Human Trafficking in [Guatemala Street Children in [Guatemala] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Guatemala] [other countries] |
Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery In the
first ten years of the 21st Century -
2000 to 2009
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. - U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2009 [full country report] |
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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Guatemela, Murdered www.adoptionireland.com/campaign/ica_news.html At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[scroll down to 6 September 2005] The wave of violence and impunity
that plagues ***
ARCHIVES *** U.S.
Dept of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - Bur of Democracy,
Human Rights & Labor - Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005 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) - 2001 [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
Clearwater helped destroy an international sex slave ring www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/article984066.ece
She came from US
couple almost adopted stolen Guatemalan baby www.boston.com/news/world/latinamerica/articles/2008/07/31/us_couple_almost_adopted_stolen_guatemalan_baby/ 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. Guatemala
adoption agency lawyers on trial in 'human trafficking' case 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 Guatemala 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 www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17856269&BRD=2256&PAG=461&dept_id=455823&rfi=6 At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] "When we were in Mission woman found guilty of human trafficking www.ginsc.net/members/news_details_en.php?id=1122&sub=traffiking&stat=active At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
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 www.adoptionireland.com/campaign/ica_news.html At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
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 www.adoptionireland.com/campaign/ica_news.html At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[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 Human Rights Overview by Human
Rights Watch – Defending Human Rights Worldwide 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 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. ‘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.’ Guatemala
Open For Adoptions By Americans RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN GUATEMALA - Guatemala closed to
international adoption in September 2001, following reports of child
trafficking. Guatemala needed to enact legislation implementing the Hague
Convention on Intercountry Adoption before
adoptions could resume 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 fpmail.friends-partners.org/pipermail/stop-traffic/2004/000161.html At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] But the day after Child Trafficking in www.stopchildtrafficking.org/site/uploads/media/english/InBrief_CentralAmerica.pdf At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] 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. 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. 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] [page 4] OPERATION FALLEN ANGEL - In June 2000, a thirty-one year
old Chinese woman fell from a second story hotel room in Migrant
Center Reports Increase In Trafficking Of Children 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 United States. According to reports cited by
the center, "coyotes" (people who smuggle others across the border
for a fee) sell children for more than U.S. $25,000. He added that women are
trafficked in Guatemala as well. Many women are subjected to slave-like
living conditions where they are held in order to have babies that will then
be sold for adoption abroad. UN Special Rapporteur visits Guatemala www.unesco.org/webworld/highlights/un_guatemala_190799.html At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
Casa Alianza
has been involved in the fight against the trafficking of children in Guatemala
[PDF] CHILD TRAFFICKING - The sale of children is of
particular concern in Guatemala. The sale and/or trafficking of children
mainly occurs for the purpose of intercountry
adoption, but there are also reports of the trafficking of children into
Guatemala for the purpose of prostitution. TRAFFICKING - Eight El Salvadoran girls were
rescued in a raid on a nightclub in Guatemala City. They had been trafficked
under false pretenses and sexually exploited. Three pimps were arrested. Factbook on Global Sexual Exploitation - Guatemala 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 - |
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Human Trafficking in [Guatemala Street Children in [Guatemala] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Guatemala] [other countries]