VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHPE #1511/01 1141640
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 241640Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY LIMA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5169
INFO RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 4583
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 7304
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 0316
RUEHGT/AMEMBASSY GUATEMALA 1010
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ APR QUITO 1160

RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 1234
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC

UNCLAS LIMA 001511 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS TO USDOL FOR ANA ASLAN AND THERESA ESQUIBEL 
DEPARTMENT FOR DRL/ILCSR GABRIELLA RIGG AND WHA/PPC MIKE 
PUCCETTI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECIN ECON ELAB ETRD EAID PE
SUBJECT: PERU: REQUEST FOR FORCED LABOR AND CHILD LABOR 
INFORMATION FOR PTPA REPORTING REQUIREMENTS 
 
REF: STATE 38551 
 
¶1.  Per reftel, post has contacted host government officials, 
NGOs, business and labor groups, and international 
organizations to obtain updated national-level information on 
labor law and practice in Peru in 2006.  In most cases, the 
Ministry of Labor and Employment Promotion (MTPE) was the 
most appropriate office for providing information, although 
updated national-level data was not always available.  The 
responses are keyed to reftel. 
 
¶2.  Forced Labor: Nature and Incidence 
 
A)  Update on forced labor in the logging, agriculture, and 
mining sectors. 
 
In 2005, the MTPE and the International Labor Organization 
(ILO) released a survey of labor conditions in the Amazonia 
region of Peru (primarily in the departments of Ucayali, 
Madre de Dios, and Loreto) that reported 33,000 persons were 
involved in forced labor in the illegal logging industry. 
The MTPE has not conducted additional surveys at the regional 
or national level since 2005, but on January 9, 2007, Supreme 
Decree 001-2007-TR created the National Intersectoral 
Commission for the Eradication of Forced Labor (NCSFL) to 
coordinate public policies and to document the incidence of 
forced labor in the logging, agriculture, mining, fishing, 
and other sectors.  The NCSFL has drafted the National Action 
Plan to Combat Forced Labor, which will detail GOP efforts to 
prevent and eliminate forced labor.  The government plans to 
approve and release the National Action Plan May 1. 
 
B)  Update on forced labor among the mestizo, altoandino and 
indigenous populations. 
 
The 2005 MTPE and ILO survey found that the majority of 
forced labor victims in the illegal logging industry were 
members of ethnic groups.  That information has not been 
updated. 
 
C)  Update on number of forced laborers. 
 
There is no nation-wide, official data on the numbers of 
forced laborers in Peru.  Studies done by NGOs and 
international organizations have focused on specific 
geographic areas, particularly cities, or on specific types 
of work.  In 2004, for example, the National Commission for 
Development and Life without Drugs estimated that 5,000 
children were employed in the illegal narcotics industry. 
 
D)  Provide the source and destination of persons who are 
trafficked to and through Peru. 
 
According to the Department of State's 2007 Anti-Trafficking 
in Persons Report, there are no official GOP figures on the 
extent or magnitude of the TIP problem.  Cases of 
international trafficking of women have been reported in the 
past, but the scope of the problem is not known.  The primary 
designations for trafficked persons have been the United 
States, Spain, Japan, and Italy.  Internal trafficking is, by 
far, the greater problem.  NGOs and international 
organizations maintain that significant domestic trafficking 
occurs, particularly underage women from the poorest and 
least developed regions east of the Andes--the Amazonia 
jungle and the mountains--into the major cities or mining 
areas to work as prostitutes or domestic servants. 
 
In 2004, Supreme Decree 002-2004-IN created the Permanent 
Multisectorial Committee, a  ministerial-level group chaired 
by the Director of the Office of Human Rights in the Ministry 
of the Interior, to track and coordinate government anti-TIP 
efforts.  In 2006, the Commission cosponsored, along with the 
International Organization on Migration and two local NGOs, a 
report identifying three cities in Peru, Lima, Iquitos, and 
Cuzco, as the primary destination points for TIP victims. 
 
The Ministry of the Interior reports that in 2006 2,901 
police operations were carried out to combat trafficking in 
 
persons, procurement, and child prostitution. 
 
¶3.  Forced Labor: Laws and Enforcement 
 
E)  Updates to laws regarding forced labor 
 
On January 16, 2007, the GOP passed Law 28950, which provides 
protection for TIP victims and witnesses.  Article 153 
prohibits practices that promote, finance, or facilitate 
"forced work or services, bondage, slavery or practices that 
are analogous to slavery or other forms of work 
exploitation,...." 
 
F)  Exceptions to laws prohibiting forced labor. 
 
ILO Agreement 29, ratified by Peru, allows six exceptions to 
laws prohibiting forced labor, but Peruvian law recognizes 
only two exceptions: compulsory labor resulting from a 
judicial sentence, as provided for by the criminal code; and 
forced labor resulting from force majeure, as provided for in 
Legislative Decree 854.  Legislative Decree 854 allows an 
employer to require overtime when an act of God presents a 
serious danger to individuals or property in the workplace. 
 
G)  Agency responsible for enforcing labor laws 
 
The regulatory entity responsible for enforcing and 
implementing labor laws is the MTPE. 
 
H)  Prohibitions and Penalties for trafficking for forced 
labor. 
 
Trafficking for forced labor is prohibited under Peruvian 
law.  Article 153 of Law 28950 establishes penalties from 
eight to 15 years for persons involved in trafficking; 
article 153A establishes a penalty of 12 to 20 years for 
aggravated forms of trafficking (if the victim is less than 
18, for example); and a penalty of 25 years in prison if one 
of three factors is involved: if the victim dies or is 
seriously wounded; if the victim is under 14; and if the 
trafficker is part of a criminal organization. 
 
I)  Level of resources devoted to investigating forced labor. 
 
In the past, investigations of forced labor within the MTPE 
have been financed through international cooperation funds. 
The MTPE plans to request budgetary authority, as part of the 
National Action Plan to Combat Forced Labor, to create a 
separate office within the MTPE specifically tasked to 
investigate cases involving violations of fundamental labor 
rights, including forced labor.  The MTPE plans to employ 30 
inspectors by June 30 in this office. 
 
J)  Extent of investigations and violations 
 
The GOP does not possess updated figures on the number of 
forced labor investigations, prosecutions, and convictions. 
 
K)  Status of enforcement actions in the Atalya region. 
 
The National Action Plan to Combat Forced Labor tasks the 
NCSFL, as a first priority, to develop an integrated strategy 
to reduce and eliminate forced labor in the Atalya region, 
not only through legal sanctions but also through programs 
designed to address the underlying causes of forced labor. 
 
¶4.  Forced Labor: Government Policies and Programs 
 
L)  History of government efforts to combat forced labor 
 
In 2003, the GOP requested technical assistance from the ILO 
to study and document the incidence of forced labor in the 
Ucayali region of Peru.  The GOP has continued to work with 
the ILO to document forced labor practices in Peru. 
 
In June 2005, Supreme Resolution 028-2005-TR created the 
Intersectoral Commission, which met with social 
organizations, labor and business groups, and local public 
 
authorities to survey the extent of forced labor in the 
cities of Iquitos, Ucayali, Puerto Maldonado, and Cuzco. 
Supreme Resolution 056-2005-TR, issued in October 2005, 
published an action plan to address the problems uncovered by 
the Intersectoral Commission.  The NCSFL is working with 
regional authorities to develop a follow-up action plan to 
continue implementing the recommendations of the 
Intersectoral Commission. 
 
The MTPE is continuing efforts to increase the numbers and 
professionalism of labor inspectors and is developing an 
Employment Sectorial Plan to strengthen fundamental labor 
rights. 
 
M)  Recent Activities by the National Intersectoral Commission 
 
Ministerial Resolution 2570-2006-IN/015 established the 
Registration and Statistics System for Trafficking in Persons 
Registry (RETA), which has been introduced into police 
stations throughout Peru.  The RETA system creates a 
nationwide registry of TIP cases.  The Ministry of the 
Interior manages the RETA system and is working with the MTPE 
to connect it to the Labor Inspections System. 
 
In April of 2007, the NCSFL began offering integrated 
programs to address the problem of forced labor in domestic 
employment.  The NCSFL has conducted public workshops 
throughout Peru for employers, institutions, and the general 
public to explain the rights of domestic workers and to 
publicize the public services offered by the MTPE to 
investigate allegations of abuse.  The NCSFL also has 
prepared and distributed informational pamphlets to inform 
domestic workers of their rights and has developed free 
courses in cooking, cleaning, and household security to help 
domestic servants professionalize their work. 
 
The Commission is also developing a public information 
campaign, to be conducted via television and radio, to 
explain basic workers' rights under Peruvian law. 
 
Supreme Decree 005-2007-TR declared March 30 the National Day 
of Workers. 
 
Between February and March of 2007, the MTPE conducted 135 
inspections that targeted recently hired workers; the 
inspections revealed that 73 per cent of workers were unaware 
of their labor rights under Peruvian law. 
 
The NCSFL has begun a process of collaboration with the 
Multisectoral Committee to coordinate actions against forced 
labor.  The Ministry of the Interior, for example, has begun 
an investigation of trafficking in persons in the Madre de 
Dios and Cuzco regions of Peru with the hope that greater 
information regarding TIP cases will allow the NCSFL to 
specifically create programs to reduce forced labor. 
 
N) Additional programs to combat child labor 
 
The MTPE, as a member of the Multisectoral Committee, is 
participating in the final elaborations of the implementing 
legislation for Law 28950. 
 
¶5.  Child Labor 
 
O)  Incidence of Child Labor 
 
There have been no changes to the information provided in 
Lima 4714, dated December 18, 2006. 
 
P)  Information on the Trafficking in Persons Law 
 
The Multisectoral Committee has not completed the 
implementing regulations required for Law 28950. 
 
Article 153 of Law 28950 provides specific sanctions against 
child trafficking. In addition to those penalties noted in 
H), traffickers or promoters of sexual tourism exploiting 
victims between 14 and 18 years of age are subject to a 
 
sentence of two to six years; if the victim is under 14, the 
penalty is six to eight years. 
 
¶6.  Source information for all documents cited will be 
provided by the MTPE and pouched to OCFT. 
POWERS