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OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHC #0627 1630122
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 120057Z JUN 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO AMEMBASSY MEXICO IMMEDIATE 0000

UNCLAS STATE 060627 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KTIP ELAB KCRM KPAO KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG MX
SUBJECT: MEXICO -- 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 Mexico 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 Mexico 
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 Mexico 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 Mexico,s country narrative in the 
2009 TIP Report: 
 
-------------------------------- 
MEXICO (TIER 2) 
-------------------------------- 
Mexico is a large source, transit, and destination country 
for persons trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual 
exploitation and forced labor.  Groups considered most 
vulnerable to human trafficking in Mexico include women and 
children, indigenous persons, and undocumented migrants. A 
significant number of Mexican women, girls, and boys are 
trafficked within the country for commercial sexual 
exploitation, lured by false job offers from poor rural 
regions to urban, border, and tourist areas.  According to 
the government, more than 20,000 Mexican children are victims 
of sex trafficking every year, especially in tourist and 
 
border areas.  The vast majority of foreign victims 
trafficked into the country for commercial sexual 
exploitation are from Central America, particularly 
Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador; many transit Mexico en 
route to the United States and, to a lesser extent, Canada 
and Western Europe.  In a new trend, unaccompanied Central 
American minors, traveling through Mexico to meet family 
members in the United States, increasingly fall victim to 
human traffickers, particularly near the Guatemalan border. 
Victims from South America, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, 
and Asia, are trafficked into Mexico for sexual or labor 
exploitation, or transit the country en route to the United 
States.  Mexican men and boys are trafficked from southern to 
northern Mexico for forced labor.  Central Americans, 
especially Guatemalans, are subjected to forced labor in 
southern Mexico, particularly in agriculture.  Child sex 
tourism continues to grow in Mexico, especially in tourist 
areas such as Acapulco and Cancun, and northern border cities 
like Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez.  Foreign child sex tourists 
arrive most often from the United States, Canada, and Western 
Europe.  Organized criminal networks traffic Mexican women 
and girls into the United States for commercial sexual 
exploitation.  Mexican men, women, and children are 
trafficked into the United States for forced labor, 
particularly in agriculture and industrial sweatshops. 
The Government of Mexico does not fully comply with the 
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; 
however, it is making significant efforts to do so.  The 
government took steps to implement its federal 
anti-trafficking law, issuing regulations in February 2009. 
As of May 2009, twenty-two Mexican states and its federal 
district had enacted legislation to criminalize some forms of 
human trafficking on the local level.  However, no 
convictions or stringent punishments against trafficking 
offenders were reported last year, though the federal 
government opened 24 criminal investigations against 
suspected trafficking offenders.  Moreover, the government 
has not completed renovations on its planned trafficking 
shelter, though it continued to refer victims to NGOs for 
assistance.  While Mexican officials recognize human 
trafficking as a serious problem, the lack of a stronger 
response by the government is of concern, especially in light 
of the large number of victims present in the country. 
Recommendations for Mexico:  Vigorously implement the new 
federal anti-trafficking law and provide funding for such 
implementation; increase efforts to investigate and prosecute 
trafficking offenses, and convict and punish trafficking 
offenders, including complicit public officials; dedicate 
more resources for victim assistance; continue to develop and 
implement formal procedures to identify trafficking victims 
among vulnerable populations; and increase anti-trafficking 
training for judges and law enforcement, including 
immigration and labor officials. 
 
Prosecution 
----------- 
The Government of Mexico failed to improve on its limited 
anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts against offenders 
last year.  No convictions or sentences of trafficking 
offenders were reported by federal, state, or local 
authorities.   In late 2007, the federal government enacted 
legislation to prohibit all forms of human trafficking, 
prescribing penalties of six to 12 years, imprisonment. 
Under aggravated circumstances, such as when the victim is a 
child or lacks mental capacity, penalties increase to nine to 
18 years, imprisonment; when the defendant is a public 
official, penalties increase by one half.  The above 
penalties are sufficiently stringent and exceed those 
prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape.  However, 
there are concerns over the new law,s effective 
implementation, particularly that victims must press charges 
against traffickers, otherwise they will not be considered 
trafficking victims and will not be provided with victim 
assistance.  During the reporting period, the Attorney 
General,s Crimes Against Women and Trafficking in Persons 
Unit (FEVIMTRA), which prosecutes federal anti-trafficking 
cases in coordination with the Organized Crimes Unit, opened 
24 investigations into suspected trafficking activity, 
including 11 cases of labor exploitation and 13 cases of 
commercial sexual exploitation; FEVIMTRA also handled a large 
number of domestic violence against women cases last year. 
In October 2008, FEVIMTRA filed one prosecution for forced 
labor in the state of Chiapas.  In Mexico,s federalist 
system, state governments investigate and prosecute 
trafficking activity on the local level.  As of May 2009, 
twenty-two Mexican states and its federal district had 
enacted at least partial anti-trafficking laws.  Federal 
jurisdiction is typically invoked in organized crime cases, 
or cases involving international or transnational 
trafficking; however, Mexico,s federal government has yet to 
assert its clear jurisdiction over such human trafficking 
cases.  Last year, prosecutors for the state of Chihuahua 
opened nine anti-trafficking cases; two are awaiting trial, 
and seven remain under investigation.  The Mexican federal 
government continued to provide significant assistance to the 
U.S. government on cross-border trafficking investigations 
last year.   The United States extradited a suspected child 
trafficker to Mexico in 2006; the defendant has yet to be 
prosecuted in Mexico, though he remained in federal custody 
during the reporting period.   Last year, competing 
anti-crime priorities and security concerns in Mexico, along 
with scarce government resources, continued to hamper 
investigations against human traffickers.  However, as 
organized crime groups continue to encompass human 
trafficking within the scope of their unlawful activities, 
the government,s battle against organized crime, largely 
drug cartels, includes combating human trafficking.  NGOs and 
other observers continued to report that corruption among 
public officials, especially local law enforcement and 
immigration personnel, was a significant concern; some 
officials reportedly accepted or extorted bribes or sexual 
services, falsified identity documents, discouraged 
trafficking victims from reporting their crimes, or ignored 
child prostitution and other human trafficking activity in 
commercial sex sites.  No convictions or sentences against 
corrupt officials were achieved last year, although two 
immigration officials arrested in 2007 for their alleged 
leadership of an organized criminal group involved in 
extortion and smuggling remained under custody. Operation 
Limpieza, the Mexican government,s investigation of high 
level corruption, resulted in arrests of senior officials 
from the Mexican Attorney General,s Office, in addition to 
military officials.  Newly instituted vetting procedures for 
the Attorney General,s Office have resulted in multiple 
dismissals of lower-ranking officials.   Government-sponsored 
anti-trafficking training for public officials continued, 
though NGOs noted that many public officials in Mexico, 
including state and local officials, did not adequately 
distinguish between alien smuggling and human trafficking 
offenses. 
 
Protection 
---------- 
The Mexican government provided limited victim assistance 
last year, relying on NGOs and international organizations to 
provide the bulk of specialized assistance and services for 
trafficking victims, particularly adults.  Mexico,s social 
welfare agency operated shelters for children who are victims 
of violence, including child trafficking victims.  In 2007, 
the Mexican Congress appropriated 70 million pesos for 
shelters for trafficking victims to house men, women, and 
children; the funds were allocated during the last year, and 
a dedicated property is now being renovated to hold up to 33 
persons.  The shelter will include a detoxification clinic, 
therapy rooms, and workshop studios.  The Attorney General,s 
Office at the end of 2007 donated a residence it confiscated 
from a convicted narco-trafficker for use as a human 
trafficking shelter.  The residence was renovated last year 
and is fully operational, accommodating up to 22 victims. 
The government offered foreign victims a temporary legal 
alternative to their removal to countries where they may have 
faced hardship or retribution; however, most foreign 
trafficking victims, particularly adults, continued to be 
deported within 90 days.  The government continued to issue 
renewable one-year humanitarian visas to foreign victims who 
assisted with the investigation and prosecution of their 
traffickers; however, foreign victims who declined to assist 
law enforcement personnel were repatriated to their home 
countries and were not eligible for aid or services.  Only 
three trafficking victims received humanitarian visas last 
year.  Many victims in Mexico were afraid to identify 
themselves or push for legal remedies due to their fears of 
retribution from their traffickers, many of whom are members 
of organized criminal networks.  There were no confirmed 
reports of victims being penalized for unlawful acts 
committed as a direct result of being trafficked.  The 
government did not employ formal procedures for identifying 
trafficking victims among vulnerable populations, such as 
prostituted women in brothels.  However, the government,s 
immigration agency continued to develop guidelines for 
identifying trafficking victims, particularly children, among 
detainees.  Last year Mexican authorities identified 55 
trafficking victims within the country: 28 females and 27 
males; trafficking allegations related both to commercial 
sexual exploitation and forced labor.   FEVIMTRA directed 
identified victims to local resources for assistance. 
 
Prevention 
---------- 
Federal and state governments sustained trafficking 
prevention efforts last year.   In January 2009, FEVIMTRA 
inaugurated a widespread campaign to distribute 
anti-trafficking materials across the country.  With 
assistance from NGOs and international organizations, the 
government continued additional activities to raise public 
awareness, particularly against the commercial sexual 
exploitation of children.  In February 2009, the government 
issued implementing regulations to establish a formal 
interagency anti-trafficking commission and assign 
responsibilities to various federal agencies.  Government 
collaboration with NGOs and international organizations on 
anti-trafficking efforts continued last year, but was 
reportedly uneven among the various federal agencies 
involved; under regulations issued pursuant to the federal 
anti-trafficking law, NGOs have limited involvement with the 
government,s interagency anti-trafficking committee and 
related activities, such as developing anti-trafficking 
statistics.  Authorities took some steps to reduce demand for 
commercial sex acts through state-level prosecutions of 
individuals engaging in commercial sex acts with children. 
No specific measures to reduce demand for forced labor were 
reported. 
 
¶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. 
 
-- 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 Mexico given a ranking of Tier 2? 
 
A: The Government of Mexico does not fully comply with the 
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; 
however, it is making significant efforts to do so.  The 
government took steps to implement its federal 
anti-trafficking law, issuing regulations in February 2009. 
As of May 2009, twenty-two Mexican states and its federal 
district had enacted legislation to criminalize some forms of 
human trafficking on the local level.  However, no 
convictions or stringent punishments against trafficking 
offenders were reported last year, though the federal 
government opened 24 criminal investigations against 
suspected trafficking offenders.  Moreover, the government 
has not completed renovations on its planned trafficking 
shelter, though it continued to refer victims to NGOs for 
assistance.  While Mexican officials recognize human 
trafficking as a serious problem, the lack of a stronger 
response by the government is of concern, especially in light 
of the large number of victims present in the country. 
 
Q2: What is the nature of Mexico,s trafficking problem? 
 
A: Mexico is a large source, transit, and destination country 
for persons trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual 
exploitation and forced labor.  Groups considered most 
vulnerable to human trafficking in Mexico include women and 
children, indigenous persons, and undocumented migrants. A 
significant number of Mexican women, girls, and boys are 
trafficked within the country for commercial sexual 
exploitation, lured by false job offers from poor rural 
regions to urban, border, and tourist areas.  According to 
the government, more than 20,000 Mexican children are victims 
of sex trafficking every year, especially in tourist and 
border areas.  The vast majority of foreign victims 
trafficked into the country for commercial sexual 
exploitation are from Central America, particularly 
Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador; many transit Mexico en 
route to the United States and, to a lesser extent, Canada 
and Western Europe.  In a new trend, unaccompanied Central 
American minors, traveling through Mexico to meet family 
members in the United States, increasingly fall victim to 
human traffickers, particularly near the Guatemalan border. 
Victims from South America, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, 
and Asia, are trafficked into Mexico for sexual or labor 
exploitation, or transit the country en route to the United 
States.  Mexican men and boys are trafficked from southern to 
northern Mexico for forced labor.  Central Americans, 
especially Guatemalans, are subjected to forced labor in 
southern Mexico, particularly in agriculture.  Child sex 
tourism continues to grow in Mexico, especially in tourist 
areas such as Acapulco and Cancun, and northern border cities 
like Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez.  Foreign child sex tourists 
arrive most often from the United States, Canada, and Western 
Europe.  Organized criminal networks traffic Mexican women 
and girls into the United States for commercial sexual 
exploitation.  Mexican men, women, and children are 
trafficked into the United States for forced labor, 
particularly in agriculture and industrial sweatshops. 
 
Q3: How can Mexico improve its anti-trafficking efforts? 
 
A: To advance its efforts to combat human trafficking, the 
Government of Mexico could:  vigorously implement the new 
federal anti-trafficking law and provide funding for such 
implementation; increase efforts to investigate and prosecute 
trafficking offenses, and convict and punish trafficking 
offenders, including complicit public officials; dedicate 
more resources for victim assistance; continue to develop and 
implement formal procedures to identify trafficking victims 
among vulnerable populations; and increase anti-trafficking 
training for judges and law enforcement, including 
immigration and labor officials. 
 
¶12. The Department appreciates posts, assistance with the 
preceding action requests. 
CLINTON