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### Viewing cable 06SANJOSE481, COSTA RICA 2005 TIP REPORT

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
06SANJOSE481 | 2006-03-02 14:02 | 2011-03-08 16:04 | UNCLASSIFIED | Embassy San Jose

Appears in these articles:
http://www.nacion.com/2011-03-06/Investigacion/NotasDestacadas/Investigacion2702320.aspx
http://www.nacion.com/2011-03-06/Investigacion/NotaPrincipal/Investigacion2702324.aspx
http://www.nacion.com/2011-03-06/Investigacion/NotasSecundarias/Investigacion2702325.aspx
http://www.nacion.com/2011-03-06/Investigacion/NotasSecundarias/Investigacion2702326.aspx
http://www.nacion.com/2011-03-06/Investigacion/NotasSecundarias/Investigacion2702327.aspx

`

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

` `

    UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 SAN JOSE 000481

    SIPDIS

    DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, PRM, IWI, WHA/PPC, AND
    WHA/CEN

    E.O. 12958: N/A
    TAGS: PHUM KCRM SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB CS
    SUBJECT: COSTA RICA 2005 TIP REPORT

    REF: STATE 3836

    The following is Embassy San Jose's submission for the 2005
    annual anti-trafficking in persons (TIP) report.  Responses
    are keyed to checklist questions outlined in reftel,
    beginning at paragraph 21.  Post's POC for the report is
    Political Officer Robert Copley.  Telephone number: (506)
    519-2253.  Fax: (506) 519-2364. Total number of hours spent
    in preparing the TIP report: Poloff Copley: 45, Political
    Assistant Hellen Sanou: 20, Political Counselor: 1, Consular:
    1, RSO: 1, DCM: 2.

    --------
    OVERVIEW
    --------
    21A.  Costa Rica is a country mainly of transit, destination
    and, to a much lesser degree, origin for internationally
    trafficked men, women, and children.  Specific numbers for
    each population are unavailable, but government and
    non-government sources agree that women and children
    constitute the majority of trafficking victims who pass
    through Costa Rica.  Trafficking also occurs within the
    country's borders.  There are currently no comprehensive
    estimates as to the extent of the problem.  Post is aware of
    a recent G/TIP-funded study by Johns Hopkins University to
    assess the potential scope of the trafficking problem in
    Costa Rica.  The Ministry of Public Security noted that the
    number of raids in connection with sexual exploitation crimes
    nearly doubled last year in relation to 2004, which was
    double the rate for 2003.

    Sources of information for this report include the Chief
    Prosecutor's Office, the Migration Department, the Public
    Security Ministry, the Women's Ministry, the Children's
    Welfare Institution (PANI), the Judicial Investigative Police
    (OIJ), the OIJ's special trafficking crimes investigative
    unit, the Legislative Assembly, the International
    Organization for Migration (IOM), the International Labor
    Organization (ILO), the United Nations' Children's Fund
    (UNICEF), nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) Save the
    Children Sweden, Defense of Children International, Paniamor,
    Alianza Por Tus Derechos, Fundacion Rahab, and the press.
    Women and children are the most at risk of being trafficked.

    21B.  Persons continued to be trafficked to and through Costa
    Rica from all over the world during 2005.  Police and NGOs
    reported that main source countries include the Dominican
    Republic, Colombia, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Ecuador, Cuba,
    Peru, Russia, China, and the Philippines.  Governmental and
    nongovernmental sources agree that individuals are trafficked
    internationally mainly to the United States, Canada, Mexico,
    and Europe.  Investigators from the OIJ's trafficking crimes
    unit said that internal trafficking victims are generally
    moved from one location to another.  IOM continues to report
    indications of trafficked Russian women in the southern
    Golfito area.  IOM also reported that Dominican women are
    flown to Panama, and then brought illegally overland into
    Costa Rica to dance in nightclubs.  Once in Costa Rica, they
    are forced to engage in commercial sex work.  Victims are
    threatened with physical harm if they do not comply with the
    traffickers' demands, and the traffickers may also threaten
    to harm the victims' families.  The victims' travel documents
    are routinely seized, and debt bondage is common.

    NGO Paniamor reported that some trafficking activities are
    timed to coincide with the harvest season.  Women and
    children from neighboring countries sometimes voluntarily
    travel to Costa Rica to engage in commercial sex work with
    agricultural workers (banana plantations, for example), and
    later fall into organized networks of commercial sexual
    exploitation.

    Methods used to approach the victims include false offers of
    lucrative employment.  Defense of Children International
    reported that advertisements via internet and newspapers for
    hotel staff and models are used to lure females.  The Public
    Security Ministry reported cases of young Costa Rican women
    who were lured overseas by false employment offers promising
    a USD 1,500 weekly salary in addition to paid housing.
    Immigration officials reported a substantial increase in 2005
    in the number of apparently poor young women traveling for
    the first time and alone to destinations such as Japan,
    Europe, and Canada.  These young women believe they have good
    jobs waiting for them and appear to have been well briefed on
    what to say to immigration officers.

    Individuals are also trafficked internally in Costa Rica.
    According to the Ministry of Public Security, people from
    poor outlying areas are trafficked to the capital of San
    Jose.  People are also trafficked from the capital to the
    high-tourism areas, such as the Pacific coastal areas of
    Guanacaste Province and the Caribbean port of Limon.

    The GOCR continued to demonstrate political will and to make
    progress, within its limited resources, against trafficking
    during 2005.  The GOCR has particularly targeted child sexual
    exploitation.

    21C.  Lack of resources, particularly funding for police,
    prosecutors, and shelters for victims severely hampered
    government efforts to fight trafficking in 2005.  The police,
    judicial investigators, and prosecutors all reported that
    lack of human and financial resources limited their ability
    to conduct investigations, carry out undercover operations,
    acquire technology, and pay informants.  The Children's
    Welfare Institution (PANI) lacks resources to maintain the
    number of shelters needed to accommodate trafficking and
    commercial sexual exploitation victims who are minors.  There
    are no shelters specifically for trafficking victims.  Save
    the Children, Defense of Children International, IOM, and ILO
    all reported that the government lacks the resources to
    provide victims with rehabilitation services.  There is no
    systematized operation to provide assistance to foreign
    victims waiting to be repatriated.  There are some
    indications of minor corruption at the local level.

    21D. The GOCR does not systematically monitor its anti-TIP
    efforts.  Individual units keep internal statistics but in
    differing formats, even within the same institution.
    Trafficking information is shared informally during regular
    meetings of a national-level committee comprised of
    government officials and NGOs--the National Commission
    Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Minors (CONACOES).

    Prevention
    ----------
    22A.  The GOCR acknowledges that trafficking is a problem in
    Costa Rica, especially sexual exploitation of minors.  There
    is some confusion, however, among some government officials
    about the differences between trafficking, alien smuggling,
    and commercial sexual exploitation.  Some officials use the
    terms interchangeably.  As mentioned above, the majority of
    efforts and resources in Costa Rica are focused on commercial
    sexual exploitation of minors.

    22B.  Government agencies involved in anti-trafficking
    efforts include the Ministry of Public Security, the
    Migration Department, the Children's Welfare Institution
    (PANI), Judicial Investigative Police (OIJ), the Office of
    the Chief Prosecutor, and the Ombudsman's Office.  No agency
    has the lead, but the investigative, prosecutorial, and
    judiciary authorities are all part of the independent
    judicial branch of the Costa Rican Government.  As mentioned
    in 21D above, trafficking activities are informally
    coordinated through CONACOES.  A sub-committee of CONACOES,
    called the Coalition Against Trafficking was formed in
    November 2005 to create a more agile working group among the
    ministries and NGOs that most directly cooperate against
    trafficking.  The coalition is chaired by the Minister of
    Public Security.

    22C.  The Migration Department continued a national public
    information campaign, launched in 2004, and designed to deter
    tourists who might be interested in sexual tourism.  The
    campaign included posters in airports and placing inserts in
    immigration documents that warned incoming tourists of the
    criminal sanctions against sexual exploitation of minors.
    There are also billboards along the routes to major beach
    hotels.  In December 2005, PANI implemented a national
    information campaign in conjunction with Microsoft to help
    school children navigate safely on the Internet.  On February
    15, 2006, the GOCR launched a series of TV, radio, and
    billboard ads warning young women of the dangers of
    commercial sexual exploitation.  The ads feature adolescent
    girls encouraging other girls to reject money or gifts in
    exchange for travel that could result in sexual exploitation.
     The ads were designed and financed in cooperation with
    several international NGO,s, UNICRI, and the Italian
    government.

    22D.  IOM and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that
    the GOCR has programs that indirectly help to prevent
    trafficking.  For example, the Women's Ministry has programs
    that support the role of a mother in ensuring her children
    remain in school, programs to support adolescent mothers; and
    programs to involve women in micro-enterprise.  The Ministry
    also provides school vouchers and scholarships to help offset
    education costs that can be prohibitive to low-income
    families.

    22F.  Aside from regular CONACOES meetings, there is no
    formal mechanism to coordinate communication between agencies
    involved in combating trafficking.  Due to Costa Rica,s
    small size, all members of the anti-trafficking community are
    well and personally known to each other.  Professional
    jealousies and bureaucratic turf battles occasionally limit
    effective use of the GOCR,s already-limited resources.

    22G.  The GOCR monitors migratory movements of people for
    evidence of trafficking patterns.  Immigration officials at
    the airports, for example, detected and reported a
    substantial increase in 2005 in the number of apparently poor
    young women traveling for the first time and alone to
    destinations such as Japan, Europe, and Canada.  Porous land
    borders with neighboring Nicaragua and Panama are impossible
    to effectively monitor for trafficking of all kinds.
    Immigration officials and NGOs reported female minors aged
    12-18 continue to be trafficked, even through formal border
    checkpoints, in tractor-trailer trucks.  Some of these minors
    are recruited; others look for rides themselves.

    22H.  As mentioned in 22F above, there is no mechanism for
    coordination and communication aside from CONACOES, which
    functions as an informal clearinghouse for information based
    on the personal relationships among its members.
    Internationally, the Ministry of Public Security cooperates
    with other countries' migration departments, Interpol, and
    the FBI to identify and detain suspected traffickers.  The
    GOCR also participates in the Commission of Central American
    Migration Directors (OCAM), which includes trafficking in its
    general work plan, and the Regional Conference on Migration
    (CRM).  The GOCR does not have a TIP task force, but a
    two-year G/TIP-financed program of joint training and
    equipment donations has improved inter-agency cooperation.
    The GOCR has a public corruption task force, which is located
    in the Office of the Deputy Attorney General for Ethics.

    22J.  The GOCR does not have a national action plan to
    address trafficking in persons.  The National Child and
    Adolescence Plan refers to prevention of trafficking and
    protection of victims.

    Investigation and Prosecution of Traffickers
    --------------------------------------------
    23A-B.  In November 2005, the Legislative Assembly ratified a
    long-awaited reform to Costa Rica,s immigration law.  The
    new law, which will enter into force in August 2006, makes
    alien smuggling a crime for the first time.  Costa Rica still
    does not have a specific law prohibiting trafficking in
    persons.  However, trafficking is proscribed in Title III
    (known as the Law Against Sexual Exploitation of Minors) and
    Title XVII (which deals with human rights crimes of an
    international nature) of the Criminal Code.  Articles 156 to
    163 of Title III were revised in August 1999 to include
    sexual crimes against minors.  The reforms broadened the
    situations and conditions under which such crimes are
    penalized.  Lack of a specific law against trafficking makes
    keeping uniform statistics extremely difficult since not all
    forms of trafficking are covered under these statutes and not
    all crimes charged under these statutes constitute
    trafficking.

    Article 169, which criminalizes pimping, states: "Anyone who
    promotes the prostitution of persons of any gender, maintains
    them in prostitution, induces them to practice prostitution,
    or recruits them for this purpose will be sanctioned with a
    prison term of two to five years.  The same sentence will be
    imposed for those who maintain a person in sexual servitude."
     Article 170 criminalizes aggravated pimping with a 4-10 year
    prison term as the penalty for individuals who: pimp minors
    under 18 years of age; use deceit, violence, abuse of
    authority, or exploitation of a victim's economic situation;
    use any means of intimidation or coercion; have a sibling or
    blood relationship or have a custodial relationship or has a
    tutor/teacher relationship; or have a relationship of
    confidence with the victim or the family, regardless of
    kinship.  Under Article 170, the will of the victim (i.e.,
    the victim's consent to engage in prostitution) is considered
    irrelevant to the offense.

    Article 172 deals with international trafficking in persons.
    It says: "Anyone who promotes, facilitates, or favors the
    entrance or exit from Costa Rica of persons of any gender so
    that they may practice prostitution or in order to maintain
    them in sexual or labor servitude will be sanctioned with a
    prison term of three to six years."  The sentence will be
    4-10 years if it involves any aggravating factor enumerated
    under Article 170 on aggravated pimping (if the victim is a
    minor, for instance).

    Under Title XVII of the Criminal Code on crimes against human
    rights, Articles 374, 376, and 377 have to do with
    trafficking.  Article 374 covers "crimes of an international
    character."  It states that a prison term of 10-15 years will
    be imposed upon persons who run or form part of an
    organization of an international character dedicated to
    trafficking slaves, women or children, narcotics, or that
    carries out acts of terrorism or infringes upon regulations
    envisaged in treaties subscribed to by Costa Rica to protect
    human rights.

    Article 376 establishes a prison sentence of 2-4 years for
    individuals who sell, promote, or facilitate the sale of a
    minor (for domestic service, commercial sex work, or
    adoption) and receive any type of payment, gratuity, or
    economic reward for their action.  The same sanction is
    applied to individuals who pay, give a reward, or otherwise
    remunerate with the purpose of receiving a minor.  If the
    perpetrator of the crime has a blood relationship with the
    minor, or is the minor's guardian or custodian, or
    "represents" the minor, the sanction is increased to 4-6
    years.  The same sentence of 4-6 years is imposed if the
    perpetrator who sells, promotes, facilitates, or legitimizes
    in any way the act of the sale of a minor is a professional
    or public employee.  The sanction against professional and
    public employees also includes a 2-6 year suspension from
    working in the profession or office they held when they
    committed the crime.

    Article 377 imposes a 5-10 prison term on individuals who
    promote or facilitate the trafficking of children for
    adoption with the purpose of selling the child's organs.

    These laws are currently being used in trafficking cases.
    Investigators in the OIJ's special trafficking crimes unit, a
    juvenile court judge, ILO, IOM, and representatives from
    several NGOs reported to Poloff that the current legislation
    is not adequate to cover the full scope of trafficking in
    persons.  The investigators lamented the difficulty of
    prosecuting cases under the current legislation.  IOM and ILO
    both commented on loopholes in the law.  For example, current
    legislation only penalizes sexual and labor exploitation if
    the victims have crossed an international border.  There is
    no law against internal (within the borders of Costa Rica)
    trafficking.  CONACOES presented several legal reforms to
    better define trafficking and to expand the definition in
    order to criminalize internal trafficking in 2005.  The
    proposed reforms were incorporated into a single bill (Number
    14,578) which received unanimous support in the Judicial
    Committee and now awaits discussion in the plenary.

    23C. The penalty for rape ranges from 10-18 years, depending
    on the relation of the rapist to the victim and the degree of
    harm done to the health of the victim.

    23D.  Prostitution for individuals over the age of 18 in
    Costa Rica is legal.  In August 2005, the coordinator for HIV
    programs at the Costa Rican Social Security Institute (CCSS)
    estimated the number of female prostitutes in Costa Rica at
    8,750, based on surveys of the 2,700 female prostitutes who
    sought medical treatment at CCSS facilities during 2004.
    According to this estimate, 40 percent of these women are not
    Costa Rican (20 percent Nicaraguan, 10 percent Dominican, 6
    percent Colombian, and 4 percent other).  Pimping is a crime
    punishable by two to five years in prison.  Brothel owners
    and operators are subject to the same sanctions as pimps.
    See Article 169 and Article 170 in section 22A-B above
    (sanctions range from two to ten years in prison).  NGOs
    agree that laws against brothel owners and pimps are
    insufficiently enforced.  The Ministry of Public Security
    increased the number of raids it carried out on brothels
    during 2005.

    23E.  It is difficult to collect significant statistics on
    the GOCR,s efforts against traffickers.  The best measures,
    given the GOCR,s own emphasis on child sexual exploitation,
    are cases involving paid sex with children.  This is an
    incomplete measure involving only one aspect of trafficking,
    but the statistic is uniformly reported by the Supreme Court,
    allowing year-on-year comparisons.  Without a specific law
    against trafficking, more comprehensive analysis would
    require physical visits to each court,s jurisdiction to
    review sentences in individual cases.  This is prohibitively
    labor-intensive, even for NGOs.

    The Chief Prosecutor,s Office, which has its own child
    sexual exploitation unit, reported 37 investigations during
    2005 involving one of the trafficking laws described in
    question 23 A-B above.  At least one of these investigations
    has resulted in formal trafficking charges.  No further
    information is available, as these cases remain under
    investigation.  According to statistics published by the
    Supreme Court, 19 cases involving paid sex with minors were
    investigated by the OIJ trafficking unit during the first 9
    months of 2005 for which statistics are available.  In all of
    2004, prosecutors opened 18 trafficking investigations and
    obtained convictions in two cases.  The Supreme Court will
    publish final statistics for 2005 in the May-June, 2006
    timeframe.  At that time, we will also have statistics on the
    number of 2005 convictions under trafficking laws.  The only
    way to get information on the length of actual sentences is,
    as mentioned above, to visit individual courts.

    The Child Sexual Exploitation unit of the Ministry of Public
    Security (police) carried out 59 raids on establishments
    where child sexual exploitation was suspected in 2005.  This
    is nearly double the 30 raids carried out in 2004.  The unit
    also located and re-arrested 41 convicted pedophiles or
    repeat rapists who, for a multitude of reasons, were not
    serving their jail terms.  The three-person OIJ special
    investigative unit that focuses exclusively on trafficking
    told us it is conducting a delicate investigation of a Costa
    Rican official allegedly involved in internal trafficking of
    minors for sexual exploitation.

    23F.  According to the OIJ trafficking unit, international
    groups are behind the trafficking operations they are
    investigating.  The heads of the operations are foreigners,
    who may or may not be physically located in Costa Rica.
    Uruguayans, Cubans, Dominicans, Colombians, Americans, and
    Chinese have been identified as heads of trafficking
    operations.  The investigators reported that traffickers
    often use banks and money exchange centers as part of their
    operation.  NGO Fundacion Rahab reported that traffickers
    also operate under the guise of travel companies and
    matrimonial agencies.  The Chief Prosecutor's Office reported
    that some traffickers work freelance and are often also
    involved in alien smuggling.  The successful prosecutions
    Post is aware of involve small local or regional groups.
    Post has no reports on where profits from trafficking in
    persons are being channeled.

    23G.  The GOCR actively investigates cases of trafficking to
    the extent financial and personnel resources permit.
    Undercover operations, electronic surveillance, and mitigated
    punishment or immunity for cooperating suspects are all
    legally available to the GOCR.  Investigators outside of the
    capital received training and equipment donations from the
    Embassy in 2005 in order to enhance their ability to conduct
    investigations.  OIJ investigators in the capital possess
    some training and equipment but are only able to conduct
    sporadic operations in the provinces.

    23H.  The GOCR provides specialized training, particularly to
    immigration officials, on recognition of trafficking.
    Several NGOs work closely with the Police Academy and
    Judicial School to provide sensitivity training for officials
    on special handling techniques for trafficking victims they
    may encounter.  Investigative and prosecutorial training is
    not specialized for trafficking.

    23I.  The GOCR cooperates closely with the U.S. government on
    investigations and prosecutions of trafficking cases.  Post
    is also aware of an ongoing trafficking case in which Costa
    Rican and Nicaraguan prosecutors are cooperating closely to
    collect evidence concerning numerous Nicaraguan minors who
    were trafficked to Costa Rica during 2005.

    23J.  The GOCR willingly extradites persons who are charged
    with trafficking to other countries and cooperates very
    actively in returning U.S. fugitives.  Post is unaware of any
    U.S. traffickers being located in or extradited from Costa
    Rica in 2005.  Five American Citizens are currently serving
    jail sentences in Costa Rica for sexual abuse involving
    minors.  Two others were deported to the United States to
    face sex abuse charges during 2005.  The Costa Rican
    Constitution prohibits extradition of Costa Rican nationals
    to any jurisdiction; there is no effort to modify this
    restriction.

    23K.  NGO,s have reported indications of low-level
    tolerance/involvement of trafficking by immigration officials
    at border checkpoints.  These accounts often consist of
    border guards accepting sexual favors from trafficking
    victims in exchange for allowing them to enter Costa Rica
    without proper documents.  Media accounts confirm various
    kinds of low-level official corruption at the borders.  The
    ongoing OIJ investigation mentioned in paragraph 23E also
    involves a Costa Rican official.

    23L.  To Post,s knowledge, no Costa Rican official has been
    prosecuted for trafficking.

    23M.  Post does not have information on the number of foreign
    pedophiles the GOCR has prosecuted or deported to their
    country of origin.  Costa Rica's child sexual abuse laws do
    not have a specific provision for extraterritorial coverage.

    23N.  ILO Convention 182 was signed by the GOCR on August 17,
    2001 and ratified on August 31, 2001.  ILO Convention 29 was
    ratified on May 26, 1960.  ILO Convention 105 was ratified on
    April 17, 1959.  The Optional Protocol to the Convention of
    the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child
    Prostitution, and Child Pornography was signed on September
    7, 2000 and ratified on February 11, 2002.  The Protocol to
    Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons was
    signed on March 16, 2001 and ratified on November 4, 2002.

    Protection and Assistance to Victims
    ------------------------------------
    24A.  The Chief Prosecutor's Office has a victims assistance
    office that trafficking victims can appeal to if they choose
    to press charges against their trafficker.  There is no
    specialized shelter for trafficking victims.  The GOCR does
    not have trafficking victim care or victim health care
    facilities.  By law, minor victims who are illegally in the
    country cannot be deported.  The Children's Welfare
    Institution does have general shelters in which it can
    temporarily place trafficking victims who are minors.  The
    Ministry of Public Security has established coordination with
    the Chief Prosecutor's office on sex crimes in order to
    assist trafficking victims with hospitalization (when needed)
    and legal representation.  The Public Security Ministry can
    provide protection to key witnesses in trafficking cases, but
    the GOCR lacks a formal witness protection program.
    According to the Ministry, the GOCR provides economic
    assistance for two months in addition to a one-time payment
    of approximately USD 27.  The Children's Welfare Institution
    lacks the budget and personnel to create a specialized center
    to attend to the needs of young victims.

    24B.  The GOCR is unable to provide funding or other support
    to NGOs for services to victims.  With its current budget,
    the GOCR is unable to maintain critical infrastructure such
    as schools, roads, and hospitals.  It simply does not have
    funding to provide services to trafficking victims beyond the
    standard emergency services available to anyone.

    24C.  According to the OIJ trafficking unit, there is no
    screening or referral process in place to transfer detained
    victims to NGOs that can provide short- or long-term care.
    The Public Security Ministry reported that there is a
    procedure in place to provide assistance and ensure
    repatriation of victims.  The Ministry is working with the
    IOM and the Children,s Welfare Institution to develop an
    inter-institutional protocol for the handling and
    repatriation of child trafficking victims.

    24D.  ILO reported that trafficking victims who are minors
    are treated as victims and not as criminals, since the legal
    code on children and adolescents clearly indicates that all
    such minors are victims.  NGO Fundacion Rahab reported that
    it works with victims to help them overcome fears of
    cooperating with authorities, and to that end prosecutors
    take the victims' statements at the NGO's offices.  To the
    extent that adult trafficking victims are confused with
    illegal aliens, however, they are sometimes treated as
    criminals and summarily deported.  In no case are they
    prosecuted or fined.

    24E.  The Ministry of Public Security reported that the GOCR
    encourages victims to assist in the investigation and
    prosecution of trafficking.  Victims can file civil suits
    against their traffickers.  Victims may remain in Costa Rica,
    but are also allowed to leave.  If they wish to remain, they
    may apply for work permits.  Some nationalities, such as
    Colombians and Cubans, can easily receive refugee status.

    24F.  The Children's Welfare Institution is charged with
    providing protection to victims who are minors.  NGO,
    international organization, and GOCR employees reported that
    the Institution does not have the resources to provide the
    necessary services and shelter to victims.  There are no
    shelters run or funded by the GOCR specifically for
    trafficking victims.  The OIJ has a victims' assistance
    office, but it is a general office for victims of all types
    of crimes.

    24G.  A training manual was produced and distributed to all
    Costa Rican diplomatic missions that provides information on
    combating trafficking in minors.  The ILO and the Migration
    Department provided training to border officials on how to
    help prevent trafficking.  The training included instruction
    on the difference between alien smuggling and trafficking;
    the responsibility of migration officials to prevent, detect,
    and report trafficking cases they identify; and the
    officials' obligation to protect trafficking victims.

    24H.  Post is not aware of any GOCR support for repatriated
    Costa Ricans who are victims of trafficking.

    24I.  International Organizations working with trafficking
    victims include IOM and ILO.  International NGOs working with
    trafficking victims include Defense of Children International
    and Save the Children Sweden.  Local NGOs include Fundacion
    Rahab, Alianza Por Tus Derechos, and Paniamor.  IOM is
    working on several projects including repatriation of victims
    and creating a regional network of key governmental figures
    involved in the fight against trafficking.  Fundacion Rahab,
    with funds from ILO, operates a center in Limon that helps
    victims who are minors reintegrate back into their homes and
    schools.
    LANGDALE

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