According to the Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP) 2012, the US State Department has removed Costa Rica from its blacklist of countries for people trafficking. The report was presented yesterday by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
“These victims of modern slavery are women and men, girls and boys, and their stories remind us of what kind of inhumane treatment we are still capable of as human beings,” said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Legally in Costa Rica, many advances have been completed in this area, such as Article 172 which stipulates from 8 to 16 years of incarceration for criminal groups that commit human trafficking in cases in which the victim is a minor or in a position of susceptibility or disability or when any form of violence, intimidation or coercion has taken place.
Organizations such as OIJ, INAMU, the Coalition Against Smuggling of Migrants and Trafficking (CNCTIMTP) and the International Organization for Migration (OIM) are some of the institutions in charge of preventing, prosecuting and working against this issue.
A country’s tier ranking is based on the government’s efforts against trafficking as measured by the TVPA minimum standards. TIER 1 are of countries whose governments fully comply with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act’s (TVPA) minimum standards, while TIER 2 countries are those whose governments do not fully comply with the TVPA’s minimum standards, but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards, while.
Countries on the TIER 2 WATCH LIST as those whose governments do not entirely comply with the TVPA’s minimum standards, but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards, and TIER 3 countries are those whose governments do not fully comply with the minimum standards and are not making major efforts to do so.
In the Americas, only Canada, Colombia, Nicaragua and the US have Tier 1 assignments.
The report says that Costa Rica increased prevention efforts during the reporting year. In partnership with an international organization and with foreign government funding, Costa Rican authorities launched an extensive consciousness campaign during the year.
The government’s anti-trafficking directorate, which coordinated the national anti-trafficking coalition, continued to lead government efforts. The coalition met six times during the year and its four committees reported meeting on a monthly basis, a significant increase from the previous year, when the alliance only met twice.
During the year it drafted a new comprehensive anti-trafficking law, developed a national action plan on human trafficking and human smuggling, and educated over 2,000 students and civil society members. Authorities aligned with civil society organizations and the tourist industry to train companies to identity and report profit-making sexual exploitation of children, resulting in increased reports to the tourist police during the year.
The TIP 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 matter.
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