US embassy cable - 05KINGSTON1444

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KINGSTON 001444 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CAR (BENT) AND WHA/PPC (PUCCETTI) 
DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP (OWEN) AND (ETERNO) 
SOUTHCOM FOR POLAD AND J7 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM, KWMN, OPRC, PHUM, PREL, SMIG, JM, TIP 
SUBJECT: GOJ OFFERS MIXED RESPONSE ON TIP, CONCERNED ABOUT 
SANCTIONS 
 
REF: A. STATE 97853 
     B. KINGSTON 01041 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1. (SBU) On May 31 and June 2, emboffs met with GOJ officials 
to discuss the imminent release, on June 3, of the 2005 
Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report.  The different meetings 
yielded varying responses.  On May 31, Charge met with 
National Security Minister Peter Phillips at the Minister's 
request.  Phillips and other GOJ attendees sought 
clarification of the USG's definition of trafficking, 
lamented a lack of involvement in Post's TIP report 
preparations, and expressed concern at the possibility of 
Tier 3 sanctions.  Charge responded with details of the 
trafficking issue that should already have been clear to the 
GOJ participants based on repeated previous communications 
from Post.  On June 2, the eve of the public release of the 
TIP Report, poloff met with Pamela Ingleton at the Ministry 
of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade (MFAFT) to deliver Ref A 
talking points, Tier 3 Action Plan, and the Jamaica country 
narrative of the 2005 TIP Report.  Ingleton, who has a 
thorough understanding of the issue and the Department's TIP 
reporting process, was not surprised by the news that Jamaica 
was downgraded to Tier 3.  End Summary. 
 
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NATIONAL SECURITY MINISTER CONCERNED ABOUT SANCTIONS 
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2. (SBU) Early on May 31, Charge, accompanied by P/E Chief, 
met with National Security Minister Peter Phillips at the 
Minister's request to discuss the imminent release of the 
Trafficking in Persons report.  Phillips was joined by 
Ministry of National Security (MNS) Permanent Secretary Gil 
Scott, Immigration/Passport Director Carol Charlton, and 
Woodrow Smith, MNS Principal Director for Security, 
Intelligence, and Operations. 
 
3. (SBU) Phillips began by noting Embassy TIP consultations 
with numerous GOJ ministries and agencies.  He said that the 
GOJ did not wish to ignore the trafficking issue, but 
professed to be unclear about the existence of "trafficking 
across our borders."  Phillips also expressed concern that a 
downgrade of Jamaica to Tier 3 could endanger USG security 
assistance badly needed by the Jamaica Defense Force and the 
Jamaica Constabulary Force.  He and Scott wondered aloud why 
MNS had not been consulted in the preparation of the TIP 
report.  Like Phillips, Charlton professed to be unaware of a 
trafficking issue across Jamaica's borders, and she and Scott 
said that they found confusing the USG's definition of 
"trafficking" as used in the TIP report. 
 
4. (SBU) Charge replied to the Minister by noting that 
trafficking in persons need not involve the crossing of 
borders; typically, it involved the recruitment, 
transportation, deception, coercion, and/or exploitation of 
individuals, including minors, for labor or for sex.  He 
emphasized the USG's interest in working with the GOJ to 
address the trafficking problem, and cited the formation of 
the GOJ National Task Force (Ref B) as a positive step. 
Charge said that a Department team would visit Jamaica in 
July to assess progress on anti-trafficking issues and to 
meet with GOJ officials and NGOs.  Phillips and Scott said 
they welcomed the opportunity to meet with the team.  Because 
the meeting took place more than 24 hours before the 
Washington release of the TIP Report, Charge did not inform 
Phillips of the downgrade to Tier 3, nor did he provide an 
embargoed copy of the country narrative. 
 
5. (SBU) P/E Chief reminded Scott that he had discussed 
trafficking with Scott, Smith, and Charlton in that very room 
in August 2004; that Scott had said during that meeting that 
he would soon provide an official letter describing the GOJ 
response to the 2004 TIP report; that emboffs had followed up 
numerous times ) including in writing to MNS ) seeking MNS 
input to take into account in preparing the 2005 TIP Report; 
and that MNS had never provided the promised information.  He 
briefly outlined the Embassy's extensive consultations over 
many months with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign 
Trade (MFAFT), and USAID Mission Director's engagement of 
senior Finance Ministry officials ) including the Finance 
Minister himself ) about TIP.  P/E Chief handed Phillips a 
copy of recent articles in the Jamaican press reporting the 
existence of TIP in Jamaica, noting that trafficking problems 
affect many countries ) including the U.S.  He cited a 
recent case in New Hampshire in which Amcit employers had 
abused Jamaican seasonal workers, a case which involved 
elements of TIP.  The Amcits, he said, were arrested, 
convicted and were serving prison sentences for their crimes. 
 
6. (U) At Smith's request, P/E Chief agreed to send him a 
copy of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 
2000.  Post included a copy of TVPA, along with the 2003 
amendment, in a packet containing the 2005 TIP report and Ref 
A talking points that we provided to Phillips on June 2. 
 
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FOREIGN MINISTRY TAKES DOWNGRADE IN STRIDE 
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7. (SBU) On June 2, poloff met with Pamela Ingleton at the 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade (MFAFT) to 
deliver the Jamaica country narrative of the 2005 TIP Report, 
Ref A talking points, and suggested Action Plan.  Poloff 
added that a Department team would visit Jamaica in July to 
meet with government and NGO representatives, and that the 
GOJ should be prepared to discuss its progress toward 
fighting TIP at that time.  Ingleton, who has responsibility 
for the MFAFT's TIP portfolio, accepted the Tier 3 rating as 
the consequences of an administration that, while it has 
always cared deeply about the exploitation of its women and 
children, has only recently begun to take significant steps 
toward combating the problem.  She added that she is pleased 
with the GOJ's recent efforts to address trafficking and 
hopes to make significant progress in coming months. 
 
8. (SBU) Ingleton took the opportunity to explain that the 
GOJ's National Task Force on TIP, created in April (Ref B), 
has held two meetings since its formation, and has spun off 
specialized subcommittees in an effort to act quickly on the 
matter.  The Ministry of National Security has been 
designated the national authority on TIP, and is coordinating 
the efforts of the Task Force, which also includes 
representatives from the Immigration Department, the Child 
Development Agency, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of 
Development, the Cabinet Office, the Attorney General's 
Office, the Bureau of Women's Affairs, the Ministry of 
Industry & Tourism, the Jamaica Information Service, and the 
MFAFT.  Ingleton added that the Task Force is now preparing 
to engage NGOs to assist in the fight against TIP, and that 
poloff would also be invited to participate.  When asked, she 
agreed to prepare for poloff a written record of the Task 
Force's activities to date. 
 
9. (SBU) Near the end of the meeting, Ingleton was called 
briefly from the room by her supervisor, Sheila 
Sealy-Monteith, Director of the Caribbean and Americas 
Department at MFAFT and ambassador-designate to Mexico.  When 
she returned, Ingleton explained that the Task Force was 
preparing a response to the TIP Report for Jamaica's 
Ambassador to Washington, Gordon Shirley, and that Prime 
Minister Patterson wished to clear on the document before it 
was sent.  Ingleton explained that the Prime Minister had 
recently taken an interest in the issue, and that his 
involvement had prompted much urgency within the Task Force. 
She cited as another positive development the publication in 
the June 2 issue of the Jamaica Observer of an article titled 
"Report child abuse or face prosecution."  Ingleton explained 
that the article, which highlighted a series of seminars to 
educate the public on the year-old Child Care and Protection 
Act, was published by the Jamaica Information Service and was 
run without charge by the newspaper as a public service 
announcement. 
 
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MIXED PUBLIC REACTION TO TIER 3 DOWNGRADE 
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10. (SBU) On the afternoon of June 3, Jamaica's downgrade to 
Tier 3 was featured heavily on the country's popular evening 
radio programs, with emboffs participating in telephone 
interviews.  Most programs sought clarification of the term 
trafficking, and all expressed concern over the associated 
implications of a Tier 3 rating.  Weekend newspapers 
similarly focused on "heavy U.S. sanctions" faced by the GOJ, 
but generally represented the contents and findings of the 
report accurately.  The first GOJ officials to respond 
publicly to the report were Minister of Health John Junor and 
Minister of Information Burchell Whiteman.  Junor was quoted 
on radio and in newspapers as saying that there is "no 
tangible evidence" of trafficking and that the Tier 3 ranking 
is unwarranted.  Whiteman appeared surprised but less 
defensive, suggesting that the downgrade to Tier 3 may have 
resulted from a "difference in terms of reference," and 
pointing out that there has been a recent increase in 
convictions for cases of sexual abuse.  Representatives of 
local NGOs also provided comment to the news media.  Betty 
Ann Blaine, director of People's Action for Community 
Transformation (PACT), a USAID-funded local NGO, expressed 
disappointment that this year's tier rating did not reflect 
her organization's efforts to combat TIP.  However, she 
generally supported the report's findings, pointing out that, 
one year after the passage of the Child Care and Protection 
Act, "most Jamaicans (know) nothing about human trafficking." 
 
11. (SBU) On June 5, local newspapers reported that the 
Ministry of National Security issued a statement on behalf of 
the GOJ that called the 2005 Report "unfair" and "highly 
prejudicial because it negates the significant actions taken 
by the Government over the last several months to combat this 
problem locally."  The statement added that "there is no 
record of these cases being reported to any law enforcement 
agency in Jamaica," and went on to request that the USG 
provide additional details of alleged trafficking cases as a 
first step toward working together on the issue.  While 
apparently denying the problem, the GOJ also stated that "we 
believe it is extremely important to eradicate and punish 
those who may be profiting from the unlawful trade of 
persons, as well as from any other form of exploitation of 
individuals."  The statement added that the GOJ has taken 
steps to combat trafficking in recent months, including the 
formation of a national task force, which has proposed a 
number of anti-trafficking measures. 
 
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COMMENT 
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12. (SBU) Charge's meeting with Phillips had positive and 
negative aspects.  Despite extensive Embassy engagement with 
senior MNS officials, with MFAFT's proactive TIP action 
officer, and with others, Phillips clearly had been poorly 
briefed by his staff on the trafficking issue.  Scott, Smith, 
and Charlton were somewhat disingenuous in claiming confusion 
about the trafficking definition.  We have discussed it with 
them previously, and we waited in vain for them to respond to 
our repeated requests to receive their response to the 2004 
TIP Report.  On the positive side, if nothing else Phillips's 
genuine concern at what Jamaica stands to lose in terms of 
assistance should ensure that he will throw his ministerial 
weight behind GOJ efforts to address the TIP Action Plan. 
 
13. (SBU) Poloff's meeting with Ingleton, and her contrasting 
response to the downgrade, highlights what appears to be poor 
coordination between GOJ agencies on this issue.  As a 
result, despite the GOJ's understanding of and commitment to 
combating trafficking at an official level, the public 
response to the June 3 release of the TIP Report was 
predictably inconsistent and somewhat paradoxical.  It is no 
surprise, however, that senior GOJ officials publicly 
defended Jamaica's record and demanded "tangible evidence" of 
a trafficking problem in Jamaica, while the GOJ 
simultaneously professed concern for trafficking victims and 
cited actions that have and will be taken to combat the 
problem locally.  There remains a clear need to raise the 
awareness of human trafficking on Jamaica's national agenda. 
End Comment. 
ROBINSON