Guyana’s TIP status unchanged

Jul 28, 2015 News

---

Only one conviction in past year, victims were re-trafficked – US report

For the third consecutive year, the US has placed Guyana on Tier 2 Watch List, recommending in its latest Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP) that the country move quickly to increase funding to special organizations tasked with assisting victims.
Tier Two level is accorded to countries whose governments do not fully comply with the minimum standards but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards.

The TIP report said that law enforcement efforts remained insufficient when it came to battling the problem.
Noting that Guyana has a law in place, the report released recently was critical of weak law enforcement efforts which hindered the process of holding traffickers accountable.
Only one conviction was recorded between April 2014 and January 2015 and that case is being appealed.
Between April 2014 and January 2015, the government investigated seven trafficking cases involving an unknown number of suspects and prosecuted four suspected traffickers.
Only one trafficker, compared with three in 2013, was convicted. The convicted trafficker was a police officer sentenced to four years’ imprisonment for child sex trafficking; he was initially denied bail, but ultimately granted bail pending appeal on April 1, 2015.
In 2013, the government released three convicted traffickers on bail while their cases were under appeal; these three convicted traffickers were still free on bail and had not had their appeals heard at the end of the reporting period.
In 2014 and previous years, Guyanese courts ultimately dismissed the majority of ongoing trafficking prosecutions. The government trained eight police officers on trafficking victim identification and case investigation.
With regards to offering protection, the US report noted that Guyana sustained some efforts to identify victims, but victim assistance remained insufficient.
“The Ministry of Labour, Human Services, and Social Security reported referring 16 potential victims to care—largely provided by NGOs—between April 2014 and January 2015. The government did not provide information on how many victims were adults or children, male or female, or sex or labour trafficking victims.
In comparison, the government reported identifying 23 victims in 2013, including 10 children, five male labor trafficking victims, and 18 sex trafficking victims.”
Inadequate Resources
Government resources devoted to victim protection remained inadequate, and authorities did not consistently provide assistance specific to the needs of trafficking survivors, the report said.
“The government provided victims with medical assistance, food, and counselling. An NGO—with $10 million (US$49,500) in assistance from the government—operated a shelter for victims of domestic violence in Georgetown that assisted 14 victims of sex trafficking.
“A separate NGO provided housing and assistance to 12 victims of sex trafficking without government support.”
Donor-funded organizations provided much of the support for victims. In areas outside of the capital, NGOs provided shelter and assistance to victims, often in dangerous conditions, without any Government funding. Longer-term shelter and protection was not available in Guyana, putting victims at risk of traffickers’ reprisals as the government did not punish most traffickers with incarceration.
Worryingly enough, the US report indicated that identified victims were re-trafficked or became homeless after receiving inadequate protection services from the government.
“The government reported it was developing standard operating procedures to guide officials in identifying trafficking victims. Victims often did not testify in court as officials failed to locate and inform them of court dates. Victims also did not testify when they had no transportation to courts or could not afford residency in Guyana in the months before their court date.”
The government did not adequately address this problem, which contributed to the low number of trafficking convictions.
While Guyana’s law protects victims from punishment for crimes committed as a result of being subjected to human trafficking, in November, the government charged, and subsequently placed in police custody, a group of Nepalese suspected to have been subjected to trafficking while illegally present in Guyana.
Government officials reported cooperation with NGOs to develop child-sensitive investigation and prosecution procedures; a lack of these procedures put children at risk of reprisal from traffickers. Guyana’s law provides relief from deportation for foreign victims; the government did not report extending such relief to foreign victims over the past year.
The report, regarding Guyana, said the country is a source and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor. Women and children from Guyana, Venezuela, Suriname, Brazil, and the Dominican Republic are subjected to sex trafficking in mining communities in the interior and in urban areas. Victims are subjected to forced labour in the mining, agriculture, and forestry sectors, as well as in domestic service and shops. Children are particularly vulnerable to sex trafficking and forced labour.
According to the report, limited government presence in the interior masks the full scope of trafficking crimes.
“Guyanese nationals are subjected to sex and labour trafficking in Suriname, Jamaica, and other countries in the Caribbean region. Some police officers are complicit in trafficking crimes, and corruption impedes anti-trafficking efforts.”
The Government of Guyana does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Despite these measures, the government did not demonstrate overall increasing anti-trafficking efforts compared to the previous reporting period.
“The government released its anti-trafficking action plan in June 2014; however, the government made uneven efforts to implement it during the reporting period.”
Please Prosecute
In its recommendations, the US called for Guyana to vigorously investigate and prosecute sex and labor trafficking cases and hold convicted traffickers accountable with time in prison that is commensurate with the severity of the crime; provide increased funding for NGOs to identify and assist victims; investigate, prosecute, and convict government officials complicit in trafficking; make additional efforts to enable victims to appear in court and testify against traffickers in a way that does not further endanger victims; develop child-sensitive investigation procedures and court procedures that protect the privacy of children and minimize their re-traumatization; in partnership with NGOs, develop and publicize written standard operating procedures to guide and encourage front-line officials—including police, health, immigration, labor, mining, and forestry personnel—to identify and protect victims of forced labor and forced prostitution; do not punish victims for crimes committed as a result of being subjected to human trafficking; and offer increased protection and assistance for victims near mining communities.
The Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report is the U.S. Government’s principal diplomatic tool to engage foreign governments on human trafficking.
It is also the world’s most comprehensive resource of governmental anti-human trafficking efforts and reflects the U.S. Government’s commitment to global leadership on this key human rights and law enforcement issue.
The U.S. Government uses the TIP Report to engage foreign governments in dialogues to advance anti-trafficking reforms and to combat trafficking and to target resources on prevention, protection and prosecution programs.
Worldwide, the report is used by international organizations, foreign governments, and nongovernmental organizations alike as a tool to examine where resources are most needed. Freeing victims, preventing trafficking, and bringing traffickers to justice are the ultimate goals of the report and of the U.S Government’s anti-human trafficking policy.

---

---