1. SUMMARY

GOU authorities responded proactively to the only two TIP cases detected in 2003-2004 (a minor and 13 women trafficked to Italy). In 2003, legislators drafted two laws -- one to Combat Commercial and Non-commercial Sexual Exploitation of and Violence Against Children and Adolescents, and another to Combat Child Pornography and Prostitution. A number of NGOs work against trafficking and provide assistance to victims, and the GOU willingly addresses cases when they arise. The pending legislation will improve enforcement. However, a lack of government and NGO resources limit action on what is a growing problem in Uruguay, especially after over four years of economic recession. Using State Department INL funds, post is sponsoring a major regional program on trafficking and child pornography, whose first major events -- a best practices workshop and Internet anti-child pornography training -- will take place from March 22-25. End Summary.

2. OVERVIEW

Uruguayan society continues to endure the effects of an economic recession that began in 1999. Although the economy started recovering in late 2003, the majority of the population is still struggling in an economy where the currency depreciated by almost 50% in 2002 and where real wages are down while unemployment is up. Consequently, the country is more vulnerable to trafficking activity than in the past.
--18.A. Authorities detected two trafficking cases in the past year, one in 2003 and another in February 2004. The first case dealt with a minor who was being trafficked to Italy for sexual exploitation. The Uruguayan identified as the pimp in the case was prosecuted and imprisoned on charges of procurement and document fraud since he used a fraudulent passport for the minor. In the second case, GOU authorities cooperated with Italian authorities on a trafficking case, detaining a man responsible for luring 13 Uruguayan women to Milan where they were forced into the sex trade. The man is in preventive custody pending extradition by the Italian authorities. The case information provided by INTERPOL is consistent with articles that appeared in the press.
According to data collected from INTERPOL, INAME (the GOU child welfare authority), the Casa de los Ninos (an NGO
that provides victim assistance), the International Institute of the Child (IIN, an OAS technical organization), and AMEPU (a labor union that defends the rights of legal sex workers), women between ages 18 and 24 are the targets of trafficking. In addition, a growing number of minors between ages 11 and 18 are engaging in prostitution. INAME believes that 90% of these minors prostitute themselves to provide economic assistance to their families who allow or actively promote the activity. INAME and the NGOs it works with believe the majority of the remaining 10% prostitute themselves without the involvement of third parties, and a small percentage prostitute themselves in popular tourist areas like Punta del Este with the assistance of taxi drivers and hotel staff who either serve as points of contact or turn a blind eye to what is happening. The majority of minors involved in prostitution come from poor families or are runaways, but the problem has been detected at all levels of society. There are also some foreign prostitutes that enter the country through porous borders, but the authorities and NGOs do not believe they are brought into the country by third parties. The third type of trafficking problem that exists is related to the practice of poor families in rural areas turning their children over to others for domestic service or agricultural work in exchange for food and lodging. The children end up abandoning school and working from a young age. No statistics are available and the practice is not addressed in any existing law, except insofar as the children do not attend school, which is compulsory until tenth grade. The same is true of children who are exploited as beggars by organized groups. Cases against these groups cannot be successfully prosecuted due to the lack of laws that make this type of exploitation illegal.
--18.B. In both criminal cases, the victims were trafficked from Uruguay to Italy. In the case of foreign sex workers and minors that are present in Uruguay, they come into the country from poorer areas in Brazil and Argentina through poorly controlled and highly porous borders. The minors involved in prostitution come from rural areas and from Montevideo and prostitute themselves in Montevideo and tourist areas like Punta del Este.
--18.C. The number of minors engaged in prostitution has increased in the past year according to AMEPU, Casa de los Ninos, IIN and INAME. The increase is attributed to the sustained economic problems in the country, a dwindling middle class and a growing number of families that are subsisting in poverty. The result is a growing acceptance by poor families of child prostitution as a source of income.
--18.D. Casa de los Ninos has a project for carrying out a survey in the border areas; however, the NGO has no funds to carry out the project. There are no plans for a government survey and no new information is available.
--18.E. There is no information available that the country is a destination point for trafficked victims.
--18.F. The population targeted by traffickers is mainly young women between ages 18 and 24. According to INTERPOL and the press, the women who were trafficked to Italy were lured there by offers of legitimate employment and then forced into prostitution, working 15 hours a day in cheap lodging houses. With the exception of the minor who was traveling with a counterfeit passport, the victims traveled of their own free will using legitimate travel documents.
--18.G. In 2003, legislators drafted two laws -- one to Combat Commercial and Non-commercial Sexual Exploitation of and Violence Against Children and Adolescents, and another to Combat Child Pornography and Prostitution. The latter was approved by the House of Representatives and is pending review and approval by the Senate. The GOU responded pro-actively to the trafficking cases detected in 2003 and 2004, processing and imprisoning the perpetrator in the first case and detaining the perpetrator for extradition to Italy in the second case. Immigration authorities stated that they investigate companies requesting foreign workers to determine if they are genuine working enterprises in order to ensure the requests do not involve migrant smuggling. According to INAME, the courts consistently rule in favor of imprisonment for the person engaging or facilitating the services of minors.
--18.H. There is no evidence to imply that governmental authorities or individual members of the government facilitate or condone trafficking.
--18.I. The government's ability to address the problem is limited by the lack of specific legislation and resources.
--18.J. The government does not systematically monitor anti-trafficking efforts. INAME has a project called Blue Line where citizens can denounce the exploitation or abuse of minors, and works with and provides funding for several NGOs that work with street children. The NGOs relay information to INAME. Furthermore, the GOU will participate this year in Post's TIP project funded by INL. The project, to be executed by the IIN, consists of an initial roundtable discussion group that brought together law enforcement officials, legislators, NGOs and child welfare authorities in November 2003; a March 22-23 conference with representatives from MERCOSUR plus Chile and Bolivia to compare efforts and legislation in each country to combat TIP and promote the development of legislation that will allow law enforcement to combat trafficking across borders scheduled; a March 24-25 workshop with DHS experts to train technicians to detect and monitor TIP activity on the Internet; and a final conference in September to share the information gathered and work on implementing the necessary legislation in each country.
--18.K. Prostitution is legal. The minimum age for the activity is 18. Brothels, discos, shows and massage parlors are inspected to ensure that minors are not working there. If minors are detected, owners are fined and the establishments are sometimes closed down.
--18.L. The practice of buying and selling child brides does not occur in Uruguay.

4. INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION OF TRAFFICKERS

--20.A. Uruguay does not have a law specifically prohibiting trafficking in persons. In labor and sexual exploitation cases traffickers are generally prosecuted under the Children and Adolescents Code. The law is from 1934 and the GOU has been trying to revise it since last year to more adequately protect minors, but no consensus has been reached. In other cases involving document fraud, offenders are processed under the Penal Code for Material and Ideological Fraud. The existing laws do not adequately cover the full scope of trafficking in persons and the need for proper legislation is urgent.
--20.B. Penalties for trafficking for sexual exploitation average between 4 to 6 years, but offenders can be paroled after serving half their sentence. Labor exploitation is usually punished by fines or by closing the establishments where the exploitation took place. In the case of the organized group that exploited children as beggars, the case never advanced because there was no appropriate law that could be applied.
--20.C. Cases of forcible assault or rape are usually processed as "violent assaults on modesty" due to lack of evidence. Penalties are generally between 2 or 3 months in prison and then offenders are paroled.
--20.D. The GOU has processed the cases against traffickers that are mentioned in the response to 18.A. above. The perpetrator in the case of the minor that was trafficked was sentenced to 6 years in prison for acting as a pimp and counterfeiting a passport. The pimp in the case of the 13 women is in preventive custody pending extradition to Italy.
--20.E. The international trafficking cases involved an organized group in Milan in which Uruguayan citizens participate. Trafficking inside Uruguay is executed by organized groups who exploit children as beggars; families who give their children into situations of labor exploitation in exchange for food and lodging; and families who allow or facilitate prostitution by minors for economic reasons. Recently there have been reports of taxi drivers and hotel employees in popular tourist areas who facilitate or turn a blind eye to prostitution of minors for sexual tourism. There are no indications that GOU officials are involved.
--20.F. The GOU cooperates with the authorities in other countries in investigating trafficking. The Organized Crime Unit has cooperated with German police to solve cases involving child pornography on the Internet. INTERPOL has cooperated with Italian authorities to solve a trafficking case involving Uruguayan victims and perpetrators. Officers from both entities have obtained some training from colleagues in Argentina and other countries. Investigative techniques such as surveillance, undercover operations, and mitigated punishment or immunity for cooperation must be authorized by a judge. However, there is no law that prohibits these activities.
--20.G. The GOU does not have any program for specialized training for officials on how to recognize, investigate and prosecute trafficking, but INTERPOL officers and officers from the Organized Crime Unit participate in courses with colleagues from other countries when the opportunity arises and will be participating in Post's TIP project training workshop.
--20.H. The GOU cooperates with other governments in the investigation and prosecution of trafficking cases as noted in the responses to 18.A and 20.F.above.
--20.I. The GOU allows the extradition of persons charged with trafficking in other countries, including its own nationals (see responses to 18.A and 20.F). The extradition in the case that occurred in February is still pending.
--20.J. There is no evidence of government involvement in or tolerance of trafficking.
--20.K. Not applicable.
--20.L. The GOU has signed, ratified and taken steps to implement ILO Convention 182; ILO Convention 105; the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography; and, the Protocol to Prevent and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, supplementing the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime.

5. PROTECTION AND ASSISTANCE TO VICTIMS

--21.A. Not applicable. There is no evidence that Uruguay is the destination point for trafficking and no cases have been recorded.
--21.B. INAME has agreements with and provides funding for several NGOs that provide assistance to victims (minors). See response to 19.F above.
--21.C. Courts refer minor victims in trafficking cases to INAME, which arranges for short or long term care from NGOs. There is no screening and referral process in place to directly transfer victims detained or arrested.
--21.D. Law enforcement officers have no specific training in dealing with victims. Victims are not prosecuted for prostitution.
--21.E. There are no obstructions to victim's seeking to press charges against their exploiters, but there is no victim restitution program. Uruguay does not appear to be a destination for trafficking.
--21.F. Protection measures for victims and witnesses are established in INAME's action plan, but the plan has not been implemented yet.
--21.G. The GOU does not provide specialized training for government officials in recognizing trafficking and providing assistance to victims. Informal training is received through cooperation with the authorities in other countries and by attending international seminars and conferences.
--21.H. Medical aid is available to victims of trafficking under the public health system. No financial help or shelters are available.
--21.I. El Faro, SOMOS, Arco Iris, Andenes, Claves - Juventud Para Cristo, BICE (Catholic technical assistance) and Casa de los Ninos work with trafficking victims. Some NGOs offer treatment for victims of abuse and trafficking and other provide shelter, food or education. All work with minors. The GOU does not have programs for victim assistance because Uruguay is not a destination of international trafficking. Assistance to victims of labor and sexual exploitation of minors is available through INAME and NGOs. More extensive assistance is not available due to lack of resources.