US embassy cable - 05TEGUCIGALPA456

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TEGUCIGALPA 000456 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR G/TIP, DRL/IL, DRL/PHD, AND INL/LP 
STATE FOR WHA/PPC, WHA/CEN, PRM, AND G/IWI 
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAM 
DOL FOR ILAB 
DOJ FOR OPDAT 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, SMIG, KWMN, ELAB, PGOV, PREL, KJUS, HO 
SUBJECT:  Senior Honduran Officials Emphasize Importance of 
Prosecution of TIP Cases to Visiting State Officials 
 
 
1. (U) Summary: Rachel Owen of G/TIP and Michael Puccetti of 
WHA/PPC visited Honduras for meetings on trafficking in 
persons (TIP) February 9-11.  Owen, Puccetti, INR TDYer, and 
PolOff met with key GOH officials to get updates on current 
Honduran anti-TIP efforts and emphasize USG interest.  GOH 
meetings included Supreme Court President Vilma Morales, 
Attorney General Ovidio Navarro (with special prosecutors 
for women, children, and organized crime), Minister of 
Public Security Oscar Alvarez (with the heads of the 
Criminal Investigative Police and Frontier Police), and the 
inter-institutional commission on the commercial sexual 
exploitation of children.  GOH officials strongly stated the 
importance of preventing and prosecuting TIP, and welcomed 
USG interest and technical assistance on the issue.  End 
Summary. 
 
2. (U) Rachel Owen, G/TIP and Michael Puccetti, WHA/PPC of 
the Department of State visited Honduras for meetings on 
trafficking in persons (TIP) February 9-11.  Owen, Puccetti, 
INR TDYer, and PolOff met with key GOH officials to get 
updates on current Honduran anti-TIP efforts and emphasize 
USG interest.  In each meeting, PolOff gave senior GOH 
officials copies of the 2004 TIP report and TIP interim 
assessment in Spanish, as well as a press release outlining 
the reasons for Owens and Puccetti's visit. 
 
Attorney General: TIP a High Priority 
------------------------------------- 
 
3. (SBU) Attorney General Ovidio Navarro (accompanied by the 
special prosecutors for women, children, and organized 
crime) told USG officials February 11 that combating TIP was 
a high priority.  Navarro said the Public Ministry was 
making progress, despite severe budgetary limitations.  He 
said there was an internal Public Ministry working group on 
the issue, in addition to the inter-institutional 
commission.  Navarro noted that he had pressed Supreme Court 
President Vilma Morales on the importance of the pending 
draft legislation on commercial sexual 
exploitation/trafficking in persons (CSE/TIP) that was 
awaiting a Supreme Court opinion.  In the absence of this 
augmented legislation, Navarro and his prosecutors made 
clear the Public Ministry was willing and able to 
investigate and prosecute TIP cases on related charges. 
 
Supreme Court President: Legislative Reform Needed 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
4. (SBU) Supreme Court President Vilma Morales reiterated 
her previous commitment to EmbOffs on strengthening 
Honduras' legal regime during a February 10 meeting with USG 
officials on TIP, and said that the Supreme Court would soon 
complete its judicial opinion on the pending draft CSE/TIP 
legislation, which she hoped would be sent back to the 
Congress shortly.  She said that globalization made urgent 
the need for action and reform of the law, which she noted 
did not cover many aspects of CSE.  She highlighted the role 
of the inter-institutional commission on the administration 
of justice (AOJ), formed to implement the relatively new 
Code of Criminal Procedure, and noted it was addressing AOJ 
issues also important in TIP cases, such as establishing a 
provisional witness protection policy. 
 
Minister of Public Security: Political Will to Combat TIP 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
5. (SBU) Minister of Public Security Oscar Alvarez 
(accompanied by the heads of the Criminal Investigative 
Police and Frontier Police) told USG officials February 11 
there was political will to combat TIP/CSE.  Alvarez noted 
that "we have our problems, but we are doing what we can 
with what we have."  He noted that there was greater 
awareness of the problem, a higher number of cases being 
reported, and a greater number of cases being investigated 
by the police.  He noted that TIP/CSE was often difficult to 
investigate, and but said the police was seeking to attack 
the problem more directly. 
 
CSEC Inter-Institutional Commission Coordinates Efforts 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
6. (U) All three institutions discussed above are members of 
the inter-institutional commission on commercial sexual 
exploitation of children led by Ambassador Soledad de 
Ramirez Soto, the GOH delegate to the OAS Inter-American 
Commission on Women.  The commission, which is essentially 
functioning as a task force on TIP, held a special session 
February 11 for the benefit of Owens and Puccetti to brief 
them on advances and challenges in combating TIP/CSEC.  The 
commission now includes 52 GOH entities, NGOs, and 
international organizations. 
 
Law Enforcement/Judiciary Officials Share Interest in TIP 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
7. (SBU) Comment:  As Post notes in the 2004/2005 TIP report 
(septel), the GOH has continued its already existing efforts 
and made noticeable progress over the last year combating 
TIP.  In general, recognition of the problem and motivation 
to combat it has become widespread within the GOH.  While 
senior GOH officials were candid about their institutions' 
shortcomings and the need for USG technical assistance, it 
was also apparent that TIP/CSE was a key issue for top 
Honduran law enforcement and judicial officials.  End 
Comment. 
 
8. (U) Owens and Puccetti did not clear on this cable. 
 
Palmer