VZCZCXYZ0007
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSJ #0127/01 0582207
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 272207Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY SAN JOSE
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 0521

UNCLAS SAN JOSE 000127 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CEN, WHA/PPC SMILLER, G/TIP, G ACBlank, G/TIP 
BFLECK, INL, DRL, PRM 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: ELAB KCRM KFRD KWMN PHUM PREF SMIG KTIP ASEC CS
SUBJECT:  PART 1 OF 2: COSTA RICA'S NINTH ANNUAL TRAFFICKING IN 
PERSONS (TIP) REPORT 
 
REF: A) 08 SAN JOSE 911  B) 08 STATE 132759  C) 08 SAN JOSE 194  D) 
08 SAN JOSE 833  E) 08 STATE 93829  F) SAN JOSE 0040 
 
¶1. (U) Part 2 of this report is being sent septel. 
 
------- 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶2. (U) The most significant progress the GOCR made since the 
November 2008 TIP Interim Assessment (Ref A) - and during the 
reporting period in general - was its February 12, 2009, passage of 
a Victim and Witness Protection Act, which amended  Article 172 of 
the Penal Code to criminalize internal trafficking and to strengthen 
trafficking statutes.  The law also provided for general protections 
of victims and witnesses - including for trafficking crimes.  This 
major accomplishment, Post believes, should help move Costa Rica off 
the Tier 2 Watchlist for 2009. 
 
¶3. (U) As stated in Ref A, the 2008 TIP Tier Two Watchlist downgrade 
succeeded as a wake-up call for the GOCR's anti-TIP National 
Coalition (officially the National Coalition against Smuggling of 
Migrants and Trafficking in Persons), headed by Vice Minister of 
Public Security and Governance, Ana Duran.  However, much of this 
progress might have been made without the downgrade due to:  more 
NGO "observers" added to the government's National Coalition in 
early 2008; and GOCR budgetary resources being dedicated to the 
Coalition for the first time for 2008.  In other words, the capacity 
of the Coalition itself improved. 
 
¶4. (U) The GOCR made progress since March 2008 toward prevention, 
prosecution, and protection of victims, mainly through the work of 
the Coalition.  This progress included:   final passage of the 
above-mentioned law that criminalized internal trafficking; 
investigation of possible trafficking cases; continuation of a 
multi-year TIP route mapping project with Save the Children to 
enhance understanding of the problem and to compile TIP data; 
dedication of more than $100,000 in budgetary resources to the 
National Coalition; launch of a major media awareness campaign with 
UNICEF; development of an inter-institutional protocol for 
identifying and coordinating immediate assistance to potential 
victims; and training 973 police, immigration, health officials, 
members of civil society and vulnerable populations. 
 
¶5. (U)The GOCR also hosted a regional conference of anti-TIP 
national coalitions (which Post is nominating as a 2009 TIP "Best 
Practice," see Section VI), and the NGO Foundation Paniamor was key 
in implementing an information system designed to help Prosecutor's 
Offices collect data on child sexual exploitation and trafficking to 
help with building cases.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶6. (U) The following information is keyed to Ref B questions. 
 
------------------------------ 
¶I. THE COUNTRY'S TIP SITUATION 
------------------------------ 
 
¶A. (SBU) SOURCES OF INFORMATION, RELIABLITY, DOCUMENTATION: 
 
--The National Anti-TIP Coalition - reliable; 
 
--International Organization for Migration (IOM, Spanish acronym 
OIM) - very reliable; working on a TIP traffickers and victims 
profile for Costa Rica that is still in field research phase; IOM 
completed two studies between 2007 and 2008, and results were 
presented with INAMU (see below) in February 2009; 
 
--UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) - reliable; presented 
"Diagnostic of National and Regional Capacities for the Criminal 
Prosecution of the Crime of Trafficking in Persons" along with the 
United Nations Latin American Institute for the Prevention of Crime 
and the Treatment of Offenders (ILANUD) in February 2009; 
 
--UNICEF - reliable; 
 
--International Labor Organization (ILO, Spanish acronym OIT) - 
reliable; 
 
--National Child Welfare Institute (PANI) - did not answer Post 
specifically for this report but sent PANI's last annual report; 
reliability could depend on subject matter, as evidenced by October 
28, 2008, La Nacion article (Post will email to G/TIP's Fleck); 
 
--National Women's Institute (INAMU) - somewhat reliable; 
 
--Judicial Branch, Public Ministry, General Prosecutor's Office - 
generally uncooperative in providing information and statistics; not 
reliable according to INAMU and IOM 2009 report; however, Sex Crimes 
prosecutor is very knowledgeable on TIP and reliable; 
 
 
--Judicial Investigation Organism (OIJ, Spanish acronym) - national 
investigative police; knowledgeable and fairly reliable (number of 
cases under investigation varies); 
 
--Migration Directorate and Migration Police - reliable and somewhat 
reliable; part of National Coalition; 
 
--Rahab Foundation - NGO that works with victims of sexual 
exploitation and trafficking; reliable; 
 
--Paniamor Foundation, child welfare NGO - reliable; produces annual 
trafficking "mapping" with Save the Children of Sweden; and 
 
--Alianza por tus Derechos (Alliance for your Rights) - NGO that 
works with victims of sexual exploitation and trafficking; reliable. 
 
 
IOM noted that the most reliable primary sources of information are 
the victims themselves and the institutions that assist them, with 
less reliable information coming from police, the 911 emergency 
line, and judicial entities.  Lastly, academic studies are a source 
of TIP information.  The ILO pointed to three databases in use to 
gather statistics:  two at PANI to compile data on child sexual 
exploitation cases (DEV-INFO-LAC-ESC and SSESC); and one in the 
Judicial Branch (SISCESCO, see Section IV) to track and develop sex 
crimes cases.  The usefulness of these databases, however, is 
limited. 
 
¶B. COUNTRY OF ORIGIN, TRANSIT, DESTINATION; PATTERNS; NUMBERS: 
1) (U) Costa Rica is recognized as a source, transit, and 
destination country for men, women and children trafficked for the 
purpose of sexual exploitation and - to a lesser degree - for labor 
exploitation.  During the reporting period, victims were trafficked 
to Costa Rica from Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Colombia, and 
Guatemala.  While evidence suggested that most trafficked persons 
apparently remained in the country, according to the IOM at least 
one individual transited to Mexico, and a historical pattern existed 
for victims to transit the country en route to the U.S., Canada, 
Europe, and occasionally other countries, including Japan.  Chinese 
victims were known to have been trafficked in the past to Costa Rica 
for labor exploitation (Ref C). 
2) (SBU) OTHER POTENTIAL NATIONALITIES:  Media reports of foreign 
women rounded up by the Migration Police in tourist-area nightclubs 
sometimes mention Russians or Eastern Europeans among those 
detained; however, they are often treated as undocumented aliens, 
and because prostitution is legal, whether or not they are 
trafficking victims often goes undetermined.  The same is true for 
many Dominicans (Ref D).  One observer mentioned a rumored case of 
an Albanian victim and/or trafficker, but that anecdotal information 
had not yet been verified, nor could Post be certain that this 
incident took place during the reporting period. 
3) (SBU) FOUR KNOWN CASES:  During the reporting period, the IOM had 
direct knowledge of four specific, known trafficking cases: 
--a Costa Rican woman taken to Mexico for sexual exploitation; 
--a Nicaraguan woman kidnapped and exploited in Costa Rica for 
sexual and domestic labor purposes; 
 
--a Guatemalan woman kidnapped for sexual exploitation who escaped 
before being taken out of her country; she ended up in Costa Rica 
after she fled; and 
 
--a Colombian man working for an itinerant circus group - whose 
contract terms were violated and ID documents seized - and who left 
the circus while in Costa Rica. 
 
According to the National Coalition, during the reporting period, 
the Judicial Branch identified approximately five trafficking cases. 
 This statistic was not available directly from the Public 
Ministry. 
 
4) (SBU) DOMINICAN CASES:  It has been reported widely in the media 
since April 2008 that 400-500 Dominicans were trafficked to Costa 
Rica during the last 4-5 years for purposes of sexual exploitation. 
According to these reports, an organized ring often smuggles the 
women into Costa Rica and arranges "proxy marriages" for them so 
they may obtain residency and work in the sex trade.  While some may 
be trafficking victims (owing debt to the smuggler/traffickers and 
having their families or property in the Dominican Republic 
threatened if they leave Costa Rica), some may have come willingly 
and knowingly to the country to work in legal prostitution (Ref D). 
Therefore, it is very difficult to discern the true number of 
Dominican trafficking victims in this situation. 
5) (SBU) SUSPECTED CASES:  During the reporting period, the National 
Coalition noted that despite the Judicial Branch's figures above, 
the Coalition's Victims Protection Subcommittee "worked on" 
approximately 30 potential trafficking "situations."  One was 
confirmed as a trafficking case, and the victim was granted special 
refugee status in coordination with the UN High Commissioner for 
 
Refugees and IOM (the Guatemalan case noted above).  According to 
the Coalition, these cases had been analyzed by the appropriate 
judicial authorities. 
6) (U) LABOR EXPLOITATION:  Since the G/TIP-funded IOM-Rahab 
Foundation project for care of trafficking victims in Jaco ended in 
May 2008, no new information has come to Post's attention regarding 
patterns of trafficking men for labor exploitation.  As reported in 
Ref C, men were identified as victims of trafficking for labor in 
the fishing industry and in the construction industry, such as in 
the building of marinas and other resort facilities.  Chinese men 
who were trafficked were destined to work in restaurants. 
 
7) (U) TIP MAPPING:  Paniamor, in conjunction with Save the Children 
of Sweden, has conducted a TIP "Geographic and Social Mapping" of 
children and adolescents trafficked for sexual exploitation each 
year since 2004.  The Mapping gathers both anecdotal information and 
statistics.  It intends to profile the problem and to serve as a 
guide for governmental policy.  In October 2008, the NGOs released 
the results of a "meta-analysis" of the data compiled for the 
2005-2007 Mappings.  Results of the 2008 Mapping should be ready in 
March 2009. 
8) (U) TIP MAPPING - ROUTES:  According to Paniamor, the routes have 
not changed since 2004, and they feel confident that the routes are 
established and known.  They will continue to focus on social 
aspects - such as recruitment procedures - which they state do 
change from time to time.  As for routes and victim/trafficker 
profiles (for child and adolescent trafficking), results of the 
2005-2007 meta-analysis, showed: 
--the most vulnerable provinces for "commercial child sexual 
exploitation" are Guanacaste, Limon and Puntarenas; 
--the most vulnerable provinces for "trafficking" of children and 
adolescents for purposes of child sexual exploitation are 
Guanacaste, San Jose and Puntarenas; 
--San Jose is the major "destination" and "redistribution" point of 
both internal and transnational trafficking; 
--external trafficking routes retain a south to north tendency, 
coinciding with migratory phenomenon; 
--many victims are minors:  4 out of 10 people that cross the border 
at unauthorized locations are minors; 
--a multitude of internal routes exist; internal trafficking is fed 
by a flow of minors that enter from Nicaragua en route to San Jose; 
and 
--there are more than 100 "blind spots" for illegal entry/exit along 
the Nicaraguan and Panamanian borders. 
9) (U) TIP MAPPING - CLIENTS AND VICTIMS:  The meta-analysis also 
showed: 
--foreigners in the company of minors, suspected of child sexual 
exploitation (the clients), range from 40 to 65 years of age, 
averaging 50 years old; they are most frequently from the United 
States, followed by European countries (Sweden, Germany, Italy); 
and 
--victims range from 11 to 19 years old, averaging 13 years; the 
majority are female. 
Paniamor told us that even though their Mapping focused on minors, 
most trafficking victims were usually no older than 25 because once 
they reached a certain age, they were no longer as "profitable" for 
trafficking. 
10) (U) TIP MAPPING - TRAFFICKERS:  With respect to perpetrators and 
intermediaries, the meta-analysis showed: 
--Nationals involved were mechanics, truck drivers, police, 
immigration officials, lawyers, taxi drivers, "coyotes," and adult 
female recruiters; and 
--Foreign exploiters came from the countries in para 9, were 
retirees or residents, and included educators, judges, and athletes, 
among others. 
11) (U) TIP MAPPING - WHERE ACTIVITY TAKES PLACE:  The meta-analysis 
showed that the sexual exploitation usually took place in hotels, 
motels, "cabinas," bars, nightclubs, restaurants, beaches, banana 
plantations, houses, apartments, condominiums, "quintas" (defined as 
private, set-back residences), boats, cruise ships, and yachts. 
12) (U) TRAFFICKING PURPOSES/METHODS:   As stated in Post's 2008 TIP 
Report (Ref C), in general, women and children were trafficked 
into/within the country for sexual exploitation; men, women, and 
children were sometimes trafficked into/within the country for 
forced labor as domestic servants, agricultural workers, and workers 
in the fishing industry.  Traffickers often lured victims, generally 
from impoverished backgrounds, through ads and in person with a 
promise of secure employment and good pay. 
13) (U) PANHANDLING:  Also according to Ref C, the majority of 
international victims are forced into the sex trade, but some have 
been trafficked for less notorious purposes.  For example, the media 
reported possible indigenous victims of trafficking brought from 
Panama to Costa Rica for the purpose of panhandling.  Authorities 
from either country have yet to identify this group as victims. 
Post has no new information on this phenomenon for this year's 
report. 
¶C. (U) CONDITIONS VICTIMS TRAFFICKED INTO:  The majority of the 
alleged victims of trafficking identified in the various situations 
and analyzed by the Coalition were in an illegal immigration status. 
 
 Additionally, they showed physical and psychological indicators of 
trafficking such as malnutrition, anxiety disorders and physical 
injuries.  IOM reported that victims suffered from post-traumatic 
stress and forced addictions.  No information was readily available 
on the physical conditions of locations where victims were held, 
except per Ref D. 
 
¶D. (U) VULNERABILITY TO TIP:  Please see Section B above for 
vulnerable regions and a victim profile.  Vulnerable foreigners 
included Nicaraguans, Colombians and Dominicans.  Many of these 
cases were linked to sexual exploitation and domestic work, and in 
the case of males, to construction and agriculture, according to the 
Coalition.  IOM and Paniamor reported that minor females were most 
vulnerable. 
¶E. TRAFFICKERS AND THEIR METHODS: 
1) (SBU) Please see Section B above.  See also Ref D for a 
discussion of the Dominican modus operandi. 
 
2) (U) From the cases studied by the National Coalition during the 
reporting period, the Coalition concluded that traffickers were 
members of international organized crime groups that offered 
well-remunerated jobs and seized/retained documents of victims 
(mainly legal documents) to prevent them from escaping.  The 
Coalition noted that detailed information on traffickers would have 
to be provided by appropriate judicial authorities since the 
Prosecutor's Office initiates and oversees investigations. 
 
3) (SBU) According to IOM, based on the cases it has seen and the 
few cases that had been tried, it appeared that there were 
established local networks dedicated to internal trafficking. 
Regional networks and markets also exist.  According to victim 
testimony, Costa Rica is a transit point or holding point ("de 
enfriamiento" or cooling off) for Dominican women to obtain legal 
documents and then be taken to Europe or other regions, though some 
may move on willingly (Ref D).  International networks are also 
evident with the past appearance of Costa Rican TIP victims in 
Japan. 
 
4) (SBU) UNICEF reported that participants in their 
workshops/trainings identified beauty academies as a primary means 
by which traffickers recruit females. 
 
5) (U) Victims were lured to Mexico and Japan by published ads 
promising work (as a promotional model/dancer in the case of the 
Costa Rican in Section B).  According to IOM, kidnapping was also 
employed in some cases. 
 
6) (U) As mentioned last year (Ref C), exploitation is not as easily 
detectable now, since it often takes place in private homes.  The 
Rahab Foundation told us that, especially for child sexual 
exploitation, children are not prostituted in the streets but 
"ordered" by phone and brought to a home or condo, especially in San 
Jose and in tourist areas.  The recruiting is usually done through 
fraud and/or by taking advantage of the vulnerability of the 
victims. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
II. SETTING THE SCENE FOR GOCR ANTI-TIP EFFORTS 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶A. (U) DOES GOCR ACKNOWLEDGE TRAFFICKING AS PROBLEM?  The GOCR 
recognizes TIP as a crime and is taking steps to combat it, 
primarily under the leadership of the National Coalition.  For the 
first time, the GOCR dedicated the equivalent of $100,000 of its 
2008 budget, earmarked for the National Coalition, to fight 
trafficking in persons (Ref A).  In February 2008, the GOCR 
incorporated trafficking in persons-related strategies into its 
National Development Plan for 2006-2010 (Ref C). 
¶B. GOCR AGENCIES INVOLVED IN ANTI-TIP: 
 
1) (U) The Executive Branch has the lead the government's anti-TIP 
efforts.  The National Coalition is headed by the Vice-Minister of 
Governance (similar to Department of the Interior), within the 
Ministry of Governance, Police, and Public Security (often called 
Ministry of Public Security for short).  Other Executive Branch 
coalition members include:   Ministry of Labor and Social Security, 
Ministry of Finance, Ministry of National Planning, Ministry of 
Health, Ministry of Public Education, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 
Ministry of Justice, National Child Welfare Agency (PANI), National 
Women's Institute (INAMU), and the National Council on 
Rehabilitation and Special Education.  The Judicial Branch has an 
"observer" role in the Coalition and is represented by a member from 
the Prosecutor's Office and one from the national investigative 
Police (OIJ). The Legislative Assembly (national legislature) and 
Ombudsman's Office also have "observer" status, as do several 
NGO's. 
 
2) (SBU) The Judicial Branch - which includes the Public Ministry 
(Ministerio Publico, prosecutors' offices) and the national 
 
investigative police (OIJ) - are responsible for criminal 
investigations and prosecutions.  The International Office of the 
Public Ministry was designated in June 2008 as the central authority 
under the UN Convention on Transnational Organized Crime.  OIJ 
investigators work under the direction of prosecutors.  Both the 
prosecutors and investigators have parallel "Sex Crimes" and 
"Miscellaneous Crimes" Divisions that address TIP.  Although the 
Judicial Branch participates in the Coalition, it does not answer to 
the Executive Branch and jealously maintains its institutional 
independence.  Therefore, the Coalition has limited influence over 
TIP investigations and prosecutions. 
3) (U) In May 2008, OIJ formalized the creation of a Smuggling and 
Trafficking Unit (Ref A).  While the Unit does not have its own 
budget and still reports to the "Kidnapping" Subdivision of the 
"Miscellaneous Crimes" Division, the office now has its own 
dedicated space, four agents, and an office director focused on TIP. 
 The Unit received specialized TIP training from UNICEF in 2008.  As 
of February 2009, OIJ reported that it had two active TIP 
investigations and two active smuggling investigations ongoing. 
4) (U) In June 2008, the Ministry of Public Education put into place 
a protocol to detect situations of commercial sexual exploitation in 
the school system.  The protocol calls for the intervention of other 
institutions in such a case. 
¶C. LIMITATIONS (AND ONE STRENGTH): 
1) (SBU) An overriding limitation on the government's ability to 
combat TIP (aside from the fact that until early 2009 the law did 
not sanction internal trafficking), is the lack of knowledge and 
sensitivity to TIP among the general population, which prevents 
investigation and prosecution.  This "mindset" seems to be 
prevalent: 
--among regular Costa Rican citizens who see prostitution as legal 
and who do not view sex with minors (adolescents) as an abnormal 
occurrence (especially in rural areas where people tend to marry 
younger); or among people who think that "at least she's earning 
something;" and thus, fail to report potential TIP to police; 
--among some police who believe the above or who believe that "she 
likes doing that," referring to prostitution, which - being legal in 
the country - can sometimes obscure true TIP situations; 
--among some prosecutors and judges who maintain the same mindset as 
the above, or who simply do not understand TIP (with the exception 
of the Sex Crimes prosecutor who is extremely knowledgeable and 
concerned about TIP); 
--on the part of Costa Rican society, in very general terms, which 
sees prostitution and trafficking as something in which people of 
other nationalities are involved, not Costa Ricans. 
2) (U) Although during FY 2008 the Ministry of Public Security 
received exclusive funding to support the Coalition, the Coalition 
reported that it required more resources to optimize its work plan. 
UNICEF noted that lack of resources was always a problem for the 
GOCR.  Another limitation of the Coalition, according to Vice 
Minister Duran, is that it lacks its own permanent administrative 
structure within the Ministry of Public Security and Government, and 
it exists by executive order only, which could affect the 
Coalition's continuity when a new administration takes office in 
¶2010.  The Coalition therefore recently introduced a bill in the 
Legislative Assembly to give the Coalition the force of law. 
3) (SBU) The Coalition reported that the lack of knowledge about 
trafficking in the news media negatively impacted investigations and 
evidence gathering (as in the case of the Dominicans, Ref D) and 
made prosecuting cases difficult.  The Coalition feels that it is 
necessary to promote TIP awareness among the news media. 
4) (U) In terms of investigations, OIJ's TIP unit reported that its 
authority was hampered by organizational structure and reporting 
lines (Ref A).  The unit was working around that obstacle in at 
least one case by including an agent from the Sex Crimes Unit in the 
investigation. 
5) (U) One strength of the Coalition, however, is that the Technical 
Secretariat is located within the Ministry of Public Security, which 
contains the regular police force (Fuerza Publica) and the Migration 
Directorate.  This facilitates the Coalition being able to provide 
TIP identification and prevention training to police and immigration 
officials. 
¶D. (U) GOCR MONITORING/REPORTING OF ITS ANTI-TIP EFFORTS:  The 
Ministry of Planning, Ministry of Finance and State Comptroller are 
in charge of monitoring the goals of the Executive Branch, including 
compliance with the goals of the Coalition as established in the 
National Development Plan.  In general, there is a systematic 
monitoring of anti-trafficking efforts through the General Law of 
Public Administration (Law 8131), which stipulates that the State 
must report on its goal achievement.  According to the Coalition, it 
achieved 100% of its goals as established in the 2008 National 
Development Plan. 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
III. INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION OF TRAFFICKERS 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶A. EXISTING ANTI-TIP LAWS: 
1) (U) NEW LEGISLATION:  On February 12, 2009, the legislature 
passed a Victim and Witness Protection Act; Article 19 of the act 
 
amended Article 172 of the Criminal Code (Law No. 7899, dated 3 
August 1999) to criminalize internal trafficking and to strengthen 
trafficking statutes.  The new law also provided general protections 
for victims and witnesses - including specific protections for 
victims of trafficking crimes in Article 15.  The Victim and Witness 
Protection Act (formerly bill 16973) will have its own public law 
number once it is published in the Gazette (comparable to the U.S. 
Federal Register); this is expected to happen very soon. 
2) (U) The unofficial translation of Article 19 of the Victim and 
Witness Protection Act as passed, which amends Article 172, 
follows: 
BEGIN TEXT:  ARTICLE 19. 
Amendments to Articles 172, 208, 209, 225, 227, 228, 229, 305, 307, 
322, 323, 324, 325 y 387 of the Criminal Code, Law No. 4573, as 
amended.  The text shall read as follows: 
Article 172 - Trafficking in Persons 
 
Whoever promotes, facilitates or favors the entrance or exit from 
the country or transit through the national territory of persons of 
either gender, for engaging in a commercial sex act or acts or for 
exploitation, sexual or labor servitude, slavery or practices 
similar to slavery, forced labor or services, forced marriage, 
mendacity, removal of organs or illegal adoption, shall be punished 
with imprisonment from six to 10 years.  The penalty shall be 
imprisonment from eight to 16 years under any of the following 
circumstances: 
 
a. When the victim is under the age of 18 years or is in a position 
of vulnerability or is an incapacitated person. 
 
b. By means of deception, violence or any other form of intimidation 
or coercion. 
 
c. If whoever perpetrates the act is the spouse, person in a 
situation of cohabitation, the victim's blood relative or relative 
by affinity. 
 
d. If whoever perpetrates the act abuses the position of authority 
or trust of the victim or the victim's family, regardless of 
kinship. 
 
e. If whoever perpetrates the act exercises authority by reason of 
the profession or the position occupied. 
 
f. The victim suffers a serious injury. 
 
g. If the criminal act was committed by a criminal group comprised 
of two or more members. 
 
END TEXT OF ARTICLE 19. 
 
Post will forward the complete final text of bill 16973 as passed, 
in Spanish, to G/TIP's Fleck. 
 
3) (U) Article 172 now does/does comply with the trafficking 
definition established in the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and 
Punish Trafficking in Persons (Palermo Protocol), which was ratified 
by Costa Rica on 09/26/2002 (Law No. 8315).  In Post's view, this is 
a significant accomplishment for Costa Rica and remedies a major 
shortcoming which helped place the country on the Tier 2 Watchlist 
in the 2008 Trafficking in Persons Report. 
 
4) (U) Notably, Article 15 of the new Victim and Witness Protection 
Act strengthened protections for TIP victims beyond the scope of the 
protections afforded in the rest of the act, as follows (unofficial 
translation): 
 
BEGIN TEXT:  ARTICLE 15. 
 
Specific Provisions for the Protection of Human Trafficking Victims 
- 
 
Human Trafficking victims shall have the following rights: 
 
a. Have access to information about their rights in a language that 
they understand and in an accessible way in accordance to their age 
and maturity. 
 
b. Stay in the country in accordance with current immigration 
regulations and receive the documentation required for a victim in 
such circumstances. 
 
c. Victims shall not be included in any special register. 
 
END TEXT OF ARTICLE 15. 
 
5) (U) the Coalition insisted that TIP be linked to organized 
crime in a parallel organized-crime bill that is before the 
Legislative Assembly (Ref A).  This would allow all enforcement and 
 
investigative measures that are available to the judiciary, police 
and prosecutors for organized crime to be applied to TIP cases - 
including wiretapping, procedural measures, and an increased statute 
of limitations.  Post will continue to monitor developments as this 
bill moves through the legislature. 
 
6) (U) Article 374 of the criminal code defines transnational crimes 
as follows:  "The penalty of imprisonment from ten to 15 years shall 
be imposed on those who lead or are members of international 
organizations devoted to the trafficking in slaves, women or 
children, drugs and narcotics, acts of extorting kidnapping or 
terrorism or infringement on provisions to protect human established 
in treaties signed by Costa Rica." 
 
7) (U) Additionally, Articles 376 and 377 of the criminal code refer 
to trafficking in minors, with imprisonment of four to six years in 
cases with relatives or public employees involved, and up to 10 
years in cases of adoption or trafficking of human organs. 
Currently, Articles 374, 376 and 377 remain in effect, and can serve 
as alternate statues if, for example, movement of the victim could 
not be proven in order to prosecute TIP under the new law, according 
to IOM. 
 
8) (U) Other articles in the criminal code that relate to 
trafficking in persons for sexual exploitation are: 
--Article 167, corruption of minors or a legally incapacitated 
person, imprisonment for up to eight years; and 
--Article 168, aggravated corruption, imprisonment from four to ten 
years, if the victim is under thirteen years; the act is committed 
for economic gain; the act is committed through deception, violence, 
abuse of authority, or any other means as intimidation or coercion; 
or the perpetrator is a relative or guardian. 
9) (U) Article 380 of the Criminal Code, Section III on offenses, 
imposes a maximum 30-day-fine to any brothel owner or police 
official who "tolerates" the presence of minors in a brothel.  "Day 
fines" are based on the offender's daily personal income. 
¶B. (U) PENALTIES FOR SEX TRAFFICKING:  Please see above paragraphs. 
¶C. (U) PENALTIES FOR LABOR TRAFFICKING:  The legal definition in 
Article 172 covers both sexual and labor exploitation.  Article 237 
of the criminal code sets the penalty for labor exploitation of 
minors or the legally incapacitated as imprisonment for up to four 
years.  The Ministry of Labor is responsible for monitoring 
violations of labor rights.  The General Labor Inspectorate of the 
Ministry of Labor conducts inspections, receives complaints and 
reports those complaints to labor courts of the Judicial Branch, 
which imposes sanctions or fines.  Immigration Law (Law 8487, dated 
12 August 2006) regulates the entry and presence of labor migrants 
in the country and the actions of their employers, to guarantee the 
protection of migrants' human rights and to impose sanctions to 
offenders. 
 
¶D. (U) PENALTIES FOR RAPE:  The penalty for rape is imprisonment for 
up to 16 years (Article 156 of the criminal code), or 18 years 
maximum for aggravated rape (Article 157).  For sexual abuse of 
minors and the legally incapacitated, the penalty is imprisonment 
for up to eight years, or 10 years when the victim is under 13 
years, incapable of resisting, or the perpetrator is a relative or 
guardian (Article 161).  If the abuse is committed against an adult, 
the penalty is from two to four years, and from three to six years 
if the perpetrator takes advantage of the victim, is a relative, or 
abuses the trust of the victim (Article 162). 
END TEXT OF PART 1. 
CIANCHETTE