Trafficking in Persons Report 2008
COSTA RICA (Tier 2)
COSTA RICA (Tier 2 Watch List)
Costa Rica is a source, transit, and destination country
for men, women, and children trafficked for the
purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and
forced labor. Women and girls from Nicaragua, the
Dominican Republic, Colombia, Panama, Russia,
Uzbekistan, and the Philippines are trafficked into
the country for sexual exploitation. Costa Rica also
serves as a transit point for victims trafficked to
the United States, Mexico, Canada, and Europe.
Costa Rican women and children are trafficked
internally and to El Salvador, Guatemala, Japan,
and the United States for sexual exploitation. The
government identifies child sex tourism as a serious
problem. Men, women, and children are trafficked
within the country for forced labor in fishing and
construction, and as domestic servants. Young
men from Nicaragua, as well as Chinese nationals,
are trafficked to Costa Rica for labor exploitation,
mostly in agriculture and construction.
The Government of Costa Rica does not fully comply
with the minimum standards for the elimination of
trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to
do so. Costa Rica is placed on Tier 2 Watch List for
its failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts
to combat human trafficking, particularly in terms
of its failure to improve its inadequate assistance to
victims. While Costa Rican officials recognize human
trafficking as a serious problem, the lack of a stronger
response by the government is of concern, especially
due to the significant number of victims present in
the country.
Recommendations for Costa Rica: Amend laws to
prohibit all forms of trafficking in persons; intensify
efforts to investigate and prosecute trafficking
offenses, and ensure that offenders are convicted
and sentenced appropriately; provide greater legal
protections and assistance for victims; increase
training for law enforcement; and improve data
collection for trafficking crimes.
Prosecution
The Government of Costa Rica demonstrated
some law enforcement efforts against traffickers.
Costa Rica does not prohibit all forms of human
trafficking, although Article 172 of its criminal
code criminalizes transnational trafficking for the
purposes of sexual or labor servitude, prescribing
punishments of three to six years’ imprisonment.
Trafficking of children is prohibited by Article 376,
and carries penalties of two to four years’ imprisonment.
Costa Rican law also prohibits the commercial
sexual exploitation of children through Article
161 of its penal code, which carries penalties of
up to 10 years in prison. While these penalties are
sufficiently stringent, they are not commensurate
with penalties prescribed for other serious crimes
such as rape. Moreover, Costa Rican law does not prohibit the trafficking of adults within the country. In March 2007, the government proposed legislative
reforms to better define the offense of trafficking in
persons and to provide more assistance to trafficking
victims; the Costa Rican legislature should
make every effort to pass such changes this year. In
July 2007, the government enacted criminal-code
reforms to strengthen legal protections for children.
During 2006, the latest period for which official
statistics are available, the government opened 11
trafficking-in-persons investigations, but secured no
convictions or sentences against perpetrators.
Although statistics from earlier years are difficult
to compare due to the lack of trafficking-specific
data, law enforcement efforts against trafficking
offenders appear to have remained static or have
declined during the past three years. In 2007, the
judicial police also opened six investigations into
international trafficking organizations, and cooperated
with neighboring countries, Interpol, and U.S.
law enforcement counterparts. The government
significantly increased anti-trafficking training for
law enforcement, and collaborated with NGOs and
international organizations on additional training.
No prosecutions for trafficking-related corruption
were opened in 2007, although one investigation
was underway at year’s end.
Protection
The Costa Rican government made inadequate
efforts to provide protection for trafficking victims
in 2007, and relies on NGOs and international
organizations to provide the bulk of assistance.
There are no specialized shelters or services for trafficking
victims, although the government did fund
an NGO working with victims of sexual exploitation.
Overall, protective services remain lacking,
although trafficking victims may be able to access
services provided for adult and minor victims of
violent crime. There is no formalized mechanism
for referring trafficking victims to NGOs, and the
government employed no formal procedures for
identifying trafficking victims among vulnerable
populations, such as persons detained for prostitution
or immigration violations. The government
generally did not penalize victims for unlawful acts
committed as a direct result of being trafficked.
However, officials treated some foreign adults as
illegal migrants and deported them without taking
steps to determine if they were trafficking victims.
The law does not provide temporary residency
status for foreign trafficking victims, although
foreign nationals may be able to apply for work
permits or refugee status. Costa Rican authorities
encouraged victims to assist in the investigation
and prosecution of their traffickers. There are no
programs to assist trafficking victims repatriated
from other countries, although the government
collaborated with IOM on an ad hoc basis last year
to provide psychological assistance for two victims who had been trafficked to Japan. The government
published a manual for law enforcement on identifying
trafficking cases involving children.
Prevention
The government improved prevention efforts during
the reporting year. The President condemned
human trafficking in public statements, and the
government acknowledges the serious nature of the
problem. The government also prosecuted 77 cases
relating to the commercial sexual exploitation of
minors, which reflected solid government efforts
to reduce consumer demand for sexual acts with
children. The government achieved six convictions
against offenders, with sentences ranging
from two to 50 years in prison. Public campaigns
against child sex tourism continued, in addition
to widespread media and billboard notices
designed to warn young women of the dangers of commercial sexual exploitation.
The government
continued to support a national hotline project
publicized through a nationwide media campaign
featuring U.S. pop singer Ricky Martin. The government
improved coordination with NGOs and
international organizations on prevention activities,
and sponsored campaigns to reduce demand
for commercial sex acts with minors by warning
potential exploiters that they will be prosecuted in
Costa Rica. Approximately 200 tour companies in
Costa Rica in 2007 signed a conduct code as part
of a global initiative against the commercial sexual
exploitation of children.
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