EL SALVADOR -- 2009 TIP REPORT: PRESS GUIDANCE

UNCLAS STATE 060620

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KTIP ELAB KCRM KPAO KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG ES
SUBJECT: EL SALVADOR -- 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 El Salvador 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 El Salvador 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 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 OOB local time 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 El Salvador 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 El Salvador,s country narrative in
the 2009 TIP Report:

--------------
EL SALVADOR (TIER 2)
--------------

El Salvador is a source, transit, and destination country for
women and children trafficked for the purposes of commercial
sexual exploitation and forced labor. Most victims are
Salvadoran women and girls trafficked within the country from
rural to urban areas for commercial sexual exploitation,
although some adults and children are trafficked internally
for forced agricultural labor. The majority of foreign
victims are women and children from Nicaragua, Honduras,
Guatemala, Mexico, and Colombia who travel to El Salvador in
response to job offers, but are subsequently forced into
prostitution or domestic servitude. Some adults and children
from neighboring countries are subject to forced labor in
agriculture and apparel assembly. Salvadorans have been
trafficked to Guatemala, Mexico, Belize, the United States,
Spain, and Italy, for commercial sexual exploitation.

The Government of El Salvador 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 sustained strong
anti-trafficking prosecution, protection, and prevention
activities, though it neglected to take adequate measures to
protect adult trafficking victims and to confront
trafficking-related corruption.

Recommendations for El Salvador: Continue to strengthen law
enforcement efforts against trafficking offenders;
investigate and prosecute, as appropriate, reports of forced
labor and domestic servitude, as well as allegations relating
to public officials who may be involved with trafficking
activity; increase use of pro-active law enforcement
techniques such as brothel raids to rescue victims; increase
victim services and assistance, particularly for adults; and
strengthen statutory penalties for trafficking-in-persons
crimes.

Prosecution
--------------
The Government of El Salvador sustained solid law enforcement
efforts against trafficking offenders during the reporting
period. Article 367B of the Salvadoran Penal Code prohibits
all forms of human trafficking and prescribes penalties of
four to eight years, imprisonment. Sentences may be
increased by one-third when the offense is accompanied by
aggravated circumstances, such as when the victim is a child
or the defendant is a public official. Such penalties are
sufficiently stringent but do not appear commensurate with
penalties prescribed for serious offenses such as rape, which
carries a punishment of six to 20 years, imprisonment.
Since passage of El Salvador,s anti-trafficking statute in
2004, some prosecutors have elected to charge
trafficking-related crimes under the country,s rape statute
in order to secure heavier mandatory sentences against
offenders. In 2008, the government,s dedicated
anti-trafficking police and prosecutorial units brought
charges in 15 cases of human trafficking, obtaining 8
convictions with sentences ranging from four to 10 years,
imprisonment. Such results compare with 46 prosecutions and
five convictions secured in 2007. The majority of the
government,s law enforcement efforts focused on trafficking
for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation, though a
smaller number of cases related to forced labor. During the
reporting period, police conducted undercover trafficking
investigations and acted on trafficking-related tips to
execute raids on brothels and commercial sex sites. The
government also cooperated with neighboring foreign
governments on anti-trafficking investigations. Despite
credible reports of public officials involved with
trafficking activity, particularly in the department of
Chalatenango, no investigations or prosecutions of such
officials were opened during the reporting period.

Protection
--------------
The Salvadoran government increased victim assistance last
year. With U.S. and international assistance, the government
re-opened a dedicated shelter for trafficking victims in
January 2008. The shelter houses approximately 20 child
trafficking victims. The country,s federal agency for
children and adolescents, ISNA, also operated a national
network of 11 shelters to provide secure housing, 24-hour
medical attention, psychological counseling, and vocational
workshops to victims of abuse, including trafficking victims.
However, most government assistance and services were
directed to child trafficking victims, and were not readily
accessible to adult or male trafficking victims. NGOs noted
that government support services typically cease once a
victim leaves shelter care, and that trafficking victims
could benefit from greater reintegration assistance. The
government trained personnel, including consular officers, on
identifying trafficking victims abroad; consular officials
identified four trafficking victims during the reporting
period. Domestically, Salvadoran authorities encouraged
victims to assist with law enforcement efforts; 57 victims
participated in the investigation and prosecution of their
traffickers during the reporting period, though others did
not do so due to social stigma or fear of reprisals from
their traffickers. Victims generally are not charged, jailed,
or penalized for unlawful acts committed as a direct result
of being trafficked. The government does not provide a formal
legal alternative to deportation to a country where a
trafficking victim may face hardship or retribution, though
law enforcement and social service officials may request
residency status for a victim on a case-by-case basis.

Prevention
--------------
The Salvadoran government sustained anti-trafficking
prevention efforts during the reporting period. The
government ran information and education campaigns, and
operated an anti-trafficking hotline. During the reporting
period, the government trained more than 5,000 officials
across the country on preventing human trafficking. Border
agents received training to detect trafficking activity and
irregular migration patterns, and referred identified
trafficking cases for further police investigation.
Salvadoran troops assigned to peacekeeping operations receive
anti-trafficking training before deployment. No specific
government efforts to reduce demand for commercial sex acts
or forced labor were reported over the last year.


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.

-- 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: Why was El Salvador given a ranking of Tier 2?

A: The Government of El Salvador 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 sustained strong
anti-trafficking prosecution, protection, and prevention
activities, though it neglected to take adequate measures to
protect adult trafficking victims and to confront
trafficking-related corruption.

Q2: What is the nature of El Salvador,s trafficking problem?

A: El Salvador is a source, transit, and destination country
for women and children trafficked for the purposes of
commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. Most
victims are Salvadoran women and girls trafficked within the
country from rural to urban areas for commercial sexual
exploitation, although some adults and children are
trafficked internally for forced agricultural labor. The
majority of foreign victims are women and children from
Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, and Colombia who
travel to El Salvador in response to job offers, but are
subsequently forced into prostitution or domestic servitude.
Some adults and children from neighboring countries are
subject to forced labor in agriculture and apparel assembly.
Salvadorans have been trafficked to Guatemala, Mexico,
Belize, the United States, Spain, and Italy, for commercial
sexual exploitation.

Q3: How can El Salvador improve its anti-trafficking efforts?

A: To advance its efforts to combat human trafficking, the
Government of El Salvador could: continue to strengthen law
enforcement efforts against trafficking offenders;
investigate and prosecute, as appropriate, reports of forced
labor and domestic servitude, as well as allegations
relating to public officials who may be involved with
trafficking activity; increase use of pro-active law
enforcement techniques such as brothel raids to rescue
victims; increase victim services and assistance,
particularly for adults; and strengthen statutory penalties
for trafficking-in-persons crimes.


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