JAMAICA -- 2009 TIP REPORT: PRESS GUIDANCE AND

UNCLAS STATE 060552

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KTIP ELAB KCRM KPAO KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG JM
SUBJECT: JAMAICA -- 2009 TIP REPORT: PRESS GUIDANCE AND
DEMARCHE

REF: (A) STATE 59732 (B) STATE 005577


1. This is an action cable; see paras 5 through 7 and 10.


2. On June 16, 2009, at 10:00 a.m. EDT, the Secretary will
release the 2009 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report at a
press conference in the Department's press briefing room.
This release will receive substantial coverage in domestic
and foreign news outlets. Until the time of the Secretary's
June 16 press conference, any public release of the Report or
country narratives contained therein is prohibited.


3. The Department is hereby providing Post with advance press
guidance to be used on June 16 or thereafter. Also provided
is demarche language to be used in informing the Government
of Jamaica of its tier ranking and the TIP Report's imminent
release. The text of the TIP Report country narrative is
provided, both for use in informing the Government of Jamaica
and in any local media release by Post's public affairs
section on June 16 or thereafter. Drawing on information
provided below in paras 8 and 9, Post may provide the host
government with the text of the TIP Report narrative no
earlier than 1200 noon local time Monday June 15 for WHA, AF,
EUR, and NEA countries and OOB local time Tuesday June 16 for
SCA and EAP posts. Please note, however, that any public
release of the Report's information should not/not precede
the Secretary's release at 10:00 am EDT on June 16.


4. The entire TIP Report will be available on-line at
www.state.gov/g/tip shortly after the Secretary's June 16
release. Hard copies of the Report will be pouched to posts
in all countries appearing on the Report. The Secretary's
statement at the June 16 press event, and the statement of
and fielding of media questions by G/TIP,s Director and
Senior Advisor to the Secretary, Ambassador-at-Large Luis
CdeBaca, will be available on the Department's website
shortly after the June 16 event. Ambassador de Baca will
also hold a general briefing for officials of foreign
embassies in Washington DC on June 17 at 3:30 pm EDT.


5. Action Request: No earlier than 12 noon local time on
Monday June 15 for WHA, AF, EUR, and NEA posts and OOB local
time on Tuesday June 16 for SCA and EAP posts, please inform
the appropriate official in the Government of Jamaica of the
June 16 release of the 2009 TIP Report, drawing on the points
in para 9 (at Post's discretion) and including the text of
the country narrative provided in para 8. For countries
where the State Department has lowered the tier ranking, it
is particularly important to advise governments prior to the
Report being released in Washington on June 16.


6. Action Request continued: Please note that, for those
countries which will not receive an "action plan" with
specific recommendations for improvement, posts should draw
host governments' attention to the areas for improvement
identified in the 2009 Report, especially highlighted in the
"Recommendations" section of the second paragraph of the
narrative text. This engagement is important to establishing
the framework in which the government's performance will be
judged for the 2010 Report. If posts have questions about
which governments will receive an action plan, or how they
may follow up on the recommendations in the 2009 Report,
please contact G/TIP and the appropriate regional bureau.


7. Action Request continued: On June 16, please be prepared
to answer media inquiries on the Report's release using the
press guidance provided in para 11. If Post wishes, a local
press statement may be released on or after 10:30 am EDT June
16, drawing on the press guidance and the text of the TIP
Report's country narrative provided in para 8.


8. Begin Final Text of Jamaica,s country narrative in the
2009 TIP Report:

--------------
Jamaica (TIER 2)
--------------

Jamaica is a source, transit, and destination country for
women and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual
exploitation and forced labor. The majority of victims are
poor Jamaican women and girls, and increasingly boys, who are
trafficked from rural to urban and tourist areas for
commercial sexual exploitation. Victims are typically
recruited by persons close to them or newspaper
advertisements promoting work as spa attendants, masseuses,
or dancers; after being recruited, victims are coerced into
prostitution. Jamaican children also may be subjected to
conditions of forced labor as domestic servants. Child sex
tourism in resort areas has been identified as a problem.
Reportedly women from the Dominican Republic, Russia, and
Eastern Europe who have been trafficked into Jamaica,s sex

trade have also been forced to transport illegal drugs. Some
Jamaican women and girls have been trafficked to Canada, the
United States, the Bahamas, and other Caribbean destinations
for commercial sexual exploitation.

The Government of Jamaica does not fully comply with the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so. During
the reporting period, the government of Jamaica made strong
progress in the prosecution of trafficking offenders and
continued solid efforts to prevent human trafficking,
although its services to trafficking victims remained largely
inadequate.

Recommendations for Jamaica: expand efforts to investigate,
convict and punish traffickers for their crimes; extend
training on human trafficking issues among law enforcement
agencies; increase funding for shelter services and other
assistance to victims; continue awareness campaigns aimed at
vulnerable populations, especially young people.

Prosecution
--------------
The Government of Jamaica took significant steps to
apprehend, investigate, prosecute, and convict trafficking
offenders during the last year. The government prohibits all
forms of trafficking through its comprehensive &Trafficking
Act of Jamaica,8 which went into effect in 2007. The Act,
which prescribes sufficiently stringent penalties of up to 10
years, imprisonment, applies to those who committed,
facilitated, or knowingly benefited from the offense. If a
corporate body is involved, every director, manager,
secretary, or other similar officer may be liable. During
the year, the government reported its first convictions for
conspiracy to traffic in persons. In November 2008, two men
convicted of trafficking offenses committed before enactment
of the new law were each sentenced to 12 months in prison in
accordance with the trafficking statutes of the Child
Protection Act. The alleged traffickers in the four trials
currently underway, however, were all charged under the 2007
anti-trafficking law. The National Anti-Trafficking Task
Force allows for coordination among various NGOs and
government agencies -- internal, international, and
multilateral -- on trafficking-related matters as per the
national action plan. The police anti-trafficking unit works
closely with liaison officers at the Department of Public
Prosecution (DPP),where specially-trained officials provide
guidance on which cases should be prosecuted under
trafficking laws. Police and judicial officials received
anti-trafficking training from IOM and other organizations.
No reports of official complicity with human trafficking were
received in 2008.

Protection
--------------
During the reporting period, the government made limited
progress in its efforts to ensure victims, access to
medical, psychological, legal, and victim protection services
through a formal referral process. Existing law provides for
the government to assist victims with: understanding the laws
of Jamaica and their rights; obtaining any relevant documents
and information to assist with legal proceedings; replacing
travel documents; any necessary language interpretation and
translation; meeting expenses related to criminal proceedings
against the traffickers; and provision of shelters and
assistance to cover expenses. A lack of financial resources
seriously constrains the government,s ability to provide
these services. With the funding that is available, however,
the government has begun construction of a shelter for women
and children trafficking victims scheduled to open by
mid-2009. As specialized shelters for trafficking victims
remain largely unavailable, law enforcement and social
service agencies refer victims to safe houses for abuse
victims that are run by NGOs. Law enforcement, immigration,
and social services personnel use established formal
mechanisms to proactively identify victims of trafficking
among high-risk populations they are likely to encounter, and
to refer these victims to NGOs for short- or long-term care.
Pursuant to its anti-trafficking statute, Jamaican
authorities encourage victims to assist in the investigation
and prosecution of their traffickers. Victims may also
independently file civil suits or take other legal action
against their traffickers. One victim assisted in the
investigation and prosecution of traffickers during the
reporting period. Victims are not penalized for immigration
violations or other unlawful acts committed as a direct
result of being trafficked. The Jamaican government allows
foreign trafficking victims participating in a law
enforcement investigation or prosecution to stay in Jamaica
until their cases have been completed and their safe return
to their home countries is certain.

Prevention
--------------
The government made steady efforts to further raise the
public,s awareness of trafficking during the reporting
period. The government conducted anti-trafficking education
campaigns in schools and rural communities. Local NGOs used
videos and live theatrical performances to highlight the
dangers of trafficking, and also included anti-trafficking
components in outreach to vulnerable populations, especially
in popular tourist destinations. The campaigns targeted
potential trafficking victims. Having previously eliminated
their use in nightclubs, the government further tightened
issuance of &exotic dancer8 permits for Jamaican hotel
establishments by increasing the permit fee significantly
beyond the financial reach of the hotels. This may be
effective in preventing sex trafficking. Increased government
collaboration with Jamaica,s hotel and tourism industry
would assist efforts to prevent child and adult sex tourism
in resort areas; despite reported sexual exploitation of
Jamaican children by foreign tourists, no investigations or
prosecutions of such suspected criminal activity committed by
foreign tourists were reported by the government.

-------------- --------------


9. Post may wish to deliver the following points, which offer
technical and legal background on the TIP Report process, to
the host government as a non-paper with the above TIP Report
country narrative:

(begin non-paper)

-- The U.S. Congress, through its passage of the 2000
Trafficking Victims Protection Act, as amended (TVPA),
requires the Secretary of State to submit an annual Report to
Congress. The goal of this Report is to stimulate action and
create partnerships around the world in the fight against
modern-day slavery. The USG approach to combating human
trafficking follows the TVPA and the standards set forth in
the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in
Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the
United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized
Crime (commonly known as the "Palermo Protocol"). The TVPA
and the Palermo Protocol recognize that this is a crime in
which the victims, labor or services (including in the "sex
industry") are obtained or maintained through force, fraud,
or coercion, whether overt or through psychological
manipulation. While much attention has focused on
international flows, both the TVPA and the Palermo Protocol
focus on the exploitation of the victim, and do not require a
showing that the victim was moved.

-- Recent amendments to the TVPA removed the requirement that
only countries with a "significant number" of trafficking
victims be included in the Report. Beginning with the 2009
TIP Report, countries determined to be a country of origin,
transit, or destination for victims of severe forms of
trafficking are included in the Report and assigned to one of
three tiers. Countries assessed as meeting the "minimum
standards for the elimination of severe forms of trafficking"
set forth in the TVPA are classified as Tier 1. Countries
assessed as not fully complying with the minimum standards,
but making significant efforts to meet those minimum
standards are classified as Tier 2. Countries assessed as
neither complying with the minimum standards nor making
significant efforts to do so are classified as Tier 3.

-- The TVPA also requires the Secretary of State to provide a
"Special Watch List" to Congress later in the year.
Anti-trafficking efforts of the countries on this list are to
be evaluated again in an Interim Assessment that the
Secretary of State must provide to Congress by February 1 of
each year. Countries are included on the "Special Watch
List" if they move up in "tier" rankings in the annual TIP
Report -- from 3 to 2 or from 2 to 1 ) or if they have been
placed on the Tier 2 Watch List.

-- Tier 2 Watch List consists of Tier 2 countries determined:
(1) not to have made "increasing efforts" to combat human
trafficking over the past year; (2) to be making significant
efforts based on commitments of anti-trafficking reforms over
the next year, or (3) to have a very significant number of
trafficking victims or a significantly increasing victim
population. As indicated in reftel B, the TVPRA of 2008
contains a provision requiring that a country that has been
included on Tier 2 Watch List for two consecutive years after
the date of enactment of the TVPRA of 2008 be ranked as Tier

3. Thus, any automatic downgrade to Tier 3 pursuant to this
provision would take place, at the earliest, in the 2011 TIP
Report (i.e., a country would have to be ranked Tier 2 Watch
List in the 2009 and 2010 Reports before being subject to
Tier 3 in the 2011 Report). The new law allows for a waiver
of this provision for up to two additional years upon a
determination by the President that the country has developed
and devoted sufficient resources to a written plan to make
significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with the
minimum standards.

-- Countries classified as Tier 3 may be subject to statutory
restrictions for the subsequent fiscal year on
non-humanitarian and non-trade-related foreign assistance
and, in some circumstances, withholding of funding for
participation by government officials or employees in
educational and cultural exchange programs. In addition,
the President could instruct the U.S. executive directors to
international financial institutions to oppose loans or other
utilization of funds (other than for humanitarian,
trade-related or certain types of development assistance)
with respect to countries on Tier 3. Countries classified as
Tier 3 that take strong action within 90 days of the Report's
release to show significant efforts against trafficking in
persons, and thereby warrant a reassessment of their Tier
classification, would avoid such sanctions. Guidelines for
such actions are in the DOS-crafted action plans to be shared
by Posts with host governments.

-- The 2009 TIP Report, issuing as it does in the midst of
the global financial crisis, highlights high levels of
trafficking for forced labor in many parts of the world and
systemic contributing factors to this phenomenon: fraudulent
recruitment practices and excessive recruiting fees in
workers, home countries; the lack of adequate labor
protections in both sending and receiving countries; and the
flawed design of some destination countries, "sponsorship
systems" that do not give foreign workers adequate legal
recourse when faced with conditions of forced labor. As the
May 2009 ILO Global Report on Forced Labor concluded, forced
labor victims suffer approximately $20 billion in losses, and
traffickers, profits are estimated at $31 billion. The
current global financial crisis threatens to increase the
number of victims of forced labor and increase the associated
"cost of coercion."

-- The text of the TVPA and amendments can be found on
website www.state.gov/g/tip.

-- On June 16, 2009, the Secretary of State will release the
ninth annual TIP Report in a public event at the State
Department. We are providing you an advance copy of your
country's narrative in that report. Please keep this
information embargoed until 10:00 am Washington DC time June

16. The State Department will also hold a general briefing
for officials of foreign embassies in Washington DC on June
17 at 3:30 pm EDT.

(end non-paper)


10. Posts should make sure that the relevant country
narrative is readily available on or though the Mission's web
page in English and appropriate local language(s) as soon as
possible after the TIP Report is released. Funding for
translation costs will be handled as it was for the Human
Rights Report. Posts needing financial assistance for
translation costs should contact their regional bureau,s EX
office.


11. The following is press guidance provided for Post to use
with local media.

Q1. What is the nature of the trafficking problem in
Jamaica?


A. Jamaica is a source, transit, and destination country for
women and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual
exploitation and forced labor. The majority of victims are
poor Jamaican women and girls, and increasingly boys, who are
trafficked from rural to urban and tourist areas for
commercial sexual exploitation. Jamaican children also may
be subjected to conditions of forced labor as domestic
servants. Child sex tourism in resort areas has been
identified as a problem. Reportedly women from the Dominican
Republic, Russia, and Eastern Europe who have been trafficked
into Jamaica,s sex trade have also been forced to transport
illegal drugs.

Q2. How is Jamaica making significant efforts to comply with
the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking?


A. During the past year, the government made strong progress
in the prosecution of trafficking offenders and continued
solid efforts to prevent human trafficking, In 2008, the
government recorded its first convictions for conspiracy to
traffic in persons. The two traffickers were each sentenced
to 12 months, imprisonment because the law in effect at the
time of their arrest did not allow for more stringent
penalties. The alleged traffickers in the four trials
currently underway, however, were all charged under the
anti-trafficking law which went into effect in 2007; if
convicted, they could be sentenced to up to 10 years,
imprisonment.

Q3. What else could Jamaica do to combat trafficking?


A. Further activities could include increasing efforts to
investigate, convict and punish traffickers for their crimes;
extending training on human trafficking issues among law
enforcement agencies; increasing shelter services and other
assistance to victims; and continuing the public awareness
campaigns aimed at those who are vulnerable to trafficking,
especially young people.


12. The Department appreciates posts, assistance with the
preceding action requests.
CLINTON