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O 112051Z JUN 09
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TO AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES IMMEDIATE 0000

UNCLAS STATE 060490 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KTIP ELAB KCRM KPAO KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG AR
SUBJECT: ARGENTINA -- 2009 TIP REPORT: PRESS GUIDANCE AND 
DEMARCHE 
 
REF: A. STATE 59732 
     ¶B. STATE 005577 
 
¶1. This is an action cable; see paras 5 through 7 and 10. 
 
¶2. On June 16, 2009, at 10:00 a.m. EDT, the Secretary will 
release the 2009 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report at a 
press conference in the Department's press briefing room. 
This release will receive substantial coverage in domestic 
and foreign news outlets.  Until the time of the Secretary's 
June 16 press conference, any public release of the Report or 
country narratives contained therein is prohibited. 
 
¶3. The Department is hereby providing Post with advance press 
guidance to be used on June 16 or thereafter.  Also provided 
is demarche language to be used in informing the Government 
of Argentina of its tier ranking and the TIP Report's 
imminent release.  The text of the TIP Report country 
narrative is provided, both for use in informing the 
Government of Argentina and in any local media release by 
Post's public affairs section on June 16 or thereafter. 
Drawing on information provided below in paras 8 and 9, Post 
may provide the host government with the text of the TIP 
Report narrative no earlier than 1200 noon local time Monday 
June 15 for WHA, AF, EUR, and NEA countries and OOB local 
time Tuesday June 16 for SCA and EAP posts.  Please note, 
however, that any public release of the Report's information 
should not/not precede the Secretary's release at 10:00 am 
EDT on June 16. 
 
¶4. The entire TIP Report will be available on-line at 
www.state.gov/g/tip shortly after the Secretary's June 16 
release.  Hard copies of the Report will be pouched to posts 
in all countries appearing on the Report.  The Secretary's 
statement at the June 16 press event, and the statement of 
and fielding of media questions by G/TIP,s Director and 
Senior Advisor to the Secretary, Ambassador-at-Large Luis 
CdeBaca, will be available on the Department's website 
shortly after the June 16 event.  Ambassador de Baca will 
also hold a general briefing for officials of foreign 
embassies in Washington DC on June 17 at 3:30 pm EDT. 
 
¶5. Action Request: No earlier than OOB local time Monday June 
15 for WHA, AF, EUR, and NEA posts and OOB local time on 
Tuesday June 16 for SCA and EAP posts, please inform the 
appropriate official in the Government of Argentina of the 
June 16 release of the 2009 TIP Report, drawing on the points 
in para 9 (at Post's discretion) and including the text of 
the country narrative provided in para 8.  For countries 
where the State Department has lowered the tier ranking, it 
is particularly important to advise governments prior to the 
Report being released in Washington on June 16. 
 
¶6. Action Request continued:  Please note that, for those 
countries which will not receive an ""action plan"" with 
specific recommendations for improvement, posts should draw 
host governments' attention to the areas for improvement 
identified in the 2009 Report, especially highlighted in the 
""Recommendations"" section of the second paragraph of the 
narrative text.  This engagement is important to establishing 
the framework in which the government's performance will be 
judged for the 2010 Report.  If posts have questions about 
which governments will receive an action plan, or how they 
may follow up on the recommendations in the 2009 Report, 
please contact G/TIP and the appropriate regional bureau. 
 
¶7. Action Request continued: On June 16, please be prepared 
to answer media inquiries on the Report's release using the 
press guidance provided in para 11.  If Post wishes, a local 
press statement may be released on or after 10:30 am EDT June 
16, drawing on the press guidance and the text of the TIP 
Report's country narrative provided in para 8. 
 
¶8. Begin Final Text of Argentina,s country narrative in the 
2009 TIP Report: 
 
-------------------------------- 
ARGENTINA (TIER 2 WATCH LIST) 
-------------------------------- 
 
Argentina is a source, transit, and destination country for 
men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of 
commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor.  Many 
victims are trafficked within the country, from rural areas 
to urban centers, for forced prostitution.  Some Argentine 
women and girls are trafficked to neighboring countries, 
Mexico, and Western Europe for commercial sexual 
exploitation.  Foreign women and children, primarily from 
Paraguay, Brazil, Peru, and the Dominican Republic, are 
trafficked to Argentina for the same purpose.   A significant 
number of Bolivians, Paraguayans, and Peruvians are 
trafficked into the country for forced labor in sweatshops 
and agriculture.  Some reporting suggests that Chinese 
migrants are trafficked for forced labor into Chinese-owned 
supermarkets.  Child sex tourism is a problem, particularly 
in the tri-border area and in Buenos Aires.  Argentina is a 
transit point for foreign women and girls trafficked into 
commercial sexual exploitation in Chile, Brazil, Mexico, and 
Western Europe.  Argentina,s long borders make the country 
an easy transit area for traffickers and their victims. 
 
The Government of Argentina does not fully comply with the 
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; 
however, it is making significant efforts to do so.  During 
the past year, the Government of Argentina approved national 
legislation to prohibit and punish all forms of human 
trafficking, increased law enforcement efforts to arrest 
trafficking suspects and rescue victims, and improved 
government mechanisms for directing trafficking victims to 
shelter care and services.  Despite such efforts, the 
government did not show evidence of progress in convicting 
and sentencing trafficking offenders and ensuring adequate 
victim assistance across the country; therefore, Argentina 
remains on Tier 2 Watch List. 
 
Recommendations for Argentina:  Continue to implement the new 
anti-trafficking law vigorously; intensify law enforcement 
efforts to dismantle trafficking networks; increase judicial 
and prosecutorial efforts to investigate, prosecute, convict, 
and punish trafficking offenders, including corrupt public 
officials who may facilitate or be involved with trafficking 
activity; increase investigations of forced labor and 
domestic servitude crimes; dedicate more resources for victim 
assistance; sustain anti-trafficking training for law 
enforcement, judges, and other public officials, including 
labor inspectors; and improve data collection. 
 
Prosecution 
-------------- 
The government demonstrated some progress in anti-trafficking 
law enforcement efforts last year.  Argentina prohibits all 
forms of trafficking pursuant to Law 26,364, enacted in April 
2008, which prescribes penalties of three to 15 years, 
imprisonment.  Such penalties are sufficiently stringent and 
commensurate with those prescribed for other serious crimes, 
such as rape.  During the reporting period, the government 
conducted 169 raids on suspected commercial sex sites and 
sweatshops, rescued 181 trafficking victims, and arrested 196 
suspects.  Two-thirds of victims rescued by federal law 
enforcement agencies were adults.  The Prosecutor General's 
specialized Unit to Assist Investigations into Kidnapping, 
Extortion Crimes, and Trafficking in Persons (UFASE) also 
conducted 35 trafficking investigations, and forwarded 10 
trafficking cases to the courts for formal investigation. 
No anti-trafficking convictions or sentences were reported 
for 2008; provincial governments secured at least 10 
trafficking-related convictions, with sentences ranging from 
four to 17 years, imprisonment, in 2007.  A Buenos Aires 
city court began trial proceedings against a suspect accused 
of forcing eight Dominican women into prostitution in a 
private apartment after being promised jobs as waitresses. 
Since the case predates the new trafficking law, the suspect 
was indicted on forced servitude charges.  In August 2008, a 
Chubut provincial judge set for trial a case against a 
suspected human trafficker in the province.  Seven 
co-defendants were acquitted for lack of evidence, following 
a ruling that wiretap evidence had been gathered illegally. 
Last year, the government established a first-responder 
office to coordinate criminal investigations and direct 
assistance to trafficking victims, and sponsored basic 
anti-trafficking training for law enforcement personnel. 
 
According to NGOs and international organizations, some 
elements of the country,s security forces are complicit with 
human trafficking activity.  Most of these allegations are 
directed against provincial and local officials, though 
allegations relating to federal forces came to light during 
the past year.  Senior Argentine officials have acknowledged 
these problems and are working to curb them by investigating 
allegations lodged against these officials.  In addition, 
some local police officers and other public officials 
reportedly own brothels where trafficking is suspected to 
occur, or provide traffickers with protection in exchange for 
bribes, sexual services, food, and alcohol.  Other police 
officers turn a blind eye to trafficking activity or tip off 
brothel owners about impending raids.  In December 2008, a 
federal judge summoned police officials for deposition as 
part of an investigation into alleged police protection of a 
ring of brothels suspected of human trafficking in the city 
of Buenos Aires.  No other government investigations or 
prosecutions of corrupt officials were reported last year. 
 
Protection 
------------- 
The government made efforts to assist trafficking victims 
during the reporting period, though international 
organizations and NGOs provided most specialized assistance 
for trafficking victims.  At the federal level, the Ministry 
of Justice,s first-responder office coordinated victim 
assistance, offering access to medical and psychological 
treatment, as well as legal counseling.  It also offered 
protection to victims who cooperated as witnesses with law 
enforcement investigators and prosecutors.  Argentine 
authorities encouraged victims to assist with the 
investigation and prosecution of their traffickers. While the 
government did not operate shelters dedicated to trafficking 
victims, it referred trafficking victims to other public 
shelters operated by provincial governments or local NGOs. 
In some cases, they provided victims with housing subsidies. 
Most government-funded shelters, however, were oversubscribed 
and could not accommodate trafficking victims.  The quality 
and level of victim care varied widely by province.  The 
government did not employ formal procedures for identifying 
trafficking victims among vulnerable populations, such as 
prostituted women.  There were no specific reports of victims 
being jailed or penalized for unlawful acts committed as a 
direct result of being trafficked.  Although the government 
does not offer formal immigration status for foreign 
trafficking victims, they are not typically deported. 
Trafficking victims who are citizens of Mercosur member or 
associate states, however, can obtain temporary residency in 
Argentina under Argentine immigration law.  During the 
reporting period, the federal government continued modest 
funding for an anti-trafficking NGO providing shelter and 
assistance to victims. 
 
Prevention 
------------- 
The government sustained prevention activities, and hosted 
two large anti-trafficking conferences with OAS and Mercosur 
member states.  The government also funded anti-trafficking 
media campaigns, particularly in Misiones province.  The 
federal government worked with international organizations 
and NGOs on additional prevention efforts.  The city of 
Buenos Aires continued a prevention campaign against labor 
exploitation, which features a website and hotline through 
which citizens can report information on suspected sites of 
forced labor.  The government provided anti-trafficking 
training to Argentine troops prior to their deployment on 
international peacekeeping operations.  The government 
supported an anti-trafficking campaign -- ""Without Clients, 
There is No Trafficking"" -- and the President publicly called 
on regional governments to work to reduce demand for 
commercial sex acts. 
 
¶9. Post may wish to deliver the following points, which offer 
technical and legal background on the TIP Report process, to 
the host government as a non-paper with the above TIP Report 
country narrative: 
 
(begin non-paper) 
 
-- The U.S. Congress, through its passage of the 2000 
Trafficking Victims Protection Act, as amended (TVPA), 
requires the Secretary of State to submit an annual Report to 
Congress.  The goal of this Report is to stimulate action and 
create partnerships around the world in the fight against 
modern-day slavery.  The USG approach to combating human 
trafficking follows the TVPA and the standards set forth in 
the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in 
Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the 
United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized 
Crime (commonly known as the ""Palermo Protocol"").  The TVPA 
and the Palermo Protocol recognize that this is a crime in 
which the victims, labor or services (including in the ""sex 
industry"") are obtained or maintained through force, fraud, 
or coercion, whether overt or through psychological 
manipulation.  While much attention has focused on 
international flows, both the TVPA and the Palermo Protocol 
focus on the exploitation of the victim, and do not require a 
showing that the victim was moved. 
 
-- Recent amendments to the TVPA removed the requirement that 
only countries with a ""significant number"" of trafficking 
victims be included in the Report. Beginning with the 2009 
TIP Report, countries determined to be a country of origin, 
transit, or destination for victims of severe forms of 
trafficking are included in the Report and assigned to one of 
three tiers.  Countries assessed as meeting the ""minimum 
standards for the elimination of severe forms of trafficking"" 
set forth in the TVPA are classified as Tier 1.  Countries 
assessed as not fully complying with the minimum standards, 
but making significant efforts to meet those minimum 
standards are classified as Tier 2.  Countries assessed as 
neither complying with the minimum standards nor making 
significant efforts to do so are classified as Tier 3. 
 
-- The TVPA also requires the Secretary of State to provide a 
""Special Watch List"" to Congress later in the year. 
Anti-trafficking efforts of the countries on this list are to 
be evaluated again in an Interim Assessment that the 
Secretary of State must provide to Congress by February 1 of 
each year.  Countries are included on the ""Special Watch 
List"" if they move up in ""tier"" rankings in the annual TIP 
Report -- from 3 to 2 or from 2 to 1 ) or if they have been 
placed on the Tier 2 Watch List. 
 
-- Tier 2 Watch List consists of Tier 2 countries determined: 
(1) not to have made ""increasing efforts"" to combat human 
trafficking over the past year; (2) to be making significant 
efforts based on commitments of anti-trafficking reforms over 
the next year, or (3) to have a very significant number of 
trafficking victims or a significantly increasing victim 
population.  As indicated in reftel B, the TVPRA of 2008 
contains a provision requiring that a country that has been 
included on Tier 2 Watch List for two consecutive years after 
the date of enactment of the TVPRA of 2008 be ranked as Tier 
¶3.  Thus, any automatic downgrade to Tier 3 pursuant to this 
provision would take place, at the earliest, in the 2011 TIP 
Report (i.e., a country would have to be ranked Tier 2 Watch 
List in the 2009 and 2010 Reports before being subject to 
Tier 3 in the 2011 Report).  The new law allows for a waiver 
of this provision for up to two additional years upon a 
determination by the President that the country has developed 
and devoted sufficient resources to a written plan to make 
significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with the 
minimum standards. 
 
-- Countries classified as Tier 3 may be subject to statutory 
restrictions for the subsequent fiscal year on 
non-humanitarian and non-trade-related foreign assistance 
and, in some circumstances, withholding of funding for 
participation by government officials or employees in 
educational and cultural exchange programs.   In addition, 
the President could instruct the U.S. executive directors to 
international financial institutions to oppose loans or other 
utilization of funds (other than for humanitarian, 
trade-related or certain types of development assistance) 
with respect to countries on Tier 3.  Countries classified as 
Tier 3 that take strong action within 90 days of the Report's 
release to show significant efforts against trafficking in 
persons, and thereby warrant a reassessment of their Tier 
classification, would avoid such sanctions.  Guidelines for 
such actions are in the DOS-crafted action plans to be shared 
by Posts with host governments. 
 
-- The 2009 TIP Report, issuing as it does in the midst of 
the global financial crisis, highlights high levels of 
trafficking for forced labor in many parts of the world and 
systemic contributing factors to this phenomenon:  fraudulent 
recruitment practices and excessive recruiting fees in 
workers, home countries; the lack of adequate labor 
protections in both sending and receiving countries; and the 
flawed design of some destination countries, ""sponsorship 
systems"" that do not give foreign workers adequate legal 
recourse when faced with conditions of forced labor.  As the 
May 2009 ILO Global Report on Forced Labor concluded, forced 
labor victims suffer approximately $20 billion in losses, and 
traffickers, profits are estimated at $31 billion. The 
current global financial crisis threatens to increase the 
number of victims of forced labor and increase the associated 
""cost of coercion.8 
 
-- The text of the TVPA and amendments can be found on 
website www.state.gov/g/tip. 
 
-- On June 16, 2009, the Secretary of State will release the 
ninth annual TIP Report in a public event at the State 
Department.  We are providing you an advance copy of your 
country's narrative in that report.  Please keep this 
information embargoed until 10:00 am Washington DC time June 
¶16.  The State Department will also hold a general briefing 
for officials of foreign embassies in Washington DC on June 
17 at 3:30 pm EDT. 
(end non-paper) 
 
¶10. Posts should make sure that the relevant country 
narrative is readily available on or though the Mission's web 
page in English and appropriate local language(s) as soon as 
possible after the TIP Report is released.  Funding for 
translation costs will be handled as it was for the Human 
Rights Report.  Posts needing financial assistance for 
translation costs should contact their regional bureau,s EX 
office. 
 
¶11. The following is press guidance provided for Post to use 
with local media. 
 
Q1: Why was Argentina given a ranking of Tier 2 Watch List? 
 
A:  The Department of State is required by law to submit a 
report each year to the U.S. Congress on foreign 
governments, efforts to eliminate trafficking in persons. 
This Report is the ninth annual TIP Report.  The Embassy 
drafts a yearly update on trafficking developments in 
Argentina to submit to the Department of State, which then 
draws from that information along with information gathered 
from a variety of other sources for its public report on 
trafficking in persons. 
 
This Report is intended to raise global awareness and spur 
foreign governments to take effective actions to counter all 
forms of trafficking in persons * a form of modern day 
slavery.  The Report has increasingly focused the efforts of 
a growing community of nations to share information and to 
partner in new and important ways to fight human trafficking. 
 Argentina is an active partner in that community. 
 
In assessing foreign governments, efforts, the TIP Report 
highlights the ""three Ps"" * prosecution, protection, and 
prevention.  Every country, including the United States, has 
its own trafficking problems that it must address.  During 
the past year, the Government of Argentina has made efforts 
to confront the scourge of trafficking through passage of 
federal anti-TIP legislation; increased law enforcement 
efforts to arrest trafficking suspects and rescue victims; 
and improving mechanisms to direct trafficking victims to 
shelter care and services.  Despite such efforts, the 
government did not show evidence of progress in convicting 
and sentencing trafficking offenders and ensuring adequate 
victim services and assistance across the country last year. 
 
The U.S. Embassy will continue to work with the Government of 
Argentina in its efforts to strengthen its anti-trafficking 
regime. 
 
Q2: What is the nature of Argentina,s trafficking problem? 
 
A:  Argentina is a source, transit, and destination country 
for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of 
commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor.  Many 
victims are trafficked within the country, from rural areas 
to urban centers, for forced prostitution.  Some Argentine 
women and girls are trafficked to neighboring countries, 
Mexico, and Western Europe for commercial sexual 
exploitation.  Foreign women and children, primarily from 
Paraguay, Brazil, Peru, and the Dominican Republic, are 
trafficked to Argentina for the same purpose.   A significant 
number of Bolivians, Paraguayans, and Peruvians are 
trafficked into the country for forced labor in sweatshops 
and agriculture.  Some reporting suggests that Chinese 
migrants are trafficked for forced labor into Chinese-owned 
supermarkets.  Child sex tourism is a problem, particularly 
in the tri-border area and in Buenos Aires.  Argentina is a 
transit point for foreign women and girls trafficked into 
commercial sexual exploitation in Chile, Brazil, Mexico, and 
Western Europe. 
 
Q3: How can Argentina improve its anti-trafficking efforts? 
 
A:  To advance its efforts to combat human trafficking, the 
Government of Argentina could: continue to implement the new 
anti-trafficking law vigorously; intensify law enforcement 
efforts to dismantle trafficking networks; increase judicial 
and prosecutorial efforts to investigate, prosecute, convict 
and punish trafficking offenders, including corrupt public 
officials who may facilitate or be involved with trafficking 
activity; increase investigations of forced labor and 
domestic servitude crimes; dedicate more resources for victim 
assistance; sustain anti-trafficking training for law 
enforcement, judges, and other public officials, including 
labor inspectors; and improve data collection. 
 
¶12. The Department appreciates posts, assistance with the 
preceding action requests. 
CLINTON