2007 Trafficking in Persons Report - Center for Women Policy Studies

D O M I N I C A N R E P U B L I C
92
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
(Tier 2 Watch List)
The Dominican Republic is a source, transit, and
destination country for men, women, and children
trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual
exploitation and forced labor. Dominican women
and children are trafficked for sexual exploitation to
Western Europe, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Costa
Rica, the Caribbean, Panama, and Suriname. A
significant number of women and children also are
trafficked within the country for sexual exploitation
and forced labor. Some Dominican-born children
are trafficked into forced labor and organized
begging rings. Some Haitians, including children,
are trafficked to the Dominican Republic for forced
labor in agriculture and construction sectors; many
live in squalid shantytowns known as “bateyes.”
Venezuelans and Colombians also are reportedly
trafficked to the country for sexual exploitation
and forced labor. Some Chinese nationals have
been smuggled to the Dominican Republic, allegedly
with the assistance of high-level Dominican
consular and immigration officials, and subjected
to conditions of involuntary servitude while waiting
to make their way to the United States.
The Government of the Dominican Republic does
not fully comply with the minimum standards
for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is
making significant efforts to do so. The Dominican
Republic is placed on Tier 2 Watch List for its failure
to show evidence of increasing efforts to combat
human trafficking, particularly in terms of providing
increased assistance to victims and undertaking
vigorous actions to counter official complicity
with trafficking activity. Although the Office of the
Public Prosecutor made strong efforts to prosecute
trafficking offenders last year, the government
should increase anti-trafficking law enforcement
personnel and capacity, and step up efforts to root
out aggressively any official complicity with human
trafficking, especially among senior-level officials.
The Dominican Republic should provide greater
legal protections for trafficking victims, and increase
anti-trafficking prevention efforts and resources for
agencies and organizations providing shelters and
social services. More attention should be directed to
identifying and assisting Haitian trafficking victims.
Prosecution
The Government of the Dominican Republic made
efforts to investigate and prosecute trafficking
crimes during the reporting period. The Dominican
Republic prohibits all forms of trafficking through
its comprehensive anti-trafficking law, Law 137-
03, which prescribes penalties of up to 20 years’
imprisonment. These penalties are sufficiently
stringent and commensurate with those prescribed
for other grave offenses. The government initiated
120 trafficking and alien-smuggling prosecutions
under the law last year, obtaining three traffickingspecific
convictions; defendants received sentences
ranging from 15 to 20 years’ imprisonment. While
the government’s efforts to convict traffickers
remained level with last year, more than 30 prosecutions
during the reporting period arose from
arrests of military and other public officials for
involvement with trafficking; of this number, three
officials have been convicted. While this represents
important progress in an extremely difficult area,
the Dominican Republic should do much more
to tackle the critical issue of official complicity
with human trafficking at all levels of government.
Press reports allege that high-level consular and
immigration officials were directly involved with
the smuggling of Chinese nationals, some of them
trafficking victims, to the Dominican Republic. Any
individuals found to be implicated in alien smuggling
or trafficking should be brought to justice.
The Director of the Office of the Public Prosecutor’s
Anti-Trafficking Unit had made some progress
in addressing these and other areas; however, he
remained suspended from his duties at the end of
the reporting period for unspecified reasons.
Protection
The government’s efforts to protect victims of trafficking
remained inadequate, as it continued to rely
heavily on NGOs and international organizations
to provide the bulk of protection services. While the
government maintains shelters and programs for
victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse, these
services are not generally accessible to trafficking
victims. The government has not developed formal
procedures for identifying victims among vulnerable
populations, such as undocumented migrants
or persons detained for prostitution offenses. The
government continued, however, to train officials
posted abroad on recognizing and assisting trafficking
victims overseas. Victims’ rights are generally
respected, and there were no reports of victims being
jailed or penalized for crimes committed as a direct
result of their being trafficked. However, there were
reports that some officials conspired with employers
to repatriate trafficked persons of Haitian descent if
they attempted to leave exploitative work environments,
forcing them to leave behind their pay and
belongings. Dominican authorities generally encourage
victims to assist in the investigation and prosecution
of their traffickers, though undocumented