US embassy cable - 03SANTODOMINGO4415

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 SANTO DOMINGO 004415 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CAR (MCISAAC), ALSO DOL/ILAB TINA 
FAULKNER, DOL/ILAB AMY LEMAR, DOL MIRELLISE VASQUEZ, DRL/IL 
MARINDA HARPOLE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB, EIND, ETRD, PHUM, SOCI 
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: UPDATE ON CHILD LABOR 
INFORMATION 
 
REF: SECSTATE 193266 
 
1. The GODR is making progress in implementing its 
international commitments to eliminate the worst forms of 
child labor.  Updated information for 2003 Trade and 
Development Act (TDA) reporting purposes follows. 
 
BEGIN ANSWERS TO REFTEL QUESTIONS. 
 
A) Whether the country has adequate laws and regulations 
proscribing the worst forms of child labor? 
 
2. The Government of the Dominican Republic (GODR) ratified 
International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention No. 182 on 
December 15, 2000 and ILO Convention No. 138 on June 15, 
1999.  Dominican laws addressing child labor issues include 
&El Codigo de Trabajo de la Republica Dominicana8 (law 
16-92 of May 29, 1992) and law 136-03, &Codigo para la 
Proteccion de Ninos, Ninas y Adolescentes8 which was 
recently promulgated by President Mejia on August 7, 2003. 
(Copy of law to follow via pouch.)  The 2003 Minors' Code 
replaces the previous 1994 version (law 14-94) and conforms 
better to international conventions on child labor issues. 
Like the 1992 Dominican Labor Code, the 2003 Minors' Code 
prohibits employment of children under the age of 14.  Unlike 
the 1992 Dominican Labor Code, the 2003 Minors' Code includes 
language regulating apprenticeships for adolescents. 
 
3. As mentioned in previous reports, the Ministry of Labor 
Resolution No. 03-93 of January 12, 1993 defines hazardous 
work as &dangerous or unhealthy, which through the nature of 
its execution or the environment in which it is realized, or 
the tools or machines which it employs, may occasion injuries 
to the physical integrity of minors or promote etiological 
factors in the outbreak of illnesses(8 Neither the labor 
code nor the minor,s code specifically defines what 
occupations are considered the worst forms of child labor. 
However, there are governmental programs that target 
industrial areas in which child labor has been a historical 
problem. 
 
4. The 2003 Minors' Code promotes an inter-institutional 
coordinated system of various government agencies and NGOs to 
protect the human rights of minors, including protection from 
child labor.  The modified code also recognizes a 
not-for-profit institution CONANI (El Consejo Nacional de la 
Ninez y la Adolescencia) as the non-cabinet, decentralized 
public ministry that will be responsible for coordinating 
public policy regarding children,s issues and ensuring 
implementation of the new law.  (Note: CONANI is an 
organization currently headed by the President,s sister, who 
is a long-time activist for children.  Although the new 
Minors' Code is the result of inter-institutional 
cooperation, having CONANI provide the impetus for child 
labor law modifications is a departure from the norm, i.e. 
the Ministry of Labor would be expected to spearhead 
modifications of any labor-related laws.  However, the 
Ministry of Labor remains a committed and supportive 
institution of all GODR efforts to eliminate the worst forms 
of child labor and is still the focal point to execute GODR 
anti-child labor programs. End Note) 
 
B) Whether the country has adequate laws and regulations for 
the implementation and enforcement of proscriptions against 
the worst forms of child labor? 
 
5. The legal remedy to combat child labor is mostly through 
impositions of fines.  Article 720 of the Dominican Labor 
Code explains the penalties imposed for all labor violations 
and outlines a graduated scale of penalties.  Child labor 
violations fall at the most severe end of the scale providing 
for the most costly fines.  The fine for violating work age 
requirements ranges from seven to twelve times the minimum 
wage per underage employee.  Current monthly minimum wage, 
referred to locally as salarios minimos, is RD$3,890 
(approximately US$122) outside free zones and RD$2,815 
(approximately US$88) inside free zones.  Jail sentences can 
be imposed for the most serious violations of the labor code. 
 The National Police and Attorney General,s Office usually 
get involved in more egregious cases involving potential 
criminal penalties. 
 
6. As mentioned in previous reports, universal education is 
required and obligatory through primary school.  However, 
there are currently no legal mechanisms to induce parents or 
guardians to send children to school after this point. 
According to education rights NGO Educa, 26 out of every 100 
students that complete primary school finish middle school; 
16% of Dominican children 6-15 years of age never even see a 
classroom. 
 
C) Whether the country has established formal institutional 
mechanisms to investigate and address complaints relating to 
the worst forms of child labor? 
7. As a result of the newly signed Minor,s Code, CONANI will 
now assist the Ministry of Labor in implementing child labor 
laws and regulations (see paragraph 4).  The Ministry of 
Labor assigns labor inspectors, more than 200 total, to each 
of the 31 provinces and the National District (which covers 
Santo Domingo).  Ironically, the three provinces where the 
GODR targets its most intensive programs to eradicate child 
labor (Azua, Constanza and San Jose de Ocoa) are where 
inspectors are few in number--two two, and one, respectively. 
 Child labor inspections are not distinct from monthly, 
general labor inspections.  As such, no separate budget is 
specifically allocated for investigating exploitative child 
labor cases.  The Ministry of Labor keeps broad labor 
inspections statistics on its website.  In the province of 
Azua, for example, there were twelve labor inspections in 
June 2003 in which six were found to involve child labor and 
two resulted in fines.  Child labor, especially in the 
poorest and most marginalized Dominican communities, is 
socially accepted as a means of economic survival rather than 
an abuse of a child,s human rights.  Thus, it is not common 
practice to submit complaints against an &industry8 for 
violating child labor laws. 
 
D) Whether social programs have been implemented to prevent 
the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labor, 
and to assist in removing children engaged in the worst forms 
of child labor? 
 
8. The Ministry of Labor, in collaboration with ILO-IPEC and 
other labor rights organizations, has implemented very 
successful programs to combat child labor.  The programs 
target children who perform dangerous agricultural work in 
the provinces of San Jose de Ocoa, Constanza and Azua. 
 
9. In the tomato-producing province of Azua where 75% of the 
population is poor, the mechanism to employ child laborers is 
informal.  The tomato industries neither recruit nor directly 
employ child workers--independent tomato producers do.  To 
address this problem, ILO-IPEC with Ministry of Labor support 
launched a child labor eradication program in September 2002 
that includes 48 &salas de tareas8 or study halls among 
seven different schools.  The salas de tareas target at-risk 
children (likely to work in tomato fields) who often come 
from third homes.  It is estimated that the project has 
already prevented 3,000 children from working.  The Ministry 
of Labor also provides workshops for educators about the 
prevention and eradication of child labor in Azua and other 
troubled areas.  Another portion of the program includes 
sensitization classes for parents of at-risk children.  These 
classes are administered by Habitat-Azua with support from 
ILO, the Ministry of Labor and Ministry of Education. 
 
10. The Ministry of Education and the Consejo Nacional en 
contra del Trabajo Infantil (National Directive Committee 
Against Child Labor) continue to share the fundamental task 
of removing children from the labor market and ensuring that 
they attend school.  An example of this collaboration is the 
&School Card Program,8 which gives RD$300 pesos (US$10) 
monthly to marginalized mothers who keep their children out 
of work and in school.  In addition, the Ministry of 
Education provides free school breakfast in every school 
countrywide to help promote school attendance.  The Education 
Ministry district office in Azua is planning to team up with 
ILO-IPEC and the Labor Ministry to develop a 
capacity-building program (within the currently established 
salas de tareas framework) that specifically targets seventh 
and eighth graders (13- and 14-year-olds) who are at risk for 
dropping out of school to work.  The Ministry of Education 
office in Azua is also working to develop community parents' 
councils to denounce child labor. 
 
11. Commercial sexual exploitation of minors is an aspect of 
child labor in the Dominican Republic.  ILO, in collaboration 
with local NGO Idefa (Instituto de la Familia), plans to 
launch a program in September 2003 in the popular sex-tourism 
destination of Boca Chica (The Tourism Police, Politur, has 
done raids on commercial sexual rings in this area).  It is 
expected that more GODR funds will be allocated for future 
programs that seek to reduce sexual exploitation of minors, 
especially given the new comprehensive Anti-Trafficking in 
Persons Law that was signed August 7, 2003. 
 
E) Whether the country has a comprehensive policy aimed at 
the elimination of the worst forms of child labor? 
 
12. The GODR has a national policy that addresses child 
labor.  This policy was initially spearheaded by the National 
Directive Committee Against Child Labor, which includes 
representatives from the Ministries of Labor, Education, 
Foreign Affairs, and Public Health, as well as the National 
Police and Attorney General,s office, among others.  There 
is also a National Plan to Guarantee the Rights of Children 
and Adolescents that President Mejia signed as an executive 
order in April 2001, when he declared the protection of 
children and adolescents a national priority.  Three primary 
objectives of the National Plan are to promote birth 
registration, prevent sexual abuse and exploitation of 
minors, and to assist youth who commit crimes.  Within the 
framework of the National Plan objectives, a special 
inter-institutional commission was created against the abuse 
and sexual exploitation of minors.  The 2001 executive order 
also established another inter-institutional commission to 
review and modify the original Minors' Code, Law 14-94.  In 
August 2002, CONANI assumed leadership of this second 
commission to reinvigorate the process of modifying the 
Minors' Code, which ultimately resulted in the recent passage 
of the new Minors' Code, Law 136-03 (see paragraph 4). 
 
F) Whether the country is making continual progress toward 
eliminating the worst forms of child labor? 
 
13. The GODR continues to make progress in eliminating the 
worst forms of child labor in the formal sector.  On 
September 9, 2003 the GODR, in cooperation with ILO, will 
launch the Time-Bound Program that will be funded by USDOL. 
This program will raise awareness and capacity building for 
policy implementation of child labor protections, as well as 
develop action programs to target the worst forms of child 
labor.  It is estimated that 2,600 children will directly 
benefit from the program.  The GODR hopes to reduce child 
labor by 25% by 2007. 
 
14. In spite of GODR progress to eliminate the worst forms of 
child labor, most forced child labor in the Dominican 
Republic is not formalized, in the sense that it is uncommon 
to find children working in &sweatshops8 analogous to the 
conditions that may exist in other countries.  Informal child 
labor persists in prostitution, family-owned businesses such 
as small mechanic shops, and other clandestine operations. 
 
15. According to the results of the Ministry of Labor's 2000 
National Child Labor Survey, 482,720 Dominican children 
between the ages of 5 and 17 work, at least informally (total 
estimated population for this age group is 2.4 million).  Of 
the 428,720 children that work, 56.2% are less than 14 years 
old; 21.1% are between 14 and 15, and the remaining 22.7% are 
adolescents 16 or older.  Curiously, 89.7% of those that work 
also attend school, and only 10.3% of working children do not 
attend school. 
 
16. In areas of high-level unemployment, families often feel 
pressured to encourage their children to earn supplemental 
income to put food on the table.  Homeless children, 
especially in urban areas, are frequently at the mercy of 
adults who collect them and put them to work begging or 
selling meager goods on the street.  In return for their work 
they are given basic housing.  The ages at which these 
children work, the hours they work, and their failure to 
comply with compulsory school attendance all violate the law. 
 
17. The Government has attempted to eliminate the use of 
children for cutting sugar cane.  However, it is not uncommon 
to see poor Haitian and Dominican children working in the 
cane fields (locally referred to as bateyes) of San Pedro de 
Macoris, for example, with the tacit acceptance of sugar 
companies.  Many undocumented Haitian boys as young as 9 
years old plant sugar, while 14- and 15-year olds have been 
spotted cutting sugar cane.  The Ministry of Education 
maintains that it promotes education for all, regardless of 
nationality, and that birth registration problems persist not 
only for Haitians but for Dominican children as well.  (Note: 
Children can attend school without proof of birth until they 
reach the eighth grade.  At the eighth grade level, which is 
normally reached at age 13 or 14, a birth certificate is 
required to attend.  However, obtaining a birth certificate 
in the DR can be a lengthy, complicated process; birth 
certificates are not administered at the hospital immediately 
after a child is born but by a local registrar (or Justice of 
the Peace).  End Note) 
 
END QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 
 
18. COMMENT: The root of child labor problems in the 
Dominican Republic, as in most countries where child labor 
exists, is poverty.  Since the last report was submitted, the 
exchange rate to the dollar has doubled, from approximately 
RD$18 to the dollar to a high of RD$36 to the dollar in July 
2003.  A worsening economy will surely make the GODR,s 
continued efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labor 
more difficult.  One of the challenges the GODR faces is the 
fact that there are several committees and commissions 
currently involved in addressing children,s rights and 
labor, but no specific policy to address child labor issues 
alone.  The Ministry of Labor would be well served to 
continue improving its record-keeping capabilities of child 
labor violations and sentences, as well as assign more 
inspectors to at-risk areas for child labor.  The National 
Directive Committee on Child Labor should also work harder to 
posit itself to publicly and actively lead the charge against 
child labor. 
HERTELL