VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHZP #0382/01 0712030
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 122030Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY PANAMA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9970
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0163
RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 2539
RUEHKG/AMEMBASSY KINGSTON 0251
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RHEFHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS PANAMA 000382 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, PRM, AND WHAT/PPC 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB PM
SUBJECT: PANAMA: 2007 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT 
 
REF: 2006 STATE 202745 
 
¶1.  (U) Embassy Panama's response to reftel questions on 
trafficking in persons (TIP) follows.  Replies correspond to 
paragraphs 27-30 of reftel. 
 
-------- 
OVERVIEW 
-------- 
 
¶A.  Panama is an origin, transit, and destination country for 
trafficked persons.  However, Panama is generally considered 
by the GOP and NGOs as more of a transit and destination 
point than a source country.  Reliable statistics or 
estimates on the number of trafficking victims do not exist. 
International organizations estimate that thousands of people 
are smuggled through Panama each year, but that the number of 
trafficking cases are a small fraction of that number. 
According to NGOs, international organizations, and the GOP, 
women were trafficked into the country for sexual purposes 
and rural and indigenous children may have been trafficked 
internally to work in urban areas.  There were no territories 
outside the government's control as per reftel's description. 
 Sources of information on trafficking include various GOP 
ministries and entities, such as the Judicial Technical 
Police's (PTJ) Sex Crimes Unit, the Ministry of Government 
and Justice, and the Public Ministry; NGOs; international 
organizations such as UNICEF; and labor unions and groups. 
According to the GOP, Panama is working to document 
trafficking routes, perpetrators, and methods.  In 2006, 
Panama's public forces including the police agencies worked 
with UNICEF to develop a map of trafficking and smuggling 
routes used within the country and identified up to 10 
possible routes. 
 
¶B.  Post is not aware of any significant changes in the 
trafficking situation in the country since last year's TIP 
Report.  However, according to the PTJ, trafficked women came 
mostly from Colombia, but not from the Dominican Republic as 
stated in last year's report.  The PTJ reported that Chinese 
organized crime was increasingly involved in running 
exploitative massage houses and clubs.  Typically, the 
scenario involves women who willingly entered Panama to work 
as prostitutes, but upon arrival club/brothel owners 
confiscated their passports and prevented them from leaving 
or stopping work.  The PTJ also mentioned that Panamanian 
women were trafficked into Jamaica for sexual exploitation. 
The political will in Panama to address trafficking is 
evident in the GOP's and various NGOs' concern with the 
problem and their various efforts to raise awareness and 
improve prevention and prosecution capabilities.  However, 
the GOP has yet to undertake two important steps to combat 
trafficking: the discontinuation of the "alternadora" visa, 
which allows sex workers to enter the country, and the 
collection of funds for anti-trafficking purposes, including 
one dollar from the $20 departure tax from each tourist. 
 
¶C.  The main limitation on the GOP's ability to address 
trafficking is a lack of funding.  The GOP stated that there 
was no designated part of the national budget to address 
trafficking.  (Note: In early 2007, the GOP reported its 
first budget surplus in ten years, albeit a modest one of $88 
million or 0.5 percent of GDP.  It is unclear whether this 
might enable the GOP to devote greater funding to address 
trafficking.  End note.)  Related limitations included the 
lack of other resources such as personnel, technical support, 
and infrastructure.  Corruption in general was a problem in 
Panama, but post had received no reports indicating that 
corruption had a direct effect on resources to fight 
trafficking. 
 
¶D.  The National Commission for the Prevention of Crimes of 
Commercial Sexual Exploitation (CONAPREDES) is the national 
entity that coordinates and monitors the country's 
anti-trafficking efforts.  CONAPREDES publishes 
anti-trafficking information on its website, including 
information on the GOP's programs and objectives and 
anti-trafficking meetings and seminars.  In August 2006, the 
Public Ministry (which includes the Attorney General's 
office) added a link to CONAPREDES to its website.  The GOP 
told post that it planned to publish its own anti-trafficking 
assessment in 2007. 
 
---------- 
PREVENTION 
---------- 
 
¶A.  The GOP acknowledges that trafficking is a problem. 
 
¶B.  The government agencies involved in anti-trafficking 
include the Ministry of Government and Justice, Ministry of 
Social Development, Ministry of Education, Ministry of 
Economics and Finance, the youth court system, the Attorney 
General's office, the National Assembly's Commission for 
Women's Issues and the Rights of Children, Youth, and Family, 
the Judicial Technical Police, the Ombudsman's Office, the 
National Network for Youth and Adolescents, the National Bar 
Association, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the 
Executive Branch.  CONAPREDES has the lead on the country's 
anti-trafficking efforts, and its president has an office 
within the Attorney General's office. 
 
¶C.  There are anti-trafficking awareness and education 
campaigns in Panama.  As of August 23, 2006, all lottery 
tickets nationwide carry an anti-trafficking photograph and 
message.  The lottery is very popular, and the GOP thought 
this would be an effective means to reach the population at 
large.  Also in 2006, CONAPREDES worked with ILO-IPEC to 
print over 1,000 brochures on trafficking and 1,000 guides on 
victim assistance.  The Ministry of Education distributed 
these materials to public school teachers throughout the 
country.  CONAPREDES and ILO-IPEC also sponsored two 
television commercials, radio commercials, and four poster 
designs to raise awareness of trafficking.  The posters were 
distributed to all public offices.  Trafficking prosecutors 
visited public schools nationwide to discuss trafficking. 
These campaigns target the public at large, although one 
poster/television spot focused on the penalties for child 
sexual exploitation.  There are no reliable means to measure 
the effectiveness of these campaigns. 
 
¶D.  CONAPREDES is working on a variety of other 
anti-trafficking programs.  These include a national plan to 
prevent and eliminate sexual exploitation, victim assistance 
programs, awareness training for media outlets, and 
audiovisual programs for police training.  The GOP supports 
initiatives to fight child labor, including a program that 
provides scholarships to keep children in school. 
 
¶E.  According to the GOP, there is a good relationship 
between government officials, NGOs, and civil society on 
trafficking issues, with open and regular communication. 
However, individuals in GOP offices have told post that 
communication among government entities is not always clear. 
International organizations have also said that getting 
information from the government is difficult. 
 
¶F.  According to the GOP, the Immigration and Customs offices 
and the Border Police (a separate entity of the Panamanian 
National Police) monitor movement patterns for indicators of 
trafficking.  Various government and non-government 
officials, however, have indicated problems getting 
information on trafficking indicators from the Immigration 
office. 
 
¶G.  Panama is part of the regional (Central and North 
America) coordination mechanism of the Puebla Regional 
Process, or Regional Conference on Migration, which works to 
combat trafficking.  Domestically, CONAPREDES is the national 
body overseeing trafficking issues.  In 2005, President 
Torrijos formed the 10-member National Transparency Council 
as part of his anti-corruption platform. 
 
¶H.  Panama has a national plan to fight trafficking, based on 
Law 16 of 2004 that criminalized trafficking and formed 
CONAPREDES.  Government entities including the Public 
Ministry and the Ministry of Social Development helped form 
Law 16.  The GOP consulted NGOs and church organizations in 
the formation of Law 16.  The national plan is available on 
the CONAPREDES website (www.ministeriopublico.gob.pa). 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION OF TRAFFICKERS 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶A.  Panama's Law 16, enacted in March 2004, specifically 
prohibits sexual trafficking, as well as sexual tourism and 
child pornography.  Law 16 also addressed corruption of 
minors, commercial sexual exploitation of adults and 
children, and pimping.  Panama's penal code criminalizes 
participation in an international trafficking ring (Book II, 
Title IX, Chapter III, Sections 310 and 310a), consensual 
human smuggling, and the deprivation of a person's liberty 
(Book II, Title II, Chapter III, Sections 151 and 152).  The 
penal code also criminalizes the use or inducement of minors 
for pornography or prohibited work (Article 215D).  The GOP's 
national plan against child labor, enacted in June 2006, also 
toughened regulations on child labor. 
 
¶B.  Persons who engage in trafficking for purposes of sexual 
activity can receive five to eight years in prison, or eight 
to ten years in the case of a minor victim. 
 
¶C.  Although union leaders and labor lawyers told post they 
cannot rule out the existence of forced labor in Panama, they 
knew of no such cases. 
 
¶D.  The prescribed penalties for rape range from three to ten 
years in prison and for statutory rape one to six years.  The 
penalties for rape can be less than penalties for trafficking 
(see section B above.) 
 
¶E.  Prostitution in Panama is legal and regulated for persons 
over the age of 18. 
 
¶F.  On January 10, 2007, Panama had its first trafficking 
conviction.  A foreign national (note: a dual U.S.-Greek 
citizen), who owned a club with female dancers, was charged 
with procurement and was sentenced to five years in prison. 
Also in January 2007, authorities began proceedings against a 
Panamanian woman who allegedly trafficked Panamanian women to 
Jamaica for sexual exploitation.  Otherwise the Public 
Ministry prosecuted no trafficking cases.  During 2006, the 
PTJ's Sex Crimes Unit investigated five cases of sexual 
trafficking.  Post received no specific information regarding 
prosecutions of labor trafficking cases, although the GOP 
stated that Panama did investigate such violations.  The GOP 
provided information on the two prosecutions and PTJ 
investigations. 
 
¶G.  In general, victims enter Panama legally through a 
tourist, transit, or "alternadora" visa and subsequently find 
work in bars and clubs, where they are then prevented from 
leaving.  There is no available information on whether 
traffickers tend to be freelance or affiliated with organized 
crime, or on the involvement of government officials, banks, 
tour agencies, etc.  According to the GOP, the trafficking 
profits in the investigated cases were directed to the 
individual club owners. 
 
¶H.  The government investigates trafficking cases. 
Investigative techniques such as electronic surveillance and 
undercover and covert operations are legal and allowable with 
judicial authorization. 
 
¶I.  According to the GOP, Panama provides anti-trafficking 
training to all government officials in the applicable 
entities, including prosecutors, judges, and police and 
public forces.  Such training is in the form of seminars, 
conferences, and workshops.  CONAPREDES and ILO-IPEC produced 
a training video to include in the training program for the 
Panamanian National Police.  TIP prosecutors also attend 
regional Central American training programs. 
 
¶J.  According to the GOP, Panama cooperates with other 
governments and Interpol on trafficking issues.  For fiscal 
year 2007, DHS/ICE assisted the GOP with five cases. 
Information on the number of other cooperative international 
investigations was not available. 
 
¶K.  The government has not extradited any persons on 
trafficking charges, although extradition for sexual 
trafficking is allowed under Law 16.  Extradition of 
Panamanian nationals is not allowed by the Constitution, and 
there are no plans to amend this. 
¶L.  Post sees no evidence of government involvement in or 
tolerance of trafficking. 
 
¶M.  Not applicable. 
 
¶N.  The government has not prosecuted any foreign pedophiles. 
 In 2006, Panama worked with DHS/ICE to extradite 4 
pedophiles.  According to the GOP, the majority of 
perpetrators in child sex tourism cases are from the United 
States.  Panamanian laws do not allow for extraterritorial 
coverage. 
 
¶O.  Panama has signed and ratified the following conventions. 
--ILO Convention 182: Law 18 of June 15, 2000 
--ILO Conventions 29 and 105: Law 23 of February 1, 1966 and 
Law 22 of April 22, 1998 
--Optional Protocol to the CRC: Law 47 of December 13, 2001 
--Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in 
Persons: Law 16 of March 31, 2004 
 
------------------------------------ 
PROTECTION AND ASSISTANCE TO VICTIMS 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶A.  The government provides -- within funding limits -- 
legal, medical, and psychological services to victims, as 
well as shelters and repatriation assistance.  The Ministry 
of Social Development runs a shelter and also provides funds 
to the NGO Hogar Malambo to provide shelter and treatment to 
victims.  According to the Ministry, there were 13 victims in 
its facility last year and none as of February 2007. 
 
¶B.  As noted above, the Ministry of Social Development 
provided assistance to the NGO Hogar Malambo for victim 
assistance. 
 
¶C.  The government has developed a formal manual for police 
and public forces, judges, and prosecutors on all aspects of 
trafficking, including attention to victims and a referral 
process.  According to the GOP, there are insufficient funds 
to develop a formal system for victim identification. 
 
¶D.  Panama respects the rights of victims and, per Law 16, 
victims are not treated as criminals.  Victims are detained 
only to take their statements.  There are no fines for 
victims, nor are they prosecuted for other violations, such 
as immigration, if they are the direct result of trafficking. 
 
¶E.  The government encourages victims to cooperate and assist 
in trafficking investigations and prosecutions.  Victims may 
file civil suits against traffickers.  No one impedes 
victims' access to legal redress, although court delays are 
lengthy.  Victims are permitted to obtain other employment if 
they have legal permission to do so or leave the country. 
There is no formal restitution program but victims can 
receive restitution through the court proceedings. 
 
¶F.  Law 16 of March 2004 mandates government protection of 
sexual trafficking victims, including protection against 
intimidation or reprisals.  In practice, the government funds 
shelters and other victim services, such as legal assistance 
and medical attention.  The government is limited, however, 
by lack of funding.  Child victims are placed in either the 
Ministry of Social Development-run shelter or the Hogar 
Malambo shelter, or with foster families. 
 
¶G.  The government, with the support of international 
organizations like IOM and ILO-IPEC and other countries, 
provides training on recognizing trafficking and assisting 
victims.  In March and April 2006, one of the three 
trafficking prosecutors attended anti-trafficking training 
courses in Venezuela and Costa Rica.  Also in 2006, the 
Public Ministry supported a two-month continuing education 
college course for journalists at the University of Panama on 
child victims of sexual exploitation.  In August 2006, the 
Attorney General and some prosecutors held a workshop for 
media outlets to discuss trafficking awareness and victim 
protection, including the respectful treatment of victims in 
the press.  In 2006, a delegation of Italian investigators 
held a workshop on undercover investigation for the PTJ.  In 
early 2007 officials from the Ministry of Government and 
Justice and Ministry of Foreign Affairs attended an 
IOM-sponsored anti-trafficking workshop in Colombia.  The 
government does not provide formal training to its embassies 
in foreign countries on trafficking, but does provide 
information on an individual basis.  CONAPREDES is developing 
an anti-trafficking seminar for Panamanian diplomats. 
 
¶H.  The government's victim assistance programs, such as 
shelters, are available for victims of any nationality, 
including Panamanian nationals.  In 2006, the Ministry of 
Social Development shelter housed mostly Panamanian girls who 
had been sexually exploited in Panama for commercial 
purposes.  Post has heard no reports of repatriated nationals 
who are victims of trafficking. 
 
¶I.  The main NGOs that work with trafficking victims are 
Hogar Malambo and Casa Esperanza, which work mostly with 
minors.  They provide shelters and comprehensive victim 
services, including assistance with medial, nutritional, and 
educational needs.  They, and other smaller NGOs, are 
supported in part by the Ministry of Social Development and 
receive cooperation from local authorities.  International 
organizations that work with trafficking victims include 
UNICEF, IOM, and CRM, the regional working group on migration 
issues. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
NOMINATION OF HEROES AND BEST PRACTICES 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶A.  Post cannot identify any single individual who would 
qualify as an "Anti-Trafficking Hero" in Panama for 2006. 
 
¶B.  As noted in last year's report, post continues to believe 
that Panama's law mandating the collection of a percentage of 
profits from pornographic materials and adult entertainment 
videos would be a "best practice" if it could be implemented. 
 Similarly, the collection of one dollar from the $20 
departure tax paid by each tourist for anti-trafficking would 
make a significant difference in the government's resources. 
An estimated 515,000 tourists will visit Panama during the 
period of January-April 2007 alone: that would have been 
$515,000 for CONAPREDES if the government could implement the 
collection process. 
 
¶2.  (U) Post's contact for this report is political officer 
Carrie Lee, email LeeCK2@state.gov and telephone 
507-207-7131.  Post estimates about 72 hours were spent 
preparing this report. 
 
EATON