Trafficking in Persons Report 2012 Argentina
Contents:
During the reporting period, PROTEX successfully appealed a case leading to the reopening of an investigation after allegations surfaced that one of three judges assigned to the case was involved in covering up trafficking crimes. In another case, investigations revealed members of the security forces and the judiciary were believed to be involved with three human trafficking networks; authorities indicted 26 individuals accused of sexual exploitation, and the case was pending at the end of the reporting period.
In addition, the government indicted a provincial mayor and superintendent for allegedly protecting a sex trafficking organization. Despite several ongoing investigations and formal indictments, including cases from the previous year, there were no convictions of complicit officials.
The government provided numerous anti-trafficking trainings to law enforcement, prosecutors, and judicial officials, among others, including virtual training courses. The government increased protection efforts. The Program for Rescue is the government office responsible for coordinating emergency victim services nationwide; in , it reported identifying potential trafficking victims, compared with in This includes all individuals discovered during anti-trafficking law enforcement raids, some of whom were likely in exploitative labor situations that may not rise to the level of forced labor.
Federal officials had formal procedures for victim identification and assistance; however, in practice, the procedures to identify victims among vulnerable populations varied by province.
Some front-line responders had limited understanding of trafficking; the government did not make efforts to identify victims of domestic servitude. Regional governments in the provinces of Chaco, Santa Fe, La Pampa, Mendoza, and La Rioja operated anti-trafficking centers, which provided psychological, social, medical, and judicial assistance to trafficking victims.
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In , the government opened two more centers, in the provinces of Chubut and Rio Negro. A government-funded NGO operated two shelters that assisted trafficking victims, one in Buenos Aires, and one in Tucuman. The Secretariat for Children, Adolescents, and Families also operated two shelters, one for children and one for women. There were no specialized shelters for male victims; therefore, the government often placed male victims in other government-funded shelters or in hotels for temporary housing, while others returned to their country or province of origin.
The Program for Rescue reported all identified victims could receive emergency assistance during the early stages of the investigation and during the initial testimony for the courts; the Ministry of Social Development provided mid-term and long-term care assistance. NGOs reported a need for long-term housing, skills training and employment, childcare and legal assistance.
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Foreign victims had the same access to care as Argentine nationals; however, victims were sometimes unaware of services available. Authorities did not report how many received assistance during the reporting period. The government did not report the number of victims who received repatriation assistance. There were no reports of identified victims jailed or penalized for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of their being subjected to trafficking.
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Authorities organized 50 training courses on victim identification and assistance, reaching 2, individuals, including officials, members of civil society, students, teachers, and health professionals. The government encouraged the participation of victims in trials of their traffickers by assisting victims throughout the initial testimony and during any subsequent appearances. The Program for Rescue provided tribunals with reports on the psychological state of victims and what requirements they might have to assist in the prosecution of their traffickers.
Other support for victim testimony included the possibility of video testimony and the use of recorded testimony.
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It was unclear how many victims received such assistance during the reporting period. Twenty-three percent of conviction sentences were less than three years. Under Argentine law, defendants sentenced to less than three years for any crime were eligible to have their sentences suspended; 8 percent of all trafficking convictions resulted in suspended sentences or no prison time aside from pre-trial detention. Corruption and official complicity in trafficking crimes remained significant concerns, although the government made progress on three previously reported cases.
In one case, the government convicted in a provincial mayor and a superintendent to five years imprisonment for protecting a sex trafficking organization. The judge resigned at the end of the reporting period, and because of this, the judicial entity is unable to continue their investigation.
The prospect of separate authorities continuing the investigation or filing criminal charges was unknown at the end of the reporting period. Additionally, authorities indicted two defense attorneys of the brothel owner for alleged threats and intimidation against a witness. The third case, in which two members of the security forces and the judiciary were allegedly involved with three trafficking networks, authorities indicted 18 individuals—including both government officials—accused of sexual exploitation in September , and the case was awaiting trial at the end of the reporting period.
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The government provided numerous anti-trafficking trainings to law enforcement, prosecutors, and judicial officials, among others, including virtual training courses. PROTEX, working with foreign governments and Interpol, helped investigate five international cases involving Argentine victims and alleged traffickers.
Officials report there could be some labor trafficking victims exploited as street vendors and in forced begging in the capital. Argentina is a transit point for foreign. Law of criminalized labor and sex trafficking, and prescribed punishments of four to 10 years imprisonment. These penalties were sufficiently.
The government increased protection efforts. The Rescue Program was the government office responsible for coordinating emergency victim services nationwide; in , it reported identifying and assisting 1, trafficking labor, sex trafficking, and the remainder were unspecified victims, compared with in This included adults, 57 minors, females, males, and 19 transgender victims. The government did not report if that number was included in the total number of victims that the Rescue Program identified.
These exorbitant fees place migrant workers in a condition of debt bondage, in which they are compelled to work out of fear of otherwise incurring serious financial harm. The government did not report identifying or assisting any repatriated Argentine victims of trafficking. Victims are "not punishable for committing any offense that is a direct result of being trafficked. A significant number of foreign women and children, primarily from Paraguay, Bolivia, and Peru, and, to a lesser extent, from the Dominican Republic, are subjected to sex trafficking in Argentina. In , the Municipality of Ushuaia was ordered to pay restitution to a victim after being found complicit of facilitating trafficking by failing to adequately regulate brothels. The government investigated 16 sex trafficking cases and one labor trafficking case in , compared with 15 sex trafficking and no labor trafficking cases in
All identified victims received the option of emergency assistance—which included shelter, psychological, medical, and legal assistance—during the early stages of the investigation and trial. The law was not utilized in any trafficking cases in the reporting period. Additionally, the MOS developed guidance for referral of complaints on trafficking crimes within police and security forces stations and guidance on how federal security forces should behave when interviewing trafficking victims.
Federal officials had formal procedures for victim identification and assistance; however, in practice, the procedures to identify victims among vulnerable populations varied by province. Some front-line responders had limited understanding of trafficking. The federal government did not make efforts to identify victims of domestic servitude, although some provincial-level officials led efforts to identify and raise awareness of domestic servitude.
SENNAF, along with each provincial government, was responsible for both mid- and long-term assistance for foreign and Argentine victims; they reported assisting victims, marking the first time they collected these data. However, mid- and long-term assistance remained deficient. Regional governments in seven provinces operated anti-trafficking centers, which provided psychological, social, medical, and judicial assistance to trafficking victims.
This was sometimes due to misclassification or a desire to pursue cases at the local level. Some officials and NGOs noted significant delays caused by confusion over which authorities had jurisdiction, and in some cases testimonies were discarded during this process. The government continued to provide anti-trafficking training to law enforcement, judicial, and immigration officials, sometimes in partnership with international organizations, and reported training senior police officials in Argentine prosecutors coordinated with the Government of Paraguay and other foreign governments on transnational trafficking investigations.
According to NGOs, international organizations, and officials, the trafficking-related complicity of some government officials was a serious concern.
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Some police officers reportedly condoned human trafficking activity or tipped off brothel owners about impending raids, and some judges reportedly did not adequately investigate signs of official complicity in trafficking cases. Authorities reported filing 71 cases of trafficking-related complicity in , including one of a deputy police commissioner accused of holding four trafficking victims captive.
It was unclear what progress had been made in the investigations initiated in of 75 Buenos Aires police officers accused of trafficking-related complicity and of the former head of the anti-trafficking police unit accused of running brothels. The government did not report convicting any government employees for alleged complicity in trafficking-related offenses during the reporting period.
The Argentine government reported identifying a significant number of potential trafficking victims and continued to fund several shelters providing services to female sex trafficking victims, but resources dedicated to specialized services, particularly for forced labor victims, did not fully meet the needs of the large number of trafficking victims identified during the year.
The Ministry of Security reported identifying approximately 1, potential human trafficking victims: The majority of sex trafficking victims identified were Argentine citizens, while the majority of labor trafficking victims were Bolivians. NGOs asserted that some officials erroneously categorized cases of labor exploitation that did not rise to the level of forced labor as human trafficking. The Ministry of Security reported developing written procedures on victim assistance during and immediately following raids, and immigration officers received training on victim identification procedures, but implementation of systematic procedures to identify victims among vulnerable populations varied by province.
Authorities did not report how many victims received comprehensive services, such as shelter, in According to NGOs and some officials, the quality and level of victim care varied widely by province, and most provinces lacked dedicated resources to care for trafficking victims, particularly forced labor victims. The Office for Rescue, with an inter-disciplinary team located in Buenos Aires, took initial victim statements, generally within a week of identification, and reportedly provided emergency post-rescue care to some victims, including access to legal, medical, and psychological services.
NGOs gave mixed assessments of the office's effectiveness. Two provincial-level offices were reportedly opened in Chaco and Santa Fe during the year, but the government did not publicly report on the budget or staffing for these offices. After victims provided their initial testimony, the Secretariat for Childhood, Adolescence, and Family SENAF was responsible for providing follow-up assistance to them. However, specialized services and reintegration efforts were limited. The Office for Rescue maintained a shelter in the capital to care temporarily for trafficking victims, though it was unclear how many of the victims identified during the year stayed at this shelter, or where they were housed immediately following law enforcement raids.
Federal, provincial, and municipal authorities provided various amounts of funding to four shelters for women and child victims of sex trafficking and abuse across the country, one of which was operated by an NGO, but authorities did not report how many of the victims they identified were assisted at these shelters in There were no specialized shelters for forced labor victims, and it is unclear how many of the potential labor trafficking victims identified during the year received services after giving their initial statements to authorities.