VZCZCXRO9751
PP RUEHLA
DE RUEHGT #0197/01 0621715
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 031715Z MAR 09 ZDK CYSVC MANAGUA 265
FM AMEMBASSY GUATEMALA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7044
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO 5104
RUEHLA/AMCONSUL BARCELONA 0030
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RHEFHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 13 GUATEMALA 000197 
 
C O R R E C T E D  C O P Y (TAGS CORRECTION) 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR G/TIP AND G ACBLANK 
DEPT ALSO FOR INL, DRL, PRM, WHA/CEN, AND WHA/PPC 
DEPT PLEASE PASS TO USAID FOR LAC/CAM KSEIFERT 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KTIP ELAB KCRM KFRD KWMN PGOV PHUM PREF SMIG ASEC GT
SUBJECT: GUATEMALA'S INPUT FOR 2009 TIP REPORT 
(APRIL 2008 - FEBRUARY 2009) 
 
REF: A. STATE 5577 
     ¶B. 08 STATE 132759 
     ¶C. 08 GUATEMALA 1450 
     ¶D. 08 GUATEMALA 327 
 
GUATEMALA 00000197  001.2 OF 013 
 
 
¶1. Below is post input (keyed to ref B) on anti-trafficking 
efforts undertaken by the Guatemalan government between April 
2008 and February 2009 in the areas of prevention, protection 
of and assistance to trafficked victims, and investigation 
and prosecution of traffickers.  While challenges remain, 
especially in the area of prosecution, the GOG is committed 
to addressing those challenges and has made progress in 
combating human trafficking despite limited resources.  In 
view of GOG efforts during the reporting period, in 
particular its passage of important anti-trafficking reform 
legislation and increased investigations, Embassy recommends 
that Guatemala be removed from the Tier 2 Watch List.  Such 
action will not only reinforce ongoing efforts but will 
encourage the GOG to continue and expand its efforts to 
vigorously combat trafficking as part of a global effort. 
 
¶2. Embassy's point of contact on trafficking in persons is 
Poloff Lucy Chang (FS-02), tel.: (502) 2326-4635, fax (502) 
2334-8474.  She spent 45 hours in the preparation of this 
report. 
 
Guatemala's TIP Situation 
------------------------- 
¶A. The sources of available credible information on 
trafficking in persons are NGOs, including organizations 
implementing USG-funded anti-TIP projects, and limited 
anecdotal information provided by trafficked victims 
themselves.  The GOG, in collaboration with NGOs, seeks to 
document human trafficking.  As part of its national 10-year 
plan of strategic action, the government plans to document 
and analyze the trafficking situation, at both the national 
and regional levels, and to study its relationship to other 
societal problems, such as commercial sexual exploitation, 
labor exploitation, and alien smuggling.  The aalysis will 
look at factors such as age, gender,and socio-economic 
status that contribute to victims' vulnerability. 
Participating institutions of the Guatemalan Inter-Agency 
Commission to Combat Trafficking in Persons managed and 
shared databases on trafficking.  The GOG is in the process 
of creating a unified database to facilitate follow-up on 
trafficking cases. 
 
¶B. Guatemala continued to be a country of origin, transit, 
and destination for internationally trafficked victims. 
Trafficking occurred within the country, particularly in 
border areas and other outlying areas of weak government 
control, as well as transnationally across its borders.  Due 
to the clandestine nature of human trafficking, which often 
camouflaged as other types of licit and illicit activities, 
and the lack of reporting and tracking mechanism, there were 
no reliable estimates on the actual extent or magnitude of 
the problem.  Although the National Civilian Police (PNC) 
provided year-end crime statistics, there were no reliable 
estimates of trafficking victims, nor reliable information on 
the origins and destinations of victims, or methods and 
motives of traffickers.  Information provided by NGOs 
continued to suggest the existence of networks of 
Qcontinued to suggest the existence of networks of 
transnational sexual traffickers operating in the region, 
primarily transporting victims from El Salvador, Honduras, 
and Nicaragua to Guatemala.  Central American women and girls 
continued to be trafficked and sold in brothels in Mexico, 
Belize, and the United States.  The majority of the victims 
were young women between 19 and 25 years of age, with the 
number of underage victims reportedly increasing.  Casa 
Alianza estimated that at least 15,000 minors were sexually 
exploited in Guatemala.  According to UNICEF, 80 percent of 
these minors were girls.  The Social Movement for the Rights 
of Children, Adolescents, and Youth in Guatemala reported 
that there were at least 230 brothels that sexually exploited 
girls.  The PNC reported that there were 800 prostitution 
houses nationwide. 
 
¶C. The Comprehensive Health Association (ASI) anti-TIP 
project coordinator reported that many girls from poor 
 
GUATEMALA 00000197  002.2 OF 013 
 
 
indigenous areas in western Guatemala, some as young as 12 or 
13 years of age, were working 12-16 hours a day as domestic 
workers in the capital without overtime pay or other 
benefits, and in many instances employers were deducting the 
costs of food and housing from their pay.  Most of these 
young domestic workers, despite the difficulties they faced, 
did not return to their communities because they had no other 
options.  Ten impoverished young Guatemalan women who 
allegedly were forced to work as prostitutes in the U.S. 
reported having sex with up to 30 clients a day.  Several 
were forced to work even when ill.  They testified that they 
were constantly watched by procurers and were beaten and 
threatened with violence, even witchcraft, to keep them from 
attempting to escape. 
 
NGO reports confirmed the continuing occurrence of labor 
exploitation south of the Mexican border where Guatemalan 
minors were recruited to beg in the streets and to work in 
the municipal dump.  In some cases, these minors were also 
believed to be victims of sexual exploitation.  Labor 
exploitation of men and women was also documented among 
agricultural migrant workers in southern Mexico along the 
Guatemalan border. 
 
¶D. Women, children, and migrants continued to be at greater 
risk of being trafficked than other sectors of the 
population.  In particular, girls and young women from poor 
families or abusive homes, and those attempting to migrate to 
the U.S. in search of employment opportunities continued to 
be the most vulnerable to trafficking.  Trafficking was 
particularly prevalent in villages along the country's 
border.  Under-age migrants who did not cross the border into 
Mexico often remained in the country and resorted to or were 
forced into prostitution.  Women and children were also 
transported from El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Honduras by 
organized rings that forced them into prostitution. 
 
¶E. Traffickers ranged from independent business people to 
small family businesses to regional organized crime networks. 
 According to the PNC, traffickers generally operated in 
small- to medium-sized informal networks, which did not 
involve organized crime but included Nicaraguans, 
Salvadorans, and Colombians utilizing authentic but illegally 
issued Guatemalan identification documents, typically 
originating from municipal authorities in rural parts of the 
country.  False documents were used to conceal both age and 
citizenship status of victims.  Traffickers often had links 
to other organized crime, including drug trafficking and 
alien smuggling. 
 
Traffickers utilized various modes of operation, including 
use of commercial enterprises, such as bars and brothels. 
Some bar or brothel owners engaged in trafficking to recruit 
workers for their businesses, while other traffickers 
operated independently of other commercial activities. 
Sometimes victims themselves returned to their villages to 
recruit new victims.  Most victims were lured by promises of 
travel, study, or work, including offers of employment as 
waitresses, domestic workers, or factory workers, or were 
exploited in their desire to migrate to the U.S. in search of 
Qexploited in their desire to migrate to the U.S. in search of 
work opportunities or reunion with family members. 
Impoverished young women lured by the promise of legitimate 
jobs in the U.S. were forced into prostitution under debt 
bondage after being smuggled into the U.S.  A relatively 
small number of victims may have known they would be working 
as prostitutes, but nevertheless were enticed by offers of 
better working conditions.  Trafficked victims were not 
usually kept as slaves; instead, traffickers created 
conditions of economic, psychological, and often drug 
dependency.  In many cases, victims resisted rescue.  There 
was no reliable information on whether employment, travel, or 
tourism agencies or marriage brokers were involved in 
trafficking. 
 
Traffickers reportedly altered their modus operandi after 
Guatemala passed a restrictive national adoption law, 
compliant with the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption, 
on December 12, 2007.  The law took effect December 31, 2007. 
 Pregnant Guatemalan women were transported to other 
 
GUATEMALA 00000197  003.2 OF 013 
 
 
countries, such as Spain, where the women gave birth and 
where adoptive parents registered the babies as their own. 
The Public Ministry reported that traffickers utilized 
various violent and non-violent methods to carry out illegal 
adoptions, including camouflaging them as legal adoptions. 
 
Government's Anti-TIP Efforts 
----------------------------- 
¶A. The government acknowledged that trafficking is a serious 
problem and continued to focus its efforts to address it. 
Human trafficking was a priority on the legislative agenda, 
and government actors publicly acknowledged the need to 
vigorously address it.  The government faced numerous 
challenges, including lack of resources, systemic corruption, 
reluctance of victims and witnesses to testify, and a high 
level of impunity and violence. 
 
¶B. Twenty-seven organizations, including 19 government 
agencies, were involved in anti-trafficking efforts as part 
of the Inter-Agency Commission to Combat Trafficking in 
Persons, which was established by government decree in July 
2007 under a renewable two-year mandate.  Led by the Ministry 
of Foreign Affairs under the Director of Migration Affairs, 
the commission coordinates the government's anti-trafficking 
efforts in accordance with its international commitments and 
domestic laws.  It is comprised of representatives of various 
Executive agencies, as well as international organizations 
and local NGOs, and is organized into three sub-commissions 
focused on prevention, attention to the victim, and the 
application of justice.  The commission meets regularly on a 
bi-monthly basis, as well as on an ad hoc basis, as 
necessary.  It met three times during the reporting period. 
 
 
Both the Public Ministry (Attorney General's Office) and the 
PNC have dedicated anti-TIP units.  The Public Ministry's 
Anti-TIP unit, established in November 2007 within the 
Special Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime, raised the 
profile of trafficking in persons and improved the model of 
investigation and prosecution of TIP crimes.  Formerly housed 
within the Special Prosecutor's Office for Women, the new 
unit provided greater visibility and focus to human 
trafficking during the reporting period.  The staff of 12 
worked in close collaboration with the PNC and NGOs. 
According to the unit's chief prosecutor, approximately 80 
percent of the unit's current caseload is illegal adoption, 
which is defined as trafficking in persons under Guatemalan 
law.  Of the 50 current TIP cases he has filed, seven involve 
trafficking of minors for sexual exploitation.  There are no 
pending cases of adult sexually exploited TIP victims or 
forced labor victims. 
 
¶C. The government's ability to address the problem of 
trafficking in persons was limited by weak institutional 
capacity, infiltration of organized crime into government 
agencies, systemic corruption within the PNC, inadequate 
funding for police and other government institutions, lack of 
resources to aid victims, and lack of willing victims and 
witnesses to prosecute trafficking offenders.  Funding for 
the special anti-TIP units, as for most Guatemalan government 
agencies, remained inadequate.  During the reporting period, 
Qagencies, remained inadequate.  During the reporting period, 
the Public Ministry's anti-TIP unit had a limited budget, 12 
staff, and three vehicles.  Funding for its operation 
depended on the Public Ministry's annual budget, which did 
not allocate funds specifically for the anti-TIP unit. 
Government actions continued to depend heavily on technical 
and financial support from local NGOs and international 
donors.  Government officials and NGOs cited as serious 
impediments to effective law enforcement the high level of 
impunity for all crimes and rampant corruption, which often 
led to leaks of information on impending raids and 
investigations to criminal targets.  They stressed the need 
for additional resources to train judges and police 
investigators, provide greater assistance to victims, and 
strengthen the Public Ministry's inadequate witness 
protection program. 
 
According to the PNC, no funds were allocated to law 
enforcement to focus specifically on TIP.  Funding for 
 
GUATEMALA 00000197  004.2 OF 013 
 
 
anti-TIP efforts was part of the overall PNC budget.  Its 
anti-TIP unit had only five police agents and one vehicle to 
conduct anti-TIP operations throughout the country, and 
lacked a surveillance mechanism to properly investigate TIP 
crimes.  Members of civil society noted that judges lacked 
proper training on TIP issues and working with minors.  They 
also pointed to systemic weaknesses, including institutional 
corruption, lack of coordination among key law enforcement 
and justice sector agencies, lack of female police officers, 
and lack of continuity and institutional knowledge in the PNC 
due to frequent staff turnover.  They noted that the PNC's 
lack of institutional continuity limited the long-term impact 
of training efforts.  Notwithstanding these numerous 
challenges, the individuals working in the Public Ministry 
and PNC special anti-TIP units were generally regarded as 
competent and dedicated. 
 
¶D. The Inter-Agency Commission to Combat Trafficking in 
Persons, led by the Foreign Ministry, provided an open, 
collaborative forum for discussion of legislative proposals 
and projects, and coordination of efforts.  It met three 
times during the reporting period to discuss activities 
carried out by participating agencies.  A year-end summary 
report of its activities was not available at the time of 
submission of this report. 
 
Investigation and Prosecution of Traffickers 
-------------------------------------------- 
¶A. On February 18, Congress unanimously approved a bill 
against sexual violence, exploitation, and trafficking in 
persons.  The passage of the bill was the culmination of 
seven years of effort and numerous drafts.  The bill, 
introduced in Congress in August 2008, provides a 
comprehensive legal framework, based on the Palermo Protocol, 
for the prevention of TIP and related crimes, protection of 
victims, and prosecution of traffickers.  It creates a 
secretariat attached to the Vice President's Office to 
coordinate GOG efforts to combat sex crimes and trafficking 
in persons.  The secretariat has a budget of Q5 million 
(approx. USD 641,026) for the initial year of its operation, 
including funding for compensation to victims of these 
crimes.  The law also establishes a process for repatriation 
of trafficked victims, and focuses on protection of minors. 
It penalizes not only traffickers but also those who use the 
services of trafficked persons and sexually exploited 
victims, including victims of child pornography.  It also 
increases the penalty for trafficking in persons from 6-12 
years to 8-18 years in prison, imposes a fine of Q300,000 - 
500,000 (approx. USD 38,462 - 64,103), and modifies several 
TIP-related provisions in the Penal Code.  Wiretapping and 
undercover operations, permissible under the Law Against 
Organized Crime, may be used to investigate and prosecute 
traffickers. 
 
The new Law Against Sexual Violence, Exploitation, and 
Trafficking in Persons (Law 09-2009) defines the crime of 
trafficking in persons under new Article 202(3) of the Penal 
Code.  The final text of the approved legislation was not 
available at the time of submission of this report.  Article 
Qavailable at the time of submission of this report.  Article 
202(3), in the near-final draft text provided to post on 
February 25, states (in non-official translation from 
Spanish): 
 
The crime of trafficking in persons consists of the 
co-optation, transport, transfer, retention, harboring, or 
reception of one or more persons for the purpose of 
exploitation.  Whoever commits this crime will be sanctioned 
with eight to 18 ears in prison and a fine of 300,000 to 
500,000 uetzales.  Consent given by the trafficked victim or 
by the victim's legal representative will not be considered. 
 
For purposes of the crime of trafficking in persons, 
exploitation is understood as:  prostitution, any other form 
of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, any type of 
labor exploitation, begging, any form of slavery, servitude, 
sale of persons, extraction and trafficking of organs and 
human tissues, and recruitment of minors for organized crime 
groups, illegal adoption, illegal adoption process, 
pornography, forced pregnancy, or servile or forced 
 
GUATEMALA 00000197  005.2 OF 013 
 
 
matrimony. 
 
Article 202(4), Remuneration for Trafficking in Persons, 
states:  Whoever, for oneself or for others, through 
exploitation activities referred to as the crime of 
trafficking in persons, provides or promises to another 
person or to others an economic benefit or any other benefit, 
will be sanctioned with a prison sentence of six to eight 
years. 
 
The penalty established in the previous paragraph will 
increase by two-thirds if the remuneration is for 
exploitation of persons less than 14 years of age, and will 
double if the trafficked victim is less than 10 years of age. 
 
 
Guatemala's existing law against TIP, Article 194 of the 
Penal Code (enacted in July 1973 and amended in March 2005), 
prohibits trafficking in persons for both sexual and labor 
exploitation.  It states (in non-official translation from 
Spanish): 
 
Whoever, in any way, promotes, induces, facilitates, 
finances, collaborates, or participates in the co-optation, 
transport, transfer, harboring, or receipt of one or more 
persons by means of threat, force or other forms of coercion, 
fraud, deceit, abuse of power, kidnapping, or a situation of 
vulnerability or concession or receipt of payments or 
benefits to obtain the consent of a person who has authority 
over another, for the purpose of exploitation, prostitution, 
pornography, or any other form of sexual exploitation, will 
be sentenced to six to 12 years in prison. 
 
The same sanction applies to whoever, taking advantage of the 
circumstances outlined in the previous paragraph, subjects 
another person to begging, forced labor or services, servile 
matrimony, illegal adoption, slavery or similar practices. 
Consent given by the trafficked victim or the victim's legal 
representative if the victim is a minor will not be 
considered an attenuating circumstance for any of the forms 
of exploitation described.  The penalty will be increased by 
a third if the victim is a minor, disabled, or elderly.  If 
the victim is a minor, this crime will be considered to have 
been committed even if none of the means outlined in the 
first paragraph of this article was used.  If the victim 
suffers physical harm, the penalty will be increased by 
two-thirds.  In the case of the victim's death, the 
corresponding penalty will be applied. 
 
Other laws used to prosecute TIP cases include prohibitions 
in the Penal Code against rape, corruption of minors, and 
procuring or pandering, and prohibitions in the Immigration 
Law against hiring illegal immigrants. 
 
Article 173 (Rape) 
Article 174 (Aggravated Rape) 
Article 175 (Qualified Rape) 
Article 176 (Rape or Ravishment by Inexperience or Trust) 
Article 177 (Rape or Ravishment by Deceit) 
Article 178 (Aggravated Rape or Ravishment) 
Article 188 (Corruption of Minors) 
Article 189 (Aggravated Corruption of Minors) 
Article 191 (Procuring or Pandering) 
Article 192 (Aggravated Procuring or Pandering) 
 
Article 107 of Immigration Law (Decree 95-98)(Hiring Illegal 
Immigrants) 
Article 108 of Immigration Law (Decree 95-98)(Hiring of Minor 
Illegal Immigrants) 
 
According to the Chief Prosecutor of the anti-TIP unit, 
currently there are no non-criminal statutes that provide for 
Qcurrently there are no non-criminal statutes that provide for 
civil penalties for trafficking, e.g., civil forfeiture laws 
or laws against illegal debts.  The new legislation 
establishes a fund for compensation to victims of trafficking 
and sexual exploitation and a mechanism for civil penalties. 
 
¶B. Article 194 of the Penal Code imposes a penalty of six to 
12 years in prison for trafficking in persons for sexual or 
 
GUATEMALA 00000197  006.2 OF 013 
 
 
labor exploitation, with an automatic increase by one-third 
if the victim is a minor, elderly person, or disabled person, 
and by two-thirds if the victim suffers physical harm. 
 
The new Law Against Sexual Violence, Exploitation, and 
Trafficking in Persons imposes a prison sentence of eight to 
18 years and a fine of Q300,000 to Q500,000 (approx. 38,462 - 
64,103) for trafficking in persons for sexual or labor 
exploitation.  Sentences are automatically increased by 
one-third for certain aggravated circumstances, e.g., if the 
crime was committed by more than two persons, if the victim 
received death threats or was treated cruelly during the 
commission of the crime, if the trafficker was the victim's 
relative or guardian, or public official or professional in 
the exercise of his official duties.  Sentences are 
automatically increased by two-thirds if the victim is 14 but 
less than 18 years of age, and by three-quarters if the 
victim is 10 but less than 14 years of age, and doubled if 
the victim is less than 10 years of age. 
 
¶C. The penalty for trafficking for labor exploitation is the 
same as that for sexual exploitation.  Article 194 of the 
Penal Code provides for criminal sanctions against labor 
recruiters who engage in recruitment of workers using 
knowingly fraudulent or deceptive offers with the purpose of 
subjecting workers to trafficking in the destination country. 
 It also penalizes employers or labor agents who confiscate 
workers' passports or travel documents for the purpose of 
trafficking, or who switch contracts without the worker's 
consent or withhold payment of salary as a means of keeping 
the worker in a state of service. 
 
¶D. The prescribed penalty for rape (Article 173) is six to 12 
years in prison (up to 50 years in prison for aggravated 
circumstances).  The prescribed penalty under the new law is 
eight to 12 years in prison. 
 
¶E. During the reporting period, its initial year of 
operation, the Public Ministry's anti-TIP unit received 131 
complaints of TIP, including illegal adoptions.  (Note: The 
existing anti-TIP provision, as well as the new legislation, 
considers illegal adoption a form of TIP.)  According to the 
Chief Prosecutor, of the 131 complaints, 15 percent involved 
sexual or labor exploitation.  Fifteen individuals were 
accused and 5 were sentenced.  The Chief Prosecutor noted a 
decrease in the number of complaints of child kidnappings, 
which he attributed in part to the adoption law passed in 
December 2007. 
 
The Ministry initiated criminal proceedings against 55 
suspected trafficking offenders.  In August, the prosecutor's 
office in Jalapa convicted a defendant on human trafficking 
charges, obtaining a sentence of six years' imprisonment. 
The Chief Prosecutor of the anti-TIP unit stated that he 
handled all of the cases in his unit as TIP cases, but the 
courts often brought charges under other legal provisions, 
most commonly the prohibition on corruption of minors or 
contracting of illegal aliens.  He observed that it is very 
difficult to treat adult prostitutes as TIP victims without 
the testimonies of the victims.  In many cases, TIP crimes 
are not prosecuted because the victim refuses to testify. 
Qare not prosecuted because the victim refuses to testify. 
According to the Chief Prosecutor, 95 percent of cases depend 
on victim testimony.  He anticipates that the new 
legislation, which does not specify the means of committing 
the crime of trafficking and, therefore, is less dependent on 
victim testimony, will result in more prosecutions.  In 
collaboration with other GOG institutions, the Secretariat of 
Social Welfare is seeking to implement a strategy to raise 
awareness among the population on the importance of greater 
participation in reporting crimes to change the culture of 
impunity. 
 
According to the Public Ministry's anti-TIP unit, the 
government conducted 12 raids on commercial establishments 
and rescued approximately 45 sexually exploited victims 
during the reporting period.  According to the Human Rights 
Ombudsman's Office, Office of the Defense of Children and 
Youth, three Nicaraguan minors were rescued during the last 
trimester of 2008.  During the reporting period, the PNC 
 
GUATEMALA 00000197  007.2 OF 013 
 
 
ordered the closure of three clandestine dens, where minors 
and other undocumented persons were found. 
 
As of December 2008, the Public Ministry reported receiving 
5,985 complaints of sexual crimes, and obtaining 237 
convictions of sexual offenders. 
 
¶F. The government, in collaboration with civil society, 
provided specialized training for government officials in how 
to recognize, investigate, and prosecute instances of 
trafficking.  The Public Ministry worked with ECPAT to train 
government officials on crimes of sexual commercial 
exploitation with an emphasis on trafficking of children. 
ECPAT provided training to more than 320 government officials 
nationwide, including all employees of the National Tourism 
Institute, and to an additional 90 government officials, 
including police and prosecutors, assigned to the departments 
of Peten, Jutiapa, and Chiquimula. 
 
¶G. The Guatemalan government cooperated with other 
governments in the investigation and prosecution of 
trafficking cases.  During the reporting period, according to 
the Public Ministry, there were 20 cooperative international 
investigations on trafficking.  Guatemala requested legal 
assistance in five cases, while Colombia, El Salvador, and 
Honduras requested legal assistance from Guatemala in 15 
cases. 
 
¶H. The Guatemalan constitution does not prohibit extradition 
of its own nationals; however, an extradition treaty is 
required.  Guatemala has a bilateral extradition treaty with 
the United States.  That treaty does not specify trafficking 
in persons among the crimes for which extradition is 
prescribed.  It does, however, list "kidnapping of minors or 
adults," defined as "the abduction or detention of a person 
or persons in order to exact money from them or their 
families, or for any unlawful end."  Guatemala also has a 
multilateral extradition treaty with the governments of other 
Central American countries, which requires that the crime be 
punishable by no less than two years' imprisonment in both 
countries.  In practice, the extradition process is lengthy 
and complicated.  During the reporting period, the government 
did not extradite any alleged traffickers.  There are no 
pending trafficking extraditions. 
 
¶I. There were credible reports that police and immigration 
service agents were complicit in trafficking or leaking 
information on imminent raids of brothels and other 
commercial establishments to criminal targets.  An NGO 
reported that some minor victims of trafficking claimed that 
immigration officials took bribes from traffickers, gave the 
victims falsified identification papers, and allowed them to 
cross borders.  There were credible reports that brothel 
owners allowed police and immigration officials to have sex 
with minor victims without charge.  Another NGO reported that 
business owners of massage clubs and other establishments 
that sexually exploited adolescents had good relations with 
government authorities who warned these businesses of 
upcoming police raids.  There were no details on the extent 
or magnitude of the problem, but there were indications that 
some networks involved high-level officials.  On August 1, 
Qsome networks involved high-level officials.  On August 1, 
2008, a criminal court ordered the arrest of the sister of 
Congressman Gudy Rivera (then president of the Congressional 
Committee on Minors and Children) of the Patriot Party for 
her alleged involvement in a baby kidnapping.  She was 
charged with trafficking in persons and conspiracy.  In May 
2008, she was detained during a police raid after police 
discovered that she was operating a clandestine child care 
center and adoption business in her home. 
 
¶J. The PNC, through its Office of Professional Responsibility 
and its Inspector General's Office, focused on identifying 
and investigating corruption within its ranks and dismissing 
corrupt officers.  During the reporting period, 12 public 
officials, including private sector lawyers entrusted with 
public duties, public notaries, and civil registry 
secretaries, were charged and investigated for involvement in 
illegal adoptions.  None of them have yet been convicted; the 
cases are ongoing. 
 
GUATEMALA 00000197  008.2 OF 013 
 
 
 
¶K. Prostitution is legal.  The legal minimum age for 
prostitution is 18.  While the Penal Code does not 
criminalize the activities of prostitutes who are at least 18 
years of age, procuring and inducing a person into 
prostitution are crimes that can result in fines and 
imprisonment, with heavier penalties if minors are involved. 
Trafficking in persons for the purpose of prostitution is 
illegal.  The Penal Code criminalizes the activities of 
brothel owners/operators and procurers.  The laws most often 
applied against brothel owners/operators and procurers are 
the laws against procuring, corruption of minors, and 
contracting of illegal aliens.  The Penal Code does not 
criminalize the activities of clients.  Under the new law 
against sexualviolence, exploitation, and trafficking in 
persos, clients will be sanctioned. 
 
According to the Public Ministry, owners of night clubs and 
brothels have changed their way of doing business, opening 
formerly private businesses as public corporations 
("sociedades anonimas") under names of legal representatives 
to evade detection and arrest.  During the reporting period, 
the anti-TIP unit opened four cases against legal 
representatives of such businesses. 
 
¶L. During the reporting period, there were no reports of any 
Guatemalan national deployed abroad as part of a peacekeeping 
or other similar mission who engaged in or facilitated severe 
forms of trafficking or who exploited victims of such 
trafficking. 
 
¶M. Child sex tourism was not a widespread problem in 
Guatemala; however, there were credible reports of a nascent 
industry in certain areas.  UNICEF has been working with the 
Guatemalan tourism board to raise awareness.  It developed a 
code of conduct with the Guatemalan Tourism Institute and the 
Guatemalan Chamber of Tourism (INGUAT-CAMTUR) and the 
Guatemalan Institute for Technical Training (INTECAP) to 
discourage the use of tourist activities and services, 
including taxi drivers and tour operators, for sexual 
exploitation.  A local NGO that works on trafficking issues 
and with trafficked victims is developing an agreement with 
hotels in Antigua and Guatemala City to place notices, 
modeled on those in Thailand and the Philippines, prohibiting 
unaccompanied minors from entering hotel rooms of foreigners 
without proper authorization.  During the reporting period, 
the government did not prosecute or deport/extradite any 
foreign pedophiles.  One U.S. citizen remained detained on 
charges of sexual child abuse, pending trial.  The Chief 
Prosecutor of the anti-TIP unit was not aware of any cases of 
Guatemalan nationals engaging in child sex tourism during the 
reporting period. 
 
Protection and Assistance to Victims 
------------------------------------ 
¶A. The government had limited resources to adequately protect 
victims and witnesses.  In most cases, victims preferred not 
to file legal complaints out of fear of reprisal and/or lack 
of confidence in the justice system and the witness 
protection program.  The overall impunity rate for homicides 
was at least 93 percent, according to the International 
Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), and was 
QCommission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), and was 
worse for other kinds of crime. 
 
¶B. The government operated victim care facilities that were 
accessible to trafficked victims and offered social services, 
job training, and counseling.  The Secretariat of Social 
Welfare, which is legally mandated to attend to persons under 
18 years of age, operated 37 day care centers for children up 
to 12 years of age, seven 24-hour shelters for trafficked 
victims, children from dysfunctional or domestically violent 
families, and abandoned minors under 18 years of age, and two 
juvenile detention centers.  Its shelter in Quetzaltenango 
housed approximately 30 children per month.  In December 
2008, Congress approved an increase of Q180 million (approx. 
USD 23 million) to the Secretariat's annual budget.  Most 
minor victims were referred by the GOG to NGOs, particularly 
Casa Alianza, for care and protective custody.  Casa 
Alianza/Guatemala, which closed on January 16, 2009 due to a 
 
GUATEMALA 00000197  009.2 OF 013 
 
 
USD 6.5 million budget cut to its parent organization, 
estimated that 300 children were referred to them each year. 
Foreign victims were provided the same access to care as 
domestic trafficked victims.  A shelter run by the General 
Directorate of Immigration included a dedicated area for 
attention to adult and foreign trafficked victims. 
 
 
¶C. The government provided trafficked victims with access to 
legal, medical, and psychological services by referring them 
to NGOs that were able to provide comprehensive care.  The 
Public Ministry, as state prosecutor, pursued criminal 
proceedings against traffickers.  The Secretariat of Social 
Welfare provided educational and occupational skills 
workshops, as well as social services and assistance with 
legal proceedings.  The government did not provide funding to 
NGOs for services to trafficked victims, but did collaborate 
closely with NGOs on anti-trafficking efforts through 
exchange of information, participation in awareness-raising 
campaigns, drafting of anti-TIP reform legislation, and raids 
of commercial establishments to rescue trafficked victims. 
 
 
¶D. The Guatemala government did not provide temporary or 
permanent residency status or other relief from deportation 
to foreign trafficked victims.  It attended to foreign adult 
victims in an area dedicated to trafficking victims within a 
shelter run by the General Directorate of Immigration.  Adult 
foreign trafficked victims were referred to their respective 
consulates in country.  Foreign minors were not, as a matter 
of policy, deported.  The Foreign Ministry contacted the 
respective consulates, and minor victims were referred to the 
Secretariat of Social Welfare and soon thereafter repatriated 
to their countries of origin, in accordance with the National 
Protocol for the Repatriation of Child and Adolescent Victims 
of Trafficking.  Guatemala has repatriation agreements for 
minor victims of trafficking with El Salvador, Nicaragua, 
Honduras, Costa Rica, and Panama. 
 
¶E. The government, with NGO assistance, provided longer-term 
shelter and other resources to aid victims in rebuilding 
their lives.  The Secretariat of Social Welfare, through its 
multi-disciplinary team, administered various social programs 
throughout the reporting period, including a program for the 
prevention of domestic violence and a program to reduce 
social risk among street children, migrants, and victims of 
sexual exploitation.  It also administered government 
subsidies to families living in poverty, and coordinated an 
anti-TIP program in Solala, which, according to the 
Secretariat, has become a magnet for trafficking in persons. 
During the reporting period, the Secretariat focused on ways 
to strengthen the institution, expand its coverage to provide 
services to more people, and decentralize its administrative 
functions.  It conducted a study that profiles the areas with 
the greatest incidence of domestic violence and a study of 
the departments with the highest levels of social risk.  It 
established eight regional offices, with funding provided by 
the central office and with direct participation by regional 
office directors in municipal-level development councils. 
Qoffice directors in municipal-level development councils. 
Its decentralization plan has enabled direct contact between 
the Secretariat and the poorest municipalities throughout the 
country. 
 
¶F. The government has a referral process to transfer victims 
detained, arrested, or placed in protective custody by law 
enforcement authorities to institutions that provide short- 
or long-term care.  The Secretariat of Social Welfare is in 
the process of installing 16 courts throughout the country, 
one per department, to expedite cases involving children and 
adolescents. 
 
¶G. There were no reliable estimates of trafficked victims 
during the reporting period.  The Secretariat of Social 
Welfare handled 504 child protection cases, including cases 
of sexually exploited minors.  ECPAT/Guatemala attended to 
100 trafficked victims, while Casa Alianza/Guatemala assisted 
24 sexually exploited minors, and continued to attend to 64 
sexually exploited minors from previous years.  During the 
reporting period, Casa Alianza/Guatemala received a total of 
 
GUATEMALA 00000197  010.2 OF 013 
 
 
430 cases, including 245 referred by judicial order. 
 
¶H. The GOG has a mechanism for identifying victims of 
trafficking among high-risk populations with whom government 
officials come in contact.  Its Standard Operating Procedures 
provide instructions on how to process sex crimes, including 
specific provisions on how to assist TIP victims.  The 
government also developed and implemented a referral process 
to transfer minor victims who were placed in protective 
custody by law enforcement authorities to NGOs that provide 
long-term care.  The government has a mechanism for screening 
for trafficked victims among persons involved in the legal 
commercial sex trade.  In collaboration with civil society, 
it conducted raids on night clubs and other commercial 
establishments possibly involved in the sex trade, with the 
aim of rescuing domestic as well as foreign victims of 
commercial sexual exploitation, including trafficked victims. 
 The GOG reported that these efforts contributed to the 
rescue of approximately 45 trafficked victims. 
 
¶I. The government generally respected the rights of 
trafficked victims.  The government did not arrest, detain, 
fine, or jail trafficked victims.  It did not prosecute 
victims for violations of immigration laws or any other laws. 
 Foreign undocumented adult trafficked victims were deported 
to their countries of origin, while minor victims were sent 
to Casa Alianza or a government-run shelter for attention and 
care.  A shelter in Guatemala City provided temporary housing 
for undocumented aliens, including victims of trafficking, 
 
A government-run 24-hour call center, staffed by trained 
professional counselors, provided information on human 
trafficking to the general public, and psychological support 
and referral assistance to trafficked victims and other 
victims.  The call center raised public awareness, improved 
the channels of communication between victims and assistance 
providers, and focused greater attention on and follow-up of 
trafficking cases. 
 
¶J. The Public Ministry, in collaboration with civil society, 
continued to encourage victims to assist in the investigation 
and prosecution of trafficking and provided support, upon 
request, through its Office of Witness Protection.  The 
government encouraged victims to file legal action against 
traffickers by instituting a call center through which 
victims could file complaints and the government could 
provide follow-up on cases.  Victims were able to participate 
in criminal proceedings against traffickers and to seek 
redress for damage as third party plaintiffs.  However, few 
trafficked victims filed complaints or assisted in the 
investigation and prosecution of traffickers.  Victims tended 
to protect the traffickers.  In addition, minors, many of 
whom had either false documents or no documents, were 
reluctant to admit their under-age status.  A few individuals 
did testify, which led to convictions for corruption of 
minors and contracting of illegal aliens.  There was no 
information available as to the actual number of victims who 
assisted in the investigation and prosecution of traffickers 
during the reporting period.  According to the Public 
Qduring the reporting period.  According to the Public 
Ministry's anti-TIP unit, the witness protection program 
provided protection to four witnesses, including three TIP 
victims, during the reporting period. 
 
No one can legally impede victim access to legal redress. 
Such redress is a right guaranteed by the Constitution and 
Penal Code.  In practice, however, victims' access to legal 
redress was impeded by institutional corruption, a weak 
judicial system, lack of security, fear of reprisal, and lack 
of specially trained judges and prosecutors.  A victim who is 
a material witness in a court case against a former employer 
may obtain other employment or leave the country and/or seek 
refuge as a protected witness pending trial proceedings.  The 
law provides for restitution to the victim as a third party 
plaintiff.  Civil reparations supplement the principal 
criminal proceeding that seeks to determine the culpability 
of the alleged trafficker. 
 
¶K. The government, in collaboration with civil society, 
provided specialized training for government officials in 
 
GUATEMALA 00000197  011.2 OF 013 
 
 
identifying trafficked victims and in providing assistance to 
victims, including the special needs of trafficked children. 
Participating government agencies of the Inter-Agency 
Commission to Combat Trafficking in Persons provided ongoing 
training as part of its commitments under the National Plan 
of Strategic Action, and national, bilateral, and 
multilateral agreements.  The training aimed to sensitize 
officials responsible for anti-trafficking efforts to ensure 
prompt and proper attention to victims and to prevent 
re-victimization. 
 
The government also provided training on protections and 
assistance to Guatemalan consuls accredited to the U.S., 
Mexico, and neighboring Central American countries, as well 
as to foreign consuls accredited to Guatemala.  The training 
focused on the proper application of the National Protocol 
for the Repatriation of Child and Adolescent Trafficked 
Victims, as well as the implementation of the Public Policy 
Against Trafficking in Persons and Comprehensive Protection 
to Victims.  The government encouraged Guatemalan embassies 
and consulates to maintain close relationships with NGOs and 
international organizations that serve trafficked victims. 
 
The GOG, based on internal information provided by its 
consulates, is in the process of determining the total number 
of trafficked victims assisted by Guatemalan embassies and 
consulates abroad.  Guatemalan consulates had primary 
responsibility for the repatriation and accompaniment process 
for Guatemalan trafficked victims abroad.  Consular 
authorities issued special travel documents for repatriation 
of victims, followed up on the health conditions of victims, 
and facilitated coordination among the institutions 
responsible for repatriation of victims to ensure a process 
that fully respects the victims' human rights.  The Foreign 
Ministry's central office was responsible for notifying the 
appropriate institutions (the Solicitor General's Office, the 
General Directorate of Immigration, and the Secretariat of 
Social Welfare) on accompaniment requirements for the victim. 
 
 
¶L. The government, through its General Directorate of 
Immigration and Solicitor General's Office, received 
Guatemalan trafficked victims at ports of entry and provided 
accompaniment during te repatriation process.  Authorities 
assessed vitims' state of health, rendering medical 
assistance as required.  While the government did not provide 
financial support, victims could file civil claims for 
compensation for damage and harm.  The government provided 
assistance to repatriated trafficked nationals in shelters 
operated by the General Directorate of Immigration, the 
Secretariat of  Social Welfare, and NGOs.  The Secretariat of 
Social Welfare received repatriated minors and reintegrated 
them with their families upon their return to Guatemala.  The 
Secretariat also ran a shelter in Quetzaltenango for 
nationals repatriated from Mexico.  Minors sent to that 
shelter were reunited with their families within a few days 
of arrival. 
 
¶M. Various international organizations and local NGOs worked 
with trafficked victims.  Casa Alianza/Guatemala, House of 
Qwith trafficked victims.  Casa Alianza/Guatemala, House of 
the Migrant, House of the Woman, Our Godchildren, and the 
Survivors Foundation provided direct shelter, and 
comprehensive attention, including medical, legal, 
psychological, and social support, to trafficked victims. 
ILO/IPEC, UNICEF, Catholic Relief Services, International 
Organization for Migration, International Justice Mission, 
Comprehensive Health Association (ASI), and ECPAT, among 
others, provided advocacy and consultation on anti-TIP 
efforts and administered preventive programs.  Catholic 
Relief Services, through sub-grantees Human Mobility 
Pastorate and the Central American Development Institute 
(INCEDES), implemented a USG-funded project to increase 
public awareness of trafficking.  USG-funded ECPAT continued 
working with the House of the Migrant in the Mexican border 
area and expanded its anti-trafficking efforts to the areas 
bordering Honduras and El Salvador, working in conjunction 
with the justice sector authorities to combat commercial 
sexual exploitation.  Local authorities collaborated closely 
with these NGOs.  During the reporting period, Casa Alianza 
 
GUATEMALA 00000197  012.2 OF 013 
 
 
assisted 24 sexually exploited minors, and continued to 
attend to 64 sexually exploited minors from previous years, 
providing formal education and occupational training.  ECPAT 
attended to 100 trafficked victims. 
 
Prevention 
---------- 
¶A. The government, in collaboration with civil society, 
continued its national public awareness campaign.  The 
primary objective of the campaign was preventing trafficking 
by educating and alerting the public, particularly in 
high-incident areas and at land, air, and water border 
crossing points, on the dangers of trafficking networks 
operating within families and communities, and increasing the 
visibility of the traditionally clandestine crime.  The 
campaign, targeting current and potential trafficked victims, 
included phone numbers of organizations that victims could 
call for help.  Through radio and television broadcasts, 
pamphlets, posters, banners, and billboards, the campaign was 
effective in reaching populations that had little knowledge 
of the crime.  A USG-funded NGO initiated plans to expand the 
campaign, through radio spots in Spanish and three Mayan 
languages in the border areas and dissemination of pamphlets, 
to reach at least 5,000 persons next year.  Informational 
materials were disseminated to Guatemalan embassies and 
consulates accredited abroad, as well as to foreign 
diplomatic missions accredited to Guatemala.  Catholic Relief 
Services, through sub-grantee Human Mobility Pastorate, 
organized public awareness fora on TIP in the critical 
departments of Peten, Chiquimula, San Marcos, Huehuetenango, 
and Quetzaltenango and in the Mexican border area where 
persons were most vulnerable to being trafficked. 
 
The government also conducted sensitization workshops 
focusing on the theme of social risk, including street 
children and sexual and labor exploitation, to members of 
rural development councils in the country's interior.  It 
also disseminated a manual for the detection of and attention 
to child and adolescent victims of commercial sexual 
exploitation, which was used as a reference in all government 
and NGO shelters that attended to trafficked victims. 
 
¶B. Guatemala's border controls with Mexico, Belize, Honduras, 
and El Salvador were inadequate.  Guatemalan immigration and 
law enforcement agencies lacked the capacity to monitor 
immigration and emigration patterns for evidence of 
trafficking and to screen for potential trafficking victims 
along the borders. 
 
¶C. Guatemala has a mechanism for coordination and 
communication among various agencies on trafficking-related 
matters.  The Inter-Agency Commission to Combat Trafficking 
was established by government decree in July 2007 under a 
renewable two-year mandate to oversee implementation of a 
national anti-TIP strategy.  The Foreign Ministry, under the 
Director for Migration Affairs, took the lead in coordination 
efforts.  The commission depends heavily on international and 
NGO support. 
 
¶D. In July 2008, the government approved a 10-year national 
plan of action to combat trafficking in persons and to 
protect victims.  The Inter-Agency Commission to Combat 
Trafficking in Persons, under the leadership of the Foreign 
QTrafficking in Persons, under the leadership of the Foreign 
Ministry and in consultation with civil society, developed 
the Public Policy Against Trafficking in Persons and 
Comprehensive Protection to Victims and the National Plan of 
Strategic Action (2007 - 2017) to address TIP.  The public 
policy aims to prevent and prosecute human trafficking and to 
protect victims through institutional strengthening, 
application of justice, and international cooperation.  The 
national plan, as the core element of the public policy, 
provides the overall framework for the implementation of the 
policy, including the goals, strategic actions, indicators, 
timeframe, and roles of the responsible public entities.  The 
national plan has been implemented by each of the government 
agencies involved in anti-trafficking efforts. 
 
¶E. The government collaborated with civil society in a 
nationwide public awareness campaign to educate the public 
 
GUATEMALA 00000197  013.2 OF 013 
 
 
and to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts.  In 
addition, it conducted raids on brothels and other commercial 
establishments to rescue sexually exploited minors and to 
deter commercial sexual exploitation, and ran a 24-hour call 
center to deter the demand for these acts. 
 
¶F. The government participated in a public awareness campaign 
to reduce international child sex tourism.  During the 
reporting period, according to the Public Ministry, there 
were no cases of Guatemalan nationals who had engaged in 
child sex tourism.  In November 2008, ECPAT/Guatemala 
participated in discussions on the prevention of sex tourism 
at the 3rd World Congress Against Sexual Abuse and 
Exploitation of Children and Adolescents in Rio de Janeiro, 
Brazil.  The conference, organized by ECPAT International, 
drew an estimated 3,500 participants from around the world. 
 
¶G. As part of mandatory pre-deployment training, the Regional 
Peacekeeping Operations Training Center in Guatemala provided 
extensive training on human rights, including six 50-minute 
modules focused on human trafficking, to all Guatemalan 
troops deployed abroad on UN peacekeeping missions and other 
similar missions to ensure that they do not engage in or 
facilitate trafficking or exploit trafficked victims. 
 
Nomination of TIP Hero 
---------------------- 
Casa Alianza/Guatemala, which closed January 16, 2009 for 
financial reasons, played a critical role in the prevention, 
care, and follow-up of trafficked victims and abandoned 
children in Guatemala for 28 years.  It used a comprehensive 
care model that included working with minors living in the 
streets and high-risk areas to prevent them from becoming 
victims of trafficking.  It rescued minor trafficked victims 
and provided long-term care, with formal as well as 
vocational training.  Its comprehensive approach ensured not 
only a safe, protective environment for victims, but also 
provided victims with technical, income-generating skills, 
and legal support for development of cases for prosecution. 
Casa Alianza compiled and disseminated important information 
on trafficking, advocated for greater government response to 
the trafficking issue, and actively participated in proposing 
and developing legislation and policies to improve efforts to 
reduce human trafficking.  Its multi-disciplinary efforts 
focused greater public attention to the problem of human 
trafficking, especially to the care of victims, and enabled 
victims to successfully reintegrate into their families and 
communities and rebuild their lives. 
McFarland