituto Nacional de Formacion Tecnico Profesional (INFOTEP) and its Education and Prevention Unit have initiated courses in the area of Boca Chica Q training through which individuals acquire food preparation and QdomesticQ skills (the latter presumably meaning training as a domestic / maid). Also, the GODR reports that in June 2008 a GODR delegation participated in QStrengthening Regional Cooperation for the Reintegration of Trafficking VictimsQ workshop in Managua, Nicaragua, which identified minimum standards to produce a regional action project on reintegration of trafficking victims. Representatives of the following GODR agencies participated: -- Secretaria de Estado de Relaciones Exteriores (Foreign Ministry) (from its Section on Trafficking and Smuggling of People, the Seccion de Trata y Trafico de Personas) -- Despacho de la Primera Dama (First Lady's Office) -- CONANI -- Secretaria de Estado de la Mujer (Ministry for Women). ¶F. Referral process: See items B, C and D above. While the GODR does not have a formal system to refer victims to NGOs that can provide assistance, that clearly does happen (see items C, above and G, below) and a GODR inter-agency commission worked on a national plan to rationalize cooperation among agencies or organizations that deal with trafficking so as to address this issue. ¶G. TIP numbers: Data on the number of trafficking victims is unavailable. Estimates have varied through the years. IOM says it assisted 28 victims during the reporting period. The GODR transfers cases to IOM for direct assistance and/or to other entities, often affiliated with IOM. ¶H. Proactive search for victims: The prosecution service has indicated that it proactively looks for possible trafficking victims when dealing with other offenses, but no concrete instances have been cited. At the same time, the anti-trafficking publicity or prevention campaigns (such as noted in this cable) constitute a means for having persons step forward with information, thus helping to proactively identify potential victims. Additionally, identification of potential victims will be part of orientation training by IOM in 52 municipalities and provinces of the DR via CIPROM. ¶I. VictimsQ rights: VictimsQ rights are generally respected, but there are reports that authorities do not always provide often poor, timid victims with a sympathetic initial hearing, when/if the alleged victim is trying to report an incident. According to IOM, victims are not detained, nor are they imprisoned. In general, the GODR immediately turns cases over to IOM to assist victims and protect their rights. ¶J. Testimony: The GODR sought to have more victims assist in investigations and prosecutions, but very few victims were willing to help. For instance, in the case of some 14 Ecuadorian women who were rescued, only one stayed behind to help the GODR, while the rest returned to Ecuador. GODR sources report that QdealsQ are struck between apparent victims and traffickers, whereby the victims Q through their attorneys in some cases Q receive compensation from the alleged traffickers in lieu of helping with a criminal prosecution. (Note: The report that deals are negotiated instead of strict application of the law was confirmed by one NGO. End Note.) ¶K. Awareness: Dominican officials going overseas were provided with trafficking awareness training to better assist possible victims, via NGOs. (See also QPreventionQ section, below.) ¶L. Assistance: While the GODR does not have a formal system to provide aid to its nationals who are repatriated as victims of trafficking, it does work with organizations, such as IOM, to facilitate the return of Dominican victims abroad to their homes. ¶M. NGO involvement: Several NGOs or international groups help address trafficking issues and/or help victims. These include: COIN, IOM, Centro Solidaridad, and UNICEF. ¶7. (SBU) Prevention (ref A para 27): ¶A. The government conducted anti-trafficking information and/or education campaigns. Efforts often targeted Qat riskQ populations without categorizing by type of risk (e.g., sexual exploitation, labor) to address the most compelling needs. According to attorneys working on behalf of the GODR, Qthe Ministry of Foreign Affairs has developed a worldwide network of consular officers trained to recognize and assist Dominican victims of trafficking.Q COIN and the IOM counsel women planning to accept job offers in Europe and the eastern Caribbean about immigration, health, and other problems, including the dangers of trafficking, forced prostitution and forced domestic servitude. COIN administers the Center for Health and Migration Informaion for Migrant Women, which conducts community ducation campaigns in high-risk areas on these isses as well as legal work requirements. Other xamples included: -- March 2008, the GODR entit INFOTEP (Instituto Nacional de Formacion TecnicoProfesional),and the NGO EDUCA agreed to implemnt a program to provide technical training to 2,50 young people in vulnerable circumstances. --January 2008, QEducando para combatir la explotacin laboral infantile,Q was launched, supported by the GODR and US Department of Labor (DOL),and adinistered by the Dominican NGO EDUCA (Accion par la Educacion Basica) to target education services through the existing Espacios para Crecer and vocational and microbusiness programs to 10,000 children involved in, or at risk of involvement in, the worst forms of child labor, which includes commercial sexual exploitation and other work situations, through programs in 11 areas involving partnering with UCNE, Catholic Relief Services, FUDECO/Save the Children, Plan Internacional, Vision Mundial, Instituto Dominicano de Desarollo (IDDI),FUNDAPRIN, SAMANENSES and FUNDAZUCAR. -- The GODR reported that a variety of its agencies engaged in information campaigns, including: - Attorney General: La Ley Pega Fuerte (legal penalties) - Migration Directorate: No Al Comercio Humano (legal prohibitions) - Navy: Campana Contra Los Viajes Ilegales (illegal trips) - Secretary of State for Women: Impresion Popular de la Ley 137-03 (understanding law) - Programa Radial: QMujer Conoce Tus Derechos (anti-trafficking) -- August 2008, QWorkshop InspectionQ held for migration officials on detecting of false and altered documents, enhancing technical abilities for inspection of travel documents and visas, and detecting imposters; done in coordination with IOM and the Undersecretary for Consular and Migratory Affairs of the Foreign Ministry. -- Also, the Labor MinistryQs QAction On Child LaborQ initiative targeted bateyes in Barahona, Bahoruco and Independencia, and covered issues such as trafficking, health conditions, and work accidents; this effort provided options through school and recreational programs and medical and legal assistance and training. ¶B. Although CESFRONT (see above) is working to improve border security, the border with Haiti is not particularly well defended. See, e.g., ref B. While the GODR does not otherwise specifically monitor patterns of migration for evidence of trafficking, NGO (IOM) training has, in principle, helped to raise the capacity of GODR officials to identify possible trafficking victims. ¶C. In October 2007, President Fernandez established a National Commission against Trafficking in Persons to combat trafficking via interagency cooperation, and the Ministries of Foreign Affairs (MFA),Interior and Police, Education, Tourism, Public Health, Women, and the National Council for Children, among others, participate. This National Commission continued its work during the reporting period, particularly the writing of the national plan which was unveiled in December 2008. Additionally, CIPROM has been working since 1999 and, during the reporting period, developed an anti-TIP training course for key government and civil society actors, as well as assisting trafficking victims through its financial support of the shelter run by COIN. ¶D. The inter-agency National Commission Against Trafficking put together an action plan, which was formally launched December 11, ¶2008. As of January 2009, however, the budget available to implement the plan was uncertain. The agencies involved in the National Commission against Trafficking included the following Ministries and agencies (as also indicated above): MFA, Interior, Education, Labor, Tourism, Public Health, Secretariat for Women, Prosecutor General, National Police, Migration Directorate, Tourist Police, Navy, National Youth Council, and the First LadyQs Office. ¶E. As prostitution, but not other often associated activities, is legal, the question of reducing demand is of little relevance. However, GODR raids on brothels have caused owners to the check identity cards of women, so as to minimize the possibility that there are under-age sex workers. ¶F. The GODR has been working actively with U.S. agencies to address international child sex tourism by nationals of the country. GODR authorities have assisted with the investigation of at least two sex tourism and child pornography cases. The Attorney GeneralQs office agreed to the concept of creating, with U.S. support, a Human Trafficking and Sex Crimes Unit to include Dominican National Police Officers, Dominican Customs officers and Dominican Immigration officers. Moreover, two sex tourism cases were, at yearQs end, being prosecuted (one in the Dominican Republic, the other in Puerto Rico, but linked to and supported by, the Dominican Republic). Additionally, per GODR sources, QNGOs conducted programs on prostitution and child sexual exploitation for hotel and industrial zone workers, male and female prostitutes and other high-risk groups. ¶G. Again, the GODR has not contributed more than 100 troops to international peacekeeping. However, the UN itself has reported on the trafficking of Dominican women to Haiti to work in brothels frequented by the UN Stabilization Mission peacekeepers (UNSCR Resolution 1840 of 2008). BULLEN