This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 15 SANTO DOMINGO 001257 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR G/TIP (OWEN), G, INL, DRL, PRM, IWI, WHA/PPC 
(PUCCETTI) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB DR
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: FIFTH ANNUAL TRAFFICKING IN 
PERSONS REPORT 
 
REF: 04 STATE 273089 
 
¶1.    The following is Embassy,s response to the questions 
raised in reftel. 
 
¶2.    2005 Dominican Republic Trafficking in Persons Report 
 
¶I. OVERVIEW OF EFFORTS TO ELIMINATE TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS 
 
¶A.    The Dominican Republic is a country of origin, transit 
and destination for trafficking victims.  It is a country of 
origin for female prostitutes, as well as cabaret dancers and 
domestic employees, who work abroad generally in urban 
centers in wealthier countries.  The number of such 
prostitutes/workers recruited since 1991 is estimated by the 
International Organization for Migration (IOM) and NGOs to be 
between 50,000 and 100,000 based on fragmentary data.  It is 
not clear how many of these are or were trafficking victims, 
but one report estimated that at least one third of these 
women may have been victims of trafficking.  It is not known 
how many women are trafficked through the Dominican Republic 
to other countries, some of them obtaining false documents 
while in transit.  For instance, there are indications that 
Peruvian women have been trafficked through the Dominican 
Republic to Italy.  The Association of Domestic Workers 
estimates that 1500 women in domestic service jobs within the 
Dominican Republic are victims of internal trafficking. 
 
Human rights observers say a number of men who migrate to or 
live in the Dominican Republic are engaged in forced labor, 
including in the sugarcane plantations and the construction 
industry.  There are no reliable estimates about the number 
of adult male trafficking victims in the Dominican Republic. 
 
Observers estimate that 25,000-30,000 children under 18 years 
of age are involved in prostitution in the Dominican 
Republic.  Some elements in the tourist industry facilitate 
the sexual exploitation of children, particularly in the 
tourist areas of Boca Chica, Puerto Plata, and Sosua.  Some 
foreign agents overseas market tours by suggesting that young 
boys and girls can be found as sex partners. IOM and UNICEF 
estimate that 2,000 Haitian children smuggled into the 
Dominican Republic annually provide street services (such as 
shoe shining), work in agriculture, or are involved in the 
sex trade.  The ILO estimates that 48,000 children are 
engaged in child labor nationwide. 
 
¶B.    The principal source country for individuals trafficked 
to the Dominican Republic is Haiti, which shares a long and 
porous border with the Dominican Republic.  Both countries 
lack effective border controls (see Section II.G.). 
Principal destinations continue to be Europe and Latin 
America, and include Spain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, 
Belgium, Switzerland, Greece, the Netherlands Antilles, 
Argentina, Costa Rica, and Brazil.  Australia has been 
mentioned with increasing frequency as a destination for 
women trafficked from the Dominican Republic. 
Many economic migrants attempt to travel to the United 
States, mainly via flimsy wooden boats called "yolas" used to 
cross the Mona Passage between the Dominican Republic and 
Puerto Rico.  Many of the migrants pay smugglers to take get 
them to the United States.  An unknown number of these 
migrants may have been victims of trafficking.  The 
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) estimates that almost 
12,000 illegal migrants attempted to cross the Mona Passage 
in 2004, nearly twice as many as the year before. 
 
¶C.    Local NGOs and international organizations have noted 
an increase in trafficking to Brazil, Colombia, the Czech 
Republic, and Australia, as well as through Cyprus.  There 
were also reports of new trafficking rings linked to Belgium 
and Italy, with traffickers using travel agencies as fronts. 
The extent of the trafficking problem has remained 
substantially unchanged from last year. 
 
¶D.    The government, international organizations, and NGOs 
have conducted studies over the past several years that 
highlight the major problems and trends in trafficking.  A 
summary of these studies was compiled into an easy-to-read 
format by the Foundation for Institutionalism and Justice 
(FINJUS), a local NGO. 
 
USAID/Haiti sponsored a study by consultant Glenn Smucker and 
Professor Gerald Murray of the University of Florida of the 
trafficking of Haitian children.  Presented in December 2004 
before publication, the study describes the ways in which 
children are trafficked, including across the Dominican 
border, and the ways in which they are and are not being 
exploited.  For example, the report did not find any 
verifiable data that children smuggled to the Dominican 
Republic were being exploited through forced labor, although 
it did find evidence that they were being used for 
prostitution.  It discusses in lesser detail the use of 
Haitian labor in the Dominican Republic generally. 
 
IOM has funded a study on internal trafficking for purposes 
of prostitution.  As of the end of February 2005 the report 
was substantially complete, but the results have not yet been 
published.  The study is expected to conclude that most women 
working as prostitutes in the Dominican Republic are 
trafficking victims.  Very few prostitutes are from the areas 
where they work.  Rather, the data indicate, women are 
brought to sex tourism areas and deceived about the kind of 
work, the extent of prostitution required of them, or the 
amount of money they will receive.  In addition, the owners 
of brothels threaten children of prostitutes or take physical 
custody of the children in order to ensure the mothers, 
compliance.  Some hook the women on drugs to make them more 
dependent.  Researchers have indications that many 
prostitution rings involving internally trafficked women have 
close connections to organized crime, including 
narco-traffickers. 
The government provides the U.S. Government with an annual 
summary of anti-trafficking efforts for use in the 
trafficking in persons report. 
 
¶E.    IOM and UNICEF estimate that 2,000 Haitian children are 
smuggled into the Dominican Republic annually and provide 
street services, work in agriculture, or are involved in the 
sex trade.  Young children plant sugar cane in the sugar 
plantations, and 14- and 15-year olds have been spotted 
cutting sugar cane.  Generally, these children live in 
substandard housing, lack adequate nutrition, and have 
virtually no access to healthcare services.  The majority of 
them do not have identification documents. 
 
There was also evidence that some Haitians working in the 
sugarcane fields were victims of trafficking.  In various 
sugarcane industry shantytowns, called "bateys," field guards 
were reported to keep workers' clothes and documents to 
prevent them from leaving until the end of the harvest. 
Employers commonly withheld wages to keep workers in the 
fields.  Human rights NGOs, the Catholic Church, and 
activists described life in the bateys as "modern-day 
slavery."  In most bateys, living and working conditions were 
harsh. 
 
¶F.    Traffickers target vulnerable populations, including 
women and children.  The main methods used to recruit women 
include family networks and fake contracts to work as 
dancers, artists, or domestic employees.  Many trafficking 
victims travel using bona fide legal documents, including 
non-immigrant visas, which are taken from them on arrival. 
 
¶G.    The Dominican government, particularly the Fernandez 
government that took power in August 2004, has demonstrated a 
commitment to fighting trafficking in persons and the 
government is making a good faith effort to address 
trafficking and trafficking-related corruption.  President 
Fernandez emphasized repeatedly at public events that his 
administration would proceed against traffickers, leading up 
to the March 2005 conviction of Congressman Guillermo 
Radhames Ramos Garcia for alien smuggling (see Section 
III.D.).  In February, Fernandez submitted to the Dominican 
Senate for ratification the Optional Protocol to the 
Convention on the Rights of the Child concerning the sale of 
children, child prostitution, and child pornography. 
 
At a conference on trafficking hosted by the IOM in October 
2004, Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito called for 
the stiffest possible sentences for traffickers and pointed 
out the need for quicker resolution of pending cases.  This 
conference was attended by a number of senior officials and 
investigators (see Section II.F.).  Assistant Attorney 
General for Trafficking and Alien Smuggling Frank Soto also 
spoke out in the press against trafficking and alien 
smuggling. 
The government has demonstrated that it is willing to 
investigate, prosecute and fire corrupt government officials 
(see Section I.H.). 
 
¶H.    There are no verifiable reports of institutional 
involvement in trafficking; however, corruption is a problem 
in the Dominican Republic, and certain officials have been 
directly involved in alien smuggling operations.  In 
addition, some officials have benefited from bribes directly 
or indirectly related to alien smuggling and trafficking. 
 
Some agencies have taken steps to reduce corruption.  The 
Migration Directorate has removed a number of inspectors and 
supervisors to purge the organization of elements that 
contributed to trafficking and illegal alien smuggling. 
 
In addition, authorities have made significant efforts to 
investigate and prosecute corruption by high-ranking 
officials, including obtaining a conviction against 
Congressman Ramos Garcia for alien smuggling (see Section 
III.D.).  For example, in late 2004 the government indicted a 
former Secretary of the Armed Forces, a former Secretary of 
Interior and Police, and others for payoffs and embezzlement 
from a government-backed loan program for public transport 
during the previous administration.  In addition, the 
National Drug Control Directorate arrested a retired military 
officer for trafficking 1,387 kilograms of cocaine, and the 
suspect was successfully extradited to the United States on 
drug charges in February 2005.  Because of the size of the 
seizure and the political connections of the suspect, this 
case has potentially far-reaching repercussions.  It is an 
example of the government,s willingness to take on cases 
that could implicate powerful people, a significant change 
from years of impunity for well-connected individuals. 
 
In February 2005, President Fernandez announced the creation 
of a National Commission for Ethics and Combating Corruption, 
to be composed of representatives from the government, civil 
society, religious groups, and the business sector.  The 
Commission will be responsible for creating, executing, and 
following up government initiatives to fight corruption.  The 
President swore in the members of the Commission on February 
28, 2005. 
 
¶I.    The government,s resources to address trafficking in 
persons were and are limited.  The economy and national 
finances were severely affected by massive bank failures in 
2003, and the government is operating on a budget of strict 
austerity, as agreed with the International Monetary Fund. 
Salaries for public employees are low, a situation that 
contributes to corruption.  Most of the resources and 
training for anti-trafficking activities come from foreign 
donor sources. 
 
Corruption and deeply rooted attitudes complicate the 
government,s response to trafficking.  The culture is 
tolerant of official corruption, which many low and mid-level 
officials use to supplement their income.  Many officials are 
inclined to look the other way rather than help a victim, and 
some try to profit from exploitation.  A historically 
negative attitude toward Haitian migrants makes many 
officials reluctant to assist Haitian victims of trafficking. 
The Dominican justice system is slow, faulty, and 
under-resourced, factors which significantly affect the 
prosecution of traffickers.  Although a new Criminal 
Procedures Code implemented in September should help deal 
with the problem, 70 percent of the prisoners nationwide were 
held without being charged or while awaiting trial.   The 
average pretrial detention throughout the country was more 
than 6 months.  In an estimated 75 percent of all cases, the 
suspects were detained without action until the statute of 
limitations expired, leaving no action for the courts to 
take.  Only 10 percent of those charged with a crime were 
actually convicted.  The remainder were acquitted or released 
without judgment.  A large backlog of criminal cases remained 
in the National District and throughout the country.  There 
were more than 300,000 cases pending when the new Criminal 
Procedures Code took effect, although many of these cases had 
exceeded the statutory limitation and may be removed from the 
system. 
 
In addition, it is a significant challenge for prosecutors to 
bring complex trafficking cases to completion.  There is no 
integrated electronic record keeping.  Institutional memory 
is generally lost from one administration to the next because 
many government offices retain only paper files, if any at 
all.  Even when personnel are trained and competent, they are 
subject to transfer to other sections or may lose their jobs 
due to political patronage. 
 
Although the national anti-trafficking units are familiar 
with the law and can differentiate between alien smuggling 
cases and trafficking in persons, many local law enforcement 
authorities have not received training on this issue.  Local 
authorities may misidentify trafficking cases as lesser 
offenses, for example as cases of document forgery or as 
violations of immigration laws. 
 
¶J.    The government occasionally makes available to 
international organizations and to the Embassy assessments of 
its anti-trafficking efforts.  It is responsive to requests 
for information.  Various agencies with anti-trafficking 
responsibilities work closely with Embassy counterparts.  For 
example, the Directorate of Migration works with DHS to 
monitor smuggling activities and makes available reports of 
arrests.  Dominican Migration officers also bring suspected 
illegal aliens they intercept at ports of entry/exit for 
interviews with consular fraud prevention investigators for 
document and identity verification.  This provides the 
consular section critical information for the input of 
lookout entries into the Department,s computer database 
regarding alien smuggling and fraud, as warranted.   The 
Navy, through the auspices of Naval Intelligence (M-2), 
coordinates regularly with the Coast Guard Attache regarding 
interdictions at sea. 
Government agencies generally cooperate with each other on 
trafficking cases, although the mechanism for doing so is not 
well developed, and some agencies are at times reluctant to 
share information.  This problem was the subject of a 
DOJ/OPDAT workshop held in February 2005 (see Section III.G.). 
 
¶K.    Prostitution is not prohibited by law, although it is 
illegal for a third party to derive financial gain from 
prostitution.  The operation of brothels is illegal. The 
Government usually did not enforce prostitution laws, but 
there were some crackdowns where minors were involved. 
Authorities closed down brothels engaged in child 
prostitution in Santiago, Monte Cristi and Boca Chica (see 
Section III.D.). 
 
II. PREVENTION 
 
¶A.    The Government acknowledges that trafficking is a 
problem and has formed specialized anti-trafficking units in 
the Attorney General,s office, the National Police, the 
Migration Directorate, and the Foreign Ministry.  The 
Attorney General,s anti-trafficking unit has three 
components: investigation, education, and computer crimes. 
Senior officials have spoken out about trafficking both 
publicly and in private communications.  See also I.G. 
 
¶B.    Several government agencies share responsibility for 
anti-trafficking efforts.  The primary agencies involved in 
anti-trafficking efforts include: 
 
-     Office of the Attorney General 
-     Secretariat of Women (SEM) 
-     Directorate of Migration 
-     Naval Intelligence Unit (M-2) 
-     Secretariat of Foreign Relations (SEREX) 
-     National Police 
-     Secretariat of Tourism 
-     Secretariat of Labor 
-     National Council for Children and Adolescents (CONANI) 
 
The interagency group Committee for the Protection of Migrant 
Women (CIPROM) is the lead agency on trafficking issues. 
CIPROM consists of SEM (the chair), SEREX, the Secretariat of 
Labor, the Directorate of Migration, the Secretariat of 
Tourism, National Police, the Attorney General, IOM, the 
National Hotel and Restaurant Association (ASONOHARES), and 
several others.  CIPROM was created in 1999 and charged with 
developing plans and strengthening government programs and 
measures to protect migrant women, especially those 
trafficked to other countries for sexual exploitation.  IOM 
reports that CIPROM has effectively been expanded to consider 
trafficking generally (see Section II.H). 
 
¶C.     There have been a several government-supported 
education campaigns against trafficking and sexual 
exploitation.  The campaigns tend to focus on identifying 
victims of trafficking rather than on addressing the demand 
for trafficking.  Law enforcement officials held two 
town-hall style meetings on trafficking in Boca Chica, a 
hotspot for sex tourism.  The meetings brought together 
participants from the Attorney General,s office, SEREX, 
National Police, Tourist Police, and other organizations with 
community leaders to discuss the dangers of trafficking and 
to encourage community involvement in identifying and 
reporting suspected traffickers and victims.  The education 
section of the Attorney General,s anti-trafficking unit is 
developing a plan to expand this program to every province in 
the Dominican Republic. 
 
SEM held eight workshops designed to promote local networks 
to prevent trafficking and to assist victims, as well as 
three other workshops to educate communities about the 
anti-trafficking laws and their implications.  SEM also 
coordinated the production of two radio spots with the 
objective of preventing trafficking and illegal migration. 
The Ministry of Education held two workshops attended by 80 
teachers on the topics of trafficking and illegal migration. 
 
¶D.    The government provided support to other programs to 
prevent trafficking.  The Ministry of Labor, in collaboration 
with the ILO's Program for the Eradication of Child Labor and 
other international labor rights organizations, continued 
programs to combat child labor.  These included programs to 
eliminate child labor in the tomato-producing Province of 
Azua, in the coffee-growing Province of San Jose de Ocoa, and 
in the agricultural province of Constanza, and a program to 
combat the commercial sexual exploitation of minors in 
popular tourist destinations.  The Ministries of Labor and 
Education continued to support the program Combating Child 
Labor through Education, which established several camps that 
hosted more than 1,000 children and adolescents.  An 
ILO-Ministry of Labor program in Boca Chica against the 
commercial sexual exploitation of minors provided 
psychological support and medical assistance, returned 
children to classrooms, and reunified children with their 
families and communities whenever possible.  The Armed Forces 
sponsored a program to rescue children from abuse, known as 
the the General Directorate of Shelters and Residences for 
the Civic Reeducation of Boys, Girls, and Adolescents 
(DIGFARCIN).  DIGFARCIN provided educational programs, after 
school projects, and recreation opportunities to children at 
risk for abuse, mainly in the Boca Chica area.  DIGFARCIN 
also operated a home for abused children in San Jose de las 
Matas. 
 
¶E.    The government is able to support its own prevention 
programs, but funding is limited (see Section I.I.). 
 
¶F.    The government has strong relationships with NGOs that 
work on trafficking.  NGOs and international organizations 
are included on CIPROM.  Authorities received training on the 
anti-trafficking laws from FINJUS (see Section III.G). 
Representatives from all of the trafficking-related agencies 
attended and participated in the IOM Conference on best 
practices to combat trafficking in October in Boca Chica, 
which also included representatives from a number of foreign 
governments, foreign and local NGOs, international 
organizations, and international police, such as INTERPOL. 
SEM is a partner of local NGO Center for Integral Orientation 
and Investigation (COIN), the primary NGO source of 
information on trafficking victims.  COIN and IOM cooperate 
with the Attorney General,s office in identifying 
trafficking rings. 
 
¶G.    The Armed Forces is responsible for control of the 
borders; however, it is in practice relatively easy for 
traffickers to smuggle victims into and out of the Dominican 
Republic.  The land border between the Dominican Republic and 
Haiti is more than 240 miles long and extremely porous.  In 
addition, yolas and other vessels can launch from almost 
anywhere along the 1000-mile-long coast, which borders three 
sides of the country. 
 
The Armed Forces made a significant effort to deter illegal 
immigration and trafficking.  The Dominican Navy worked 
closely with the U.S. Coast Guard to prevent illegal voyages 
and to interdict illegal migrants, although it is known that 
some members of the Navy turned a blind eye to smuggling or 
engaged directly in the activity.  The Navy says that it 
detained nearly 7,000 illegal migrants in 2004, including 
more than 1,700 in January alone.  Nearly 200 of these 
migrants were from third countries.  The U.S. Coast Guard 
intercepted more than 6,000 illegal migrants, including more 
than 100 stowaways.  The Dominican Air Force sent personnel 
trained to identify illegal migration to several ports and 
airports as well as to the frontier.  The Air Force flew 117 
patrol missions in conjunction with the Navy to help counter 
illegal voyages. 
 
The government has increased the security of its passport 
through an anti-fraud department in the National Police. 
Increased passport security may make it more difficult for 
certain traffickers and alien smugglers to move Dominicans 
and third country nationals from or through the Dominican 
Republic. 
 
¶H.    Although there is no task force dedicated solely to 
trafficking, CIPROM takes the lead on the Government,s 
response to trafficking, particularly with respect to the 
trafficking of women overseas (see Section II.J).  The 
Attorney General named Assistant Attorney General Soto to 
lead the interagency prosecution effort, which includes 
elements from the National Police, Migration Directorate, 
Navy, and other agencies.  The Fernandez administration has 
revitalized a government office under the authority of the 
Attorney General that oversees the investigation and 
prosecution of corrupt officials. 
¶I.    Following the IOM conference in October, which brought 
together Dominican officials with members of the 
international law enforcement community (see Section II.F.), 
the Attorney General,s office developed lines of 
communication with INTERPOL, although they have not yet 
collaborated on any trafficking cases. 
 
¶J.    CIPROM is the lead interagency group for addressing 
trafficking in persons.  Although CIPROM was dormant for the 
early part of the year, it has become more active under the 
Fernandez administration.  CIPROM has begun to take on 
additional responsibilities for trafficking beyond its 
original mandate to assist migrant women.  According to IOM, 
CIPROM is in the process of creating a national plan of 
action to address trafficking in persons and has already 
produced a draft. 
 
¶K.    There is no single entity in the government responsible 
for developing anti-trafficking programs.  Rather, several 
agencies, including the Attorney General,s Office, SEM, 
SEREX and others, develop anti-trafficking programs within 
the scope of their responsibilities.  The various agencies 
have begun to better coordinate their efforts through CIPROM 
and through other, less formal channels. 
 
III. INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION OF TRAFFICKERS 
 
¶A.    Any of several laws may be applied to prosecute 
traffickers, depending on the elements of the crime and the 
identity of the victims.  Taken together, these laws are 
adequate to address the full scope of trafficking in persons, 
and they cover both domestic and international forms of 
trafficking.  In 2003 the Dominican Congress passed a 
comprehensive Trafficking Law (Law 137-03), promulgated 
subsequently by the President.  The definition of trafficking 
is based largely on U.S. definitions and covers trafficking 
for sexual exploitation as well as for non-sexual purposes, 
including forced labor.  A law against alien smuggling was 
already in force, but the Trafficking Law carries stricter 
penalties.  In addition, a new Code for Minors (Law 136-03) 
came into effect in 2004, with penalties specifically for the 
sexual exploitation of children. 
 
¶B.    The Code for Minors establishes penalties for sexual 
abuse of children of 20 to 30 years' imprisonment and fines 
from 100 to 150 times the minimum wage.  The Code for Minors 
provides for a penalty of between 2 and 5 years' 
incarceration and a fine of 3 to 5 times the minimum wage for 
persons found guilty of abuse of a minor.  The penalty is 
doubled if the abuse is related to trafficking.  The 
Trafficking Law also covers sexual exploitation, but the Code 
for Minors established more severe penalties for this crime. 
 
The Trafficking Law provides penalties of 15 to 20 years' 
imprisonment and a fine of 175 times the minimum wage for 
traffickers, including traffickers of persons for labor 
exploitation.  The law includes provisions against alien 
smuggling, establishing a 10- to 15-year prison sentence and 
a fine of 150 to 250 times the minimum wage. 
 
¶C.    The Law Against Domestic Violence (Law 24-97) includes 
penalties for rape, incest, sexual aggression, and other 
forms of domestic violence that range from one to 30 years in 
prison and fines ranging from 5,000 to 500,000 pesos 
(approximately US$175 to US$17,500).  The penalties for 
committing rape are 10 to 15 years in prison (or 10 to 20 
years in case of rape against a vulnerable person or under 
other egregious circumstances) and a fine of from 100,000 to 
200,000 pesos (approximately US$3,500 to US$7,000). 
 
¶D.    There are two trafficking cases that are currently 
being prosecuted.  In October 2004, police in Santiago and 
Montecristi closed down bars that were fronts for 
prostitution rings, rescuing a number of children, including 
four from the Casa Blanca bar in Santiago.  In the Casa 
Blanca case, authorities have filed charges against two 
individuals for violation of the Trafficking Law and other 
provisions.  The accused traffickers are free on bond, and 
the next hearing date is tentatively scheduled for March 17, 
¶2005. 
 
In June 2004, based on a tip from NGO International Justice 
Mission, authorities rescued more than 20 children from 
prostitution in Boca Chica and arrested at least seven 
individuals, five of whom are being charged with violating 
the Trafficking Law.  Three of the accused traffickers are in 
jail awaiting trial and two others are free on bond.  The 
next hearing date is scheduled for March 18, 2005. 
 
On March 2, 2005, Congressman Guillermo Radhames Ramos Garcia 
was found guilty of having smuggled 16 Asian immigrants 
across the Haitian border while he was serving as consul in 
Cap Haitien, Haiti.  The case was heard in the Supreme Court 
because subsequent to his arrest in 2002, Ramos Garcia became 
a member of the House of Representatives, entitling him to 
limited Constitutional immunity. Ramos Garcia was convicted 
under the alien smuggling law in force at the time of his 
crime and sentenced to 18 months in prison.  He was taken to 
Najayo prison immediately after the sentence was announced on 
the direct order of the Attorney General.  Two Asian 
co-defendants were found guilty and sentenced to time served, 
and another defendant, a former migration official, was 
acquitted. 
 
In December 2004, an alien smuggler in the southwestern town 
of Neyba was sentenced to three years in jail and a 1500 peso 
fine under the Trafficking Law, the first such conviction 
under that law since it came into effect in 2003.  The 
smuggler was convicted of bringing Haitian economic migrants 
across the border, charging them $200 each.  The smuggler was 
reported to authorities when instead of taking several 
migrants to Santo Domingo as promised, he took them to a 
remote location and robbed them. 
In November 2004, authorities arrested a U.S. citizen on 
charges of alien smuggling.  The U.S. citizen is accused of 
allowing smugglers to use his boat to carry illegal migrants 
to Puerto Rico.  Several migrants died when the boat capsized 
in open water.  As with most cases of alien smuggling in the 
Dominican Republic, it is not known whether any of the 
migrants were or would have been trafficking victims. 
 
Accused alien smuggler Maria Martinez Nunez has been in 
detention awaiting trial since August 2003. 
 
The government has taken new actions to prosecute alien 
smugglers and boat captains.  In at least one case, 
authorities successfully used evidence collected by the U.S. 
Coast Guard to support arguments for the pre-trial detention 
of the organizers of a smuggling operation. 
 
¶E.    According to COIN and IOM, trafficking organizations 
are typically small groups.  Smuggling rings in the Dominican 
Republic are loosely organized, and it is likely that profits 
from trafficking go directly to individual group members. 
Usually there is a contact at the destination who works with 
recruiters in the Dominican Republic to locate the victims 
and provide them with travel documents.  There were no 
reports of trafficking profits being channeled to armed 
groups, terrorist organizations, judges, banks, or the like. 
 
¶F.    The Government investigates allegations of trafficking 
primarily through the anti-trafficking unit in the Attorney 
General,s office, headed by Assistant Attorney General Soto. 
 The government has named a prosecutor in every judicial 
district as a special prosecutor for TIP cases.  In addition, 
special prosecutors detailed to M-2 handle cases of alien 
smuggling by sea routes.  These prosecutors routinely 
investigate possible trafficking links when they interrogate 
illegal migrants. 
 
Although resources are limited, the authorities use active 
investigative techniques when possible, including the 
monitoring of Internet pornography sites.  The police are not 
prohibited from engaging in covert operations. 
 
¶G.    The Government has established anti-trafficking 
training as a permanent part of the required curriculum at 
the Diplomatic and Consular School, and SEREX has offered the 
course eight times.  Local NGO FINJUS has provided intensive 
training on the application of the anti-trafficking laws to 
27 participants, including 9 judges, 3 prosecutors, and 10 
other government officials. 
 
In February 2005, DOJ/OPDAT sponsored an anti-trafficking 
training workshop to help Dominican authorities draft an 
operations manual for combating trafficking in persons and to 
improve interagency cooperation on trafficking cases.  The 
manual is being written by an interagency working group and 
will be distributed to the various law enforcement agencies 
when completed.  The workshop was attended by representatives 
from the Attorney General,s office, the Migration 
Directorate, the National Police, the Navy, SEREX, local 
NGOs, and IOM. 
 
¶H.    The government signed a cooperative agreement with the 
government of Colombia to share information on trafficking. 
The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court signed an agreement 
with his Latin American and Iberian counterparts for the 
Network of Ibero-American Judicial Cooperation (IberRed) to 
conduct studies and collaborate on trafficking projects.  The 
government is not currently engaged in any international 
trafficking investigations. 
 
¶I.    There are no known cases where the government has 
requested the extradition of persons charged with trafficking 
in other countries, nor has it received any requests to 
extradite any of its citizens to another nation on charges of 
trafficking.  Extradition between the United States and the 
Dominican Republic is governed by the June 9, 1909 
Extradition Treaty.  The government responded positively to 
United States extradition requests, extraditing 26 
individuals to the United States in 2004 for a variety of 
crimes, including drug trafficking, homicide, and money 
laundering. 
 
¶J.    See response in Section I. 
 
¶K.    See response in Section I. 
 
¶L.    In February 2005, the government deported a U.S. 
Citizen who is accused of sexually abusing children in New 
York while he was a teacher/principal at a local school.  The 
government cooperated with the U.S. Marshal Service in 
ensuring that the accused pedophile was deported efficiently, 
and he was taken into custody immediately on arrival in the 
United States.  The child sexual abuse laws do not provide 
extraterritorial coverage, although Dominicans are not known 
to travel overseas to engage in child sex tourism. 
 
¶M.    The Government has taken action on the following 
international instruments: 
 
-     ILO Convention 182 (ratified November 15, 2000) 
-     ILO Convention 29 (ratified December 5, 1956) 
-     ILO Convention 105 (ratified June 23, 1958) 
-     Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of 
the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution, and 
child pornography (submitted to the Senate for ratification 
on February 8, 2005) 
-     Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in 
Persons (signed December 15, 2000; not yet ratified) 
 
IV. PROTECTION AND ASSISTANCE TO VICTIMS 
 
¶A.    Under the Trafficking Law, victims of trafficking are 
guaranteed adequate housing, medical attention, and access to 
education, training, and employment opportunities.  The law 
requires that victims receive legal assistance as well as 
psychological and other evaluations.  In practice, many 
victims do not receive help under the law because they do not 
seek help and because of a lack of resources. 
 
According to NGOs such as COIN that work with trafficking 
victims, many victims are too embarrassed or frightened to 
take legal action against traffickers.  COIN, with assistance 
from SEM, provides low cost or free health services, 
psychological counseling, judicial assistance, and job 
training to women returned from trafficking situations to the 
Dominican Republic.  COIN provides tests for HIV/AIDS and 
other sexually transmitted diseases.  COIN also operates a 
reception center for returned women, offers counseling for 
potential victims, and conducts limited public service 
campaigns. 
 
¶B.    The government partners with local NGO COIN and 
provides support to a women,s refuge in Bani.  SEM 
cooperates with COIN to identify and rehabilitate victims of 
trafficking, especially those returned from trafficking 
overseas.  SEM works with IOM to identify victims and refer 
them for assistance. 
 
The government provides some assistance to the Adoratrices 
Center, a religious organization that is conducting an 
IOM-sponsored pilot program to rehabilitate internally 
trafficked women and to provide them with health care, 
childcare, and vocational skills.  Twenty women are currently 
enrolled in the program and five have finished the program 
and set up small, privately owned enterprises.  The 
organization operates in Santo Domingo and La Romana, and it 
receives some assistance from several government agencies to 
run a small health clinic, a day-care center, and vocational 
workshops.  With IOM support, the Adoratrices Center expanded 
these services to provide specific treatment and programming 
to trafficked women. 
 
¶C.    There is no screening system to transfer victims 
detained, arrested, or placed in protective custody by law 
enforcement authorities into the care of NGOs.  Victims are 
generally referred to NGOs such as COIN and IOM if 
authorities recognize that they are victims of trafficking. 
 
¶D.    The government generally respects the rights of 
trafficking victims and does not detain or jail them unless 
there is evidence that they have committed a crime, such as 
drug smuggling.  Authorities often arrest prostitutes in 
raids, some of whom are probably victims of trafficking, but 
in general the authorities do not make an effort to 
investigate whether the women are victims of trafficking 
except when there is evidence of child prostitution. 
 
¶E.    Victims can file civil suits against traffickers, but 
there is little incentive to do so and victims may be 
unwilling to face the social stigma.  In addition, many 
illegal migrants are reluctant to file charges against 
smugglers because the victims are considering attempting 
illegal migration again in the future. 
 
¶F.    The government does not provide protection for victims 
and witnesses as a matter of course, although the government 
has at times provided limited protection to victims when an 
active threat is perceived.  The government provides some 
support for a reporting center in Bani that provides limited 
services, including protective services, to women and 
children who are victims of abuse. 
 
¶G.    The government provides training through its diplomatic 
school on recognizing trafficking and assisting victims.  The 
administration has established anti-trafficking training as a 
permanent part of the required curriculum at the Diplomatic 
and Consular school, and SEREX has now offered the course 
eight times.  Dominican officials overseas work with host 
governments to identify and assist Dominican victims, to 
collect information on trafficking patterns, and to identify 
traffickers.  This information is shared through SEREX with 
the other agencies that fight trafficking.  COIN publishes 
pocket-sized books with addresses of Dominican consulates 
overseas that are distributed to at-risk women. 
 
¶H.    See Response in Section IV.A. 
 
¶I.    International organizations and NGOs that work with 
trafficking victims all receive good cooperation from local 
authorities.  Such groups include: 
 
-     Center for Integral Orientation and Investigation (COIN) 
-     Foundation for Institutionalism and Justice (FINJUS) 
-     International Organization for Migration (IOM) 
 
¶3.    Embassy human rights officer Jay Raman is the point of 
contact on trafficking issues.  He may be reached by 
telephone at (809) 731-4203 and by fax at (809) 686-4038. 
Beginning in approximately June 2005 the point of contact 
will be Neda Brown, reachable at the same phone and fax 
number. 
 
¶4.    Trafficking is an issue of primary importance to the 
Embassy, and involves the year-round active participation of 
nearly all sections and agencies.  The Embassy human rights 
officer spent approximately 200 hours preparing for and 
drafting this report.  The Embassy Economic and Political 
Counselor and Political Section Chief spent in excess of 30 
hours each attending trafficking-related meetings and 
reviewing this report.  The Ambassador and Deputy Chief of 
Mission spent more than 20 hours each attending 
trafficking-related meetings and reviewing this report. 
HERTELL