Havana maintains its policy of Zero Tolerance regarding any form of human trafficking
Havana, Nov 5 (RHC) Cuba denounced Friday that the failure of the United States to comply with migration agreements and the encouragement of illegal migration places families in a situation of vulnerability to human trafficking in third countries.
According to a report published on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Caribbean nation, Havana maintained its Zero Tolerance policy regarding any form of human trafficking.
The document pointed out that during the period several exchanges were held with the government and sectors of the U.S. society to address the work of the Cuban medical brigades, particularly amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the discrediting policy launched by the U.S. administration.
The document disclosed that ten cases were judged for crimes with typical features of human trafficking, which denotes the low incidence of this crime in the national territory.
According to the information, the criminal actions were concentrated in the recruitment of young people, mainly women, by foreign and Cuban businessmen to provide services in bars and nightclubs in Turkey, Cyprus, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Japan, China, Russia, Mexico, and Nicaragua.
It adds that the incidence persists in Cuba of foreigners who interact with young people in exchange for gifts and telephone recharges, as well as the promotion and online sale of videos and images with sexual content, whose payment is made through bank transfers from abroad and inside the country.
In 2021, the implementation of the National Action Plan for the Prevention and Confrontation of Human Trafficking and the Protection of Victims was extended for an additional year and the preparation of the new National Action Plan for the period 2022-2024 was started.
The document adds that cooperation actions and the timely exchange of information with international organizations, the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), the United Nations system, and counterpart agencies of countries in the region and Europe continued.
Specialized attention was also maintained for victims of trafficking as well as for those who are in situations of greater vulnerability.
As a result of these actions, ten victims were identified, all of them girls, and the criminal penalties for the perpetrators ranged from five to 20 years of imprisonment.
The report outlines the main activities of the central government agencies involved in the issue, including the Ministry of Justice, the Interior, Foreign Affairs, Education, Public Health, Labor, and Social Security, among others.
The text points out the existence of action plans for prevention and confrontation in each agency in which prevention, cooperation, attention to victims, and training of officials and the public in general, raise the perception of risk, are privileged.
Cuba has various legal instruments to prevent and address human trafficking and associated behaviors such as pimping, pornography, and child prostitution, in keeping with the spirit of the Palermo Convention, its Protocols, and other international instruments to which the Caribbean island is a signatory. (Source: Cubadebate)
