URUGUAY -- 2009 TIP REPORT: PRESS GUIDANCE AND

UNCLAS STATE 060637

SIPDIS

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

--------------
URUGUAY (TIER 2)
--------------

Uruguay is primarily a source and transit country for men,
women, and children trafficked for the purposes of commercial
sexual exploitation and forced labor. Most victims are women
and girls trafficked within the country to border and tourist
areas for commercial sexual exploitation; some boys are also
trafficked for the same purpose. Occasionally, parents
facilitate the exploitation of their children in
prostitution, and impoverished parents in rural areas have
turned over their children for forced domestic and
agricultural labor. Lured by false job offers, some
Uruguayan women have been trafficked to Spain and Italy for
commercial sexual exploitation.

The Government of Uruguay 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 showed strong prevention
efforts and sustained victim services, and opened one
criminal investigation under its new anti-trafficking law.
However, vigorous law enforcement efforts against trafficking
offenders remained lacking.

Recommendations for Uruguay: Increase efforts to investigate
and prosecute trafficking offenses, and convict and punish
trafficking offenders; increase efforts to implement the new
anti-trafficking law; expand anti-trafficking training for
judges and law enforcement personnel; and increase victim
services and protection efforts.

Prosecution
--------------
The Government of Uruguay modestly improved its
anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts during the last
year. In early 2008, the government enacted an
anti-trafficking statute as part of a broader immigration
reform package. Article 78 of this new law prohibits all
forms of trafficking in persons, prescribing penalties of
four to 16 years, imprisonment. Article 78 supplements
older Uruguayan laws that prohibit child trafficking, child
pornography, and forced labor, which prescribe penalties
ranging from six months, to 12 years, imprisonment. All
the above penalties are sufficiently stringent and
commensurate with punishments prescribed for other serious
crimes. During the reporting period, the government opened
one case under its new anti-trafficking law; two defendants
who allegedly trafficked nearly a dozen women into forced
prostitution in Spain were in prison awaiting trial at the
time of publication. Under older statutes, two female
defendants were arrested and charged with pimping of minors
in separate cases. In October 2008, the judiciary
established two special courts to focus on organized crime
cases, including trafficking in persons. The government
increased anti-trafficking training for consular and
immigration officials, though NGOs indicate that police and
judges remain unfamiliar with Uruguayan anti-trafficking
laws, particularly outside Montevideo. Uruguayan law
enforcement officials cooperated with counterparts in
neighboring Mercosur governments and other countries on
international trafficking cases. There was no confirmed
evidence of official complicity with human trafficking.

Protection
--------------
The Uruguayan government sustained basic victim services
during the year. Child victims of trafficking are referred
to government institutions for care; 14 child trafficking
victims were offered assistance during the reporting period.
The government operated shelters accessible to adult female
victims of abuse, including trafficking victims, and
endeavored to provide legal, medical, and psychological care.
Adult male trafficking victims, however, were not eligible
for services. While the government provided limited
assistance to NGOs working in the area of trafficking, the
availability of victim services remained uneven across the
country, especially outside the capital. The government does
not have a formal system for identifying trafficking victims
among vulnerable populations, such as adults in prostitution
or undocumented migrants. The government encourages but does
not force victims to assist in the investigation and
prosecution of their traffickers. There were no reports of
victims being jailed, deported, or otherwise penalized for
acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked.
Uruguayan law does not force the repatriation of any foreign
trafficking victim, and allows trafficking victims to seek
citizenship in Uruguay.

Prevention
--------------
The Uruguayan government increased its efforts to raise
public awareness of the dangers of human trafficking and
child prostitution during the reporting period, launching a
widespread week-long information campaign in October 2008.
Government officials spoke publicly about human trafficking,
conducted media interviews, and distributed 50,000
anti-trafficking leaflets and 5,000 posters in tourist areas.
Government officials also conducted outreach to hotel
workers and to others in the broader tourism sector to raise
awareness about child sex tourism and the commercial sexual
exploitation of minors. The government maintained good
cooperation with NGOs, and supported a local organization,s
efforts to conduct anti-trafficking outreach among
prostituted women. The Ministry of Education continued to
include anti-trafficking material in its high school sex
education curriculum. Last year the government formed an
informal interagency committee to direct its anti-trafficking
efforts, in addition to maintaining a special committee
focusing on the commercial and non-commercial sexual
exploitation of children. The government provided
anti-trafficking training to Uruguayan troops being deployed
on international peacekeeping missions during the year. In
an effort to reduce consumer demand for commercial sex acts,
the government prosecuted a small number of &clients8 for
commercial sexual exploitation of minors. There were no
known efforts to address 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 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: Why was Uruguay given a ranking of Tier 2?

A: The Government of Uruguay 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 showed strong prevention
efforts and sustained victim services, and opened one
criminal investigation under its new anti-trafficking law.
However, vigorous law enforcement efforts against trafficking
offenders remained lacking.

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

A: Uruguay is primarily a source and transit country for men,
women, and children trafficked for the purposes of commercial
sexual exploitation and forced labor. Most victims are women
and girls trafficked within the country to border and tourist
areas for commercial sexual exploitation; some boys are also
trafficked for the same purpose. Occasionally, parents
facilitate the exploitation of their children in
prostitution, and impoverished parents in rural areas have
turned over their children for forced domestic and
agricultural labor. Lured by false job offers, some
Uruguayan women have been trafficked to Spain and Italy for
commercial sexual exploitation.

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

A: To advance its efforts to combat human trafficking, the
Government of Uruguay could: increase efforts to investigate
and prosecute trafficking offenses and to convict and punish
trafficking offenders; increase efforts to implement the new
anti-trafficking law; expand anti-trafficking training for
judges and law enforcement personnel; and increase victim
services and protection efforts.


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