Cablegate: Ecuador: Progress On Tip

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 QUITO 001665

SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/PPC, WHA/AND, AND G/TIP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL EC
SUBJECT: ECUADOR: PROGRESS ON TIP

1. Summary: There have been advances on several fronts to
combat TIP here. On June 23, Ecuador's new penal code took
effect, criminalizing and applying prison terms of 6 to 16
years for traffickers. First Lady Maria Paret again
expressed her personal commitment to preventing more children
from becoming trafficking victims and described an anti-TIP
radio campaign the GOE is financially supporting. Attorney
General Cecilia Armas committed to name special prosecutors
to focus on TIP in Quito and Guayaquil. On July 7, police
arrested John Quispe, the manager of a nightclub and charged
him with TIP-related crimes. End Summary.

Tough Sentences for Traffickers
-------------------------------

3. On June 23, the President signed anti-trafficking
legislation into law enabling traffickers to be charged and
prosecuted. The law includes the following provisions and
penalties:

-- Trafficking in persons is defined as the promotion,
inducement, participation, facilitation, or support, even
with the victim's consent, of the recruitment, transport,
harboring, receipt, or delivery of people resorting to
threats, violence, deceit, or any other fraudulent means for
the purpose of illicit exploitation, with or without
financial gain.

-- Exploitation is defined as all forms of forced jobs or
services; slave labor; sale and/or use people for begging,
armed conflicts, or recruitment for purposes of delinquency.

-- 6 to 9 years for TIP, excluding cases of sexual
exploitation; 9 to 12 years when the victim is under 18.

-- 12 to 16 years when one or more of the following
conditions apply: the victim is less than 14 years age of
age; as a result of the crime, the victim suffers severe or
permanent damage to his/her body or irreversible
psychological damage; or the trafficker is a spouse, common
law spouse, blood relative to the fourth degree, or relative
related by marriage, or a parent or child of the victim.

-- 6 to 9 years for selling, buying, or carrying out any
other transaction to hand over a person, for payment or other
means, for the purpose of exploitation. The sale does not
have to be completed to be punishable. 9 to 12 years if the
victim is under 18 years, and 12 to 16 years if the victim is
less than 12 years old.

Sexual Exploitation and Child Prostitution: 6 to 25 Years
--------------------------------------------- -------------

4. Another section of the penal code reform focuses on
sexual exploitation, punishing people involved in child
prostitution regardless of the use of force, violence,
threats, or the victim's consent. The law reforms the penal
code as follows:

-- 8 to 12 years for promoting, inducing, participating,
facilitating, or supporting the recruit, transport,
harboring, receipt, or handover of a person resorting to
threats, violence, deceit, or any other fraudulent means for
the purpose of sexual exploitation.

-- 12 to 16 years if the victim is less than 12 years old; if
there abuse of power or the victim was in a situation of need
or vulnerability; if the trafficker is a spouse, common law
spouse, blood relative to the fourth degree, or relative
related by marriage; if the trafficker has any type of
relationship of confidence or authority with the victim or is
a legal representative, stepfather, stepmother, or priest; or
if the victim suffers severe or permanent psychological
damage or contracts a severe or terminal illness.

-- 16 to 25 years if death results.

-- 6 to 9 years, the loss of goods acquired from the profit
of these crimes, and payment of damages for inducing,
promoting, supporting, or facilitating the sexual
exploitation of a person under 18 or a disabled person of any
age in exchange for monetary gain, other remuneration, or a
portion of the profits. 12 to 16 years if the victim is
under 14 years of age, and 16 to 25 years if the person has
been previously convicted of this crime.

Victim's Consent is Irrelevant for TIP
--------------------------------------

5. The following provisions apply to TIP and sexual
exploitation:

-- Penalties can aggregate up to 35 years.

-- The public behavior of the victim prior to occurrence of
the crime is irrelevant.
-- For crimes of sexual exploitation, consent is irrelevant
when the victim is under 18. For trafficking, consent is
irrelevant regardless of the person's age.

First Lady Committed to Preventing More Victims
--------------------------------------------- --

6. Charge and PolChief met with First Lady Maria Paret on
July 13 and encouraged her to take advantage of her position
and speak out publicly against trafficking. The First Lady
said she would consider opportunities to do so. The National
Institute for Children and Families (INNFA), which she heads,
signed an agreement and will provide funding to an
international organization "International Center of Higher
Studies in Communications for Latin America" (CIESPAL) to
develop radio spots to educate people about trafficking. She
expressed commitment to fighting TIP and helping prevent more
children from becoming victims.

Attorney General to Name Dedicated TIP Prosecutors
--------------------------------------------- -----

7. On July 12, PolChief and PolOff met with the GOE's acting
Attorney General, Cecilia Armas, and suggested she assign
prosecutors to focus on TIP. Armas was very concerned about
combating the scourge of trafficking and said she would
assign a special prosecutor in Quito and in Guayaquil to work
with the police to prosecute traffickers. Armas also
expressed interest in negotiating an agreement with the
Embassy to demonstrate the GOE's dedication to combating TIP.

Trafficker in Jail and Investigation Ongoing
--------------------------------------------

8. On July 7, in a joint effort, the police's vetted unit,
COAC, and DINAPEN officers arrested trafficker John Quispe.
A 16-year-old victim of child prostitution was found in the
nightclub Quispe manages. Quispe was charged with sexual
exploitation of a minor, a crime punished by 6 to 9 years
prison under the new penal code. We are working closely with
the prosecutor handling his case to encourage her to add the
charge of trafficking under the new law. Quispe has been in
custody since his arrest, pending investigation of the case.

Comment:
--------

9. We are encouraged by these developments and will report
more fully on progress achieved by the GOE by July 29.
HERBERT

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