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DE RUEHC #0546 1622307
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O 112243Z JUN 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO AMEMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO IMMEDIATE 0000

UNCLAS STATE 060546 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KTIP ELAB KCRM KPAO KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG DR
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC -- 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 the Dominican Republic 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 the Dominican Republic 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 12 noon local time on 
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 the Dominican 
Republic 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 the Dominican Republic,s country 
narrative in the 2009 TIP Report: 
 
-------------------------------- 
the Dominican Republic (Tier 2 Watch List) 
-------------------------------- 
 
The Dominican Republic is a source, transit, and destination 
country for men, women, and children trafficked for the 
purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. 
Dominican women are trafficked for commercial sexual 
exploitation to Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Costa Rica, 
Cyprus, Panama, Haiti, Jamaica, the Netherlands, Panama, 
Slovenia, Suriname, Switzerland, Turkey, and Venezuela.  A 
significant number of women, boys, and girls are trafficked 
within the country for forced prostitution and domestic 
servitude.  In some cases, parents push children into 
prostitution to help support the family.  Child sex tourism 
is a problem, particularly in coastal resort areas, with 
child sex tourists arriving year-round from various 
countries, particularly Spain, Italy, Germany, Canada, and 
the United States and reportedly numbering in the thousands . 
 Haitian nationals, including children, who voluntarily 
migrate illegally to the Dominican Republic may subsequently 
be subjected to forced labor in the service, construction, 
and agriculture sectors. 
 
 
The Government of the Dominican Republic does not fully 
comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of 
trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do 
so. Despite these overall significant efforts, the government 
did not show evidence of progress in prosecuting and 
punishing trafficking offenders including complicit 
officials; therefore, the Dominican Republic is placed on 
Tier 2 Watch List.  The Dominican government increased its 
efforts to educate the public about the dangers of 
trafficking, improved its assistance to victims, announced a 
national plan to combat trafficking and took some 
disciplinary action against lower-level officials suspected 
of complicity in trafficking activity. 
 
 
Recommendations for the Dominican Republic:  Intensify 
efforts to prosecute and punish trafficking offenders, 
especially public officials complicit in or facilitating 
human trafficking; increase investigations into potential 
labor trafficking situations; continue to increase victim 
assistance and shelter services; provide greater legal 
protections for undocumented and foreign trafficking victims; 
increase prevention and demand-reduction efforts; intensify 
efforts to identify and care for all trafficking victims; and 
continue to increase anti-trafficking training for government 
and judicial officials. 
 
Prosecution 
----------- 
The government modestly increased law-enforcement efforts 
against some trafficking offenders, and began to investigate 
and punish lower-level public officials for complicity in 
trafficking activity over the last year.  Dominican law 
prohibits all forms of trafficking through its comprehensive 
anti-trafficking Law 137-03, which prescribes penalties of up 
to 20 years' imprisonment.  Such penalties are sufficiently 
stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for other 
grave offenses, such as rape.  In 2008, the government 
continued several trafficking investigations.  Since 2007, 
there have been no convictions on trafficking charges under 
Law 137-03, but the government made a greater effort during 
the year to differentiate between alien smuggling and human 
trafficking crimes, which are prohibited under the same law 
and are often confused.  Although the Government initiated an 
investigation into press reports from 2007 that high-level 
officials were directly involved in the smuggling and 
trafficking of Chinese nationals, it demonstrated no progress 
on this investigation during 2008.  Lack of resources, 
corruption, and generally weak rule of law limit the 
government,s ability to address trafficking issues, and 
allegations of official complicity in trafficking continued. 
No senior officials were investigated or prosecuted; since 
August 2008, however, 45 inspectors from the Migration 
Directorate were removed from their positions for possible 
involvement in trafficking.  Five of these former inspectors 
are under active investigation and two are in preventative 
detention.  Other lower-level officials have been suspended 
or disciplined.  During the reporting period, the government 
cooperated with U.S. law enforcement agencies and contributed 
to an international case involving the trafficking of 
Dominican women to Switzerland.  As many trafficking victims 
enter the island with legitimate documents through regular 
ports of entry, IOM and the Office of the Undersecretary for 
Consular and Migratory Affairs trained migration inspectors 
on detecting false and altered documents, inspection of 
travel documents and visas, detecting imposters, and 
differentiating between smuggling clients and trafficking 
victims. 
 
Protection 
---------- 
The government improved its efforts to protect trafficking 
victims, although it continued to rely heavily on NGOs and 
international organizations for the bulk of shelter and 
protection services offered to victims.  The Comite 
Inter-institucional de Proteccion a la Mujer Migrante, in 
cooperation with the Ministry for Women and an NGO, offered 
victims legal and psychological assistance.  The government 
contributed funds to a religious order which assisted 
trafficking victims at its refugee centers around the 
country.  IOM also used these facilities to assist victims. 
An NGO operated El Centro de Acogida, a center for 
repatriated Dominican trafficked women, which provided 
medical and legal services, employment assistance, and 
continued education.  Shelters for child trafficking victims 
were run by the Consejo Nacional para la Ninez y la 
Adolescencia, a government agency.  The Dominican Criminal 
Procedure Code contains mechanisms for the protection of 
witnesses and victims, though these protections were largely 
limited to victims who were willing to testify in court 
proceedings. Victims' rights were generally respected once 
they were recognized as victims, and they were not typically 
jailed or penalized for unlawful acts committed as a direct 
result of being trafficked.  Dominican authorities encouraged 
victims to assist with the investigation and prosecution of 
their traffickers.  Victims without identity documents or in 
illegal status generally had difficulty accessing protective 
services.  Out of a group of 14 trafficked Ecuadorian women, 
one remained in the Dominican Republic to help police with 
the investigation and prosecution of their traffickers. 
Victims and traffickers sometimes struck deals, usually via 
their attorneys, whereby victims received compensation from 
their traffickers in lieu of pursuing a criminal case.  The 
government trained consular officials posted abroad to 
recognize and assist Dominican nationals trafficked overseas. 
 The government did not provide foreign victims with clear 
legal alternatives to their removal, but even so it did not 
remove them to countries where they face retribution.  In one 
case it provided long-term residency. 
 
Prevention 
---------- 
The government continued to increase its prevention efforts 
during the year.  The inter-agency National Commission 
Against Trafficking announced its national action plan in 
December 2008.  The Prevention Unit of the Department of 
Alien Smuggling and Trafficking in Persons, working with the 
Ministries of Labor and Education, warned children at schools 
around the country of the dangers of alien smuggling, 
commercial sexual exploitation, and trafficking.  The 
Attorney General, Migration Directorate, Navy, Secretary of 
State for Women, and Programa Radial also ran 
anti-trafficking information campaigns.  Notices now posted 
in Santo Domingo,s international airport list the penalties 
under Dominican law for the criminal offense of commercial 
sexual exploitation of children.  Prostitution of adults is 
legal, though police raided brothels as a means to address 
demand for commercial sex acts with children and to look for 
underage girls engaging in prostitution.  The government also 
made efforts to reduce demand for commercial sexual acts by 
prosecuting foreign pedophiles for sexually exploiting 
minors. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
 
 
¶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." 
 
-- 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 the DR again given a ranking of Tier 2 Watch 
List? 
 
¶A.  Although the government increased its efforts to educate 
the public about the dangers of trafficking, improved its 
assistance to victims, announced a national plan to combat 
trafficking and took some disciplinary action against 
lower-level officials suspected of complicity in trafficking 
activity, it did not show evidence of progress in prosecuting 
and punishing trafficking offenders including higher-level 
officials who may be complicit in trafficking activities. 
 
Q2.  What is the nature of the trafficking situation in the 
DR? 
 
¶A.  The Dominican Republic is a source, transit, and 
destination country for men, women, and children trafficked 
for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced 
labor.  Dominican women are trafficked for commercial sexual 
exploitation throughout the Western Hemisphere and to Europe. 
 A significant number of women, boys, and girls are 
trafficked within the country for forced prostitution and 
domestic servitude.  In some cases, parents push children 
into prostitution to help support the family.  Child sex 
tourism is a problem, particularly in coastal resort areas, 
with reportedly thousands of child sex tourists arriving 
year-round from various countries.  Haitian nationals, 
including children, who voluntarily migrate illegally to the 
Dominican Republic may subsequently be subjected to forced 
labor in the service, construction, and agriculture sectors. 
 
 
Q3.  How can the DR show progress in its anti-trafficking 
efforts? 
 
¶A.  In order to show progress, the government could: 
intensify efforts to prosecute and punish trafficking 
offenders, especially public officials complicit in or 
facilitating human trafficking; increase investigations into 
potential labor trafficking situations; continue increases in 
funding for victim assistance and shelter services; provide 
greater legal protections for undocumented and foreign 
trafficking victims; and continue anti-trafficking training 
for government and judicial officials. 
 
¶12. The Department appreciates posts, assistance with the 
preceding action requests. 
CLINTON