VZCZCXRO4413
RR RUEHGR
DE RUEHBE #0148/01 0732018
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 132018Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY BELMOPAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1161
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICA COLLECTIVE
RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 BELMOPAN 000148 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR G/TIP (FLECK), G, INL, PRM  DEPT FOR WHA/PPC (PUCCETTI), 
WHA/CEN (BEAL) GUATEMALA FOR USAID 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB BH
SUBJECT: BELIZE - EIGHTH ANNUAL TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS (TIP) REPORT 
(PART TWO OF THREE) 
 
REF:   A) STATE 02731, B) 06 BELIZE 673 
 
This cable is sensitive but unclassified. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Investigation and Prosecution of Traffickers 
 
¶A.  No new anti-trafficking legislation was enacted during the 
reporting period.    The Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Act 
was enacted on June 23, 2003 and came into force on August 1, 2003. 
The law prohibits both sexual and non-sexual (including forced labor 
and the illicit removal of human organs) forms of trafficking. 
Because the Act also includes the text of the Protocol to Prevent, 
Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and 
Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against 
Transnational Organized Crime, it covers both national and 
transnational forms of trafficking. 
 
Belize laws prohibiting trafficking in persons include: 
 
Under the Criminal Code:  carnal knowledge; rape; procurement; 
defilement by force or fraud or administration of drugs; assault and 
battery; unlawful imprisonment; child stealing; abduction; 
kidnapping; and forcible marriage. 
 
Under the Labor Act:  prohibition of forced labor; employment of 
women and children; and prohibition of night work. 
 
Under the Families and Children Act: child abuse; child neglect; and 
harmful employment. 
 
Under the Summary Jurisdiction (Offenses) Act:  loitering for 
prostitution; keeping a brothel; and trading on prostitution. 
 
Laws that allow civil penalties against trafficking crimes include: 
 
 
The Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Act - restitution; The Act 
- fines; The Intoxicating Liquor Licenses (Amendment) Act - 
forfeiture of license; The Immigration Act - forfeiture of vehicle, 
vessel or aircraft; payment of costs of sending the victim outside 
of Belize; The Families and Children Act; The Summary Jurisdiction 
(Offenses) Act - determination of tenancy; and The Indictable 
Procedure Act - divesting of guardianship or custody. 
 
¶B.  Under the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Act, an 
individual convicted of trafficking in persons for sexual 
exploitation can receive between one and five years in prison and/or 
a fine of USD $5,000.  In addition, an individual convicted of 
transporting a person for the purpose of exploiting such person as a 
prostitute can receive a prison sentence of not less than three 
years.  Further, the prison term may be extended to eight years when 
the number of persons transported exceeds five, when the persons 
transported include children, or when the transportation is part of 
the activity of a gang or organized criminal network. 
 
¶C.  The Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Act also prescribes and 
imposes penalties for labor trafficking offenses.  The Act defines 
labor exploitation as:  keeping a person in a state of slavery; 
subjecting a person to practices similar to slavery; compelling or 
causing a person to provide forced labor or services; or keeping a 
person in a state of servitude, including sexual servitude.  The Act 
also provides for criminal punishment against any person who acts or 
purports to act as another's employer, manager, supervisor, 
contractor, employment agency or solicitor of clients and knowingly 
procures, destroys, conceals, removes, confiscates, or possesses any 
passport, birth certificate, immigration document or other 
governmental document belonging to another person. 
 
¶D.  Rape - including marital rape - carries a penalty of eight years 
to life imprisonment.  Life imprisonment is mandated for habitual 
sex offenders.  (Note:  the majority of rape convictions result in 
penalties far less than life imprisonment.  End note).  The Criminal 
Code of Belize does not define sexual assault, but categorizes any 
such assaults as aggravated assault, the penalty for which is two 
years imprisonment.  The law further states that an indecent 
aggravated assault upon a female, or child results in a three year 
sentence. 
 
¶E.  The act of prostitution itself is neither legal nor illegal 
under Belize law.  The government considers prostitution immoral but 
has yet to take steps to directly address it in the Criminal Code. 
 
BELMOPAN 00000148  002 OF 004 
 
 
Other activities on the periphery of prostitution are illegal.  For 
example, loitering by a common prostitute in any street or public 
place for the purpose of prostitution is illegal.  On a first 
offense, a person can be fined no more than $200 or imprisoned for 
up to two months. Second and subsequent offenses result in fines of 
up to $400 or imprisonment of up to six months.  In addition, the 
Summary Jurisdiction (Offenses) Act states that it is illegal to 
own, manage, assist in the management of, or act as a tenant, lessee 
or occupier of a brothel.  First-time offenses are punishable by up 
to six months in jail or a $500 fine; for second offenses the 
penalties are doubled. Further, the law states that it is illegal 
for any male person to: knowingly live wholly or in part on the 
earnings of prostitution; persistently solicit or importune for 
immoral purposes; or loiter about or importune a person in any 
street or other place for the purposes of prostitution.  A first 
offense results in a fine of up to $100 or six months in jail; 
second and subsequent offenses result in up to twelve months in 
jail.  Finally, Section 49 of the Criminal Code states that any 
person who procures or attempts to procure any female under the age 
of eighteen years of age, not being a common prostitute or of known 
immoral character, to have unlawful carnal knowledge either within 
or without Belize any other person or persons has committed an 
offense. The Code does not explain what constitutes immoral 
character.  (Note:  unlawful carnal knowledge is defined as sexual 
relations with a female child between the ages of 14 and 16.  End 
note).  An individual convicted of these charges faces five years 
imprisonment. 
 
¶F.  There were no successful prosecutions against traffickers during 
the reporting period.  A case against a bar owner in Corozal in 
which a 19-year-old Guatemalan woman was hired to work in a 
restaurant but after arriving, was asked repeatedly to sexually 
satisfy male patrons was dismissed - the victim and witnesses had 
left the country and could not be located.  (Ref B)  Trafficking was 
suspected in a case of a Honduran minor found in a bar in Dangriga. 
She was given temporary residence status by the immigration 
department pending investigation and was subsequently repatriated to 
Honduras through the Honduran Embassy.  No charges were filed.  A 
case of a man arrested and charged in October 2007 with trafficking 
a minor found in his bar without her own travel documents is still 
pending.  A case of two police officers facing several counts of 
trafficking after a brothel was raided in Corozal is pending final 
adjournment on March 31, 2008.  Nine Salvadorans were determined by 
the police and immigration to be smuggled into Belize after a 
traffic accident placed some of them in the hospital.  The "victims" 
were charged with illegal entry and deported.  In January 2008, 
Nepalese construction workers employed to construct a dam alleged 
that their passports are being withheld by their employer.  The 
police and immigration are inspecting the site to make a 
determination. Officials note that the case is being investigated. 
 
 
UNICEF has described the country's judicial system as a "black 
hole", noting that TIP cases - along with rape and sexual abuse 
cases - are rarely prosecuted successfully.  The majority of Supreme 
Court criminal cases involving sexual offenses resulted in 
acquittals or "nolle prosequi" (the prosecutor declines to proceed). 
 One notable difficulty in prosecuting trafficking cases is the 
unwillingness of victims and witnesses to come forward to testify. 
Without their testimony, prosecutors have little evidence to pursue 
a case. 
 
The Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Act requires the 
prosecution of labor trafficking offenses such as the confiscation 
of workers' travel documents, the switching of contracts or 
employment terms without the worker's consent, the use of physical 
or sexual abuse or the threat of such abuse to keep workers in a 
state of service, or the withholding of salary as a means to keep 
workers in a state of service.  According to the law, convicted 
traffickers must serve their entire sentence. 
 
There is no reliable information pointing to who is behind 
trafficking in Belize.  Anecdotal evidence suggests that most are 
freelance operators or members of a loose network of taxi drivers 
and brothel owners.  There is no evidence of employment, travel, or 
tourism agencies or marriage brokers fronting for traffickers.  Post 
does monitor terrorism financing and money laundering, but to date 
we have no information about where TIP profits are being channeled. 
 
 
¶G.  Investigations are coordinated by the Anti-Trafficking in 
 
BELMOPAN 00000148  003 OF 004 
 
 
Persons Committee.  The Committee uses a tripartite approach:  all 
trafficking investigations involve police, immigration officials, 
and social workers. 
 
During the reporting period the government, in conjunction with the 
Anti-Trafficking in Persons Committee and a number of NGOs and 
international organizations including the U.S. Government, offered 
specialized training to government officials in how to recognize, 
investigate, and prosecute trafficking.  For example, the government 
offered training to magistrates and crown counsels, police and 
immigration officials on TIP legislation, identification of the 
elements of trafficking, and investigative and prosecution 
techniques. 
 
During the year the Chairperson of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons 
Committee and a consultant conducted sensitization sessions on 
trafficking.  The program targeted police, customs officials, labor 
officers, immigration officers and social workers In February the 
Organization of American States (OAS) sponsored a two day meeting in 
Jamaica where Trafficking was an item on the agenda. The 
Chairperson, the Director of Immigration and a representative from 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs attended. In October, the OAS) also 
sponsored a meeting in Guatemala City for parliamentarians. The 
purpose of the meeting was to discuss and review the model of 
anti-trafficking legislation in the region. 
 
¶H.  The government of Belize does cooperate with other governments 
on trafficking issues, including the investigation and prosecution 
of trafficking cases.  Staff of the Ministry of Human Development 
represented the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Committee at an IDB 
sponsored workshop in Guatemala in April 2007. The workshop was 
entitled "The Construction of a regional Public Good in the Area of 
Human Trafficking." Belize was also represented at the meeting of 
Regional Conference on Migration in April 2007, in New Orleans by 
the Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs along with the 
Director of Immigration. The Government also co-sponsored a 
resolution at the OAS General Assembly in June 2007 which was aimed 
at exploring the possibility of establishing a Multilateral 
Evaluation Mechanism to assess countries' efforts in the hemisphere 
to combat trafficking in persons. The Government of Belize 
recognizes that trafficking in persons is a transnational crime and 
effective action to prevent and combat trafficking requires 
cooperation among governments. Belize has cooperated with Honduras, 
Guatemala and Mexico in the investigation of trafficking cases. 
Belize stands ready to cooperate with any requesting government in 
the investigation and prosecution of trafficking cases in accordance 
with the laws of Belize. It should also be noted that there are 
several mechanisms in place to facilitate cooperation including a 
Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty between Belize and the United States, 
the Central American Regional Security Strategy, and the Regional 
Conference on Migration. The Government is not aware of any request 
for cooperation from a foreign government.   I.  The government will 
extradite persons when an extradition treaty exists between Belize 
and the requesting state.  The treaty between the United States and 
Belize lists trafficking in persons as an extraditable offense. 
According to the government of Belize, to date no state with which 
Belize has an extradition treaty has requested the extradition of a 
suspected trafficker.  Belizean nationals are also subject to 
extradition for certain offenses, including trafficking in persons. 
 
 
¶J.  The Anti-Trafficking in Persons Committee has made great strides 
in organizing and providing training to immigration officials, 
police, and social workers.  The Minister and Chief Executive 
Officer of Human Development have spoken out often against these 
crimes and raised public awareness.  However, there are still 
lingering signs of alleged police involvement as demonstrated in the 
case of two police officers facing charges of trafficking in 
Corozal.  For several years, despite the efforts of the 
Anti-Trafficking Committee, no one has been prosecuted for 
trafficking though the government, the police, and social workers 
acknowledge the presence of trafficking in Belize. 
 
¶K.  To Post's knowledge, there have been no government 
investigations into allegations of official corruption or tolerance 
of trafficking, nor have there been any prosecutions or convictions. 
 
 
¶L.  Also, Belize does not have any military troops assigned abroad 
so there has been no incidence of military troop overseas being 
involved in trafficking. 
 
BELMOPAN 00000148  004 OF 004 
 
 
 
During the year 2007, the Government of Belize did not prosecute or 
deport any foreign pedophile. Likewise there was no other national 
charged with such offence. During 2007, four American fugitives were 
returned to various states in the U.S. to face outstanding warrants 
for sex crimes. 
 
¶M.  Although Belize has not been identified as a sex tourism 
destination, the potential exists and the November 2006 release of 
the report (sponsored by the International Labor Office's 
International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor) on the 
commercial sexual exploitation of children in Belize supports this. 
The government supported the drafting of a code of conduct to 
protect children from sexual exploitation in the tourist and travel 
industries. 
 
The government has signed or ratified the following international 
instruments: 
 
 - ILO Convention 182 concerning the Prohibition and Immediate 
Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor: 
ratified March 6, 2000 
 
 - ILO Convention 29 and 105 on Forced or Compulsory Labor:  both 
ratified on December 15, 1983 
 
 - The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the 
Child (CRC) on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution, and Child 
Pornography:  ratified on December 1, 2003 
 
 - The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in 
Persons, especially Women and Children, supplementing the UN 
Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime:  acceded September 
26, 2003. 
HILL