US embassy cable - 05SANTODOMINGO3147

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SANTO DOMINGO 003147 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR WHA, WHA/CAR-MCISAAC, WHA/PPC-PUCCETTI, G/TIP-OWEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, KCRM, DR, KWMN, SMIG, PREL 
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC CONVICTS TRAFFICKING FELONS, 
DIFFERS WITH 2005 TIP REPORT 
 
REF: A. STATE 100335 
 
     B. STATE 097787 
 
1. (SBU) Summary:  Assistant Attorney General Frank Soto, who 
coordinates the Dominican Government's anti-TIP efforts, 
provided details of the Dominican Republic's first 
convictions of traffickers under a 2003 anti-TIP law, in a 
May 20 court decision published June 2.  Soto expressed 
disappointment at the continued classification of the 
Dominican Republic on the Tier 2 Watch List and cited this 
verdict and other prosecutions and measures now underway.  In 
remarks to the press, Soto took issue with specific 
information in the report.  Editorial reaction, while 
limited, has concurred with the report's conclusions.  End 
summary. 
 
Report Delivered 
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2. (SBU) Per guidance and timetable (Refs A-B), Embassy 
political officer on the afternoon of June 2 delivered the 
2005 TIP report on the Dominican Republic, in English and an 
informal Spanish translation, to Assistant Attorney General 
Frank Soto, who heads the AG's anti-TIP unit and coordinates 
interagency anti-TIP efforts. They also provided it to MFA 
Director for Women's and Children's Affairs Cecilia 
Caballero, and MFA Human Rights Director Rhadys Abreu de 
Polanco.  On June 3, Embassy published on its public webstie 
the informal Spanish translation of the Dominican Republic 
portion and the full English text of the 2005 worldwide TIP 
report. Embassy on June 7 delivered the report in both 
languages to Under Secretary of State for Consular and 
Migratory Affairs Rosario Graciano. 
 
Recent TIP Convictions 
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3. (SBU) Deputy AG Soto expressed disappointment that the 
Dominican Republic had not been taken off the Tier II watch 
list.  He provided a copy of a sentence handed down in Boca 
Chica (a beach town east of Santo Domingo) May 20 against 
three Dominican traffickers, under Dominican anti-TIP Law 
137-03, for offering 12-13 children as prostitutes.  This 
operation was set up by representatives of the U.S.-based 
International Justice Mission, one of whom posed as a 
prospectgive customer.  The convictions, based on more than 
20 hours of  video filming of the attempted transaction, 
brought prison sentences of 15 years and fines of RD 175,000 
(USD  6,000) each.  The convictions had not previously been 
publicized because the judge did not sign the sentencing 
document until May 31.  Political officer commended this 
breakthrough, the first convictions under the 2003 anti-TIP 
law, and encouraged the authorities to maintain the momentum 
with further convictions. 
 
4. (SBU) Soto displayed posters and glossy brochures being 
used in an educational campaign to inform judicial and police 
personnel and the public about the crimes of alien smuggling 
and TIP.  They advertise a telephone hotline (1-809-200-7393) 
to report accusations of such activities.  The phone is in 
Soto's office, in the Department Against Alien Smuggling and 
Trafficking in Persons (Departamento contra el Trafico 
Ilicito de Migrantes y la Trata de Personas).  Soto referred 
to several ongoing investigations and prosecutions of alien 
smugglers, some of which he was sure would result in 
convictions.  He pointed to the May 17 conviction of a 
Santiago bar owner for sexual exploitation of minors (under 
the Code for the Protection of Children and Adolescents, not 
under the TIP law).  Political officer noted that these 
events occurred after the period covered by the TIP report 
and could be taken into account in next year's assessment. 
 
5. (SBU) Soto and MFA Under Secretary Graciano commented 
separately that many of the deficiencies noted in the TIP 
report were due to lack of resources and that any outside 
assistance would be appreciated.  Graciano described a 
proposal by several local NGOs that would offer business 
opportunities for Dominican women who have been deported from 
abroad, to enable them to get ahead in the Dominican Republic 
rather than emigrate. 
6. (SBU) Graciano commented that our next report should 
mention the Dominican Republic,s "consular network" of 
officials who are being or will be trained to handle TIP 
cases and issues.  She said the plan is to reactivate this 
network, first in Brussels, then in the Caribbean and Central 
America.  The MFA has not yet decided which capitals in the 
Caribbean and Central America are to be the points of 
contact.  Buenos Aires will be added subsequently.  Consular 
Affairs will soon present a plan to the Foreign Minister for 
interagency actions on migration, TIP, and alien smuggling. 
 
7. (SBU) Graciano said she recently started up a new MFA unit 
to combat alien smuggling and TIP, as part of a reinvigorated 
Division of Migration Affairs within her Consular 
sub-secretariat.  An MFA consultative committee coordinates 
anti-TIP issues internally among offices that deal with 
consular/migration, women's and children's, legal, and 
Haitian affairs.  There is also an operational committee of 
subordinate officials on TIP. Government-wide, an 
"Interagency Committee for Women's Affairs" (acronym CIPROM) 
sometimes discusses TIP.  Soto told us that the MFA women's 
and children's unit periodically convenes an interagency 
meeting to review a report of the government's efforts 
against TIP. 
 
Public Comment on the Report 
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8. (U) On June 4, mainline daily "El Caribe" published an 
interview with Soto in which he commented that the 2005 TIP 
report did not recognize all of the government's actions 
against TIP.  As in the discussion with Embassy officers, he 
took issue with statistics cited, in particular the estimate 
that 2,000 Haitian children are trafficked annually into the 
Dominican Republic to be exploited in various ways. Soto said 
this figure has been used by OIM and UNICEF for years without 
being updated.  He also objected to the statement that 
Dominican children are trafficked to various foreign 
countries.  He pointed out that there are "very strict 
regulations" regarding international travel of minors from 
the Dominican Republic and challenged the Department of State 
to find "one example" of a minor that had been removed from 
the country illegally.  Soto asserted that, with the 
Dominican Government,s proactive closing down of brothels in 
recent months, it would be difficult to find minors being 
exploited commercially for sexual purposes. He noted that his 
unit of the Attorney General's office had been elevated to 
the status of a department when tPresident Fernandez took 
office and has units dedicated to combating pedophilia and 
pornography on the internet as well as prevention and 
education. 
 
9. (U) Four major daily newspapers carried stories June 4 of 
the TIP report's release, and two of them published excerpts 
from the text on the Dominican Republic.  In an editorial 
June 6 national daily "El Caribe" noted Soto's criticisms, 
but characterized the report's conclusions as consistent with 
other investigations by international organizations and NGOs. 
 The newspaper called for redoubled efforts by authorities to 
combat "networks in this country that profit from commercial 
sexual exploitation of women and children." 
 
Comment 
- - - - 
 
10. (SBU) Embassy will continue its close dialogue with 
Assistant AG Soto and Under Secretary Graciano, competent 
officials who are working with limited resources. 
 
11.  (SBU) The three Boca Chica convictions, resulting in 
stiff punishments, represent a big step forward.  The police 
and judiciary worked as they should, and the court delivered 
the convictions promptly by Dominican standards -- from 
arrests to convictions, the whole process took less than 11 
months. The investment of time and effort by the U.S. NGO 
provided an unprecedented and evidently irrefutable body of 
evidence. 
Hertell