VZCZCXRO1085
RR RUEHRG
DE RUEHSO #0678/01 3541705
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 191705Z DEC 08
FM AMCONSUL SAO PAULO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8798
INFO RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 9950
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 4256
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 8950
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 3348
RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 3595
RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 2819
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 2595
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ 4004
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA 1245

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SAO PAULO 000678 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR G/TIP, BARBARA FLECK 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF KCRM PHUM ELAB KTIP BR
SUBJECT: SAO PAULO STATE ORGANIZES TIP MEETING 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary:  The State of Sao Paulo and the Secretary of 
Justice and Citizen Defense organized a broad-based meeting for NGOs 
and government agencies dedicated to fighting Trafficking in Persons 
(TIP) in Sao Paulo on December 16.  Panelists stressed their 
commitment to "institutionalizing" the fight against TIP and gave 
examples of recent successes, including the establishment of a 
comprehensive database and an increase in prosecutions. 
Additionally, Sao Paulo announced an inter-departmental partnership 
to raise awareness of and combat TIP.  Poloff presented U.S. 
perspectives on TIP and publicized G/TIP's recently released request 
for proposals for the 2009 anti-TIP grants, which was received very 
positively by participants.  End Summary. 
¶2.  (U) The Office to Prevent and Combat Trafficking in Persons, 
which is part of the Sao Paulo State Secretary of Justice and 
Citizen Defense, hosted a conference addressing Trafficking and the 
Sexual Exploitation of Minors on December 16.  Panelists included 
Dr. Fabio Bechara, Assistant to the Sao Paulo State Attorney 
General; Dr. Mauricio Correo of the National Secretariat of Justice; 
Dr. Leticia Teixeira de Azevedo, Project Analyst for the ORSA 
Foundation; Dr. Debora Aranha, Coordinator for the Winrock 
Institute; Dr. Priscila Siqueira Coordinator for the Service for 
Marginalized Women; Dr. Analia Belisa Ribeiro Coordinator for the 
Office to Prevent and Combat Trafficking in Persons and Political 
Officers from the U.S. Consulate General. 
"INSTITUTIONALIZING" THE FIGHT 
¶3.  (U) Bechara and Correa opened the conference by addressing the 
continued commitment within the State of Sao Paulo to combating TIP. 
 Bechara noted that, in the past, the focus on TIP had wavered from 
one administration to the next and progress to educate the public 
and combat TIP had been dependent on having a vociferous champion 
within the state.  He observed that officials today better 
understand the problems associated with TIP and are now laying the 
groundwork to "de-personalize" the fight against TIP and make it 
part of the institutional fabric of the legal system. 
¶4.  (U) Correa added that significant progress had been made on a 
national database to track TIP.  The database tracks victim 
information such as city of origin, how they were trafficked and the 
types of work they do once they arrive at their destination. It also 
records trafficker information including the source of victims and 
the fees received from this illicit activity.  The database enables 
authorities to profile both the victim and the trafficker and gain a 
better understanding of the criminal network.  Ultimately, officials 
hope to use the information from this database to track and attack 
the profits associated with TIP. 
CO-OPERATIVE CAMPAIGNS 
¶5.  (U) Both Bechara and Correa noted the need for a multi-agency 
approach to combat TIP and announced a cooperative agreement signed 
by the National Secretariat of Justice, the Sao Paulo state 
Secretary of Justice and Citizen Defense and the Ministry of 
Tourism.  Ribeiro noted that this partnership is supported by 33 
NGOs and public institutions and was formed to raise awareness of 
TIP and the adolescent sex trade through targeted public service 
announcements.  This campaign will kick-off before Carnaval in 
February 2009 and will emphasize the quilombos (afro-brazilian 
communities founded by escaped slaves) as they have a high incidence 
of trafficking victims.  In addition, organizers want to educate 
taxi and truck drivers and enlist them as front-line allies in the 
fight against TIP.  Law enforcement officials have long noted a 
disproportionately high number of taxi and truck drivers among the 
traffickers and now hope to address this problem through education 
and with targeted ads and warnings in taxis and on trucks. 
MORE PROSECUTIONS 
¶6.  (U) Marcia Heloisa Mendonca Ruiz, Sao Paulo Civil Police Chief 
and a frequent interlocutor for the Consulate on TIP issues, 
commented that her office had had some recent success prosecuting 
TIP related crimes.  She noted that in a recent internal trafficking 
case, police brought the trafficker to court on charges of sexual 
exploitation of a minor.  Through Mendonca's involvement in the 
case, they subsequently were able to add trafficking charges to the 
case which is still pending.  While she was pleased to add the 
trafficking charge, she noted that her office must still do more to 
educate judges and the law enforcement community about TIP.  Her 
words were echoed by Texeira de Azevedo in a subsequent panel. 
Texeira shared success stories of several victims rescued from 
prostitution rings.  While she noted with satisfaction that police 
took the cases seriously and immediately obtained assistance for the 
victims, she also observed that the traffickers were arrested and 
held on prostitution charges; none were held for trafficking which 
would have carried a much stiffer penalty (15 versus five years in 
prison). 
OTHER STATES FOLLOWING SAO PAULO'S LEAD 
¶7.  (U) One of the panelists shared the results of a study recently 
 
SAO PAULO 00000678  002 OF 002 
 
 
completed by the Winrock Institute in cooperation with the State of 
Bahia.  Winrock's researchers interviewed trafficking victims in an 
attempt to profile the types of people who are trafficked to Bahia 
in the sex trade.  They found that most victims are adolescent girls 
between 9 and 15 years of age who are trafficked from the interior 
of Bahia State.  Interestingly, the study also noted that the vast 
majority of "clients" served by the interviewees were Bahian locals 
or domestic Brazilian tourists.  Aranha observed that while child 
sex tourism was often publicly seen as the purview of foreign 
tourists, their studies show that, in Bahia at least, this is not 
the case. 
U.S. SEEN AS AN ALLY, NOT AN INTERLOPER 
¶8.  (U) Poloff made a presentation on U.S. TIP policy that 
emphasized how the USG's present-day emphasis on fighting TIP 
represents a continuation of the United States's opposition to 
slavery.  Conference attendees paid close attention to the 
functioning of the U.S. TIP Report Tier system and were interested 
in the grant possibilities.  (One organization followed up 
immediately by requesting a meeting with the Consulate.)  Sao Paulo 
participants also clearly did not/not perceive U.S. TIP policy as 
interference in Brazil's sovereign affairs, a sentiment expressed 
repeatedly during the question and answer session that followed 
Poloff's presentation. 
¶9.  (U) Comment:  Sao Paulo continues to be a center of anti-TIP 
sentiment and activity.  The conference strengthened links between 
Federal, State and Municipal authorities and a wide variety of NGOs 
engaged in the fight against trafficking.  It also featured 
heartening news about increased prosecutions and solid evidence that 
many in Sao Paulo have a positive view of U.S. TIP policies.  The 
announcement of G/TIP's grants was icing on the cake for a 
successful conference and successful participation by the USG.  End 
Comment. 
¶10.  (U) This cable has been cleared by the Embassy in Brasilia.