NICARAGUA -- 2009 TIP REPORT: PRESS GUIDANCE AND

UNCLAS STATE 060629

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KTIP ELAB KCRM KPAO KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG NU
SUBJECT: NICARAGUA -- 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 Nicaragua 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 Nicaragua 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 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 Nicaragua 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 Nicaragua,s country narrative in the
2009 TIP Report:

--------------
NICARAGUA (TIER 2 WATCH LIST)
--------------

Nicaragua is principally a source and transit country for
women and children trafficked for the purposes of commercial
sexual exploitation and forced labor. Women and children are
trafficked within the country and to neighboring countries,
most often to El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras,
Mexico, and the United States, for commercial sexual
exploitation. The most prevalent form of internal
trafficking is the exploitation of children, both boys and
girls, in prostitution. NGOs identify Managua, Granada,
Esteli, and San Juan del Sur as destinations for foreign
child sex tourists. NGOs report instances of forced child
marriages between young girls and older foreign men,
particularly in San Juan del Sur. Children are trafficked
within the country for forced labor in construction,
agriculture, the fishing industry, and for domestic
servitude. Young Nicaraguan men and boys are trafficked from
southern border areas to Costa Rica for forced labor in
agriculture and construction. To a lesser extent, Nicaragua
is a destination country for women and children trafficked
from Colombia, Guatemala, and Honduras, for the purpose of
commercial sexual exploitation. All forms of human
trafficking appear to be growing in Nicaragua, which NGOs
indicate is underreported to authorities.

The Government of Nicaragua does not fully comply with the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Despite
such efforts, the government did not show evidence of
progress in combating human trafficking, particularly in
terms of providing adequate assistance to victims and
confronting trafficking-related complicity; therefore,
Nicaragua is placed on Tier 2 Watch List.

Recommendations for Nicaragua: Increase efforts to
investigate and prosecute trafficking offenses, and convict
and punish trafficking offenders, including government
officials who may be suspected of complicity with trafficking
activity; increase law enforcement efforts against forced
labor; dedicate additional resources for victim assistance;
provide adequate care for adult trafficking victims; and
raise public awareness about human trafficking, particularly
among young Nicaraguans seeking gainful employment.

Prosecution
--------------

The Government of Nicaragua demonstrated inadequate efforts
to combat human trafficking through law enforcement during
the reporting period. Nicaragua criminalizes all forms of
human trafficking. A penal code reform law, which was passed
by the Nicaraguan National Assembly in November 2007, came
into force in July 2008. Article 182 of the new code
prohibits trafficking in persons for the purposes of slavery,
sexual exploitation, and adoption, prescribing penalties of
from seven to 10 years, imprisonment. A separate statute,
Article 315, prohibits the submission, maintenance, or forced
recruitment of another person into slavery, forced labor,
servitude, or participation in an armed conflict; this
offense carries penalties of from five to eight years,
imprisonment. These prescribed punishments are sufficiently
stringent and commensurate with penalties prescribed for
other serious crimes such as rape. During the reporting
period, the government investigated 13 trafficking cases,
filed 10 prosecutions, but achieved no convictions. Such
results represent diminished efforts compared to the previous
year, when the government investigated 17 cases, filed two
prosecutions, and achieved two convictions, securing
sentences of more than four years, imprisonment for each
trafficking offender. The government opened no investigations
of suspected official complicity with human trafficking,
despite credible reports of trafficking-related corruption in
the judiciary, in addition to police and immigration
officials accepting bribes, sexually exploiting victims, or
turning a blind eye to such activity, particularly at the
nation,s borders.

Protection
--------------

The Nicaraguan government made inadequate efforts to protect
trafficking victims during the last year, and NGOs and
international organizations continued to provide the bulk of
assistance to victims. The government provided basic shelter
and services to child trafficking victims, but such
assistance was not readily accessible in all parts of the
country, nor was it generally available for adult trafficking
victims. Last year the government,s donor-funded
anti-trafficking telephone hotline was reported as not
working regularly. With assistance from IOM and OAS, the
government trained diplomatic and consular personnel in
identifying trafficking victims abroad. Consular officials
assisted six Nicaraguan trafficking victims last year, aiding
repatriation efforts from El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panama,
Mexico, Guatemala, and France. The government encouraged
victims to participate in trafficking investigations and
prosecutions, though many were reluctant to do so due to
social stigma, fear of retribution from traffickers, and long
court delays. The government provided a temporary legal
alternative to the removal of foreign victims to countries
where they may face hardship or retribution.

Prevention
--------------

The Nicaraguan government made inadequate efforts to prevent
trafficking, such as through awareness-raising campaigns,
during the last year. The government conducted no
anti-trafficking outreach or education campaigns in 2008,
relying on NGOs and international organizations to sponsor
such activities. The government maintained an interagency
anti-trafficking committee to direct anti-trafficking
efforts, but it conducted few activities during the reporting
period. Government collaboration with NGOs on
anti-trafficking activities is reported to be better on the
local level. The government reported no efforts to reduce
demand for commercial sexual acts, such as enforcement of
Article 177 ) its penal code provision against child sex
tourism -- or awareness-raising campaigns on child
prostitution; nor did it undertake efforts to reduce demand
for forced labor.


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 Nicaragua downgraded to Tier 2 Watch List on this
year,s Report?

A: The Government of Nicaragua does not fully comply with the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Despite
such efforts, the government did not show evidence of
progress in combating human trafficking, particularly in
terms of providing adequate assistance to victims and
confronting trafficking-related complicity; therefore,
Nicaragua is placed on Tier 2 Watch List.

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

A: Nicaragua is principally a source and transit country for
women and children trafficked for the purposes of commercial
sexual exploitation and forced labor. Women and children are
trafficked within the country and to neighboring countries,
most often to El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras,
Mexico, and the United States, for commercial sexual
exploitation. The most prevalent form of internal
trafficking is the exploitation of children, both boys and
girls, in prostitution. NGOs identify Managua, Granada,
Esteli, and San Juan del Sur as destinations for foreign
child sex tourists. NGOs report instances of forced child
marriages between young girls and older foreign men,
particularly in San Juan del Sur. Children are trafficked
within the country for forced labor in construction,
agriculture, the fishing industry, and for domestic
servitude. Young Nicaraguan men and boys are trafficked from
southern border areas to Costa Rica for forced labor in
agriculture and construction. To a lesser extent, Nicaragua
is a destination country for women and children trafficked
from Colombia, Guatemala, and Honduras, for the purpose of
commercial sexual exploitation. All forms of human
trafficking appear to be growing in Nicaragua, which NGOs
indicate is underreported to authorities.

Q3: How can Nicaragua improve its anti-trafficking efforts?

A: To advance its efforts to combat human trafficking, the
Government of Nicaragua could: increase efforts to
investigate and prosecute trafficking offenses, and convict
and punish trafficking offenders, including government
officials who may be suspected of complicity with trafficking
activity; increase law enforcement efforts against forced
labor; dedicate additional resources for victim assistance;
provide adequate care for adult trafficking victims; and
raise public awareness about human trafficking, particularly
among young Nicaraguans seeking gainful employment.


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