VZCZCXRO5539
OO RUEHQU
DE RUEHPU #1913/01 3401723
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 061723Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7317
INFO RUEHZH/HAITI COLLECTIVE
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 1718
RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 0089
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 1532
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 2340
RUEHQU/AMCONSUL QUEBEC 0955
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUCOWCV/CCGDSEVEN MIAMI FL
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J2 MIAMI FL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 001913 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CAR, DRL, S/CRS, INR/IAA 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
STATE PAS AID FOR LAC/CAR 
TREASURY FOR MAUREEN WAFER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KCRM ELAB HA
SUBJECT: MINISTER OF SOCIAL AFFAIRS: HAITI ACTING ON 
TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS 
 
 
PORT AU PR 00001913  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) The Ambassador laid out the case to the Minister of 
Social Affairs that Haiti should adopt a policy and 
legislation aimed at combatting trafficking in persons.  The 
Minister explained that Haiti is working with the 
International Organization for Migration (IOM) on legislation 
criminalizing TIP, and with UNICEF on a broader program to 
protect vulnerable children.  Haiti's main need is for 
investigators trained to handle trafficking cases, since 
Haiti now has virtually none.  End summary. 
 
TIP Part of Broader Problem of Vulnerable Children 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶2. (SBU) The Ambassador called on Minister of Social Affairs 
Gerald Germain November 29 to explain that after two years 
being listed as a Special Case in the U.S. Trafficking in 
Persons Report, this year the USG would formally assess and 
give a formal ranking to Haiti's anti-trafficking efforts. 
She urged the GOH to acknowledge TIP as a national problem, 
especially the phenomenon of "restaveks", i.e., children 
placed by their parents with other families into conditions 
of domestic servitude.  The Ambassador stressed that Haiti 
should pass an anti-TIP law that specifically criminalizes 
trafficking activity, including trafficking of children into 
involuntary domestic servitude.  The GOH should undertake 
more anti-TIP investigations and prosecutions under existing 
laws, and provide shelters for TIP victims.  Finally, she 
urged the GOH to develop a national plan of action to combat 
human trafficking.  The Ambassador also pointed to current 
USG anti-TIP assistance programs in Haiti, especially the 
USAID-funded $6.4 million three-year project through the Pan 
American Development Foundation to combat TIP and victims of 
violence. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The Minister said that the GOH is working with 
UNICEF to develop a "National Plan for Protection of 
Children."  The Government is also collecting information 
from NGOs engaged in child protection.  Germain said that the 
government is taking a "global" approach encompassing street 
children, children in need, children in conflict with the 
law, child AIDS victims, and child victims of TIP.  A bill 
has been drafted addressing all five categories of vulnerable 
children.  Some 400 street children have been put in 
protective centers.  The Ministry of Justice is working on a 
plan quickly to process children through the legal system, 
and to place children freed either back with their families 
or in centers housing street children.  Minors in trouble 
with the law need a "structure of reintegration and 
rehabilitation." 
 
Anti-TIP Bill in the Works 
-------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) On trafficking per se, the Minister continued, the 
International Organization for Migration (IOM) is helping an 
interministerial commission led by the Ministry of Justice to 
draft a bill criminalizing trafficking in persons, especially 
in children.  The government has already carried out initial 
discussions with the legislature, although the bill has yet 
to be introduced.  The Minister cautioned the Ambassador that 
even though TIP will be criminalized when the bill is 
eventually passed, the GOH had no resources to carry out TIP 
investigations.  As it is, the most recent -- but 
nevertheless old -- figures show Haiti has 173,000 
"restaveks."  The inability to care for their children born 
into poverty forces many parents to entrust their children to 
people they do not know, said Germain. 
 
Adoptions Also a Problem 
------------------------ 
 
¶5. (SBU) The Minister explained that the new bill also 
contains provisions revising Haitian adoption law.  The 
Ministers of Justice and of Social Affairs are already 
discussing adoption reform and have asked that the government 
 
PORT AU PR 00001913  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
form a commission to review adoption files that had stalled 
and "rationalize" adoption procedures.  The GOH had already 
imprisoned one person for conspiring with orphanages to 
arrange false adoptions.  Haiti's orphanages needed to be 
"put in order," Germain declared.  Port au Prince Chief 
Prosecutor Claudy Gassant had been tasked to investigate 
crimes against children.  As was the case with TIP cases, the 
Ministries of Justice and Social Affairs will need qualified 
personnel to investigate and prosecute fraudulent adoption 
cases, personnel that are now lacking.  Haiti has ratified 
ILO Convention 182 (Concerning the Prohibition and Immediate 
Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor) 
but needs to pass implementing legislation.  The GOH is 
working with the IOM to develop a project aimed at a few 
hundred families most vulnerable to letting their children 
out as "restaveks" to give these parents the means to keep 
their children. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The Ambassador stressed that the USG and the GOH 
needed more mutual contact so we could identify points where 
Haiti needs assistance. 
TIGHE