Guyana put on U.S. TIP “watch list” • urged to step up prosecution

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Guyana put on U.S. TIP “watch list”
• urged to step up prosecution
Kaieteur News, 13 June 2007

Guyana is now on the United States “Tier 2 Watch List” for its failure
to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat trafficking in
persons (TIP) over the past year, particularly in terms of convicting
and sentencing human traffickers.

The U.S. 2007 TIP Report, released yesterday by the U.S. State
Department, firmly stated that the government should aggressively
investigate and arrest suspected traffickers, and make every effort to
move their cases through the criminal justice system.

“The government also should expand training for judges and magistrates
who handle trafficking cases, especially in remote areas, where the
bulk of trafficking occurs,” the report noted.

Countries placed on the watch list in the report will be re-examined in
an interim assessment to be submitted to the U.S. Congress by February
1, 2008.

Guyana had previously bypassed the “watch list” category and entered
onto the list of countries at Tier 2 after a countrywide campaign was
launched by the government in response to a previous report which
listed the county at Tier 3, the worst possible rank. The report issued
yesterday stated that the government sustained prevention efforts
during last year, and continued awareness campaigns via print and radio
media, and launched a widespread anti-trafficking education effort
before the Cricket World Cup in April 2007.

However, the U.S. report stated, Amerindian girls from the interior are
trafficked to coastal areas for sexual exploitation, and young
Amerindian men are exploited under forced labour conditions in timber
camps. In some instances, victims are abducted.

Additionally, Guyanese women and girls are trafficked for sexual
exploitation to neighbouring countries such as Suriname , Barbados ,
Trinidad and Tobago , Venezuela , Brazil , and the U.S. , the report
stated.

The U.S. report added that while the Guyana Government does not fully
comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking,
it is making significant efforts to do so.

The report cited the Combating of Trafficking in Persons Act, which
became law in 2005 and which prescribes punishment ranging from three
years to life imprisonment, penalties which are sufficiently stringent
and commensurate with those for rape and other grave crimes.

However, the government has yet to obtain an anti-trafficking
conviction.

Six criminal cases were opened against alleged traffickers in 2006,
with two of the cases being dismissed, and four are still pending.

According to the U.S. report, this represents a modest increase from
2005, when three prosecutions were initiated.

It added that prosecutors report that rural magistrates remain
unfamiliar with the new trafficking law, and cases tried in the capital
move at a slow pace due to the judicial backlog. There was reliable
evidence of some public complicity in trafficking by lower-level
officials, and a conspiracy charge was filed against a police officer
for such an offense in 2006.

The U.S. State Department recommended that in the coming year the
government should intensify its efforts to expedite cases against
traffickers, as recently emphasised by Minister of Human Services and
Social Security, Priya Manickchand.

She had called for speedy trials in trafficking cases and urged police
to do more to encourage reporting of trafficking crimes.

The report noted that Guyana made modest progress in providing victim
assistance during last year, while it included limited NGO funding
assistance in its 2007 Budget and provided training for police and
public officials on identifying trafficking victims. Victims' rights
are generally respected, and there were no reports of victims being
penalised for crimes committed as a direct result of being trafficked,
the report noted.

According to the report, Guyana is principally a source country for
men, women, and children trafficked within the country for the purposes
of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labour.

Technical training should be expanded to reach officials in rural
areas. Guyanese law enforcement officials worked with counterparts in
neighbouring countries to share information on international
trafficking cases and to assist victims.

Governments that fully comply are placed in Tier 1, while, for other
governments, the U.S. considers whether they are making significant
efforts to bring themselves into compliance.

Governments that are making significant efforts to meet the minimum
standards are placed in Tier 2, while governments that do not fully
comply with the minimum standards and are not making significant
efforts to do so are placed in Tier 3.

• The Special Watch List criteria are considered and, when applicable,
Tier 2 countries are placed on the Tier 2 Watch List.