VENEZUELA’S RECORD IN COMBATTING
Human Trafficking
Since 2000 the U.S. State Department has issued a yearly
report on the status of trafficking in persons (TIP) throughout the world. In June 2006 the Office to Combat and
Monitor the Trafficking of Persons, the State Department body responsible for
studying TIP and issuing the report, characterized Venezuela as an egregious
human trafficker and designated it a Tier 3 nation, subject to economic
sanctions. The TIP Report claims that
Venezuela “does not fully comply with the minimum standards for
the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so.”[1] This ruling, for the second year in
a row, sits in stark contrast to the facts surrounding Venezuela’s human
trafficking record.
VENEZUELA’S
RECORD AGAINST HUMAN TRAFFICKING
According
to official statements made by the State Department’s own 2006 report, its
rulings reflect a nation’s efforts
in “prosecution, protection, and prevention” as well as “rescue,
rehabilitation, and reintegration.”[2] The
selective criteria used by Washington to gage a nation’s level of participation
in trafficking is guided by The Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of
2000 which defines the purpose of the report “to ensure just and effective
punishment of traffickers, to protect their victims, and to prevent trafficking
from occurring.”[3] A tier 3
nation is a country that does little or none of these. Venezuela does
not fit the above-noted standard for a Tier 3 nation. The TIP report explicitly states:
“The government [of Venezuela] significantly increased
efforts to raise awareness and train officials as the reporting period
progressed. In December 2005, the government launched a national campaign to
educate the public about the dangers of trafficking using posters and radio and
television spots. The government also increased public awareness about
trafficking by hosting a hemispheric meeting on trafficking and encouraging
in-depth media coverage of the event both in Venezuela and throughout the region.
The Ministry of Interior and Justice’s Crime Prevention Unit held 65 training
sessions on identifying trafficking and illegal migration that reached 1,544
government officials in eight states. National toll-free crime line personnel
received training for handling trafficking-related calls.”[4]
In addition, the State Department’s own 2005 Human
Rights Report on Venezuela, the South American nation is depicted as a
cooperative, pro-active and concerned nation with regard to human trafficking.[5] The report states:
· “The government assisted with international investigations of trafficking.”
·
“In July
authorities assisted in the repatriation of three Colombian victims of
trafficking.”
·
“In January
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted the OAS and the International
Organization for Migration for the anti-trafficking workshops to raise public
awareness of the problem.”
·
“The
government provided trafficking victims with psychological and physical
examinations.”
This
language indicates that the Government of Venezuela is making significant
efforts to comply with the law.
VENEZUELAN GOVERNMENT
STATISTICS
Between
2004-2006 the Venezuelan Attorney General's Office reports that there have been
thirty-seven cases of human trafficking reported in Venezuela.[6] The Common Crimes Department Director in the Attorney
General’s Office, Nerva Ramirez, says that the Metropolitan area has registered
fourteen of them, in which twenty-three
people have been arrested including
Venezuelan, Chinese, and Haitian nationals.[7]
Nationwide, twenty-four people have been tried for
human trafficking and two are currently serving sentences.[8] Public officials and government employees
involved in trafficking are held accountable as well. Recently, two National Guardsmen were arrested for their alleged
involvement in a trafficking ring.
Moreover, earlier this year, in coordination with the Organization of
American States, Venezuela hosted the first hemispheric conference on human
trafficking in Caracas and has instituted a national commission to study human
trafficking to devise clear guidelines for future policy.[9]
Unfortunately, the State
Department continues to ignore this publicly available data and, contrary to
its own assertions, refuses to correct its own inaccuracies. In June 2006, when asked by reporters about
the Venezuelan government’s earlier prosecutions of human traffickers, State Department spokesman Sean
McCormick stated that "If
the government of Venezuela has in fact done these
prosecutions… certainly that will be reflected in future reports".[10] Incredibly, the only mention of these prosecutions in
the most recent report comes in the form of denial when it says “there were no
reports of prosecutions or convictions of traffickers for the fourth
consecutive year.”[11]
IS VENEZUELA’S TIER 3 DESIGNATION POLITICALLY
MOTIVATED?
According to the United
Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) many countries with many more human
trafficking violations than Venezuela have been assigned Tier 1 or Tier 2
status while others with less serious records receive Tier 3.[12] Michael Shifter of the Inter-American
Dialogue notes in an opinion piece published in the New York Times that “in the
State Department’s 2003 Human Trafficking report Venezuela did not even appear
among the five worst offenders in the Western Hemisphere” and that “the Bush
administration has not provided compelling and persuasive evidence that
warrants singling out one country.”[13]
Mexico serves as a case in
point. In the 2006 TIP Report Mexico
is described in far worse terms than Venezuela and even noted as “a source, transit, and
destination country for persons trafficked for sexual exploitation and labor.”[14] In contrast to Venezuela’s record, the
government of Mexico has repeatedly refused to gather official data on human
trafficking within its borders and keeps no law enforcement statistics on
trafficking investigations, arrests, prosecutions, or convictions.[15] Even more disturbing, “there are no shelters
or related services that specifically aid trafficking victims” in Mexico. Despite these dismal results, Mexico was
assigned a Tier 2 designation for the third consecutive year. Washington justifies this designation in the
Report by noting a “future commitment” from the Mexican government to undertake
efforts in prosecution, protection, and prevention. Venezuela on the other hand has pro-actively addressed all of
these areas.
In a statement regarding the
State Department’s Human Rights Report issued in early 2005 the Deputy Director
of the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) Kimberly Stanton noted
“political considerations are evident in some of the findings… The credibility of the reports depends on
consistent, objective analysis. This
year the U.S. government policy priorities are affecting the evaluation of the
data in some cases.”[16]
Washington has also been
criticized by human rights groups for inadequate reporting and data
collection. In 2003 Human Rights Watch
found that the TIP Report focused largely on countries in bad standing with the
U.S. and lacked facts and concrete data about human trafficking in countries
with which the U.S. had close ties.[17] Additionally, the deputy director of Human
Rights Watch’s America Division stated that “We have no reason to believe that
human trafficking is a more serious problem in Venezuela than in other
countries in the region.”[18] In fact, the European Union thinks Venezuela
fares far better; last year the EU granted trading preferences to Venezuela in recognition of its efforts
to combating human trafficking and drug trafficking.[19]
Since the TIP findings of
2003 Venezuela has faced economic sanctions. Indeed, it has been blocked from
receiving $250 million in development loans from the international lending
community and this year faces a similar fate.[20] Interestingly, the State Department notes in
its Report that it will provide funding for “strengthening the democratic
process, including strengthening political parties and supporting electoral
observation and monitoring and related programs, or for public diplomacy.”[21] Although Venezuela has appealed Washington’s
most recent designation, it remains classified as a Tier 3 nation.