US embassy cable - 04QUITO2447

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 QUITO 002447 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR WHA/PPC, WHA/AND, AND G/TIP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, PREL, EC, Trafficking 
SUBJECT: ECUADOR CONTINUES TO MOVE FORWARD ON TRAFFICKING 
IN PERSONS 
 
REF: QUITO 2274 
 
1. (U) Summary.  Ecuador continues to push ahead in its fight 
against trafficking in persons (TIP).  The Embassy TIP 
working group met on September 1 to review GOE and USG 
efforts to combat TIP since the August 18th Presidential 
decree (Reftel).  Raids on brothels continued, and the GOE is 
giving victims services priority in its national TIP 
planning.  Government Minister Raul Baca continues to 
coordinate GOE efforts through an active GOE anti-TIP working 
group and told the Ambassador of a new TIP victims shelter 
and the possible opening of another one in the capital. 
Several penal code reform bills to punish traffickers have 
been drafted, and a harmonized bill drafted by the Government 
will be submitted to Congress shortly.  End Summary. 
 
AMBASSADOR'S MEETINGS WITH GOE OFFICIALS 
---------------------------------------- 
 
2. (SBU) At a breakfast with the Ambassador on August 24, 
Baca, GOE's TIP Coordinator, expressed his strong personal 
commitment to combat TIP.  Baca is attempting to harmonize 
several bills in Congress which penalize TIP, child 
pornography, and violence against women.  He noted positive 
press play on the problems and GOE efforts to combat it.  The 
media across the country have written numerous articles on 
child pornography and commercial sexual exploitation, and 
civil society has mobilized marches to demand strong GOE 
efforts to protect victims 
 
3. (SBU) Baca was concerned about providing services to 
victims and mentioned a new victims shelter in Machala.  He 
said one shelter is not enough, so the GOE is exploring with 
UNESCO funding possibilities for a victims' center in 
historic Quito center.  Upon further investigation, PolOff 
learned the shelter in Machala will open in November and is 
operated jointly by a NGO and the ILO.  The shelter's work 
will focus on prevention and recovery of children who are 
victims of sexual exploitation.  PolOff will follow-up with 
the ILO to learn more about the services offered for TIP 
victims. 
 
4. (SBU) Also on August 24, the Ambassador met with National 
Police Chief Jorge Poveda, who discussed his efforts to fight 
TIP and the need for additional work in specific areas. 
Poveda said he believes in the importance of coordination 
between the police and victims' services' providers.  (The 
Embassy plans to facilitate this dialogue.)  Poveda said he 
also plans to train additional officers to join DINAPEN, a 
police unit that focuses its work on assisting children, in 
response to mounting requests from provincial police forces 
all over the country. 
 
LAW ENFORCEMENT'S ACTIONS 
------------------------- 
 
5. (U) DINAPEN continued to conduct raids on brothels and 
nightclubs where minors work as prostitutes.  From August 14 
to 26, the police visited 36 establishments in 14 provinces. 
They rescued 61 minors.  DHS inspections of nightclubs in 
Quito confirm that the number of minor victims found is 
realistic.  (Reports were faxed to WHA/PPC on September 3.) 
The following is pertinent information from the police 
reports: 
 
--On August 15, police found 9 adolescents in a discotheque 
in Esmeraldas. 
--On August 22, 18 minors were found in a discotheque in 
Manabi. 
--From August 21 to 27, 5 minors from Colombia, 1 from 
Argentina, and 1 from Peru were found in raids. 
--Most minors were returned to their parents, but one minor 
in El Oro province reportedly was taken to a shelter. 
 
6. (U) In conjunction with the Capital Historic Center 
Administration, police have conducted raids recently in Quito 
and closed 14 brothels for a lack of appropriate paperwork. 
A September 1 article in leading Quito daily, Hoy newspaper, 
reports that 150 prostitutes were displaced as part of this 
action. 
 
7. (U) DHS trained GOE officers from across the country on 
computer forensics to combat child pornography.  On August 
11, 18 Ecuadorian National Police officers were trained, and 
on August 12, 18 officials from DINAPEN, the judicial police, 
and the prosecutors office received training.  Mariana Yepez, 
the attorney general, opened the August 12 session, expressed 
the GOE's commitment to fighting child pornography, and said 
she supports training for GOE personnel.  The GOE financially 
supported the program by sending 7 officials to Quito on 
temporary duty from Guayaquil, Santo Domingo, and Cuenca for 
training. 
 
8. (SBU) DHS continues to work with GOE officials to 
prosecute Joseph Day, a Cuban-American who engaged in child 
pornography in Guayaquil, in the U.S. under provision of the 
Protect Act.  The GOE is expected to deport Day to the U.S. 
shortly. 
 
9. (SBU) DHS and the Ecuadorian National Police also worked 
together to deport Brandon Jones to the U.S. for prosecution. 
 Jones was wanted on a range of child sex charges in South 
Carolina.  USG and GOE agents conducted this investigation 
under Operation Predator, which protects children against sex 
crimes. 
 
10. (U) Press reports that the Burdet-Cedeno couple has 
received additional sentences for crimes of child pornography 
in the Galapagos.  The couple reportedly received three 
sentences for 16, 12, and 20 years respectively.  They were 
prosecuted for child pornography and sexual abuse of more 
than 50 minors.  National media coverage of this case was 
extensive. 
 
VICTIM SERVICES 
----------------- 
 
11. (SBU) On August 31, PolOff met with Rocio Rosero, 
director of CONAMU (the National Commission on Women), which 
is an institutional member of the newly created anti-TIP GOE 
working group with special interest in victims services. 
Rosero said she is conducting a pilot program with UNICEF 
through a church in Sucumbios to provide services to TIP 
victims.  CONAMU is also working with a local NGO in Coca to 
provide victims services. 
 
12. (SBU) At a meeting with PolOff on September 1, National 
Institute of the Children and Families (INNFA)'s 
representative Lillian Ortiz described plans to provide 
long-term social services to victims of TIP and commercial 
sexual exploitation.  PolOff encouraged INNFA to work with 
NGOs already engaged in victims services to develop a 
national network of shelters to supplement limited and less 
appropriate police-run facilities. 
 
PENAL CODE REFORM 
----------------- 
 
13. (SBU) According to CONAMU Director Rosero, the Committee 
to Design the National Plan to Combat Trafficking in Persons, 
Alien Smuggling, and Labor and Sexual Exploitation, 
established in the presidential decree (reftel), has begun 
meeting biweekly to coordinate GOE efforts.  Last week's 
meeting focused on legal reform of the penal code.  The 
Government Ministry is trying to harmonize several draft 
reform bills into a unified Government proposal, which will 
sanction TIP and impose prison terms of up to 12 years for 
traffickers.  Once the President signs the bill, it will be 
sent to Congress.  Rosero told PolOff she has begun meeting 
with interested members of Congress to explain and lobby for 
the reforms.  MFA Director General for Human Rights Julio 
Prado told PolCouns that the GOE needs to carefully review 
the draft legislation to ensure it complies fully with the 
provisions of the TIP Protocol of the Palermo Convention. 
 
NEXT STEPS:  VICTIM SERVICES AND TRAINING 
------------------------------------------ 
 
14. (SBU) Anti-TIP legislation is a necessary and important 
benchmark for progress.  However, existing legislation is not 
sufficient to allow the GOE to prosecute traffickers, and 
minors are being removed from prostitution houses on labor 
law violations which do not levy sanctions on traffickers. 
We will continue to work with the GOE to resolve the issue of 
competing anti-TIP legislation in Congress and monitor the 
status of bills.  We will also strive to ensure that any 
reforms are compatible with the GOE's obligations under the 
Palermo Convention protocols. 
 
15. (SBU) Victim services and training are also critical to 
the GOE's protection efforts.  We plan to visit the shelter 
Baca mentioned and the shelter in El Oro province (see 
paragraph 5) to determine what services are offered.  We also 
will work with NGOs and the GOE to encourage progress.  End 
comment. 
KENNEY