Human Trafficking in [Guatemala Street Children in [Guatemala] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Guatemala] [other countries] |
Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery In the
early years of the 21st Century - 2000 to 2010 gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Guatemala.htm
Guatemala is a source, transit, and destination country
for Guatemalans and Central Americans trafficked for the purposes of
commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. Human trafficking is a
significant and growing problem in the country, particularly the exploitation
of children in prostitution. - |
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CAUTION: The following links have been
culled from the web to illuminate the situation in ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** Legal Program Advisor for Casa Alianza,
Guatemela, Murdered Intercountry Adoption At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 5 September 2011] [scroll down to 6 September 2005] The wave of violence and impunity
that plagues ***
ARCHIVES *** The Department of Labor’s 2004 Findings on the Worst Forms
of Child Labor www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/tda2004/guatemala.htm [accessed 8 February 2011] INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - Human Rights Reports » 2005
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61729.htm [accessed 8 February 2011] TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS –
Trafficking was particularly a problem in the capital and in towns along the
borders with Concluding Observations of the
Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 8 June 2001 www1.umn.edu/humanrts/crc/guatemala2001.html [accessed 8 February 2011] [34] The Committee notes with deep
concern that there was no follow-up to its recommendations to introduce measures
to monitor and supervise the system of adoption effectively and to consider
ratifying the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in
Respect of Inter-country Adoption of 1993. Concern is expressed at the
extremely high rates of inter-country adoptions, at adoption procedures not
requiring authorization by competent authorities, at the absence of follow-up
and, in particular, at reported information on sale and trafficking in
children for inter-country adoptions. It is also noted that several drafts of
adoption laws have been pending in Congress but never adopted. [50] With regard to its
recommendation on child labor, the Committee takes note of the measures taken
by the State party such as the signing in 1996 of a memorandum of understanding
with ILO for the adoption of the International Program on the Elimination of
Child Labor (IPEC). However, it expresses its deep concern at the large
number of children who are still exploited economically, in particular those
under 14 years of age. How Jonathan Abel, www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/article984066.ece [accessed 8 February 2011] She came from Juan Carlos Llorca, Associated
Press AP, July 31, 2008 www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20080731/guatemala-stolen-babies/ [accessed 8 February 2011] For 14 months, Ana Escobar studied
the tiny fingers of every passing baby, searching for a girl with pinkies
that curved gracefully outward, just like those of her missing daughter. Then one day she saw her, in the arms of a
foster mother helping process her adoption by an Indiana couple: A
straight-haired toddler who appeared to be a stranger, except for her
unmistakable fingers. "I was in
shock. I could not move. I could not do anything," Escobar told The
Associated Press in an exclusive interview.
DNA tests eventually proved what Escobar already knew: The girl was
her daughter, taken at gunpoint in March 2007, when she was just 6 months
old. Authorities issued arrest warrants
for a doctor, two lawyers and two others in Esther's case. Authorities
suspect they could find more than a dozen other stolen babies in their review
of 2,286 pending U.S. adoptions. Even
some completed adoptions are being questioned: At least two are under
investigation to determine if the children -- now growing up as American
citizens -- were stolen, said Jaime Tecu, a former
prosecutor who is leading the Guatemalan National Adoption Council's review. Lisl Brunner, Jurist Legal News and
Research Services, March 25, 2008 jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2008/03/guatemala-adoption-agency-lawyers-on.php [accessed 8 February 2011] Prosecutors discovered that at
least five of the children's mothers had provided false identities when
offering their children for adoption, raising doubts as to whether the
children may have been kidnapped. Child Trafficking Soar in Prensa Latina News Agency, Jul 23, 2007 genderberg.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=2522 [accessed 8 February 2011] Maria Eugenia Villareal,
member of the NGO, said girls aged eight to fourteen are sold as sex slaves
or used in risky sectors like garbage collection and classification, peddling
and construction. Most victims -from Guatemala,
Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador- are misled with promises to travel to
the US yet they are taken to different Mexican cities, including the capital.
Attorney Alex Colop
calls serious problem the absence of laws with severe sanctions for such
practices since the perpetrators walk free on bail or pay a fine. In addition, the children do not press
charges fearing threats from the exploiters or to loose their income source. Rotary hears account of human trafficking horrors Andrea M. Galabinski, At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 5 September 2011] "When we were in Mission woman found guilty of human trafficking Associated Press AP, www.ginsc.net/main.php?option=view_article&mode=0&article=1122&lang=en [accessed 30 August 2011] Prosecutors say Ellilian Ramos paid a smuggler $250 to bring the two
women across the Batres and Sales say the couple promised
to pay them $125 a week after smuggling costs were worked off. Instead, Ellilian Ramos didn't pay them and threatened to call
immigration authorities if they tried to leave. The women said they also worked
for the Ramos' family members and at Papacito's Day
Care, which is owned by Ellilian Ramos' sister.
Both women escaped through a window on Jan. 11, 2005, with help from two
women they met at the business. Guatemalan Attorney Uses Tricks and Deceit to Take
Children from Mothers Intercountry Adoption At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 5 September 2011] In spite of the fact that Casa Alianza has filed numerous complaints over the past years
regarding illicit international adoptions, and despite its efforts to put
national and international pressure on the Guatemalan government to institute
laws that properly regulate adoptions, the illicit
adoption trade continues to thrive. Unscrupulous attorneys are the central
players in this trade, and they have converted what should be a noble
institution, into a dirty business. Legal Program Advisor for Casa Alianza,
Guatemela, Murdered Intercountry Adoption At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 5 September 2011] [scroll down to 6 September 2005] The wave of violence and impunity
that plagues Freedom House Country Report - Political Rights: 3 Civil Liberties: 4 Status: Partly Free 2009 Edition www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=363&year=2009&country=7617 [accessed 8 February 2011] Human Rights Overview Human Rights Watch www.hrw.org/americas/guatemala [accessed 8 February 2011] The "legitimate" child-trafficking rings who
sell Elizabeth Mistry, Sunday Herald
( www.laborlawtalk.com/archive/index.php/t-9379.html [accessed 8 February 2011] Around 3000 Guatemalan children
are adopted by families from overseas every year. Almost all go the US and
Canada. In 2002, the last year for which there are figures available, 15 came
to the UK. With no firm legislation governing adoption, prospective parents
have to find their way through a murky system of agents and lawyers, who
charge an average of between £11,000 and £22,000 per child. Conservative
estimates value the Guatemalan baby business at around £32 million per
year. The courts use poverty as a
reason not to return children to their biological parents but just because a
mother or father is poor it doesn’t mean they love their children any the
less, Harris told the Sunday Herald between court appearances. Protect Guatemalan Human Rights Defenders from Attacks and
Threats Human Rights Defenders, Sept 29, 2004 www.humanrightsfirst.org/defenders/hrd_guatemala/alert_092904_hrd.htm At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here]
In recent weeks, the offices of
two Guatemalan nongovernmental organizations were broken into, and files
containing sensitive case information were stolen. Oftentimes, Guatemalan
human rights organizations that document violations and implicate those
responsible for such violations fall victim themselves to acts of intimidation
and violence such as burglaries, robberies, kidnappings, death threats, and
even murder. The Children of BBC World Service, 28 October, 2000 www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/people/highlights/001027_adoption.shtml [accessed 8 February 2011] ‘My name is Elivia
and I am 32 years old. It was a very painful time for me. I wasn’t looking to
give up my baby. I just wanted work and a Guatemalan couple offered me a job
in their house. I was kidnapped. They kept me locked up in the house until I
was ready to give birth. I was given drugs to make the birth quicker and then
the baby was pulled out of my stomach. I didn’t see it, I didn’t know whether
it was a boy or a girl. Then the couple told me I was too poor to be a mother
and they were going to put my baby up for adoption.’ Adoption Council of www.familyhelper.net/news/guatemala.html [accessed 20 April 2012] RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN November 2003. At its recently
concluded Congressional session the Guatemalan Congress considered
legislation to implement the Hague Convention but did not pass it. Adoptions under fire in Guatemala Letta Tayler, At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 5 September 2011] But the day after Child Trafficking in Terre des Hommes / CUDECA, 2000 At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 5 September 2011] CHILD TRAFFICKING AND MISSING
CHILDREN OR YOUNG PERSONS IN THE PUBLIC CONSCIOUSNESS - Trafficking in children and the
problem of missing children and young persons impresses itself on the public
consciousness only to a very limited extent in these three Central American
states. The entire theme complex is not perceived as a problem either in
public administration nor in Government institutions or among the populace.
On the contrary it is either suppressed or ignored. And this in spite of the
fact that the existence of child trafficking is basically very well known. Prepared Statement of Attorney General John Ashcroft at T
Visa/Human Trafficking Press Conference January 24, 2002 Attorney General John Ashcroft at T Visa/Human Trafficking
Press Conference, January 24, 2002 www.usembassy.it/file2002_01/alia/a2012401.htm [accessed 8 February 2011] Three years ago, 19-year-old Maria
Choz began a terrifying ordeal. Jose Tecum kidnaped Maria from her
parents' home in Guatemala, smuggled her to his house in Florida, and
imprisoned her in a spare bedroom. By night, Maria was forced into sexual
servitude. By day, she was forced to labor with a tomato picking crew,
bringing her wages to Tecum at the end of her grueling
shifts. Maria was robbed of her dignity and imprisoned by a man who put his
greed and obsession ahead of her most basic human right to freedom. NGOs: gladiators of freedom Corradini, Louise & López,
Asbel, The UNESCO courier, June 2001 findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1310/is_2001_June/ai_76472433/ [accessed 30 August 2011] The worst kind of child
exploitation is sexual. Maria, a 12-year-old Honduran girl, was kidnapped in
her country, sold in Guatemala and
taken from there to Mexico, where she was bought by the owner of a bar who
forced her to become a prostitute, servicing 20 men a day. Anti-Trafficking Successes in the Southern District of
Texas [PDF] U.S. Department Of Justice, Civil Rights Division,
Anti-Trafficking News Bulletin, Volume 1, Nos. 8 & 9, August/September
2004 www.nlpoa.org/Aug.%20Sept.%20Trafficking%20Newsletter.pdf [accessed 8 February 2011] [page 4] OPERATION FALLEN ANGEL - In June 2000, a thirty-one year
old Chinese woman fell from a second story hotel room in www.friends-partners.org/partners/stop-traffic/1999/0829.html [accessed 8 February 2011] Mario Verzeletti,
Coordinator of the Center for Attention to Migrants, reported that in the
last few months, there has been an increase in the trafficking of Guatemalan
children sold in Europe and the UN Special Rapporteur visits
Guatemala UNESCO, Communication Division -- Source :Casa Alianza Press release of 16/07/99 At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 5 September 2011] Casa Alianza
has been involved in the fight against the trafficking of children in Report On The Worst Forms Of Child Labour Compiled By The
Global March Against Child Labour www.globalmarch.org/resourcecentre/world/guatemala.pdf [accessed 8 February 2011] CHILD TRAFFICKING - The sale of children is of
particular concern in Coalition Against Trafficking in Women CATW www.catwinternational.org/factbook/Guatemala.php [accessed 8 February 2011] TRAFFICKING - Eight El Salvadoran girls were
rescued in a raid on a nightclub in Factbook on Global Sexual Exploitation - Coalition Against Trafficking in Women CATW www.uri.edu/artsci/wms/hughes/guatemal.htm [accessed 8 February 2011] CASE - A yearlong legal battle has been won by a Guatemalan
woman whose baby was a victim of illegal trafficking in infants. The mother,
named Elivia, was tricked into signing all of the
documents necessary, under lax Guatemalan laws, for a private adoption. In
order to control her during her pregnancy, the lawyer handling the illegal
adoption held back Elivia’s furniture and
belongings and gave her 100 Quetzales ($15) a week
for expenses. Elivia was even taken, against her
will, to a house in San Pedro Epocapa, Chimaltenango. After the birth Elivia
was prevented from seeing her baby by nurses, who had been informed that
Pablo had been adopted. It was then that she realized she had been fooled and
began to fight to get her baby back. Guatemalan law permits a mother to stop
the process at any time during a private adoption, but very often the lawyers
involved do not inform the mothers, many of whom are illiterate, of this. All material used herein
reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial,
nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE
RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT ARTICLES.
Cite this webpage as: Patt, Prof. Martin, "Human Trafficking
& Modern-day Slavery - |
Human Trafficking in [Guatemala Street Children in [Guatemala] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Guatemala] [other countries]