VZCZCXRO0189
PP RUEHQU
DE RUEHPU #0336/01 0591950
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 281950Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7783
INFO RUEHZH/HAITI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 1814
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA PRIORITY 1619
RUEHDG/AMEMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO PRIORITY 0741
RUEHQU/AMCONSUL QUEBEC PRIORITY 1042
RHEFHLC/DHS WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC PRIORITY
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J2 MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 1441

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 PORT AU PRINCE 000336 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
G/TIP FOR BJFLECK 
G 
INL 
DRL 
PRM 
STATE FOR WHA/PPC, WHA/EX AND WHA/CAR FOR CWARD 
WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS 
STATE PLEASE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR 
S/CRS 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
INR/IAA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASEC ELAB HA KCRM KFRD KWMN PGOV PHUM PREF
PREL, SMIG 
SUBJECT: HAITI'S SUBMISSION FOR THE EIGHTH ANNUAL TIP REPORT 
 
REF: A. STATE 2731 
 
     ¶B. 07 PORT AU PRINCE 1930 
     ¶C. 07 PORT AU PRINCE 2031 
 
PORT AU PR 00000336  001.2 OF 005 
 
 
¶1. This message is sensetive but unclassified -- please 
protect accordingly. 
 
The following are Post's responses to reftel questions. 
 
 
¶2. (SBU) OVERVIEW OF HAITI'S ACTIVITIES TO ELIMINATE 
TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS: 
 
¶A. Trafficking in persons in Haiti mainly involved the 
internal movement of children from the countryside into urban 
areas for domestic labor in a practice called, in Creole, 
"restavek" (derived from the French words "rester avec" 
meaning "to stay with".)  Throughout the reporting period, 
poor, rural families continued to send their children to work 
as domestics for wealthier families or less poor family 
members in the hopes that the child will enjoy a better 
quality of life and receive an education.  Girls between the 
ages of six and fourteen are more vulnerable for placement in 
urban households, while boys usually fulfill agricultural 
servitude roles.  The informal practice has existed in Haiti 
for decades and is directly related to the country's poverty 
and lack of economic alternatives. While some restaveks 
received adequate care including an education, the Ministry 
of Social Affairs and NGOs believed that many host families 
compelled the children to work long hours, provided them 
little nourishment, and frequently beat and abused them.  The 
majority of restaveks worked in homes where the yearly income 
was very low, consequently, conditions, food, and education 
for nonbiological children were not priorities.  Although not 
all restaveks are victimized in this process, significant 
numbers are sexually exploited or otherwise abused.  Reliable 
figures are difficult to obtain.  The GOH estimates that 
between 90,000 to 120,000 children are restaveks, while 
UNICEF estimates that there are between 250,000 and 300,000 
restaveks in the country (reftel B). 
 
While most trafficking occurs within the country's borders, 
Haitian children also are trafficked into the Dominican 
Republic where some are similarly exploited.  Large numbers 
of Haitian economic migrants illegally enter the Dominican 
Republic where some become trafficking victims.  Recent 
figures are not available, but the most recent study of 
trafficking across the border in August 2002, conducted 
jointly by UNICEF and IOM, found that between 2,000 and 3,000 
Haitian children were sent to the Dominican Republic each 
year. 
 
On a smaller scale, Haiti is a transit and destination 
country.  Women from the Dominican Republic are frequently 
trafficked into Haiti for prostitution.  Anecdotal reports 
indicate that many of these women travel voluntarily, but 
some are victims of trafficking. 
 
¶B. Overview provided in item A above.  There has been no 
change in the trafficking situation in Haiti within the 
reporting period. 
 
¶C. Government agencies involved in anti-trafficking efforts 
are: 
-  The Social Welfare Institute (IBESR) 
-  The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MAST) 
-  The Ministry of Interior 
-  The Ministry of Justice 
 
PORT AU PR 00000336  002.2 OF 005 
 
 
-  The Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
-  The Haitian National Police's (HNP) Brigade for the 
Protection of Minors (BPM) 
 
IBESR and the BPM co-jointly are the lead agencies against 
trafficking of children in Haiti. 
 
MAST is legally responsible for matters relating to child 
abuse/exploitation, while IBESR often takes the lead in 
anti-trafficking issues regarding children.  The BPM, which 
serves as the child protection unit within the HNP, has the 
responsibility of implementing child protection measures; 
however as a matter of policy, it does not seek or pursue 
restavek cases given the absence of legal penalties against 
the practice.  The BPM does have two holding cells in 
Port-au-Prince in which to temporarily house minors. 
 
¶D. The government's ability to adequately address trafficking 
in persons continues to be hampered by lack of available 
government resources to devote to the issue, by government 
corruption, and by perpetually weak institutions.  The 
absence of criminal penalties for having restaveks in 
conjunction with society's acceptance of the practice remains 
formidable impediments to eradicating the practice.  However 
the GOH, with assistance from NGOs, has drafted 
anti-trafficking legislation which is in the review process 
before its presentation to parliament.  Additionally, the 
Ministry of Women's Affairs presented to Parliament in 
December 2007, three pieces of legislation aimed at 
institutionalizing women's rights as well as equal rights for 
domestic workers, including protective measures for exploited 
child workers.  The legislation is currently pending passage 
in Parliament (reftel C). 
 
¶E. The GOH does not have a systematic monitoring mechanism 
for its anti-trafficking efforts, and does not provide a 
periodic assessment of those efforts. 
 
 
¶3. (SBU) INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION OF TRAFFICKERS: 
 
¶A. Haiti does not have a law specifically prohibiting the 
trafficking of persons, either for sexual or non-sexual 
purposes.  Howe\xUI?QQrnd children. 
 
(NOTE: On June 5, 2003, parliament repealed Chapter 9 of the 
Labor Code, a 1961 law governing the treatment of child 
domestic servants ("les enfants en service") and replaced it 
with provisions prohibiting the abuse, trafficking and 
exploitation of all children, whether employed or not. 
However, in adopting the new law, parliament neglected to 
include a penalty provision.  Unless a court attempts to link 
the law with some other statutory penalty provision, the 
repeal effectively deregulates and decriminalizes having 
child domestic servants.  Consequently, the HNP does not 
pursue restavek cases.  End note.) 
 
¶B. Haiti has no specific penalties for trafficking people for 
sexual exploitation. 
 
¶C. Haiti has no specific penalties for trafficking for labor 
exploitation. 
 
¶D. In September 2005, the president of the interim government 
issued a decree criminalizing rape and making it punishable 
 
PORT AU PR 00000336  003.2 OF 005 
 
 
by law.  The penalty for rape is 10 years, 15 years for 
aggravated rape, and life or hard labor for premeditated and 
planned rape.  There is no specific penalty for, or statute 
prohibiting, the crime of trafficking for commercial sexual 
exploitation. 
 
¶E. Prostitution is illegal in Haiti, but there are no 
specific penalties for persons engaging in related activities 
such as brothel owners/operators, clients, pimps or 
enforcers. 
 
¶F. The government has not prosecuted any cases against 
traffickers. 
 
¶G. The GOH does not provide training for government officials 
in how to recognize, investigate and prosecute trafficking, 
though some training is provided by NGOs. 
 
¶H. Post is not aware of the GOH's cooperation with other 
governments in the investigation or prosecution of 
trafficking. 
 
¶I. Haitian law prohibits the extradition of Haitian citizens 
charged with trafficking in other countries, and there is no 
effort within the GOH to modify that law. 
 
¶J. There is no evidence that the GOH is involved in or 
tolerates trafficking; however, trafficking is not an offense 
per se in Haitian legal code. 
 
¶K. Not applicable. 
 
¶L. Post is not aware of any Haitian nationals employed in 
peacekeeping efforts abroad.  Haiti does not have a standing 
army. 
 
¶M. Haiti does not have an identified child sex tourism 
problem. 
 
 
¶4. (SBU) PROTECTION AND ASSISTANCE TO VICTIMS: 
 
¶A. Post is unaware of any GOH assistance provided to foreign 
trafficking victims. 
 
¶B. Because of lack of resources, the GOH provides few direct 
resources to assist victims of trafficking.  The renovation 
of a GOH-owned shelter for children in Carrefour, located 
outside Port-au-Prince, is complete.  The GOH, with help from 
international donors, initiated additional renovations such 
as a new kitchen facility.  (Note.  Even though the GOH owns 
the facility, a Catholic order runs the shelter on the 
premises.  End note.)  The BPM has two holding cells for 
child victims of trafficking, but as a matter of policy, the 
BPM does not pursue trafficking cases.  Consequently the 
cells, for the most part, remain unutilized.  However, 
assistance is provided by NGOs to include food, school fees, 
medical aid, transportation, informal education, shelter, and 
(in some cases) reinsertion and safe migration and return to 
region of origin.  NGOs provided services to thousands of 
repatriated Haitians (returning from the Dominican Republic) 
and hundreds of homeless children, but it is unclear exactly 
how many of those recipients were victims of trafficking. 
 
¶C. The GOH does not provide funding or other forms of support 
to NGOs for services to victims of trafficking. 
 
¶D. There is no formal system for law enforcement or social 
 
PORT AU PR 00000336  004.2 OF 005 
 
 
services personnel to identify victims of trafficking among 
high-risk persons with whom they come in contact. 
 
IBESR does refer victims of child trafficking to NGOs which 
provide return and reintegration services.  However, IBESR 
does not actively provide such services or engage in 
monitoring the children during that process. 
 
¶E.  Not applicable. 
 
¶F. There is no evidence that victims are fined, prosecuted, 
detained, jailed or deported. 
 
¶G. As the GOH's record of prosecuting trafficking cases is 
virtually non-existent, there is no evidence to indicate 
whether the GOH encourages victims to assist in the 
investigation and prosecution of trafficking.  Victims may 
file civil suits against the traffickers, but due to Haiti's 
inefficient judicial system, such lawsuits may take years to 
litigate and most victims do not have the resources to pursue 
such litigation.  The GOH does not have a victim restitution 
program. 
 
¶H. In general, the GOH does not provide protection, shelter 
or assistance to victims and witnesses.  The GOH refers 
trafficking victims to NGOs for services.  The extent of GOH 
and NGO services are described in paragraph 4B above. 
 
¶I. The GOH does not provide specialized training for 
government officials relating to trafficking. 
 
¶J. The GOH does not provide assistance to its repatriated 
nationals who are victims of trafficking.  However, it does 
provide a small sum (approximately $10US) to many repatriated 
citizens (whether or not victims of trafficking) to assist in 
their return to their region of origin. 
 
¶K. Services to victims of trafficking are provided primarily 
by governmental and inter-governmental agencies, which 
include the International Office of Migration (IOM),  and 
USAID, and NGOS, including the Group Supporting Refugees and 
Repatriated Citizens (GARR), the Pan-American Development 
Foundation (PADF), Save the Children and various local 
missions and community organizations.  The GOH does not have 
the financial or human resources to provide such services, 
but it does cooperate in referring and coordinating such 
services with NGOs. 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) PREVENTION: 
 
¶A. The GOH does acknowledge that trafficking (restaveks) is a 
problem and has taken some steps, with international 
assistance, to address the issue.  These steps include 
cooperating with NGOs in drafting legislation to criminalize 
having restaveks and in referring or coordinating victim 
services provided by NGOs.  (Note: The draft legislation has 
yet to pass parliament.  End note.) 
 
¶B. Because of lack of resources, the GOH does not sponsor 
anti-trafficking information and education campaigns. 
However, NGOs did sponsor such programs in cooperation with 
the GOH and GOH representatives did participate.  For 
example, the USAID implementing partner for its 
anti-trafficking program provided technical assistance and 
training to the BPM and to IBESR. 
 
¶C. The GOH maintains positive relationships with NGOs and 
 
PORT AU PR 00000336  005.2 OF 005 
 
 
civil society groups working to address the issue.  GOH 
officials often participate in seminars and programs 
sponsored by NGOs and other organizations, and cooperate in 
anti-trafficking projects administered by NGOs.  The GOH 
cooperated with NGOs in drafting proposed legislation 
criminalizing trafficking, which parliament has yet to pass. 
 
¶D. The GOH lacks the capacity to sufficiently monitor its 
borders.  Airport officials as a matter of course will ask 
additional questions and demand additional documentation 
before clearing unaccompanied minors.  Though fraudulent 
adoptions are generally not utilized for trafficking, the GOH 
has continued to tighten its process for approving adoptions 
which, because of the resulting procedural delays, has caused 
some frustration for legitimate adopting parents. 
 
In October, MINUSTAH's mandate expanded to include securing 
the land and sea borders.  MINUSTAH understands the mandate 
as one of patrolling the border, not enforcement.  MINUSTAH 
is to assist the GOH in developing its border enforcement 
mechanisms.  MINUSTAH currently has a platoon of 40-50 
soldiers accompanied by 6 civilian police officers at four 
land border crossings.  The HNP has also begun deploying 
forces at four posts along the border.  Despite this 
beginning, there is still no effective control of the 
Haitian/Dominican border because of the vast expanses of the 
border that are not patrolled and because of corrupt 
officials on both sides of the border. 
 
¶E. There was an anti-trafficking inter-ministerial task force 
focusing specifically on children established in 2003, but 
the task force has not been active since February 2004. 
Though there is no public corruption task force, the public 
prosecutor for Port-au-Prince has taken the lead in the GOH's 
anti-corruption efforts.  To date, the public prosecutor has 
not prosecuted any trafficking cases. 
 
¶F. The GOH does not have a national plan of action to address 
trafficking in persons. 
 
¶G. The GOH has not taken any measures to reduce the demand 
for sex acts. 
 
¶H. Not applicable. 
 
¶I. Not applicable. 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) HEROES AND BEST PRACTICES: 
 
¶A. Post has no nominations for the heroes category. 
 
¶B. Post has no selections for the best practices category. 
 
 
¶7. (U) Embassy Human Rights Officer David Jeffrey is the 
point of contact on trafficking issues.  He can be reached at 
011-509-222-0200 x8098 or at JeffreyD@state.gov.  Mr. Jeffrey 
spent approximately 40 hours on compiling and drafting the 
report. (NOTE: After April 18, 2008, please refer all 
inquiries to Kelly J. Tucker at TuckerKJ@state.gov or 
011-509-222-0200 x8342.  The fax number for Mr. Jeffrey and 
Ms. Tucker is 011-509-224-4384.  End note.) 
SANDERSON