VENEZUELA -- 2009 TIP REPORT: PRESS GUIDANCE AND

UNCLAS STATE 060638

SIPDIS

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

--------------
VENEZUELA (TIER 2 WATCH LIST)
--------------

Venezuela is a source, transit, and destination country for
men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of
commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. Venezuelan
women and girls are trafficked within the country for
commercial sexual exploitation, lured from poor interior
regions to urban and tourist areas such as Caracas and
Margarita Island. Victims are often recruited through false
job offers, and subsequently coerced into prostitution. Some
Venezuelan children are forced to work as street beggars or
as domestic servants. Venezuelan women and girls are
trafficked transnationally for commercial sexual exploitation
to Mexico, in addition to Caribbean destinations such as
Trinidad and Tobago, the Netherlands Antilles, and the
Dominican Republic. A common trafficking route is for
victims to transit Curacao en route to The Netherlands and
other countries in Western Europe. Men, women, and children
from Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Brazil, the Dominican Republic,
and Asian nations such as the People,s Republic of China are
trafficked to and through Venezuela, and may be subjected to
commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. A more
recent trend appears to be increased human trafficking
activity in Venezuela,s Orinoco River Basin area and border
regions of Tachira State, where political violence and
infiltration by armed rebel groups are common.

The Government of Venezuela does not fully comply with the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Despite
these overall significant efforts, the government did not
show evidence of progress in convicting and sentencing
trafficking offenders and providing adequate assistance to
victims; therefore, Venezuela is placed on Tier 2 Watch List.


Recommendations for Venezuela: Amend existing laws to
prohibit and adequately punish all forms of trafficking in
persons, particularly the internal trafficking of men and
boys; intensify efforts to investigate and prosecute
trafficking offenses, and convict and punish trafficking
offenders; investigate reports of trafficking complicity by
public officials; provide greater assistance and services to
trafficking victims; consider designating a coordinator to
lead the government,s anti-trafficking efforts; and improve
data collection for trafficking crimes.

Prosecution
--------------
The Government of Venezuela made limited anti-trafficking law
enforcement efforts over the last year, though Venezuelan law
prohibits most forms of human trafficking. In 2007, the
government enacted the Organic Law on the Right of Women to a
Violence-Free Life. Article 56 of this recently enacted law
prohibits the trafficking of women and girls for the purposes
of sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery, irregular
adoption, or organ extraction, prescribing punishments of 15
to 20 years, imprisonment. Articles 46 and 47 prohibit
forced prostitution and sexual slavery, and carry penalties
of 15 to 20 years, imprisonment. These anti-trafficking
provisions, however, do not address the internal trafficking
of adult males or boys. Article 16 of the Organic Law
Against Organized Crime, enacted in 2005, prohibits
trafficking across international borders for labor or sexual
exploitation, and prescribes penalties of 10 to 18 years,
imprisonment. The above penalties are sufficiently
stringent, and commensurate with those for other serious
crimes, such as rape. Prosecutors also can use Venezuela,s
Child Protection Act and various articles of the penal code
to prosecute the internal trafficking of children, though
many of these statutes carry extremely low penalties --
typically a maximum of three months in jail or fines.
Despite existing legal tools for punishing many forms of
human trafficking, the Venezuelan government did not report
any convictions or sentences of trafficking offenders in

2008. However, the government opened six investigations of
transnational sex trafficking, one investigation of
transnational labor trafficking, and one investigation of
suspected internal trafficking. International organizations
indicated that the government cooperated with INTERPOL on
transnational trafficking cases, and increased screening for
potential trafficking crimes at airports and borders. There
were no confirmed reports of government complicity with human
trafficking in 2008, though corruption among public
officials, particularly related to the issuance of false
identity documents, appeared to be widespread. Moreover,
many Venezuelan law enforcement officials reportedly did not
distinguish between human trafficking and alien smuggling
offenses.

Protection
--------------
The government sustained limited efforts to assist
trafficking victims during the reporting period. The
government did not operate shelters accessible to or
dedicated for trafficking victims, relying on NGOs and
international organizations to provide the bulk of victim
assistance. The government operated a national 24-hour
hotline through which it received trafficking complaints, and
directed trafficking victims to NGOs for care.
Government-provided psychological and medical examinations
were available for trafficking victims, but additional victim
services such as follow-up medical aid, legal assistance with
filing a complaint, job training, and reintegration
assistance remained lacking. The government reportedly
increased, however, the availability of psychological
services for trafficking victims during the past year.
Police reported that most trafficking victims were reluctant
to testify in court against their traffickers because of long
court delays and fear of reprisals. According to NGOs, the
government did not have a formal mechanism for identifying
trafficking victims among vulnerable populations, such as
women in prostitution. There were no reports of victims
being jailed or penalized for unlawful acts committed as a
direct result of being trafficked. The government reportedly
had a policy of providing refugee status or other legal
protections for foreign victims who faced retribution if
returned to their country of origin. The government also
assisted with the repatriation of 28 Chinese nationals who
had been subjected to labor trafficking last year.

Prevention
--------------
The Venezuelan government increased its efforts to prevent
human trafficking over the year by providing some funding to
NGOs for education activities, conducting widespread public
awareness campaigns about the dangers of human trafficking,
and continuing anti-trafficking training for government
officials. The government advertised its hotline number,
aired public service announcements, and widely distributed
materials against commercial sexual exploitation, forced
labor, and child sex tourism. The government collaborated
with NGOs and international organizations on other
anti-trafficking efforts, but relations with these
organizations were reportedly mixed. Moreover, high turnover
of government personnel, particularly lack of an
anti-trafficking coordinator, appears to have hampered the
government,s anti-trafficking progress. While many
government officials acknowledge that human trafficking is a
problem in the country, some tended to view the nation as
principally a transit point, demonstrating less recognition
of internal trafficking concerns, such as children trafficked
for commercial sexual exploitation. No specific activities
to reduce demand for commercial sex acts or forced labor were
reported.


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 Venezuela given a ranking of Tier 2 Watch List?

A: The Government of Venezuela 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 convicting and sentencing trafficking offenders
and providing adequate assistance to victims; therefore,
Venezuela is placed on Tier 2 Watch List.

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

A: Venezuela is a source, transit, and destination country
for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of
commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. Venezuelan
women and girls are trafficked within the country for
commercial sexual exploitation, lured from poor interior
regions to urban and tourist areas such as Caracas and
Margarita Island. Victims are often recruited through false
job offers, and subsequently coerced into prostitution. Some
Venezuelan children are forced to work as street beggars or
as domestic servants. Venezuelan women and girls are
trafficked transnationally for commercial sexual exploitation
to Mexico, in addition to Caribbean destinations such as
Trinidad and Tobago, the Netherlands Antilles, and the
Dominican Republic. A common trafficking route is for
victims to transit Curacao en route to the Netherlands and
other countries in Western Europe. Men, women, and children
from Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Brazil, the Dominican Republic,
and Asian nations such as the People,s Republic of China are
trafficked to and through Venezuela, and may be subjected to
commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. A more
recent trend appears to be increased human trafficking
activity in Venezuela,s Orinoco River Basin area and border
regions of Tachira State, where political violence and
infiltration by armed rebel groups are common.

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

A: To advance its efforts to combat human trafficking, the
Government of Venezuela could: amend existing laws to
prohibit and adequately punish all forms of trafficking in
persons, particularly the internal trafficking of men and
boys; intensify efforts to investigate and prosecute
trafficking offenses, and convict and punish trafficking
offenders; investigate reports of trafficking complicity by
public officials; provide greater assistance and services to
trafficking victims; consider designating a coordinator to
lead the government,s anti-trafficking efforts; and improve
data collection for trafficking crimes.


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