US embassy cable - 05SANTODOMINGO5050

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SANTO DOMINGO 005050 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR WHA/CAR, WHA/PPC AND G/TIP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, KCRM, KWMN, DR 
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: INTERIM TIP ASSESSMENT 
 
REF: STATE 185386 
 
1.  The following interim assessement for trafficking in 
persons (TIP) addresses the questions in paragraph 6(I) of 
reftel. 
 
2. The Government of the Dominican Republic emphasizes TIP 
issues in public communications and has made some progress in 
enforcement.  Institutional changes include the creation of 
an anti-trafficking department in the Migration Directorate 
in March.  This department coordinates with the Attorney 
General,s office and the National Police to find and 
prosecute persons dedicated to trafficking women for 
prostitution and commercial sexual exploitation. 
 
3.  Law Enforcement Efforts 
 
The National Police has a unit assigned full-time to 
enforcement of laws on trafficking  in persons and illegal 
migration.  The chief of this unit  expressed his commitment 
actions against TIP, but in fact, only two of the sixty cases 
on its active roster deal with TIP.  The rest are in the area 
of illegal migration and alien smuggling.  Resources are 
limited but the police investigate TIP cases assigned to 
them.  The Embassy raised with the Assistant Attorney General 
three specific cases brought to Embassy attention by the 
International Organization for Migration, in which women 
enticed abroad for "door to door sales" wound up in 
prostitution but eventually returned to the Dominican 
Republic; the Assistant Attorney General said that in each 
case the apparent victim had refused to testify, fearing 
reprisals from the former employer. 
 
4.  Raids and Rescuing TIP Victims 
 
Dominican authorities conducted a number of raids and 
interventions under the anti-trafficking law, all during the 
first half of the calendar year.  For example, in April the 
National Directorate of Investigations dismantled a child 
prostitution and pornography ring in Sosua where police 
arrested two men.  In April, on instructions of the Attorney 
General, police closed down several bars, nightclubs, and 
"massage parlors" in Santiago, Santo Domingo, and Boca Chica 
alleged to be involved in prostitution of vulnerable women 
and children.  The Assistant Attorney General did not have a 
summary list with specifics on the numbers of establishments 
closed by the provincial district attorneys. 
 
5.  Government Reponse 
 
Senior Dominican officials have spoken out publicly against 
TIP. In numerous contacts with the national press Attorney 
General Francisco Dominguez Brito  has emphasized the 
administration's rejection of trafficking and his intention 
to investigate and prosecute trafficking cases.  Assistant 
Attorney General for Trafficking in Persons and Illegal 
Migration Frank Soto maintained a high profile and opened a 
new public awareness campaign highlighting the gravity of 
trafficking and of the penalties provided in  TIP Law 137-03. 
 
 
6.  TIP Training 
 
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has compulsory training at 
its Diplomatic and Consular School for consular 
representatives with emphasis on identifying trafficking and 
assisting victims.  In addition, the Ministry gave 
specialized training on trafficking for consular officers 
posted in the Caribbean and Europe.  As a result, consular 
officials posted in the Caribbean re-established their 
consular network to fight TIP.  In March, the International 
Organization for Migration (IOM) carried out training for 100 
officers from the Migration Directorate, at a two-day session 
opened by Minister of the Interior and Police Franklin 
Almeyda and Director of Migration Carlos Amarnte Baret.  IOM 
has provided technical advice to Migration regarding the 
organization of the department, its functioning mechanisms, 
and the selection of suitable personnel. 
 
7.  Prosecutions of TIP cases 
 
- - In May a judge convicted  three men under Trafficking Law 
137-03 and sentenced them to 15 years in prison, relying on 
extensive evidence assembled by a U.S. non-governmental 
organization, including videotapes.  A fourth suspect in the 
case is now in detention and awaiting trail.  The four men 
were caught last year in a raid in Boca Chica, which resulted 
in the rescues of 24 children, the youngest of them only 7 
years old. 
 
- - In August 2004 in a conclusive judicial review Maria 
Martinez Nunez was sentenced to 5 years in prison and ordered 
to pay a 500,000 peso fine (USD 16,000). 
 
- - In March 2005  the Supreme Court resumed proceedings in 
the trial of Congressman Radhames Ramos Garcia on charges of 
alien smuggling.  The Court found Ramos Garcia guilty and 
sentenced him to 18 months in prison.  He was paroled in 
October after completing 9 months and 8 days of his sentence, 
including periods of pre-trail detention. 
 
8.  Other items. 
 
-- On November 13 a coalition of civil society organizations 
working with the mayor of Boca Chica put together 
demonstrations against the sexual exploitation of children. 
The authorities published and put up in the town a poster 
warning that sexual exploitation of children is a criminal 
offense. 
HERTELL