Mexico / The United States
Segundo proveedor de EU de víctimas de trata
Entre 16 mil y 20 mil niños y niñas son víctimas de explotación sexual cada año
en México, lo que convierte al país en la segunda nación que más víctimas de
trata provee a Estados Unidos, superado únicamente por Tailandia, afirmó la
diputada, Cora Pinedo Alonso, del Partido Nueva Alianza.
La también secretaria de la Mesa Directiva de la Cámara baja precisó que el
municipio de Tapachula, Chiapas, es el lugar donde se realiza la mayor venta de
mujeres, niñas y niños con fines de trata.
Muchos de esos menores son "redistribuidos" a los estados de Oaxaca, Michoacán,
Guerrero, Jalisco, Nayarit, Sinaloa y el Distrito Federal, señaló con base a
estudios de la organización internacional End Child Prostitution Child
Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes (ECPAT).
Mexico is the second largest provider of human trafficking
victims to the United States
Between 16 and 20 thousand boys and girls are victims of sexual exploitation in
Mexico each year. As a result, Mexico has become the second largest provider of
human trafficking victims to the United States, according to congressional
deputy Cora Pinedo Alonso of the New Aliance Party.
Pinedo Alonso, who is secretary of the governing council in the Chamber of
Deputies, also specified that Mexico's southern border city of Tapachula,
located in Chiapas state, is the largest center for the sale of women, girls and
boys for purposes of human trafficking.
Many of the child victims are "redistributed" to the states of Oaxaca,
Michoacán, Guerrero, Jalisco, Nayarit and Sinaloa, as well as to Mexico City.
Pinedo Alonso based her statements on research conducted by the organization End
Child Prostitution Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual
Purposes (ECPAT).
In response to this situation, Pinedo Alonso has presented a non-binding
resolution that is directed to the
Second Permanent Commission
of Congress (37 members of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies who conduct
congressional business when Congress is not in session). The resolution calls
for the creation of stricter measures than now exist to investigate trafficking
crimes and to punish those responsible.
The resolution calls upon the director of the National Institute of Migration
(INM) to assign staff to supervise and evaluate anti-trafficking activities on
Mexico's southern border, and specifically in the city of Tapachula, with
reports on conditions there to be sent to Congress.
According the the ECPAT study, Central American adolescents, the majority of
whom are minors, "are prostituted in 1, 552 bars and brothels in Chiapas and
other cities and towns along the nation's southern border."
Pinedo Alonso added that in 50% of these cases, the victims are Guatemalans, as
well as Salvadorans, Hondurans and Nicaraguans. The victims are usually between
the ages of 8 and 14. "They are sold by traffickers [to brothels] for $200
dollars each," Pinedo Alonso denounced.
Joining in the call for action, Chiapas state governor Juan Sabines has asked
for working groups to be created that coordinate the work of non governmental
organizations, state agencies, the Chiapas state Human Rights Commission, and
the state's office of the Special Prosecutor for Crimes of Violence Against
Women and Human Trafficking. The goal of the working groups would be to evaluate
the effectiveness of policies implemented to fight human trafficking.
Governor Sabines also called for an analysis to be conducted to track actions
taken in regard to cases of human trafficking that involve both Mexican and
Central American girls, boys and adolescents, and to document the number of
prosecutions pursued.
Governor Sabines: "We wish to express our indignation and complete repudiation
of these criminal practices. We energetically condemn
those public servants who, through acts of omission or commission, have been
complicit in collaborating with human trafficking networks. We call upon
the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government to join forces
[to combat these crimes]."
Cronica
May 31, 2010
See also:
Central America and Mexico
María de Jesús Silva,
Jackeline's mother
Trata de
blancas en Centroamérica
For
non-governmental organizations, the child
kidnapping and sex trafficking case of
11-year-old Jackeline Jirón Silva fom
Nicaragua is emblematic, as the case shows
clearly how the third most profitable
criminal enterprise in the world operates.
...Jackeline has been forced to work in
brothels all over Central America. Her
pimps now have her in
Tapachula,
in Chiapas state [near Mexico's southern
border with Guatemala].
María de Jesús Silva [Jackeline's mother,
who searched all over Central America and
southern Mexico for her daughter]: "I saw
things that I never imagined existed... The
brothels are full of children, sold by
traffickers and abandoned by their parents.
I saw them prostitute themselves and wished
that any one of them would have been my
daughter. I settled for caressing the hair
of these girls, and I imagined that in the
'next' brothel, I was going to find my
daughter. Everything that I have suffered
through is nothing compared to what my girl
is going through."
Mexico - The Hot Spot
Save the Children has
identified the border region between
Guatemala and Mexico as being the largest
hot spot for the commercial sexual
exploitation of children globally.
Ana Salvadó: "It the neck in the bottle,
because many children attempt to migrate
from Central America [and South America] to
the United States, and they never get past
[southern] Mexico, where they are sold by
pimps and sometimes are returned to Central
America."
A study by the international organization
ECPAT (End Child Prostitution, Child
Pornography and Trafficking of Children for
Sexual Purposes)... reveals that over 21,000
Central Americans, with the majority being
children, are prostituted in 1,552 bars and
brothels in Tapachula, Mexico (near the
Guatemala border).
Traffickers sell these children to
Tapachula's pimps for $200 each.
Prostitution in cities like Tapachula
operates openly. Contralínea Magazine has
documented the fact that traffickers work
with corrupt federal and local officials in
exchange for bribes or as direct
participants in the criminal networks...
According to ECPAT's report "Ending Child
Prostitution, Child Pornography and
Trafficking of Children for Sexual
Purposes," from Tapachula, where these
children are sold, the victims are
transported to the Mexican cities of Oaxaca,
Michoacán, Guerrero, Jalisco, Nayarit,
Sinaloa and Mexico City.
More that 50% of these child victims are
from [indigenous] Guatemala. The rest are
Salvadorans, Hondurans and Nicaraguans. They
range in age from eight to
fourteen-years-old.
-
Ana Lilia
Pérez
Revista Contralínea
Oct. 22, 2007
See also:
We reiterate our belief that the official
Mexican Government estimates in regard to
the numbers of underage sexual exploitation
victims is unbelievably low. The above
article about child sex trafficking in the
southern border city of Tapachula states
that an estimated 10,000 underage victims
are prostituted in that city alone.
As we noted in our March 1, 2010 essay -
Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way:
|
A note
about the figures quoted to
describe the number of child
sexual exploitation victims in
Mexico...
Widely
quoted 'official' figures state
that between 16,000 and 20,000
underage victims of sex
trafficking exist in Mexico.
We believe that, if the United
States acknowledges that 200,000
to 300,000 underage children and
youth are caught-up in the
commercial sexual exploitation
of children - CSEC, at any one
time, based on a population of
310 million, (a figure of
between .00064 and .00096
percent of the population), then
the equivalent numbers for
Mexico would be between 68,000
and 102,000 child and youth
victims of CSEC for its
estimated 107 million in
population.
Given Mexico's vastly greater
level of poverty, legalization
of adult prostitution, and given
that southern Mexico alone is
known to be the largest zone in
the world for CSEC, with 10,000
children
being prostituted just
in the
city of Tapachula (according to
ECPAT figures), then the total
number of underage children and
youth caught-up in prostitution
in Mexico is most likely not
anywhere near the 16,000 to
20,000 figure that was first
released in a particular
research study from more than
five years ago and continues to
be so widely used. |
- Chuck
Goolsby
LibertadLatina
March 1,
2010
See Also:
Mexico
Víctimas del tráfico
de personas, 5 millones de mujeres y niñas
en América Latina
De esa
cifra, más de 500 mil casos ocurren en
México, señalan especialistas.
Five million victims
of Human Trafficking Exist in Latin America
Saltillo, Coahuila state -
Teresa Ulloa Ziaurriz, the director of the
Coalition Against Trafficking in Women's
Latin American / Caribbean regional office,
announced this past Monday that more than
five million women and girls are currently
victims of human trafficking in Latin
America and the Caribbean.
During a forum on successful
treatment approaches for trafficking victims
held by the Women's Institute of Coahuila,
Ulloa Ziaurriz stated that 500,000 of these
cases exist in Mexico, where women and girls
are trafficked for sexual exploitation,
pornography and the illegal harvesting of
human organs.
Ulloa Ziaurriz said that
human trafficking is the second largest
criminal industry in the world today, a fact
that has given rise to the existence of a
very large number of trafficking networks
who operate with the complicity of both
[corrupt] government officials and business
owners.
Mexico is a country of
origin, transit and also destination for
trafficked persons. Of 500,000 victims in
Mexico, 87% are subjected to commercial
sexual exploitation.
Ulloa Ziaurriz pointed out
that locally in Coahuila state, the nation's
human trafficking problem shows up in the
form of child prostitution in cities such as
Ciudad Acuña as well as other population
centers along Mexico's border with the
United States.
- Notimex /
La Jornada Online
Mexico City
Dec. 12, 2007
Brazil
Descubren red trafico personas en Amazonia Brasileña
Autoridades brasileñas informaron que organizaciones dedicadas al tráfico de
personas se instalaron en la región amazónica por donde decenas de haitianos
ingresan al país tras el terremoto ocurrido en el país caribeño en enero.
"Coyotes braileños" (traficantes de inmigrantes) cobran 600 dólares por
introducir a cada haitiano en el estado de Acre, indicaron fuentes de la Policía
Federal.
"El destino preferido en Brasil es Assis Brasil (localidad fronteriza con Perú)
desde donde continúan camino hacia otras regiones del país" dijo el comisario
Flaveio Avelar, jefe de la delegación de Migraciones de la Policía Federal en
Acre.
El número de inmigrantes haitianos llegados a Brasil se incrementó tras el
terremoto que devastó a ese país en enero pasado y dejó más de 200 mil víctimas
fatales.
La legislación brasileña establece que los inmigrantes sin papeles sean
deportados a su país de origen, pero las autoridades decidieron hacer una
excepción con los haitianos.
"Se trata de una cuestión humanitaria, ellos dejaron su país debido al terremoto
y podrán permanecer en Brasil como refugiados" explicó el comisario Avelar,
consultado por el diario Correio Braziliense.
A human smuggling network is discovered in the Brazilian
Amazon
Brazilian authorities have announced that human smuggling networks have
established themselves in the Brazilian Amazon. These groups have smuggled
dozens of Haitians into Brazil through the Assis Brazil area on the Peruvian
border. Brazilian coyotes have charged Haitians $600 to bring Haitians to the
Brazilian state of Acre, from which they travel to other regions of Brazil. The
smuggling of Haitians has increased significantly since the January, 2010
earthquake.
Although Brazilian law calls for the deportation of undocumented immigrants, the
government has announced that Haitian migrants will be allowed to stay as
refugees,
"It is a humanitarian issue. They left Haiti due to the earthquake, and they may
remain in Brazil as refugees," explained the federal immigration police's
commissioner in the state of Acre, Flaveio Avelar.
Ansa (Italy)
May 31, 2010
Mexico / Brazil
Mexican officials arrest German citizen wanted in Brazil on human trafficking
charges
Mexico City - Mexican authorities have arrested a German citizen wanted in
Brazil on human trafficking charges.
Mexico's Public Safety Department says Dieter Erhard Fritzchen Stieleke was
arrested while waiting to board a flight to Germany out of the resort city of
Cancun.
The department says Stieleke was handed over to Interpol for extradition to
Brazil. A statement released Wednesday gives no details on the human trafficking
charges against Stieleke. He was arrested Sunday.
The German Embassy did not return phone calls seeking comment. The Brazilian
Embassy declined to comment.
The Associated Press (Canadian Press)
May 26, 2010
Mexico
|
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A photo of Valentina Rosendo Cantú from earlier in her life |
Carta abierta de apoyo para Valentina Rosendo Cantú
Valentina:
El día de hoy, cuando se lleva a cabo la audiencia en la Corte Interamericana de
Derechos Humanos, el equipo de la CMDPDH queremos enviarte un mensaje con
nuestro profundo respeto y apoyo.
Sabemos que has asumido, junto con las organizaciones que te acompañan en esta
lucha, la tarea de denunciar las violaciones a los derechos humanos cometidas
por el Ejército Mexicano, en particular la violencia sexual como una forma de
tortura. Por tu voz hablan decenas de mujeres que han sufrido la violencia del
Estado, pero no han tenido acceso a denunciar. Al mismo tiempo, también nos
sentimos representadas las organizaciones de la sociedad civil que trabajamos
por el respeto de los Derechos Humanos y por una sociedad libre y democrática.
Asimismo, estamos conscientes de que esta denuncia y todo el proceso de defensa
en su conjunto, ha significado una enorme carga para ti y que en este camino has
enfrentado amenazas, contra ti y tus seres queridos, que buscan hacerte
desistir. Sin embargo, te has mantenido firme en la búsqueda de justicia,
reivindicando tu dignidad de mujer indígena, y la de cientos de comunidades que
han sido afectadas en su tejido social por la militarización.
Por todo esto, recibe hoy nuestro abrazo solidario y nuestro compromiso de
seguir, inspirados en tu ejemplo, en esta lucha.
Atentamente,
El equipo de la Comisión Mexicana de Defensa y Promoción de los Derechos
Humanos A.C.
An open letter to Valentina Rosendo Cantú
Valentina,
On this day, the day when your case will be presented before the Inter-American
Court of Human Rights, we of the Mexican Commission for the Defense and
Promotion of Human Rights wish to send you this message expressing our profound
respect and solidarity.
We know that you have taken on, together with the organizations who are
assisting you in this struggle, the task of denouncing the violations of human
rights that have been committed by the Mexican Army, and in particular the use
of sexual violence as a form of torture. Your voice speaks for dozens of women
who have suffered violence perpetrated by the State, but do not have access to a
forum to denounce these crimes. At the same time, we who work for human rights
organizations, who seek to achieve a fee and democratic society, feel well
represented by you.
We are aware that your case, and all of the efforts in your defense, have
amounted to being a huge burden for you. We know that you have faced threats
against yourself and your family, that are designed to force you drop your case.
Nonetheless, you have remained steadfast in your search for justice, vindicating
your dignity as an indigenous woman, as well as that of hundreds of communities
whose social fabric has been affected by [domestic] militarization.
For all of these reasons, today we ask you to accept our hug of solidarity and
our commitment to continue, inspired by your example, in this struggle.
Sincerely,
The staff of the
Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights (CMDPDH)
CIMAC Women's News Agency
May 28, 2010
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Tlapaneca
Indigenous human rights activist Obtilia Eugenio Manuel denounces
death threats against herself, her family and Indigenous rape
victims
Inés Fernández Ortega and Valentina
Rosendo Cantú - who were raped by soldiers in 2002.
Photo: March 24, 2010 - Cronica |
 |
|
Tlapaneca
Indigenous victim Inés Fernández Ortega |
Exigen Cese de Agresiones Contra
Tlapaneca Violada por Militares
Lanzan activistas campaña contra la impunidad
militar
Defensoras y defensores de derechos humanos exigieron hoy
al Estado mexicano que cesen las agresiones y amenazas contra Inés Fernández
Ortega, indígena tlapaneca violada sexualmente por militares en 2002, y quien
ante la falta de justicia, se presentará en una audiencia pública en la sede de
la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (CoIDH) en Lima, Perú, el próximo 15
de abril...
Activists Demand an End to the
Harassment of Indigenous Woman Who Was Raped by Soldiers
Human Rights Defenders Launch
Campaign Against Military Impunity
Human rights activists have today demanded that the Mexican
Government cease and desist from its campaign of aggression and threats directed
against Inés Fernández Ortega, a Tlapaneca Indigenous women who was the victim
of rape perpetrated by Mexican servicemen in 2002. Due to the inability to
receive due process within Mexico, Fernández Ortega's case will be presented to
the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) on April 15th, 2010.
During a press conference held by Amnesty International and
the Tlachinollan Mountain Human Rights Center, activists announced their new
campaign "Break Down the Walls of Impunity!" The project aims to develop a
network of solidarity and add voices to the outcries for justice in the cases of
both Fernández Ortega and also Valentina Rosendo Cantú, another Tlapaneca woman
who was also raped by soldiers in 2002.
Vidulfo Rosales Sierra, a lawyer working in the
Tlachinollan region stated that both Fernández Ortega and Rosendo Cantú began
their efforts to find justice 8 years ago. Not only did they suffer rejection,
discrimination and stigmatization in their own communities after they were
raped, but the government conducted an ineffective investigation.
Because of the government's reaction to their plight, the
victims hope that the IACHR finds the Mexican state guilty in the case of
Fernández Ortega. Rosendo Cantú's case will be presented before the IACHR on May
27th and 28th of 2010.
Rosales Sierra declared that the military leaves women
[victims] completely defenseless. They put women's security and lives at risk
when they attempt to seek justice...
On October 30, 2008, the Commission issued their findings
[in teh case of Fernández Ortega]. The Mexican state was informed on November 7,
2008 that the Commission regarded the State as being responsible for the
violations of the integrity of the victim. Due to a refusal by Mexico to
implement the Commission's [legally binding] recommendations, the case was
forwarded to the IACHR.
During the press conference, Indigenous human rights
activist Obtilia Eugenio Manuel stated that, after May 7th, 2009, when the IACHR
accepted the case de Fernández Ortega, she (Eugenio Manuel) and her family
became the victims of threats. The threats doubled in December of 2009, when the
IACHR notified the Mexican state of the specific date of its hearing of the
case.
Because of this history of threats, a well-founded fear
exists that victims Inés Fernández Ortega and Valentina Rosendo Cantú, or their
legal representatives could face some type of violence. Obtilia Eugenio Manuel
emphasized that they will continue their struggle for human rights. She hopes
that the IACHR hearing will demonstrate that lack of responsible action by the
Mexican state to protect human rights.
Anayeli García Martínez
CIMAC Women's News Agency
April 06, 2010
See also:
Mexico
This is your war on drugs
...On 16th February 2002, Valentina Rosendo Cantú was washing her clothes in a
stream near her home in Caxitepec, Mexico, when six soldiers approached.
Seemingly too busy for pleasantries, the men started barking questions at her:
Who was she? Where was she from? Had she seen the people they were looking for?
Did she recognize the names on the list they thrust in front of her?
Her answers weren’t good enough, so one soldier pulled a gun and threatened to
shoot. Another punched her so hard that she passed out. When she came to, two
men tore off her underwear and raped her, one after the other. She was sixteen
years old.
It took several months for Valentina to find a doctor willing to treat her; her
nearest hospital turned her away because they didn’t want any trouble from the
military. The next nearest, which she walked for eight hours to reach, examined
her but offered no medicine. Only after legal action was threatened did she
finally receive the gynecological care she needed.
At the time of writing, no criminal prosecution has ever been brought against
these men and no one has been formally disciplined by a military which has
perpetually dragged its feet over investigations. Some 7 years later, she still
hasn’t found justice.
This case is just one of many allegations of human rights abuses leveled at the
Mexican military in pursuit of an expensive, bloody and failed war on drugs. As
well as rape, the allegations include enforced disappearance, torture, arbitrary
detention and unlawful killing. And it’s all being bankrolled by the United
States of America...
This is your war on drugs
August 13, 2009
Georgia, USA
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Samuel Sanchez |
Man Charged in Cherokee County Sex Assault
Cherokee County deputies say a Woodstock man is behind bars after allegedly
breaking into a mobile home and crawling into bed with a woman he didn’t know as
she slept with her 1-year-old son.
Deputies say 22-year-old Samuel Sanchez broke into a mobile home off of Dupree
Road in Woodstock on Friday morning. They say 19-year-old Bridget Gonzalez was
asleep in her bed with her son when the suspect came into the room and got in
bed with them. Then, he attempted to sexually assault her, investigators say.
Gonzalez told FOX 5 she thought the man was her boyfriend, but soon realized it
was a stranger instead. She says she and her son don’t know Sanchez.
After Gonzalez realized the man wasn’t her boyfriend, she screamed and he ran
out of the house. But, much to her surprise, she says he came back.
Sanchez was later picked up while walking along Dupree Road. They say when they
spotted him, he began running, but deputies were able to catch up to him.
According to deputies, Sanchez told them he wanted to see someone he knows who
lives at the home, so he just went inside.
Sanchez is charged with sexual battery, criminal attempt to rape, and burglary.
He is being held without bond at the Cherokee County Adult Detention Center.
Fox 5 Atlanta
May 28, 2010
Mexico
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Valentina Rosendo Cantú |
Niega Estado mexicano violación de Valentina Rosendo Cantú
Argumenta ante la CoIDH falta de “pruebas fehacientes”
San José, Costa Rica - Durante la audiencia de la Corte Interamericana de
Derechos Humanos (CoIDH) sobre el caso de Valentina Rosendo Cantú, el Estado
mexicano insistió categóricamente que “no existen pruebas fehacientes de la
presunta violación sexual”, por lo cual pidió a este tribunal internacional tome
en cuenta este elemento a la hora de emitir su sentencia.
Si bien es cierto que la integración de la investigación de los hechos ocurridos
el 16 de febrero de 2002 no se hizo de manera eficaz y eficiente, no se puede
responsabilizar al Estado mexicano por tortura y tampoco por violar el derecho a
la salud y al debido proceso de Valentina, así lo dijo Armando Vivanco
Castellanos, director de Democracia y Derechos Humanos de la Secretaría de
Relaciones Exteriores (SRE)...
Después de esta audiencia, tanto la defensa de Valentina como el Estado mexicano
deberán entregar sus alegatos finales por escrito, de acuerdo con la CoIDH el
próximo 28 de junio y advirtió que no habrá prórroga.
Mexico’s government denies the fact of the rape of
Valentina Rosendo Cantú
Mexican state argues that no compelling proof of the
rape exists
San Jose, Costa Rica – During a hearing held by the Inter-American Court of
Human Rights (IACHR) in regard to the case of indigenous rape victim Valentina
Rosendo Cantú, the Mexican State declared categorically that no compelling proof
exists to show that the rape occurred. Mexico asked that the Court take this
into consideration when deliberating their decision.
Armando Vivanco Castellanos, director of Democracy and Human Rights in the
Secretary of External Relations (SRE), argued part of Mexico’s case before the
Court. He declared that Mexico cannot be held responsible if the investigation
into the events of February 16, 2002 was not efficient and effective, and that
the State also cannot be held responsible for the torture and violation of the
right to health and a lack of access to the proper [judicial] process.
Full English Translation to follow.
Anayeli García Martínez
CIMAC
May 27, 2010
See also:
Mexico
Raped with impunity - Inés Fernández Ortega and Valentina Rosendo Cantú
...Inés Fernández Ortega and Valentina Rosendo Cantú are still waiting for
justice. The two women, who belong to the Tlapaneca Indigenous community, were
raped by members of the Mexican army in February and March 2002 respectively in
the state of Guerrero, Mexico.
Inés Fernández Ortega, who speaks little Spanish, was reportedly raped on 22
March 2002. Soldiers entered her home to interrogate her about some meat they
claimed had been stolen. When she did not answer their questions, they raped
her. Valentina Rosendo Cantú, then aged 17, was approached on 16 February 2002
by soldiers near her home, who questioned her about the activities of some
"hooded men" (a reference to armed opposition groups). When she replied that she
did not know any, she was threatened and two of the soldiers raped her.
The Mexican authorities claim that both women have failed to co-operate with the
military investigation. However, the fact that both cases remain under military
jurisdiction places the women at serious risk of reprisals. The women are
required to go into the barracks to ratify their complaints before the military
prosecutor. There, they may face a real risk of intimidation.
The women have shown great courage in speaking out, demanding that their cases
be transferred to the civilian authorities. Amnesty International supports their
demands as the military justice system lacks the impartiality and independence
to properly investigate such cases. The Inter-American Commission on Human
Rights is now investigating the Mexican government’s failure to ensure effective
access to justice for both women.
Amnesty International
March 8, 2007
North Carolina, USA
He Did the Right Thing; Now He Faces Deportation
Charlotte - Just like the police tell you to do, Abel Moreno called 911 when a
man began assaulting his girlfriend. Before the end of the year, he could be
deported to Mexico for his trouble.
Moreno, 29, of Charlotte made the call Dec. 29 because, he alleged, a Charlotte
police officer was trying to fondle his girlfriend after a traffic stop. The
officer ordered Moreno to drop the call and arrested him and his girlfriend for
resisting arrest.
Several things then happened. Five other women came forward to allege that the
officer, identified as Marcus Jackson, now 26, had tried to molest them, too.
Moreno was released after investigators debunked the resisting arrest charge. So
was his girlfriend.
Jackson was fired and faces 11 counts of sexual battery, extortion and
interfering with emergency communication. Police Chief Rodney Monroe admitted
that Jackson should never have been hired in the first place because of previous
charges related to a restraining order filed by an ex-girlfriend. The local 911
system is under review because Moreno’s call wasn’t acted upon.
And Abel Moreno now has a six-month deadline to show why he shouldn’t be
deported, even though police acknowledge that his 911 call was crucial to their
uncovering a dirty cop, and even though they agree that he shouldn’t have been
arrested...
A judge granted Moreno a six-month deferment on his deportation because he is a
witness in the criminal investigation. But that reprieve runs out in November.
Moreno’s attorney, Rob Heroy, said he was confident Moreno would eventually be
granted a so-called U visa, which allows illegal immigrants who are victims or
witnesses in criminal investigations to stay in the country for up to four
years. But only 10,000 such visas are available in any year, and while that
process works its way through the system, Moreno remains in limbo.
“Now I’m unemployed,” Moreno said, speaking in Spanish through an interpreter.
“I don’t have any money, not even for rent, not even for my phone — anything.
... The truth is I’m scared.” ...
MSNBC
May 26, 2010
See also:
Abel Moreno Might Get Deported After Reporting
Police Groped His Girlfriend
Cindy Casares
Guanabee.com
May 26, 2010
New York, USA
Rape Victim's Mother Arrives In U.S. To Claim Body
The mother of the Chinese immigrant who died after being brutally beaten and
raped in a Queens alley arrived yesterday. The Daily News reports, "Sobbing
inconsolably as she stepped off a plane at Newark Airport, the mother was too
distraught to speak of her daughter, Yu Yao, 23, who was raped and fatally
beaten in Queens by a pipe-wielding madman. Escorted through the airport
terminal by relatives, the heartbroken mother collapsed into a chair and laid
her head in a cousin's lap."
Yao, who had arrived in NYC two months ago on a student visa, was taken off life
support on Friday, after being struck with a metal pipe and then sexually
assaulted in Flushing on Sunday May 16. According to the Queens DA's office, she
suffered a "fractured skull, bleeding on the brain and trauma to the vagina."
While one witness's call to the police enabled the arrest of suspect Carlos
Salazar Cruz, Assemblywoman Grace Meng said other people witnessed the attack
but did not do anything.
NY1 reports that community activists held an anti-violence vigil at the attack
site on 41st Road, urging residents to report violent acts. Community Prevention
Alternatives' Martha Florez-Vazquez said, "I feel that it's important to send
out a message to the community that it takes a village and that it's up to our
neighbors to prevent crime.” One resident added, "I'm very concerned... no one
should be beaten to death the way this young lady was."
Jen Chung
Gothamist
May 25, 2010
Arizona, USA
|
 |
|
Kyleigh Ann Sousa |
Woman dragged by car during robbery dies
Tempe - A young woman who was run over and dragged by a car during a robbery in
Tempe early Wednesday morning has died.
The incident happened shortly before 2 a.m. in the area of Apache Boulevard and
Mill Avenue near the Arizona State University campus.
The victim has been identified as Kyleigh Ann Sousa, a 21-year-old Arizona State
University student. She died of her injuries Wednesday night.
According to police, a man approached Sousa outside of a hotel and grabbed her
purse. He then tried to drive away.
Sousa held on to her purse. She was dragged by the suspect's car.
The suspect is described as a heavyset Hispanic man. The car he was driving is a
newer model Chrysler 300.
Police and Sousa's parents are asking for the public's help in finding the
suspect.
Anybody who has information about the incident should call the Tempe Police
Department at 480-350-8311 or Silent Witness 480-WITNESS (480-948-6377).
Catherine Holland
Fox 11
May 27, 2010
Pennsylvania, USA
|
 |
|
Omar Shariff Cash |
Cash guilty of murder and rape
Jurors must now sentence Omar Shariff Cash to life in prison or death by lethal
injection.
After hearing two weeks of testimony that one prosecutor likened to the musings
of a horror writer, a Bucks County jury in Doylestown Thursday found Omar
Shariff Cash guilty on all counts, including first- and second-degree murder,
rape, kidnapping, robbery, theft and other crimes...
The 43-year-old woman [victim] told the jury that Cash laughed as he forced her
to perform oral sex at gunpoint, then turned up the volume on the car radio and
swayed to hip-hop music after leaving her boyfriend, Edgar Rosas-Gutierrez, dead
alongside a Bensalem exit ramp.
In the front row of the courtroom, the rape victim wept softly as the verdict
was read. A native of Brazil who doesn't speak English, she listened to the
verdict with the help of a Portuguese interpreter.
Rosas-Gutierrez's family also had interpreters to help them understand the
verdict. They passed around a box of tissues and cried as each "guilty" was
announced...
Prosecutors Marc Furber and Maureen Flannery-Spang laid out a convincing case
against Cash...
The prosecution said Cash was on the run from Philadelphia police when he
carjacked the victims as they left Jalapeno Joes, a northeast Philadelphia
nightclub round 3:30 a.m. on May 11, 2008.
Cash forced Rosas-Gutierrez to drive into Bucks, and trained a gun on his head
while he raped the woman in the back seat.
Cash told Rosas-Gutierrez to pull over on the Street Road exit ramp from
northbound Route 1, the woman told the jury. While she screamed his name from
one of the passenger seats, Rosas-Gutierrez was marched up a steep embankment by
the killer and shot in the back of the head.
The woman testified that Cash raped her again at an abandoned office complex
immediately after the slaying, and then brought her to the Comfort Inn in
Lawrenceville, N.J., where the sexual assaults continued.
Unable to communicate with hotel staff, the woman finally made a break for it
when Cash brought her back down to the hotel lobby for breakfast. Footage of her
dashing through the lobby and vaulting a four-foot check-in counter was shown to
the jury...
Furber called Rosas-Gutierrez and the woman "the perfect victims." He said that
once Cash looked through their belongings and learned they were both illegal
immigrants, he believed that they wouldn't be missed...
Laurie Mason Schroeder
Bucks County Courier Times
May 28, 2010
Georgia, USA
Police: Lilburn Middle student hit with bleach-filled balloon
A 14-year-old Lilburn Middle School student was struck by a bleach-filled water
balloon Wednesday afternoon, police said, sending him to the hospital with burns
to both eyes and putting a traumatic damper on what have should been a joyous
start to summer vacation.
Just after leaving his last day of school, the student was walking down the
sidewalk on the 4000 block of Lawrenceville Highway, Lilburn Police spokesman
Capt. Bruce Hedley said.
A water balloon filled with bleach was thrown from a moving vehicle, Hedley
said, striking him in the face at around 4:40 p.m.
“From time to time, especially on the last day of school, you see pranks, and
maybe a water balloon is just having fun,” Hedley said. “But to see one that is
filled with bleach is beyond comprehension ... A kid leaving school for the last
day for what could have been a perfect summer, this is just crazy to me.”
The child was transported to Gwinnett Medical Center and was treated for severe
trauma to his face and burns to both eyes. He has since been released and is
“resting comfortably” at his mother’s Norcross home, Hedley said.
“He was in bad shape, but aware of his surroundings (during a visit Wednesday
night),” Hedley said.
Witnesses have reported that the suspects were three Hispanic males driving a
gray minivan with a black stripe down the lower portion of the vehicle...
Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of the van or the identity of
the suspects is asked to call 770-921-2211.
Tyler Estep
The Gwinnett Daily Post
May 27, 2010
Texas, USA
|
 |
|
Danny Mariel Suarez |
Man accused of sexual assault of a 12-year-old
WACO - A man was arrested Tuesday on accusations he sexually assaulted a child.
Officers reportedly began an investigation after they were notified in April
that a 12-year-old girl had told a school counselor she had been sexually
assaulted.
After the investigation, officers arrested Danny Mariel Suarez, 35, of Waco, in
connection with the alleged assault which reportedly occurred on multiple
occasions.
Suarez is charged with Aggravated Sexual Assault and bond has been set at
$250,000.
Louis Ojeda Jr.
KXXV
May 26, 2010
California, USA
Police suspect 2 men tried to pull girl into car
The Hollister Police Department is searching for two men suspected of trying to
force a 17-year-old Hollister girl into a car Wednesday night near the 1500
block of San Juan Road.
Just after 7 p.m., the teenager was walking to a relative's house near the Plaza
156 gas station before police allege that two men inside a black Volkswagen Bug
pulled alongside the girl and grabbed her arm, trying to force her inside the
car.
The men whistled and spoke Spanish to her as they grabbed her, according to
police.
The girl wrestled of their grasp and took off running to her relative's house,
police spokesman Sgt. David Westrick said. The car did not follow her.
"Once she was able to break free of the suspects, she ran and never looked
back," Westrick said.
The girl didn't know in what direction the car took off after she had left,
Westrick said.
The suspects are described as two Hispanic men in their 40s. The passenger wore
a black hooded jacket and sunglasses. The girl had no other identifying
information about the driver.
The Volkswagen Bug is described as an older model with a loud engine and rusted
black paint.
The police department is still searching for more information, Westrick said.
"We are trying to get this handled as soon as possible," Westrick said. "We have
as many detectives working on it as we can."
Anyone with more information is urged to call the Hollister Police Department at
630-4330. People who wish to remain anonymous can call WeTIP at (800) 58-CRIME.
Connor Ramey
Freelance News
May 28, 2010
California, USA / Jamaica
|
 |
|
Herbert Morrison |
Illegal Immigrant a Suspect in Continuous Molestation of Santa Maria Girl Police
say the child was victimized over nine years
In April, the Santa Maria Police Department began investigating the
sexual-assault case involving a minor female. [Herbert] Morrison was arrested in
May, but charges were not filed at that time because of insufficient evidence.
However, evidence gathered in recent weeks led to the issuance of a warrant for
the arrest of Morrison, who was being held in a federal detention facility in
Los Angeles pending deportation for being in the country illegally after a
previous deportation.
He was picked up at the detention facility, transferred back to Santa Maria and
booked into jail.
He faces charges of continuous sexual molestation of a child under 14 years old,
sexual battery, aggravated sexual assault, rape by force or duress, lewd acts
with a child under 14 years old, convicted felon in possession of a firearm,
convicted felon in possession of ammunition.
Bail was set at $500,000.
Police have not released how the suspect knew the victim.
Michelle Nelson
Noozhawk
May 26, 2010
See also:
California, USA
Undocumented immigrant can't bail out of jail, officials say
An undocumented immigrant and previously deported felon from Jamaica whose
anticipated deportation has been put on hold because he is facing new criminal
charges in Santa Barbara County, is not able to bail out of jail.
Herbert Morrison, 49, who had been living in Santa Maria, was picked up Tuesday
from a federal detention facility in Los Angeles where he was being held pending
deportation for being in the country illegally. He was arrested on suspicion of
various charges including continual sexual molestation of a child under 14 years
old, sexual battery and rape by force or duress, according to Santa Maria
police.
Morrison was booked into county jail with bail set at $500,000.
However, Lt. Dan Ast said that Morrison is not able to bail out of jail because
of an immigration hold, and he will eventually once again face deportation.
"If we allowed him to be deported without filing the charges, he could
potentially re-enter the country at some later time after arriving back in
Jamaica and continue to victimize people in this country," Ast said. "Or, he
could stay in Jamaica and potentially victimize others there without ever facing
justice."
The Lompoc Record
May 27, 2010
Texas, USA
Man Accused of Kidnapping, Attempted Sexual Assault of a Child
Houston - An accused child predator was behind bars Tuesday, charged with the
kidnapping and attempted sexual assault of a 7-year-old girl.
According to investigators, Al D. Checo lured the child into his green Dodge
pickup while she was walking home from school in the 9300 block of Pagewood Ln.
on Friday. He then drove her to his apartment nearby, forced her to watch
pornographic images and tried to sexually assault her, but stopped short of the
act.
"It could have been the first time for him to do something like this and he was
testing the waters, could have been were something might have spooked him. We
don't really don't know exactly yet," said Officer John Colburn with HPD's
Juvenile Sex Crime Division.
Checo, 32, held the child at his apartment for several hours before dropping her
off near where she was abducted, police said.
According to officials, Checo warned the child not to tell anyone what happened,
but she went home and told her mother and was able to identify her abductor.
Checo is charged with aggravated kidnapping and attempted aggravated sexual
assault of a child. He was being held Tuesday without bond.
KIAH
May 25, 2010
California, USA
SFPD searching for girl, 12, reported missing
San Francisco police are asking for the public's assistance in locating a
12-year-old girl reported missing.
Police said Mireya Zapata was last seen Thursday morning when she went to
school. At about 2:50 p.m., she sent a text message to her mother, saying she
was at a bus stop and on her way home.
However, Zapata, who goes to school in the Sunset District and lives downtown,
never showed up at her home, police said. The girl exchanged text messages with
her mother over the next several hours, but did not text a secret code letting
the mother know she was OK upon request, according to police.
At about 7 p.m., Zapata's mother received a text message reading, "Don't look
for me no more," and when her mother asked why, the response read, "Just don't,"
police said.
Police spokesman Officer Boaz Mariles said Zapata does not have a history of
running away and she is considered to be at risk. Police are actively searching
for the girl and ask anyone with information regarding her whereabouts to call
police at (415) 553-1071.
"It's a continuous search, meaning there are officers assigned strictly to
this,'' Mariles said.
Zapata is described as a light-skinned Hispanic girl, 5 feet 3 inches, 140
pounds with brown eyes and brown hair. She was last seen wearing a white hooded
sweatshirt, blue jeans, black and white Nike shoes and had a white backpack.
BCN
May 27, 2010
Indiana, USA
Suspect faces string of sex assault charges
4 alleged victims range in age from 11 to 49
Luis Alberto Gonzales was armed with a BB gun when he targeted numerous Hispanic
women and girls for sexual assaults on Indianapolis' Westside, prosecutors say.
But he didn't even bother to cover his face -- and that lack of a disguise
enabled police to arrest Gonzales last weekend. One victim from months ago
spotted him sleeping in his red truck in an apartment court off West 30th Street
near Moller Road, according to court documents filed Thursday in Marion Superior
Court.
Still more alleged victims have come forward after seeing Gonzales' mug shot in
media reports...
So far, he faces charges in connection with four victims ranging in age from 11
to 49. He is in the Marion County Jail with a combined bond set at $700,000.
Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi said his office was still readying charges
representing two more victims, including one younger than 18; police were
investigating allegations by three others.
That could make for nine victims, with convictions bringing up to hundreds of
years in prison.
"Mr. Gonzales has essentially been preying on Hispanic
adults and children since at least January 2010," Brizzi said. "He was going
back to the same area. It seems he was unafraid about being arrested or caught."
The lead charges on the four cases that have been filed are Class A felony child
molesting of an 11-year-old girl; Class A felony rape of a 40-year-old woman;
Class A felony criminal deviate conduct against a 49-year-old woman; and Class D
felony sexual battery against a 23-year-old woman...
Jon Murray
IndyStar.com
May 28, 2010
Nevada, USA
|
 |
|
Joel Eliazar Ortega |
Illegal immigrant sentenced in Reno rape of paralyzed woman
A life in prison term was imposed Wednesday upon a married father of one who
dragged a paralyzed woman out of her wheelchair, raped her, and then left her
lying nude in an alley.
The woman, who suffers from cerebral palsy, had been in a shopping center Oct.
30 in the 3300 block of North McCarran Boulevard when Joel Eliazar Ortega, 30,
led her behind a business and attacked her. Soon after, Reno police officers
responding to a call that Ortega was battering his wife in their nearby
apartment, recognized Ortega as fitting the description of the suspect. He was
arrested after the victim identified him.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Bruce Hahn described the
crime as among the most ghastly sexual assaults he’s ever seen.
“She was dragged from her wheelchair, her clothes taken off, sexually assaulted
and then left lying in an alley,” said Washoe District Judge Patrick Flanagan.
“I have listened to you carefully, and you said ‘things happen’ and you get in
trouble based on your behavior and doctors say you can’t take care of your
daughter.
“You are a danger,” Flanagan said. “...you are lucky there is only one life
sentence I can impose in this case.”
In rendering a sentence of life against Ortega, Flannagan said he would be
eligible for parole after serving at least 10 years in prison. Ortega is also an
illegal immigrant who also must face immigration charges.
“You will be deported at the earliest opportunity and will never return to this
country again, except lawfully,” Flanagan said.
Ortega had apologized for the crime and said “I need help.”
His public defender, John Malone, said Ortega has been receiving treatment at
the state’s mental hospital for several years. He blamed the rape on Ortega not
taking his psychiatric medicines and drinking alcohol.
Ortega pleaded guilty to the rape, and was also convicted of domestic violence,
related to when police responded to his apartment after the assault.
The victim was not present in court, although her father was and said he was too
emotional to speak about the incident.
Jaclyn O'Malley
RGJ.com
May 26, 2010
Virginia, USA
|
 |
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Arturo F. Lopez |
Henrico judge sends rape charge to grand jury
A woman testified at a preliminary hearing in a Henrico County court today that
her foster son sexually assaulted her at knifepoint and threatened to kill her
and her husband.
Arturo F. Lopez, 18, had been living with a foster family in the Interstate
64-Staples Mill Road area since sometime late last year, according to Henrico
police. He was charged with rape in the April 9 incident and appeared at a
preliminary hearing in General District Court this morning.
At the hearing, the judge certified the rape charge to a grand jury, which will
hear the case on July 12. He faces life in prison if convicted.
Lopez came to the Richmond area sometime last year. His attorney said he was a
homeless immigrant from Mexico and has no family in the U.S. Lopez was placed in
the home by the Richmond Department of Social Services, because Spanish is
spoken in the home.
Bill Mckelway
The Richmond Times Dispatch
May 27, 2010
Pennsylvania
|
 |
|
Officer Jose Manuel Santiago
Photo |
Pennsylvania Cop Charged With Sex Offenses
A southeastern Pennsylvania police officer is charged with
hundreds of sex-offense counts including rape, incest, statutory sexual
assault and endangering the welfare of children.
Chester County prosecutors say 54-year-old Kennett Square police Officer Jose
Manuel Santiago was arrested Thursday at his home in Newark, Del.
Assistant District Attorney Kimberly Callahan says Santiago had sexual
encounters with three juveniles under the age of 14 between 1991 and 2000.
Borough officials say Santiago joined the department in 1998. He had been on
disability leave since December 2008 and is now suspended without pay.
Santiago is in New Castle County prison awaiting extradition to Pennsylvania.
His phone number is unlisted and it was not clear if he had an attorney.
MyFoxPhilly
May 28, 2010
Indiana, USA
|
 |
|
Luis Gonzales |
Alleged rapists' victims afraid to tell
Indianapolis - Prosecutors expect to file more charges against a man suspected
of molesting and raping as many as nine women and girls on the northwest side.
Police say 27-year old Luis Gonzales was a serial rapist - preying solely on
Hispanic victims for at least five months.
Police say investigating this case was challenging. They didn't begin to put the
pieces together until an 11-year-old girl reported being assaulted in May. But
the first known attack occurred five months before that.
It was a January evening at about 10:00 at the La Joya apartments on the
northwest side of Indianapolis. A 23-year-old woman walked into her building
carrying bags and her baby. She says an attacker waited - pretending to be
talking on his cell phone. After she went in the building, she says he grabbed
and groped her in the stairwell.
An affidavit states she was holding her baby tightly during the attack, and the
infant began to cry. At that point her attacker ran away.
But no police report was filed. Detectives believe for the next five months,
Luis Gonzales terrorized, molested, and raped as many as nine Hispanic women and
girls in west side apartment complexes. The youngest known victim is 11-years
old.
Asked why the public wasn't made aware of a serial rapist, IMPD officer Lt. Jeff
Duhamell responded, "The lack of reporting from some of our victims, and
probably the language barrier and maybe some of them were afraid to come forward
because they may be in our country illegally."
Marion County prosecutor Carl Brizzi believes there are likely more victims out
there, and at a press conference on Thursday, he had a clear message to victims.
"There is absolutely no threat of immigration and customs enforcement, ICE, of
us reporting that documentation status as a result of reporting a crime," Brizzi
said.
Luis Gonzales has ties to Indianapolis. The probable cause affidavit states he
graduated from Lawrence North High School and has lived in the city for six
years. He's being held on a $100,000 bond, and has declined our request for an
interview.
WISH TV
May 28, 2010
California, USA
Teen Assaulted In Arroyo Grande
Arroyo Grande, CA -- Police arrested a parolee who allegedly assaulted a teen
yesterday afternoon. This happened at about 4:30 in the area near Arroyo Grande
Community Hospital and Arroyo Grande High School. Authorities received several
reports by phone that a girl was thrown to the ground near the hospital. Many
later calls told officers that within minutes several witnesses chased the
suspect, 23-year-old Fernando Frias, and cornered him in the back of a home on
Cerro Vista Circle.
Meanwhile, according to the Tribune, officers found the 17-year-old victim, near
the Fair Oaks bridge with injuries to her head and face. They arrested Frias who
is currently on parole. Frias was booked into the San Luis Obispo County Jail on
suspicion of kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon and violating the terms of
his parole.
King Harris
KVEC
May 27. 2010
Oregon, USA
|
 |
|
Ismael Recinos-Velasquez |
Reward Offered for Sex Assault Suspect
Crime Stoppers and the Washington County Sheriff's office are offering a $1,000
reward for information leading to the arrest of a man wante for sexual assault.
Investigators say Ismael Recinos-Velasquez, who may also go by Jose Perez-Perez,
or the name 'Carlos', sexually abused his girlfriend's 14-year old daughter and
another 12-year old girl.
A warrant was issued for Recinos-Velasquez's arrest on May 13th. He's wanted on
charges of first-degree rape and sodomy, along with numerous other charges.
Recinos-Velasquez is 5' 3" tall and 140 pounds. If you see him, call Crime
Stoppers at 503-823-4357, go online to crimestoppers oforegon.com, or text
message to 823HELP.
Chris Brown
KXL
May 27, 2010
California, USA
Police seek man accused of the assault and attempted kidnap of his ex-girlfriend
Pasadena - Police are searching for a 53-year-old man who allegedly beat and
tried to kidnap his ex-girlfriend Thursday afternoon.
At about 1:07 p.m. a 45-year-old female Hispanic, of Temple City, was waiting at
a bus stop in the 200 block of South Lake Avenue when the man allegedly grabbed
her by the hair and began striking her, Pasadena Police Lt. Chris Russ said.
The victim suffered minor bruising to her face and arms and also complained of
back pain, he said.
After a struggle, the man dragged her through a nearby parking lot and attempted
to force her into his 2000 Honda Odyssey, but he fled on foot after several
passersby came to her assistance, Russ said.
The man is described as a 5-foot-6-inch male Hispanic weighing 186 pounds.
The Pasadena Star News
May 28, 2010
Texas, USA
Midland Police Searching for Suspect Wanted for Inappropriate Conduct
Midland Police are trying to track down a man who has a problem keeping his
hands to himself.
A suspect is wanted for inappropriate conduct.
The man in question is Hispanic, who apparently goes around touching women in
stores.
He reportedly rubs or bumps into them, making it seem like an accident.
If this has happened to you in an offensive manner or if you have any
information, call Midland Police or CrimeStoppers at 649-TIPS.
NewsWest 9
May 28, 2010
Southwest USA
U.S. Border Patrol Weekly Blotter: May 20 - May 26
Excerpt
May 26, 2010 - Tucson Sector - Border Patrol agents
arrested an illegal alien from Mexico near Amado, Arizona. Records checks
revealed the subject had prior convictions for rape, the sale of marijuana,
domestic violence, and possession of a controlled substance. The subject had
also been previously removed from the United States.
May 25, 2010 - El Centro Sector - Border Patrol
agents arrested an illegal alien from Mexico near Calexico, California. Records
checks revealed the subject was a convicted sex offender in the state of
California, and had been previously removed from the United States.
May 25, 2010 - El Paso Sector - Border Patrol
agents arrested an illegal alien from Mexico near El Paso, Texas. Records checks
revealed the subject had prior convictions for rape with threat in the state of
California, assault with intent to cause serious injury/sexual abuse in the
state of New York, and had been previously removed from the United States.
May 22, 2010 - El Paso Sector - Border Patrol
agents arrested an illegal alien from Mexico near El Paso, Texas. Records checks
revealed the subject had a prior conviction for fondling, and lewd and
lascivious acts against a child in the state of Florida. The subject had also
been previously removed from the United States.
May 21, 2010 - Tucson Sector - Border Patrol agents
arrested an illegal alien from Mexico near Sells, Arizona. Records checks
revealed the subject had a prior conviction for lascivious acts with a child /
false imprisonment with violence in the state of California. The subject had
also been previously removed from the United States.
May 20, 2010 - Tucson Sector - Border Patrol agents
arrested an illegal alien from Mexico near Arivaca, Arizona. Record checks
revealed the subject had prior convictions for aggravated child molestation and
felony sodomy in the state of Georgia. The subject had also been previously
removed from the United States.
U.S. Border Patrol
May 26, 2010
Illinoid, USA
|
 |
|
Jennifer Hurtado |
11-Year-Old Girl Missing With 22-Year-Old Paramour
An 11-year-old girl is missing from her Brighton Park neighborhood home, and
police say she may have disappeared with a much-older man she calls her
boyfriend.
Jennifer Hurtado is missing... She was last seen wearing a yellow shirt with the
word "Shields" in purple lettering.
She was also wearing blue jeans, black slip-on shoes and was with her
22-year-old "paramour" Jose "Carlos" Contrerras, the release said.
She is described as 4 feet 8 inches tall, 100 pounds, with black hair and brown
eyes, according to the release, which said the two may be heading for Mexico or
North Carolina.
Anyone with information should contact the Chicago Police Wentworth Area Special
Victims Unit, at (312) 747-8385.
CBS
May 26, 2010
See also:
Illinois, USA / Mexico
Police seek girl, 11, who vanished from Southwest Side with man
A missing persons alert has been issued for an 11-year-old girl who has gone
missing from the Southwest Side and may be heading to Mexico or North Carolina
with her 22-year-old boyfriend, police said.
Jennifer Hurtado, 11, is missing... according to release from police News
Affairs. She was last seen wearing a yellow shirt with purple lettering that
said, “Shields” that was worn over a black t-shirt.
She was wearing blue jeans, black slip-on shoes and was with her 22-year-old
boyfriend Jose “Carlos” Contrerras, the release said.
She is described as 4-foot-8, 100 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes,
according to the release, which said the two may be heading for Mexico or North
Carolina.
Anyone with information should contact Wentworth Area detectives are (312)
747-8385.
The Chicago Sun TImes
May 26, 2010 0
The Americas
|
 |
|
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton |
40th Washington Conference on the Americas
Remarks of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Council of the Americas was pleased to hold its 40th Washington Conference on
the Americas. For 40 years, the Washington Conference on the Americas has been
honored to host presidents of the United States, foreign heads of state, U.S.
cabinet officials, ministers from the region, and congressional leaders...
As the opening speaker at the 40th Annual Washington Conference, U.S. Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton talked about the primacy of hemispheric issues on the
Obama administration’s agenda. She... stressed three priority areas for
cooperation between the United States and Latin America: trade and energy
partnerships, public security, and inequality and immigration...
[An] area of concern stressed by the secretary was public security... She
referred to the “barbarism” of organized crime syndicates, comment[ed] on
Washington’s support for Plan Colombia and the Merida Initiative, but also urged
for “smarter, more effective strategies.”
...Clinton referred to the twin issues of inequity and immigration. “We don’t
have the poorest people in the world in Latin America, with the exception of
Haiti, but we have the most inequity,” said the secretary. “Therefore we need to
have a partnership between the public and private sector to address this.” In
particular, she spoke of the need to increase tax revenues in the region. “We
can take a lot of joy in the positive GDP growth, but income disparity continues
to grow,” she said, noting it is “a source of social and political instability”
that feeds criminal activity. “We have to do a better job.” ...
|
 |
|
U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis
|
Remarks of Hilda Solis, U.S. Secretary of Labor
One of [U.S. Labor Secretary] Secretary Solis’ main concerns is the 12.5
percent unemployment rate among the Latino population. Latinos-who Solis
termed the “new entrepreneurs”-are the fastest growing demographic in the
U.S. and will account for over 25 percent of the population by 2050. This
population, however, accounted for only 5 percent of the 3.6 million STEM
(science, technology, education, and math) jobs in 2008. Solis and the
Department of Labor are focusing on creating more of these jobs for Latinos
as STEM fields are the future of innovation and competitiveness.
Latino workforce development also extends to training workers in the renewable
energy sector and to breaking down the barriers between employers and employees.
The Department of Labor has launched a multilingual help
line as a resource for workers that have been unfairly treated on the job
and is focusing on bringing to light “good business practices” that help to
prevent on-the-job injuries. Just recently Secretary Solis and Mexican
Ambassador to the United States Arturo Sarukhán signed a declaration reaffirming
their joint commitment to work collaboratively on informing Mexican workers
about their labor rights. She hopes to extend this type of agreement to El
Salvador, the Dominican Republic, and other Latin American countries...
Prepared by Jason Marczak and Carin Zissis
Americas Society
May 12, 2010
The Americas
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OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza |
OAS Secretary General Takes Office for Second Term
The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel
Insulza, today... [took] office for his second term at a special session of the
Permanent Council...
Reelected by acclamation for the period 2010-2015 in an election held March 24,
Insulza described in a speech this morning delivered in the Hall of the Americas
the main goals for his new term, reiterating the convictions that will guide his
leadership...
Among the successes of his first term, the top OAS official mentioned the
effective role of the Organization in nearly a dozen political crises in the
continent, as well as the observation of more than fifty electoral processes,
asserting that “nobody can in good faith affirm that the OAS in these years has
failed in having, in all of these events, a conciliatory and unifying attitude.”
In this context, Insulza renewed his commitment to what he called “the three
basic pillars of OAS activity: democracy and human rights, integral development
and multidimensional security, and the aspects most relevant to the people of
the continent.”
With respect to the new five-year period that now begins, Secretary General
Insulza reiterated his wish to have “a genuinely multilateral OAS, built by all
of us jointly on the basis of common principles,” and he traced five lines of
work for his new mandate: to develop a broad, modern and inclusive
multilateralism; to increase support for democratic governance by promoting
areas such as respect for the rule of law and institutions; to improve the
balance between the tasks of democracy building and those of promoting integral
development; to continue prioritizing subjects relative to public security, drug
trafficking, money laundering, organized crime, arms trafficking and human
trafficking; to give greater momentum to the subject of gender at the OAS...
Organization of American States
May 24, 201
Paraguay
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The triple frontier region, where
Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil meet, is a major child
and adult sex trafficking marketplace with many
thousands of victims. |
Todos
los casos deben ser remitidos a Asuncion para su investigacion
Impunidad hace florecer el trafico de personas en las Tres Fronteras
El tráfico de personas en la zona de las Tres Fronteras sigue siendo un negocio
floreciente debido a la impunidad reinante. En el sistema judicial del Alto
Paraná no existen datos de que algún caso haya sido elevado a juicio, buscando
castigar a los culpables de este delito. El Ministerio Público se convirtió en
una especie de “frezeer’’ para los hechos denunciados sobre la trata de
personas. Ever Ovelar, fiscal adjunto.
Varios son los esquemas que operan en la zona para el tráfico de personas. Casi
siempre integran el sistema las agencias de viaje que camuflan el envío de
jóvenes a otros países como excursionistas. En el décimo departamento no existe
una unidad fiscal especializada en el tema, pese a que los casos aumentan
considerablemente. Los antecedentes algunas veces son remitidos a la unidad
especializada en el tema a cargo de la fiscal Teresa Martínez, de Asunción. La
fiscal estuvo en esta zona y dijo que al menos tres agencias de turismo locales
están en la mira por vincularse supuestamente al tráfico de personas.
No quiso dar el nombre de las firmas para no entorpecer las investigaciones que
casi no han avanzado en los últimos 30 días. En Ciudad del Este y Presidente
Franco son donde más abundan personas que reclutan a jóvenes especialmente para
llevarlos a otros países, de preferencia europeos siendo las mujeres las
preferidas. Varias de ellas son obligadas a prostituirse y son mantenidas en
régimen de esclavitud, mientras otros deben trabajar en viviendas en régimen
inhumano.
El silencio de las víctimas y sus familiares contribuyen a que los traficantes
sigan operando normalmente en esta región fronteriza. Pero la inacción de los
organismos públicos contribuyen más para que se de esta situación. El
Minis-terio Público de Ciudad del Este se convirtió en una especie de “frezeer’’
para los casos de trata de personas, pues al menos son 20 carpetas fiscales las
que nunca fueron investigadas. No existen antecedentes en el Poder Judicial de
la zona de que algún caso haya sido llevado a juicio oral y público...
All human trafficking cases should be referred to federal
agencies in the capital city of Asuncion
Impunity allows human trafficking to flourish in the triple frontier (Paraguay,
Argentina and Brazil) region.
(English Translation to follow)
Diario Vanguardia
May 26, 2010
US Fights Human Slavery in Major Cities
People from Latin America, Asia trafficked to the US for sex, labor
In almost every major city in the United States, advocates say victims of human
slavery are exploited everyday.
"Human trafficking is a very serious problem in the United States," says Bradley
Myles of the Polaris Project, an organization that fights human trafficking.
According to Myles, some of the victims are forced to work in the homes of the
wealthy and at restaurants. Many others, especially women, are forced into
prostitution.
"We know from our very own eyes that it's happening. We're not kind of hearing
it third hand. We've been inside those places. We work with those women."
The Polaris Project operates a human trafficking hotline. Calls come in from
around the country.
"So we're getting calls from Texas. We're getting calls from California. We're
getting calls from New York, Florida and DC is one of those top five cities
where we're getting calls," says Myles.
Deborah Sigmund, founder of the advocacy group, Innocents at Risk, says most of
the victims of human trafficking come from economically depressed countries and
are lured to the U.S. with promises of a better life.
"They want to think that they can come to America and have a great job so it's
very easy to fool them," she says.
According to the experts, some of the victims are forced to sell sex from
brothels disguised as massage parlors.
Tim Whittman of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is an expert on human
trafficking in the U.S.
"The number one foreign country is Mexico," says Tim
Whittman, an expert on human trafficking with the U.S. Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI). "Approximately 20 percent of our cases involve victims from
Mexico."
The nation's capital is not immune to the problem. In Washington, the Polaris
Project sees sex trafficking victims who are U.S. citizens, and women from South
Korea, China and Latin America.
A study by The Human Smuggling and Trafficking Center
finds nearly 83 percent of suspected human trafficking incidents involve sex
trafficking. Advocates say other types of human slavery include people
being forced to work as domestic servants and in agriculture. The FBI says the
smugglers often threaten their victims and make it difficult for them to pay off
their debts...
Elizabeth Lee
Voice of America News
May 24, 2010
Indiana, USA
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Luis Gonzales |
Sexual assault suspect may be linked to 7 attacks
Indianapolis - Police have arrested a suspect in the sexual assault of a young
girl.
Luis Gonzales, 27, was taken into custody Saturday evening after an IMPD officer
found him sleeping in a pick-up truck on Hillsboro Drive. A woman told police
she recognized Gonzales from an incident a month or two ago when he attempted to
fondle her. The woman told her father, who called police.
Police say Gonzales sexually assaulted an 11-year-old girl at her west side
apartment complex on May 13. Investigators identified the suspect in that
assault as a Hispanic male, who left the scene in a red Nissan pick-up truck,
like the one Gonzales was in when police apprehended him Saturday.
Metro police detectives say Gonzales is a prime suspect in at least two
confirmed assault cases. He was found in possession of a BB gun described in the
other attacks, as well as other possible evidence belonging to his victims. He
is being held on felony charges of child molesting and criminal confinement.
Monday, police described Gonzales as a dangerous predator, saying he may be
linked to as many as seven attacks on girls.
"He is almost like an addict. He has to have sex all the time," said IMPD Lt.
Jeff Duhamell.
One of the other attacks happened to a 13-year-old girl in the Covered Bridge
Apartments on Georgetown Road. The victim remained reluctant to even report the
attack until IMPD Officer Candi Perry, a Spanish translator for the department,
intervened. That's when the 11-year-old girl in the May 13 attack came forward,
too.
"Right now, we definitely have him on admitting two child molestation cases,"
said Lt. Duhamell.
Sex crime detectives suspect Gonzales in a May 7 sexual assault on a 23-year-old
woman. The attack happened at the West Lake Apartments near Rockville Road.
WTHR
May 24, 2010
Georgia, USA
Man gets 35 years for sexually assaulting child
A DeKalb man will spend the next 35 years in prison after being convicted of
raping and infecting a child with a sexually transmitted disease.
Omar Luna-Fraide, 22, of Doraville, was convicted Wednesday on one count of
rape; two counts of child molestation; two counts of aggravated child
molestation; and one count of false imprisonment, said Orzy Theus, spokesman for
the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office.
Fraide was accused of assaulting the child on multiple days in 2009, Theus said.
He also infected the child with a sexually transmitted disease, Theus said.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
May 21, 2010
Guatemala, The United States
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Esperanza Arreaga, age 62,
lost two small daughters and 14 other family members
when they were murdered by Guatemalan soldiers in the massacre of Las Dos Erres.
In this picture,
Arreaga looks at the
remains of massacre victims uncovered by forensic archeologists.
Photo: Larry Kaplow - GlobalPost |
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Ramiro Cristales, then age 5, witnessed Guatemalan special forces
soldiers murder his family and rape and murder the 10 and 12-year-old girls from
his village of Las Dos Erres, in 1982.
From a
video statement by Ramiro Cristales, and a
collage of photos, by GlobalPost. |
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Ramiro Cristales, after he was abducted by soldiers who murdered his
family |
U.S. rounds up Guatemalans accused of war crimes
Washington - U.S. federal agents are today closing in on
four former Guatemalan soldiers accused of taking part in a 1982 massacre, which
one law enforcement official called "the most shocking modern-day war crime
American authorities have ever investigated."
One former soldier alleged to have taken part in the massacre of 251 villagers
in the rural Guatemalan hamlet of Las Dos Erres is already in custody in Texas.
Another former soldier in Florida and two more in California are under active
investigation.
Law enforcement officials close to the case acknowledged the four men are part
of a probe by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency into immigration
violations aimed at rounding up suspects named in a recently revived, landmark
human rights case in Guatemala. If found in violation of U.S. immigration laws,
the men would likely face deportation to Guatemala and a possible prosecution
there for war crimes.
For years these men, who are all accused of serving in a notoriously brutal
Guatemalan military unit, have lived in America, blending in to communities in
Florida, California and Texas. One is a popular karate teacher. One is a cook.
The man in custody is a day laborer who had allegedly abducted and then adopted
a boy who was orphaned in the slaughter 28 years ago.
That boy, Ramiro Cristales, who was 5 years old at the time, is now a key
witness in the case in Guatemala against the former soldiers and against the man
who raised him.
In an exclusive interview with GlobalPost, Cristales, one of only two known
survivors of the massacre, saw his entire family murdered. He said he was
frustrated it has taken so long for the men to be brought to justice. But he
said he hoped U.S. and Guatemalan officials might work together to make that
happen.
"They have to do something... The only thing I ask is justice," said Cristales,
who is now hiding in an undisclosed location. One former soldier alleged to have
taken part in the massacre of 251 villagers in the rural Guatemalan hamlet of
Las Dos Erres is already in custody in Texas. Another former soldier in Florida
and two more in California are under active investigation.
Law enforcement officials close to the case acknowledged the four men are part
of a probe by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency into immigration
violations aimed at rounding up suspects named in a recently revived, landmark
human rights case in Guatemala. If found in violation of U.S. immigration laws,
the men would likely face deportation to Guatemala and a possible prosecution
there for war crimes.
For years these men, who are all accused of serving in a notoriously brutal
Guatemalan military unit, have lived in America, blending in to communities in
Florida, California and Texas. One is a popular karate teacher. One is a cook.
The man in custody is a day laborer who had allegedly abducted and then adopted
a boy who was orphaned in the slaughter 28 years ago.
That boy, Ramiro Cristales, who was 5 years old at the time, is now a key
witness in the case in Guatemala against the former soldiers and against the man
who raised him.
In an exclusive interview with GlobalPost, Cristales, one of only two known
survivors of the massacre, saw his entire family murdered. He said he was
frustrated it has taken so long for the men to be brought to justice. But he
said he hoped U.S. and Guatemalan officials might work together to make that
happen.
"They have to do something... The only thing I ask is justice," said Cristales,
who is now hiding in an undisclosed location.
The massacre in Las Dos Erres, where a total of 251 men, women and children were
killed, is widely considered one of the darkest chapters of Guatemala's 36-year
civil war that claimed some 200,000 lives, and in which the U.S. military played
a shadowy role.
One month after allegedly raping young girls and women
during the massacre, one of the men under investigation, Pedro Pimentel Rios,
began work as an instructor at the School of the Americas, the Pentagon-run
training school for Latin American militaries, then located in Panama...
Because the alleged crimes occurred before the passage of war crimes laws in the
United States, prosecutors are not legally permitted to charge the men under any
of those laws. This limitation in U.S. law has long frustrated federal
prosecutors, who have only... been able to denaturalize and deport even
suspected Nazi war criminals living in the United States.
U.S. officials began their investigation after the Inter-American Court on Human
Rights decided last year that Guatemala's 1996 amnesty agreement does not apply
to serious human rights violations, including the massacre at Las Dos Erres.
Officials at Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Justice
who monitor cases involving foreign-born human rights abusers decided to see if
any of the accused killers were living in the United States...
U.S. involvement
Human rights groups have long criticized the involvement of the American
government and military in Guatemala. The Las Dos Erres case reveals several
connections between the two countries.
The U.S. government knew the Guatemalan army was probably responsible for the
massacre at Las Dos Erres, yet the School of the Americas began to welcome new
instructors and students from the army only days after the killings...
In the 1970s, President Jimmy Carter had introduced a ban on cooperating with
the Guatemalan military. But President Ronald Reagan lifted the ban and the
School of the Americas began admitting Guatemalan soldiers, including Rios, one
of the alleged perpetrators of the massacre...
Just as the massacres were intensifying, Reagan re-established military and
political cooperation with the Guatemalan government. Reagan saw [Guatemalan
president Efrain] Rios Montt as a useful ally against leftist guerrillas and
maintained friendly relations in the face of evidence that Rios Montt's
government was responsible for increasing numbers of civilian massacres. (In
July 1982, Amnesty International published a report listing more than 50
massacres of non-combatant civilians by the military.)
On Dec. 4, 1982, when the massacres in the Guatemalan countryside were fully
under way, Reagan met with Rios Montt. Reagan publicly described Rios Montt as
"a man of great personal integrity…[who] wants to improve the quality of life
for all Guatemalans and to promote social justice." Reagan said that Rios Montt
had received a "bum rap" from human rights groups.
It was an inauspicious day to make such a show of support. On the same day
Reagan spoke, the 17 members of the Kaibiles [counter-insurgency rangers] squad
arrived at a military base near Las Dos Erres. On Dec. 7, the massacre started.
Over the following two days, the men are alleged to have killed 251 residents of
Las Dos Erres. "Everything that moved had to be killed," one of the soldiers
later wrote in a sworn statement.
Last month archaeologists began exhuming the mass grave and DNA testing is now
underway to confirm the identities of those killed.
"I lost everything"
The Kaibiles tortured the men first. They then began
throwing children alive into the village well. Women were shot or beaten to
death with a sledgehammer and then thrown in. Men were then shot and dumped on
top. One of the Kaibiles abducted a 5-year-old boy [Ramiro Cristales]. Another
boy escaped. They may be the only surviving witnesses...
Matt McAllester
Minnpost.com
May 06, 2010
LibertadLatina
Commentary
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Chuck Goolsby |
Genocide, Femicide and Human
Trafficking in Guatemala All Grew From the Same Roots of Wartime Impunity
The mass murders (genocide) suffered by the Mayan majority
population of Guatemala during the 1980s took place with the complicity of the
U.S. Government, especially during the administration of President Ronald
Reagan. Some 200,000 innocent civilians, including 50,000 women, were murdered
by government military forces during the civil conflict.
While the International Court in the Hague and other
international human rights courts have aggressively prosecuted, or at least
charged suspects in cases of genocidal mass murders in Bosnia, Sudan and other
equally notorious cases, the largest act of ethnic cleansing and genocide in the
modern history of the Americas, carried out during the Guatemalan Civil War, has
until recently been off limits to effective prosecution.
We thank the Inter-American Court of Human Rights for laying the
groundwork for permitting renewed judicial action in important cases such as
that of
the Las Dos Erres Massacre. Many other cases have
yet to be investigated.
In all, some 440 Mayan villages, located mostly in Guatemala's
northwestern highlands region, were completely destroyed by Guatemalan soldiers
who were supported with military training and equipment by the United States,
Argentina and Israel.
The mass murderers in Guatemala thought that they would have a
lifetime of protection in regard to their crimes, because past conservative U.S.
presidential administrations lead them to believe that was the case. Thanks to
the changing political and legal landscape in the Americas, serious prosecutions
of these criminals may finally occur.
In the mid 1980s myself and many other activists in Washington,
DC and across the Americas worked hard to publish and broadcast news about the
ongoing massacres of innocents in Guatemala. We also protested in front of
Congress and organized to do everything we could to save the lives of
Guatemalans from the murderous hands of these cruel perpetrators.
Today in 2010, Guatemala's postwar culture has the highest rate
of femicide murders in all of the Americas. Several thousand women have been
murdered during the past several years with almost total impunity. The rate of
femicide murders, which typically include act of rape, torture, mutilation and
dismemberment (echoing the behavior of military forces during the civil war), is
ten time higher than the rate of gender-based murders in Mexico's infamous
Ciudad Juarez..
These femicides, and Guatemala's inability to investigate the
rape/ torture killings of so many women and girls, as well as that nation's
serious problems with the mass sex trafficking of women and girls today are all
direct outgrowths of the impunity that the world community ALLOWED to exist in
Guatemala during the 1970s, 80s and 90s. Effectively, these crimes were never
prosecuted because past conservative U.S. administrations were passively
and actively complicit, and the world community simply stood silently by.
A nexus with the anti-trafficking movement
During the early 2000's, I joined the anti human trafficking
listserv (email-based private forum) of Dr. Donna Hughes, who was then and is
today Professor and Eleanor M. and Oscar M. Carlson Endowed Chair of the Women's
Studies Program at the University of Rhode Island. Dr. Hughes is one of the
original pioneers of the modern U.S. movement against human trafficking, and she
deserves all of the honors that she has received over the years for those
efforts.
Dr. Hughes' listserv, which was made up of many notable names in
the anti-slavery movement across the globe, including names that many followers
of the movement today would recognize, totaled about 400 members. Simultaneous
to her work with this listserv, Dr. Hughes was also writing for the conservative
National Review Online.
The majority of U.S. listserv participants were conservative
women. I educated that community of professionals and activists about the
dynamics of the Latin American crisis in human trafficking at a time when few
were aware of the issues.
As part of that work, I discussed the mass rapes and murders of
innocent Mayan indigenous women and girls (among others) during the Guatemalan
Civil War. I also discussed Mayan Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr. Rigoberta
Menchu, who fled into the jungle to avoid becoming another victim of government
massacres. Several of Dr. Menchu's relatives died at the hands of soldiers.
Conservative members of the listserv became so infuriated with my
simple and truthful educational postings, that several of them quit the
listserv. Dr. Hughes told me by phone, almost apologetically, that she had to
ban me from the listserv to prevent her conservative followers from leaving.
In an earlier email conversation, Dr. Hughes had rationalized the
human rights abuses in Guatemala by stating that some victims supported
communist insurgency.
What Mayans actually supported was building a future for
themselves that was free from the 500 years of peonage (slavery) that Spanish
descendants had subjected them to.
During this online debate, an anti-trafficking activist from the Salvation Army
wrote to emphasize that the group was not denying the events that took place in
Guatemala (but only she expressed that view, not the other listserv members).
U.S. Conservatives had long supported the efforts of former
President Ronald Reagan and others to back often brutal right wing dictators in
Latin America. Any mention of the mass murders of Guatemalan innocents,
including women and children, was considered to be an unacceptable abomination.
In the late 1995, for example,
former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich denounced
then-Democratic Representative Robert G. Torricelli, who, like
Speaker Gingrich, was also a member of the House Intelligence Committee, for
having publicly exposed information about the atrocities in Guatemala followed
by a demand for congressional hearings.
Speaker Gingrich also demanded that the Public Broadcasting
Service (PBS) not air a documentary on the massacres of Mayan peoples in the
Guatemalan Civil War. He only relented and allowed the program to be broadcast
after his demand for adding 'alternative views' to the program's content were
agreed to by PBS.
How do you provide an alternative view about multiple
acts of racially motivated mass murder of innocent children, women and men?
This truthful account of one part of the history of the
Guatemalan Genocide also sheds light on aspects of the modern U.S. response to
the human trafficking crisis in Latin America.
The U.S. based anti-trafficking movement is a unique social space
where conservatives, liberals and others (and I am 'other') may join in common
purpose to save human lives. Unfortunately, politics has often been played with
the issue of Latin American human trafficking.
In the early 2000s, conservatives such as Dr. Donna Hughes and
her followers shunned any discussion of the important gender related human
rights issues (specifically, the Guatemalan Genocide) that were closely
associated with the modern human slavery issue in Latin America.
During the administration of former U.S. President George W. Bush, I
was present at one major public speech each, given by the two first
directors of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons
at the U.S. Department of State - Ambassador John R. Miller, and
Ambassador Mark P. Lagon. Latin America’s human trafficking crisis
was never mentioned during those presentations, despite what we know
today, that Latin American human trafficking generates an estimated
$16 billion per year, perhaps half of all world income from human
slavery.
When, on May 27, 1994,
I gave a presentation on Latina women and exploitation to
the Montgomery County, Maryland Commission for Women, I mentioned the
mass rapes and murders of women in the Guatemalan conflict, several conservative
women commission members shook their heads and declared that the genocide never
happened. Notably, a Cherokee indigenous woman commission member, and a
Panamanian woman physician who was also a member, acknowledged the fact of the
Guatemalan genocide as well as the other issues that had I raised for their
consideration.
A failure to acknowledge the problem of Latin American
human trafficking during the administration of President George W. Bush (as a
byproduct of conservative politics) effectively allowed the region's billion
dollar cartels and other criminal elements free reign to grow their now $16
billion per year human slavery 'industry' (IOM figure) without any visible U.S.
opposition.
On the other end of the political spectrum, some liberals,
including, perhaps, influential members of the administration of President
Barack Obama, also politicize human trafficking, from a leftist perspective.
It does not add to Obama administration strategy to have any
highly visible discussion of human trafficking and the mass rape and enslavement
of women and girls in Mexico and Central America, when such visibility would
raise doubt in Congress, and among the public, as to the value of continued
funding of the war on drug traffickers, given that Mexican soldiers deployed in
the conflict have been the culprits in many rapes and murders of indigenous
women with total impunity.
Open discussion of the severe levels of human trafficking and the brutal sexual
exploitation of women perpetrated by some Latino immigrant men in U.S. community
settings is also an uncomfortable topic for progressives as they market
Comprehensive Immigration Reform to the people and Congress of the United
States.
That concern does not justify remaining silent about the growing humanitarian
emergency of mass gender atrocities that is taking place in Mexico, throughout
the rest of Latin America and, increasingly, in U.S. Latino immigrant population
centers.
Progressives who favor the legalization of prostitution also
apparently have strong influence in the Obama Administration, leading to a
diminished focus on sex trafficking while labor trafficking takes center stage
in U.S. anti-trafficking efforts.
By justifying the genocide of Mayan indigenous peoples during the
Guatemalan Civil War (a mentality that is consistent with excusing the mass
murder of U.S. indigenous peoples in the past), U.S. conservatives, together
with their allies in Guatemala, succeeded in setting-up the circumstances that
lead not only to the anti-Mayan genocide, but also to the largest crisis of
ongoing murders of women in the Americas, the current Guatemalan femicide.
A similar conservative-lead environment of social and
governmental tolerance for mass gender atrocities also exists in neighboring
Mexico.
We assert that the lack of willingness of the U.S. government and
of some U.S. NGOs to fully engage the issue of human trafficking in Latin
America (where half of the world's estimated $32 billion of human trafficking
apparently takes place) during the George W. Bush administration and beyond had
its roots in conservative unwillingness to acknowledge the serious human
consequences of their past support for murderous dictators such as Guatemalan
president Efrain Rios Montt.
To be clear, U.S. conservatives cannot declare their opposition
to modern day human trafficking and slavery on the one hand, and on the other,
declare that the genocide in Guatemala, or Mexico's current repression of
women's rights (and until recently, intentional inaction on human trafficking)
all orchestrated by the ruling National Action party (PAN), are justifiable
expressions of conservatism.
You just can't have it both ways.
The left, which has often been indifferent to the issue of human
trafficking bears a similar responsibility for condoning inaction... because
human trafficking is, for some of them, a round peg that will not fit into the
square holes of their personal ideologies.
Shame on those who politicize human trafficking, be they from the
right or the left!
The victims, and those who are at-risk, await our effective and
hurried efforts to protect and rescue them.
Public servants, put the politics aside, and get to work! There
is no time to waste.
End impunity now!
Chuck Goolsby
LibertadLatina
May 23/25, 2010
See also:
Guatemala
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An indigenous woman walks by a street poster
of Guatamala's most brutal president, Efrain Rios Montt.
In the words
of a poem by Pablo Neruda: 'For the one who gave the order of agony,
I ask for punishment.' |
Guatemala: Massacre investigation breakthrough
Recently declassified documents from US archives have shed further light on the
extent of US complicity in Guatemalan human rights crimes, one of Latin
America’s most brutal examples of population control.
The hard-working farmers of Dos Erres, in Peten department, had never asked for
much — just a few acres of recently-cleared land from which to scratch a meager
living in a country racked by violence.
When armed guerrillas cut across their land six months prior to December 7,
1982, community leaders had done everything possible to placate the national
army, even inviting the soldiers in for inspections.
They had nothing to hide, they said. But a psychopathic military killing machine
had already condemned them to death on the grounds that they were the soil in
which the seed of resistance grows.
Acting on orders issued by the US-backed regional command, a death squad of army
Kaibiles (counterinsurgency rangers) entered the peaceful hamlet early that
morning, smashing in doors, killing livestock, starting fires and rounding up
groups of men, women and children.
Hours of rape and torture ensued, followed by execution in small groups. After
being shot, stabbed or bludgeoned to death with a sledgehammer, the victims were
hurled into a village well or left in nearby fields.
By nightfall, more than 250 were dead - almost the entire population. There were
two child survivors - one who escaped and one, Ramiro Cristales, who was spared
by his parents’ murderer only to be subsequently raised as a domestic slave
(reputedly an army custom). Cristales, now aged in his 30s, has recently come
forward at considerable risk to his own life as an eyewitness to the horror at
Dos Erres.
His testimony to the Guatemalan truth commission has been corroborated by
previously classified material obtained by the National Security Archive’s
Guatemala Documentation Project under the US Freedom of Information Act...
David T. Rowlands
Green Left (Australia)
May 22, 2010
See also:
Former Guatemalan Soldier Arrested for Alleged Role in Dos
Erres Massacre
Washington, D.C. - Following this week's arrest of a former
Guatemalan special forces soldier, the National Security Archive is posting a
set of declassified documents on one of Guatemala's most shocking and unresolved
human rights crimes, the Dos Erres massacre.
On May 5, 2010, agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) arrested Gilberto Jordan, 54, in Palm Beach County, Florida,
based on a criminal complaint charging Jordan had lied to U.S. authorities about
his service in the Guatemalan Army and his role in the 1982 Dos Erres massacre.
The complaint alleges that Jordan, a naturalized American citizen, was part of
the special counterinsurgency Kaibiles unit that carried out the massacre of
hundreds of residents of the Dos Erres village located in the northwest Petén
region. Jordan allegedly helped kill unarmed villagers with his own hands,
including a baby he allegedly threw into the village well.
The massacre was part of the Guatemalan military's "scorched
earth campaign" and was carried out by the Kaibiles ranger unit. The Kaibiles
were specially trained soldiers who became notorious for their use of torture
and brutal killing tactics. According to witness testimony, and corroborated
through U.S. declassified archives, the Kaibiles entered the town of Dos Erres
on the morning of December 6, 1982, and separated the men from women and
children. They started torturing the men and raping the women and by the
afternoon they had killed almost the entire community, including the children.
Nearly the entire town was murdered, their bodies thrown into a
well and left in nearby fields. The U.S. documents reveal that American
officials deliberated over theories of how an entire town could just
"disappear," and concluded that the Army was the only force capable of such an
organized atrocity. More than 250 people are believed to have died in the
massacre...
The National Security Archive
George Washington University
May 7, 2010
See also:
LibertadLatina
Note
|
 |
|
An indigenous woman in Guatemala holds a sign saying,
WANTED: Jose Efrain Rios Montt (the unseen part says, "for genocide") -
during the 2008, 28th anniversary of the
Spanish Embassy Massacre in Guatemala
City, Guatemala.
General José Efraín Ríos Montt is best
known for heading a military dictatorship from 1982–1983 that was
responsible for some of the worst atrocities against civilians in the
36-year Guatemalan civil conflict.
Photo: MiMundo |
My observations about the only human trafficker I have
ever met.
...To further tie together these linked issues, I know victims of
that genocide, and I have met a perpetrator, through one of his family members.
This family member talked to me at length about this perpetrator’s activities in
Guatemala. I will refer to him here as ‘Juan.’
Juan’s grandfather owned a large ranch in Guatemala, and when he
was feeling especially angry, he would go to the Mayan village at the far-end of
his ranch and "shoot a few Indians" (a direct quote). During the time of the
1970s-1980s Guatemalan Civil War, Juan was a member of the Guatemalan
president's security detail, the Presidential Guard. This security unit had a
secondary task, aside from protection, of receiving a daily hit list from the
president’s palace, finding these persons and murdering them for being suspected
‘subversives.’
The bodies of the victims were typically left laying in the
street as a message to the population. Juan stated to his family: "Me daba mucha
lastima tener que malograr a las mujeres" - that is: "it really saddened me to
have to tear-up the women [on the hit list]." In other
words, he supposedly felt sad for having willfully kidnapped, tortured,
gang-raped and finally murdered his mostly Mayan women and girl victims over a
number of years...
During the mid 1990s, before I even knew what sex trafficking
was, Juan’s family member explained to me that Juan was engaged in smuggling
people into the United States under peculiar circum-stances, and that he had
ties to Colombian mafias. Today, I understand that what was being explained to
me was the fact that Juan, a former mass rapist and murderer of women, had
'graduated' to sex trafficking women into the U.S. while living a comfortable
and otherwise 'normal' life in Washington, DC.
It was also explained to me that Juan would travel to Guatemala
City, place an add in a local paper seeking young girls to work as escorts, and
that 13 and 14-year-old girls would gleefully respond. Juan then 'trained' these
girls as prostitutes, and sent them out as escorts for wealthy businessmen.
In Washington, DC, Juan, when working in the role of office
building cleaning crew manager, imposed quid-pro-quo sexual demands upon the
Latina women who applied to work at his office building.
The world's past denial of the Guatemalan Genocide plays into the
world's current lack of attention to the ongoing femicide, mass kidnappings of
babies for illegal adoptions and prostitution, and to the mass
trafficking of Guatemalan women into the brothels of southern Mexico...
Chuck Goolsby
LibertadLatina
Ashoka anti-trafficking competition entry
June 18, 2008
See also:
LibertadLatina
Note
|
 |
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Mayan women and supporters gather to
protest a then-recent massacre in Quetzaltenango,
Guatemala - 1978
Photo: El Gráfico |
In the early 1980's I lived in a house in Washington, DC where a couple who had
fled Guatemala were invited to stay. The husband was an agronomist from Spain.
His wife was a white U.S. citizen from the Midwest. They told me how they were
saved from a death squad execution in Guatemala.
A Guatemalan woman friend had told the couple that her boyfriend, a high-ranking
Guatemalan military officer, had told her one night while he was drunk that the
couple had been put on the to-be-murdered list that was printed nightly in the
presidential palace (using a computer system set up by the Israeli military).
Having been warned by their friend, the couple and their young child immediately
fled Guatemala.
What was their crime?
The husband taught people in rural Mayan communities how to grow food better and
improve their nutrition. For the Guatemalan military, anything that benefited
the Mayan population was subversive, and deserved a murderous response. Any
arguments that the Mayan majority was subversive fly out the window when one
understands that the goal of the genocide was ethnic cleansing, pure and simple.
Chuck Goolsby
LibertadLatina
May 23, 2010
See also:
Israel and Guatemala
The history of Israel's relations with Guatemala roughly parallels that of its
ties with El Salvador except the Guatemalan military was so unswervingly bloody
that Congress never permitted the ... Reagan Administration to undo the military
aid cutoff implemented during the Carter years.
Weaponry for the Guatemalan military is the very least of what Israel has
delivered. Israel not only provided the technology necessary for a reign of
terror, it helped in the organization and commission of the horrors perpetrated
by the Guatemalan military and police. And even beyond that: to ensure that the
profitable relationship would continue, Israel and its agents worked actively to
maintain Israeli influence in Guatemala.
Throughout the years of untrammeled slaughter that left at least 45,000 dead,
and, by early 1983, one million in internal exile - mostly indigenous Mayan
Indians, who comprise a majority of Guatemala's eight million people - and
thousands more in exile abroad, Israel stood by the Guatemalan military. Three
successive military governments and three brutal and sweeping campaigns against
the Mayan population, described by a U.S. diplomat as Guatemala's "genocide
against the Indians," had the benefit of Israeli techniques and experience, as
well as hardware...
...It does not take convoluted reasoning to conclude that "both the U.S. and
Israel bear rather serious moral responsibility" for Guatemala.
See also:
May 26, 2009
More about Former Guatemalan president Efrain Ríos Montt
In 1978, [Efrain Ríos Montt] left the Roman Catholic Church and became a
minister in the California-based Evangelical / Pentecostal Church of the Word;
since then Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson have been personal friends [both
reverends Falwell and Robertson had publicly defended Ríos Montt's human rights
abuses].
Ríos Montt's brother Mario is a Catholic bishop, and in 1998 succeeded the
assassinated Bishop Juan Gerardi as head of the human rights commission
uncovering the truth of the disappearances associated with the military and his
brother.
About Efrain Ris Montt
Wikipedia
See also:
|
 |
|
Bill Clinton during his presidency |
Clinton says U.S. did
wrong in Central American Wars - March 10, 1999
...
President
Clinton admitted Wednesday to Guatemalans that U.S. support for
"widespread repression" in their bloody 36-year civil war was a
mistake.
"For the United States, it is important
that I state clearly that the support for military forces or
intelligence units which engaged in violent and widespread
repression ... was wrong," Clinton said as he began a round-table
discussion on Guatemala's search for peace.
"The United States must not repeat that
mistake. We must and we will instead continue to support the peace
and reconciliation process in Guatemala," he said on the third day
of a Central American tour.
CNN
March 10, 1999
See also:
LibertadLatina
Read our special section of the crisis of sexual
exploitation and femicide facing women and girls in modern Guatemala.
See also:
LibertadLatina
Raids and Rescue
Versus...?
Read our special
section on the human rights advocacy conflict that
exists between the goals of the defense of
undocumented immigrants from the threat of
deportation on the one hand, and the urgent need to
protect Latina sex trafficking victims through law
enforcement action, on the other hand...
- Chuck Goolsby
LibertadLatina
Dec. 18, 2008
Mexico
|
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|
These workers from the
Adulam shelter were arrested for forcing children and elderly
clients into labor slavery, while also subjecting some of the
victims to rape.
Photo: Mexico City Prosecutor's Office |
Desmantelan redes de trata de personas en México
Una red de explotación laboral camuflada en un hogar social, que abusaba de
menores de edad, y otra de prostitución que simulaba ser un salón "spa" fueron
desarticuladas por la policía, informó hoy la Procuraduría General de Justicia
de la capital mexicana.
El 13 de mayo la Fiscalía capitalina comenzó un operativo que se saldó este
lunes con cinco detenciones y con la liberación de 37 personas, entre ellas 27
menores, a las que supuestamente se explotaba laboral y sexualmente en la casa
de asistencia a indigentes "Adulam", ubicada en el oeste de la ciudad.
Asimismo, el pasado martes fueron capturados Claudia Escalante González y Hugo
Escalante Penkoff, presuntos responsables de la red de prostitución que se
ocultaba en una casa de masajes antiestrés en el sur de la capital, donde se
engañó y obligó a vender su cuerpo a varias jóvenes mediante amenazas y
extorsiones.
En marzo, cuatro de los huéspedes de "Adulam" denunciaron que eran obligados a
comerciar con distintos productos en la calle, sin obtener remuneración, y a
entregar entre 700 y 800 pesos diarios (entre cincuenta y sesenta dólares) ya
que, si no lo hacían, se les negaba el alimento.
Una menor de dieciséis años denunció también que Emilio Moctezuma, director de
"Adulam" y uno de los detenidos, la violó mientras una de las asistentes de éste
la sujetaba.
Todas las víctimas eran amenazadas constantemente con ser trasladadas a otras
casas fuera del Distrito Federal y a un lugar llamado Isla Veracruz, donde la
hermana de esta última chica fue enviada para ejercer la prostitución.
Además, una mujer declaró que desconoce el paradero de su hija desde que le fue
arrebatada recién nacida y enviada a un hogar de asistencia en el vecino estado
de México, y otra -también menor de edad-, aseguró que le practicaron un aborto
sin su consentimiento.
Human trafficking networks are dismantled in Mexico City
The Mexico City Prosecutor's Office has announced that establishments dedicated
to human exploitation have been taken down. One location, which operated as a
shelter for children and the elderly. The other passed itself off as a massage
parlor, but was actually a house of prostitution.
On May 13, 2010 the city prosecutor's office commenced an operation that
concluded with 5 arrests and the liberation from slavery of 27 children and 10
adults, who were subjected to labor and sexual exploitation in the Casa Adulam
shelter, located on the west side of Mexico City.
At the same time, the authorities arrested
Claudia Escalante González y Hugo Escalante Penkoff, who are alleged to have run
a prostitution network out of a massage parlor. A number of youth were entrapped
and forced to sell their bodies in prostitution while facing threats and
extortion.
In March of 2010, four residents of Casa Adulam denounced to police that they
were forced to sell between 700 and 800 pesos of various products on the streets
of Mexico City. On days when the victims failed to meet their quota, they were
not fed.
A 16-year-old girl also reported to police that she was raped by both the Adulam
shelter's director,
Emilio Moctezuma, and a male resident of the shelter, while one of the women
shelter workers held her down.
All of the victims were constantly threatened with being taken to other shelters
outside of Mexico City.
One of these locations was called Veracruz Island. The sister of the
above-mentioned rape victim had earlier been taken to that location and forced
to engage in prostitution. Another victim, a woman, told police that her newborn
child was kidnapped from her by shelter employees and taken to another shelter
in the neighboring state of Mexico. An underage girl victim reported that she
was forced to have an abortion without her consent.
EFE
May 21, 2010
See also:
Perspective on this case from the Breaking Chains
Ministry
The article [above] highlights a very important action that is just the
beginning of what is going to be massive fruit from the last trip I took...
There were 5 arrests and at least 10 more coming from this operation including
the scum who rob these children from their homes and families. They used
physical... as well as mental abuse and threats to force these children to serve
as prostitutes. The big one is still coming but this is VERY GOOD....the
government of Mexico is working to stop this evil and that is God!!! This is
just the beginning...there are 6 operations live right now so please continue to
pray for Jesus justice...
Reverend Stephen Cass
Breaking Chains Ministry
May 21, 2010
See also:
Mexico
Rescatan a 37... esclavizados de casa de asistencia
Sin embargo, los inculpados refirieron que por su labor habían sido recibidos
por el presidente Felipe Calderón y en la Embajada de Estados Unidos.
De acuerdo con la dependencia policiaca, los detenidos explotaban a niños y
adultos, a quienes obligaban a vender diversos productos en la calle sin recibir
ningún pago.
Incluso, se informó que la cuota diaria que les exigían era de 800 pesos. En el
operativo, se liberaron a 37 niños y... personas de la tercera edad.
Las víctimas dijeron a la policía que fueron violadas, otras que las obligaban a
entregar a sus hijos recién nacidos, e incluso una dijo que fue presionaba para
que abortara.
RECHAZO. Durante su presentación ante los medios de comunicación, los inculpados
denunciaron una presunta fabricación de culpables por parte del Ministerio
Público.
Y se dijeron dispuestos a someterse a cualquier tipo de investigación y
análisis, “pero de autoridades que sean imparciales”.
Agregaron que el Albergue Casa Adulam goza de una trayectoria reconocida por
varias organizaciones sociales, incluso por las propias autoridades federales.
Es de mencionar que los cinco detenidos cumplirán un arraigo de 30 días.
Thirty seven are rescued from shelter
This story repeats the story of the arrests in the Casa Adulam case. It adds
that Casa Adulam was previously praised for its work by the Calderon
administration, and they had been received at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City.
Cronica
May 21, 2010
Note: Allegations of abuses taking place at Casa Adulam had been received and
investigated since 2007. - LL
Mexico
|
 |
|
Deputy Rosi Orozco (left)and Actress Mira Sorvino,
(right) appointed in 2009 as Goodwill Ambassador on Human
Trafficking for the United Nations, at the Blue Heart Campaign launch in
Mexico City on April 14, 2010 |
A... Moment With Mira Sorvino
Mira Sorvino... talks at length about her activism.
Mirror: Could you talk about your work as a human rights activist?
Sorvino: I was Amnesty International's campaign spokesperson to “Stop Violence
Against Women” for over two years and on the subject of trafficking, I am
Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Office on Drugs and Crime ((UNODC).
Mirrror: What’s been your experience?
Sorvino: I just came back from Mexico for the kick-off the U.N.’s worldwide
campaign to combat trafficking. The goal is to raise awareness and to get
countries to commit to fighting this trafficking within their borders.**
Mirror: Can you talk about that trip?
Sorvino: It was a fascinating trip and I did a lot of public speaking. It’s a
country where not much is known about trafficking [?-LL],
so I felt like I was able to be informative. The most important thing for
me, by far, was going to go to a shelter for recently liberated girls, and I
mean girls. I’ve met trafficking victims before, but they were all past 30.
These were teenagers and children. I met a little girl who was eight years
old who had been sold into a brothel when she was four. She was walking
around with a big smile on her face showing everyone her arithmetic
homework. When I saw her I thought ‘Oh God, please tell me she’s the
daughter of someone here.’ She was a victim, just like all the other girls,
but we should call them survivors. I felt like I wanted to adopt her, but I
can’t adopt everyone who is needy. I just wanted to save her and protect her
for the rest of her life so she would never undergo anything like what had
happened to her. There is only one shelter in Mexico for girls like this and
I got to meet thirty lucky survivors, but
there are hundreds of thousands of girls exactly like
them all over Mexico...
Mirror: How many cases are prosecuted in the U.S.?
Sorvino: We have only a 1 percent solve rate and have about same number of
trafficking cases as murder cases. Can you imagine if we only solved 1 percent
of the murder cases? So it means that we have intensify our efforts and raise
public awareness, train the police, get the judiciary to be very well informed,
and encourage everyone to become a watcher. It’s very subterranean and hard to
find, but it’s always concerned citizens who call in with tips that break
cases...
Mirror: Why are men attracted to these little girls?
Sorvino: The sexual drive in men is so strong that unless they are educated
correctly throughout their formative years, once they are focused on a certain
kind of sex object that they find stimulating, that’s going to continue to be
stimulating for them. Every culture has always put a prize on virginity and
youthful beauty so a child who hasn’t been “spoiled” by other people will always
be more ideal to the “John” who wants to have something special. But, men need
to be educated to the terrible sorrow that behavior is creating because many
times the buyer of commercial sex is not really thinking about the individual,
but just view it as a service. I think if you did sensitivity training for males
worldwide, you might be able to discourage them from buying sex.
Mirror: We applaud you for doing this important work.
Sorvino: Thank you so much...
Beverly Cohn
The Santa Monica Mirror
Edition 50 - May 20-26, 2010
Haiti
Escala violencia hacia las mujeres en campamentos de Haití
Preparan abogadas estrategia legal para abordar problemática
Una delegación de abogadas y activistas de Estados Unidos constató en Haití, la
alarmante violencia que persiste contra las mujeres en esa nación, y la escalada
de otras formas de agresión en los asentamientos provisionales.
Ante la afirmación de algunas fuentes oficiales que responsabilizan a las
víctimas de la escalda, “es importante contrarrestar este mito de que es por la
promiscuidad, son crímenes violentos por extraños en la noche y ameritan la
atención de la policía y otros grupos que ayudan a organizar los campamentos”
dijo la coordinación de la delegación y abogado del Institute for Justice &
Democracy in Haiti (IJDH), Blaine Bookey.
Los testimonios de mujeres niñas dan cuenta de que son crímenes perpetrados por
grupos armados y asaltantes que las golpean y las amenaza si denuncian las
violaciones. Las mujeres entrevistadas también sostienen que cuando reportan, la
policía no las toma en serio.
“Es inaceptable que estas violaciones no sean castigadas, ahora estamos
trabajando casos legales contra los violadores y para que las mujeres tengan la
justicia que se merecen” dijo Mario Joseph, abogado del Bureau des Avocats
Internationaux (BAI) que recibió la delegación en su oficina de Puerto
Príncipe...
María Suárez Toro
RIF / CIMAC Women's News Agency
May 21, 2010
See also:
Haiti
U.S. Delegation Finds Inadequate Response, and “Victim-Blaming” Approach to
Rapes in Haitian Displacement Camps
Lawyers collect rape survivor accounts and plan legal strategy
Port-au-Prince - In over a week of on-site interviews and exploration, a
delegation of U.S. lawyers, health professionals, and community activists found
continued alarming rates of rape and other gender-based violence (GBV) in the
displaced persons camps throughout Port-au-Prince since the Haitian earthquake
in January. Expressed sentiments on the part of some Haitian government
officials that victims are somehow to blame for the rapes is outrageous to human
rights attorneys and community members, who find that women face a grave lack of
security necessary to prevent and respond to the sexual violence crisis. Medical
services are overwhelmed and unable to meet women's healthcare needs stemming
from the assaults.
"It is critical that we dispel the myth that these rapes are a result of
promiscuity," said Blaine Bookey, an attorney with the Institute for Justice &
Democracy in Haiti (IJDH), and coordinator of the delegation. "These are violent
crimes being perpetrated by strangers in the dark of night and they merit the
attention of the police and other groups helping organize the camps."
The vast majority of the women and girls reported being raped by groups of
armed, unknown assailants who often beat them in the course of the attack, and
threatened them with further violence if they reported the rape. Perpetrators
often attack at night, when women are asleep beside their children; or when they
go to the latrines, men wait for them in the dark stalls. "It is totally
unacceptable for these rapes to continue to go unpunished," said Mario Joseph,
Managing Attorney at the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI), which hosted
the delegation at its office in Port-au-Prince. "We are now building strong
legal cases to hold rapists accountable and bring these women the justice they
deserve."
Women who report rapes to the police describe being turned away, not taken
seriously, or told to notify the police if they see the rapists again. "Pa tap
vini" or "They never would have come," described one woman as to why she did not
report her rape. These experiences foster the perception that reporting to the
police is futile, especially if the survivor cannot identify her assailants. "If
we are going to overcome a culture of complete impunity for rapists, we must
create environments in which survivors are able to report these crimes and be
taken seriously" said Lisa Davis, an attorney with MADRE. "Haiti's political and
economic crises both before and as a result of the earthquake still do not
relieve the authorities of the responsibility to protect women from sexual
assault," said Deena Hurwitz, associate professor and director of the
International Human Rights Law Clinic at the University of Virginia School of
Law...
The Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti (IJDH)
May 17, 2010
Note: The above-described conditions of impunity facing women and
girls in Haiti are also the daily 'normal' experiences of many women and girls
across all nations in Latin America.
- LL
Oregon, USA / Mexico
|
 |
|
The Salvation Army's Christine MacMillan speaks at the recent Oregon
anti-trafficking rally |
Battling human trafficking
Christine MacMillan, director of the International Social Justice Committee for
the Salvation Army, speaks last Friday at a rally put on by the student group,
Slavery Still Exists. MacMillan spoke about the causes and effects of human
trafficking.
Slavery Still Exists, an ASUO (Associated
Students of the University
of Oregon)
student group, kicked off its human trafficking and advocacy awareness campaign
with a rally Friday.
Kristin Rudolph, co-president of the club, said the rally’s purpose was to make
students aware of a growing, worldwide injustice.
Community members gathered in the EMU amphitheater at noon to listen to the
featured speaker, Christine MacMillan, talk about her personal experiences with
human trafficking as the director of the Salvation Army’s International Social
Justice Commission. The International Social Justice Commission has worked to
fight global human rights violations, such as human trafficking, since its
inception in 2007...
Rally attendees expressed surprise at learning the prevalence and proximity of
human trafficking locally.
“I really didn’t know that this was such a big issue where I live,” University
sophomore Apolinar Montero-Sanchez said. “I’m glad that people are getting aware
of this stuff, because it’s a big problem.”
MacMillan shared several stories of human trafficking during the rally. For
example, she explained that while sex trafficking is well-known, there are other
forms of human trafficking, such as trafficking human organs.
While visiting Mexico City, MacMillan discovered how unmarked ambulances pick up
homeless children, strap the children onto gurneys, bring them to the hospital
and drug them with anesthetics in order to traffic their organs. After
removing organs, such as kidneys, the traffickers leave most of the children for
dead.
Because the majority of the world is not informed about the topic, it continues
to go on unbeknownst to many, according to MacMillan. She described human
trafficking as “a very hidden problem in our world.”
She urged rally attendees to gain more knowledge about human trafficking and
join the fight to end this problem...
Malaea Relampagos
Oregon Daily Emerald
May 17, 2010
Maryland, USA
Police Add Patrols After Man Grabs Girl
Annapolis police are adding patrols near school bus stops and around Bates
Middle School after a pair of suspicious incidents involving a man approaching
children.
ABC7's Brad Bell spotted some anxious parents waiting while their children got
off school buses Friday afternoon.
"It has been the talk in this neighborhood the last couple days," said Joe Hall,
a parent. "There's a lot of concerned parents."
So far there have been two reported incidents. On Wednesday, May 5, a man in a
car approached a 13-year-old girl and, in Spanish, made suggestive remarks. The
man then tried to lure her into his car, police said.
On Tuesday, May 18, a man matching the description from the first encounter made
lewd comments and then actually grabbed a 13-year-old girl by her arm in a
neighborhood a couple miles from where the first incident took place. The girl
was able to break away, but police fear he may strike again
"The reason we're on patrol in the school bus areas and the walkways is to make
sure something like that doesn't happen," said Ray Weaver, an Annapolis police
spokesman.
Parents and neighbors appreciate the increased police presence and say they,
too, are now on the look-out.
"Well, of course it concerns me to know there is a predator out there that's
trying to victimize children," said Nancy Fields, an Annapolis resident.
"Me personally, since I have kids, I don't think he should be on the street,"
Hall said.
Police described the man as Hispanic. One victim said the man was 30-35 years
old, average height, with black thinning hair. The other victim described him as
six feet, one-inch tall, with a slim build. He wore a black baseball cap with
the letters "NY" on the front, a blue zip-up hooded sweatshirt with white
stripes and blue jeans.
The suspect's vehicle was described as a small, dark blue Honda and as a blue
sedan with dark-tinted windows.
WJLA
May 21, 2010
Mississippi, USA
|
 |
|
William Velasquez Castillo |
Illegal immigrant arrested on child molestation charge
Pascagoula - An illegal immigrant sought for nearly a month and a half was
wearing a shirt emblazoned with the phrase "I'm hiding from the cops" when he
was arrested Wednesday on child molestation charges, and tried to wear the shirt
inside out Thursday when he went before a Jackson County judge.
A guard removed William Velasquez Castillo from the courtroom, and the
27-year-old returned with his shirt on the proper way.
The guard said that Castillo must have switched his shirt around at the Jackson
County Adult Detention Center before he was brought to the courthouse.
Castillo was arrested by U.S. Marshals in Lucedale late Wednesday evening,
Jackson County Sheriff Mike Byrd said.
Investigators had been searching for Castillo since April 3, when a 10-year-old
girl told investigators he molested her in a vehicle in Ocean Springs, Byrd
said.
A warrant was issued for Castillo on April 23, and detectives believe he fled
the area shortly after learning he was wanted, Byrd said.
Castillo was discovered by authorities at the Dorsett Hotel on Main Street in
Lucedale.
Castillo told County Judge Larry Wilson that he was unemployed and had a
previous felony shoplifting conviction.
"I served 1 year and 1 day," Castillo said. "It was from Harrison County."
Wilson said bail for Castillo at $50,000 and placed a hold on him for the U.S.
Immigration and Custom Enforcement.
"ICE has their own investigation," Byrd said.
Cherie Ward
GulfFive.com
May 21, 2010
Arizona, USA
|
 |
|
Jose Juan Martinez |
Gilbert man accused of molesting girl for 4 years
Gilbert police officers arrested a 39-year-old man suspected of molesting a
12-year-old girl for four years.
Police were called to a home near Neely Street and Elliot Road Monday evening.
The victim's mother told officers that her daughter said Jose Juan Martinez had
molested her.
The girl told investigators that Martinez had molested her over the past four
years and the most recent time was Friday.
Martinez was booked into jail on suspicion of 39 counts of sexual misconduct
with a minor, one count of continuous sexual abuse of a minor and one count of
molestation of a child.
Jennifer Thomas
azfamily.com
May 19, 2010
Texas, USA
Midland Police Searching for Suspect Who Tried to Kidnap Teenage Girl
Midland Police need your help tracking a down a man they say tried to kidnap a
teenaged girl in broad daylight on Thursday afternoon.
It happened between 5:00 and 5:30 near the Family Dollar in the Kingsway
Shopping Center on West Illinois.
Police tell NewsWest 9, the girl was walking home when a Hispanic man pulled up
next to her, blocked her, then tried to talk her in to getting in his car.
The teen was able to get away.
Police are looking for a Hispanic man in his late 20's to late 30's, about 5'9,"
and heavy set weighing between 250 - 300 pounds.
He has moles or acne on his face and was wearing a white T-shirt.
He was driving a dented two door silver car.
If you have any information, call Midland police or midland crime stoppers at
694-TIPS.
NewsWest9.com
May 21, 2010
New York, USA
Thug bashes Chinese woman with pipe, assaults her in Queens: cops
A 23-year-old woman is on life-support in a Queens hospital after a weekend
attack by a pipe-wielding rapist two months after she arrived in New York from
China, cops said.
Officials are working desperately to get a visa for the woman's mother, who
lives outside Beijing, so she can come to Queens to face the awful task of
deciding her daughter's fate.
The young woman was returning from grocery shopping in downtown Flushing around
9:30 p.m. Saturday when a drunken Queens man smashed her in the head with a pipe
and dragged her into an alley, authorities said.
Once inside the alley along 41st Road, Carlos Salazar Cruz, 28, removed the
woman's clothing from the waist down and raped her with the pipe, according to
court papers.
Two months ago, the young woman, who dreamed of becoming a lawyer, traveled from
her native China on a student visa. She moved in with a distant uncle in
Flushing.
"She was working in a nail salon, saving up money. She was going to start
attending school," said Assemblywoman Grace Meng (D-Flushing). "She had good
grades in China. That's why her parents wanted her to come and expand her
horizons."
Now, the woman who once dreamed of a better future is in the intensive care unit
at New York Hospital Queens. She suffered a fractured skull, bleeding on the
brain and trauma to her vaginal area.
Meng said she and Rep. Gary Ackerman (R-Bayside) are working to expedite a visa
for the woman's mother. Cops collared Cruz a few blocks from the crime scene
after a witness, who saw him drag the woman into the alley and then emerge alone
- called 911. Police later recovered the pipe about a block from the alley.
Cruz, who did not have a criminal record, emigrated from Mexico two years ago
and found work at a Manhattan fish market.
He was arraigned late Tuesday on a slew of charges, including a top count of
attempted murder. Prosecutors vowed to upgrade charges if the woman is removed
from life-support.
Cruz's family said he claims he blacked out drunk and doesn't remember the
incident.
"He woke up and found himself cuffed to the hospital bed," said his stunned
sister, Patricia Salazar, 26. "He never acted violently....We just don't know
why he would do this. We can't explain it."
John Lauinger
The New York Daily News
May 20, 2010
California, USA
Illegal alien charged with murder
Barstow - A 31-year-old illegal alien who was arrested Saturday on suspicion of
kidnapping and raping a 33-year-old woman has now been charged with murder.
Melissa Curley of Arizona died of strangulation with asphyxiation, according to
the San Bernardino County Coroner’s office Wednesday.
Police arrested Cesar Rascon in Yermo Saturday afternoon and charged him with
rape and kidnapping for the purposes of rape. Now Barstow police are charging
him with murder.
Curley’s body was found at the Sunset Inn motel at 860 West Main Street after
police received a 911 call at about 9 a.m. Saturday. Detectives learned that
Curley was staying at the motel, but wasn’t registered for the room her body was
found in. The room was registered to Rascon.
Police found Rascon working at a Yermo gas station at 4:57 p.m. Saturday and
arrested him.
V V Daily Press
May 20, 2010
Idaho, USA
Rape suspect deported 4 times
Edmonds - The man accused of raping a woman behind an Edmonds grocery store has
been deported at least four times in the past 15 years, reports KIRO Radio.
An officer responding to a woman's cry for help Sunday night found 46-year-old
Jose Madrigal on top of the woman and arrested him.
According to court documents, the woman told police that Madrigal had followed
her and offered her $35 for sex, but she said no. She said Madrigal then forced
her into the bushes on the north side of the store and raped her.
Documents say Madrigal told police "Sometimes we have control in our brains, but
we make mistakes."
The 28-year-old Edmonds woman was treated at a hospital.
Snohomish County prosecutors have charged Madrigal in district court with second
degree rape. He is also is being held for the Immigration and Customs
Enforcement agency.
The Associated Press
May 19, 2010
Southwest USA
U.S. Border Patrol Weekly Blotter: May 13 - May 19, 2010
Excerpt
May 19, 2010 - El Centro Sector - Border Patrol
agents arrested an illegal alien from Guatemala near Cathedral City, California.
Records checks revealed the subject had a prior conviction for sexual battery in
the state of California and had been previously removed from the United States.
May 19, 2010 - Tucson Sector - Border Patrol agents
arrested an illegal alien from Mexico near Douglas, Arizona. Records checks
revealed the subject had a prior conviction for sex with a minor in the state of
California and had been previously removed from the United States.
May 19, 2010 - Tucson Sector - Border Patrol agents
arrested an illegal alien from Mexico near Willcox, Arizona. Records checks
revealed the subject had prior convictions for multiple counts of lewd or
lascivious acts with a child under 14, as well as other sex offenses in the
state of California. The subject had also been previously removed from the
United States.
May 16, 2010 - El Centro Sector - Border Patrol
agents arrested an illegal alien from Mexico near Calexico, California. Records
checks revealed the subject was a convicted sex offender who had been previously
removed from the United States.
May 16, 2010 - Tucson Sector - Border Patrol agents
arrested an illegal alien from Mexico near Amado, Texas. Records checks revealed
the subject had prior convictions for driving under the influence and willful
cruelty to a child by means of sexual penetration with a foreign object in the
state of California. The subject had also been previously removed from the
United States.
May 16, 2010 - Tucson Sector - Border Patrol agents
arrested an illegal alien from Mexico near Three Points, Arizona. Records checks
revealed the subject was a convicted sex offender in the state of California and
had been previously removed from the United States.
May 14, 2010 - El Paso Sector - Border Patrol
agents arrested an illegal alien from Mexico near Columbus, New Mexico. Records
checks revealed the subject… was a registered sex offender in the state of
Arizona. The subject had also been previously removed from the United States.
May 14, 2010 - Tucson Sector - Border Patrol agents
arrested an illegal alien from Mexico near Ajo, Arizona. Records checks revealed
the subject had a prior conviction for aggravated sexual assault in the state of
Illinois and had been previously removed from the United States.
May 14, 2010 - Tucson Sector - Border Patrol agents
arrested an illegal alien from Mexico near Douglas, Arizona. Records checks
revealed the subject had a prior conviction for indecency with a child/sexual
contact in the state of Texas and had been previously removed from the United
States.
May 13, 2010 - Tucson Sector - Border Patrol agents
arrested an illegal alien from Mexico near Douglas, Arizona. Records checks
revealed the subject was a convicted sex offender in the state of Wyoming and
had been previously removed from the United States.
May 13, 2010 - Tucson Sector - Border Patrol agents
arrested an illegal alien from Mexico near Sasabe, Arizona. Records checks
revealed the subject had a prior conviction for child molestation in the state
of Washington and had been previously removed from the United States.
U.S. Border Patrol
May 19, 2010
Oregon, USA
Perez gets jail time
Judge cites official abuses
Former North Wasco County schools liaison Carlos Perez was sentenced Thursday to
45 days in jail and five years probation for making sexual advances to a
41-year-old Hispanic woman who had sought his help in receiving basic community
services and Spanish-English translation aid.
Although he cut the jail time in half from the 90 days requested by Wasco County
Deputy District Attorney Leslie Wolf, Wasco County Circuit Court Judge John
Kelly said he was compelled to order some incarceration because Perez, a public
official with many community and family connections, took advantage of and
preyed on a low-income woman who speaks no English and who is an illegal alien.
“The offensive part of this has less to do with your laying hands on this woman
than on your abuse of power,” Kelly told Perez before about 35 people at the
Wasco County Courthouse in The Dalles. “You have status and respect in the
community – you have power, and she has none.”
Kelly also ordered Perez to register as a sex offender and to have no contact
with the victim or to come within 500 feet of her home. Perez, who was a family
liaison and coordinator for the Columbia Gorge Educational Service District, is
also barred from visiting any North Wasco County schools and from participating
in any migrant services programs.
In addition, Perez will have to pay up to $3,000 into a state victims’
restitution fund to cover counseling sessions for the woman. He is also being
let go from his job as a translator for Mid-Columbia Medical Center in The
Dalles, Kelly said.
Perez maintained at Thursday’s proceeding that he was innocent, that the
sentence was unfair and alleged it was the result of racial bias...
Wasco County District Attorney Eric Nisley said he thought the sentence was
“appropriate,” and that there was “no evidence at all that this was based on his
race,” Nisley said.
“The point is that a jury believed a Hispanic woman over a Hispanic man,” Nisley
said. “It isn’t about Mr. Perez’s race.” ...
Keri Brenner
The Dalles Chroncicle
May 21, 2010
North Carolina, USA
|
 |
|
Store surveillance photo of suspect |
Suspect sought in string of sex assaults at stores
Charlotte - Police are still looking for a man they believe is behind several
sexual assaults inside stores.
They have stepped up patrols at shopping centers in Southeast and Union County
after they say at least five fondling incidents in three stores might be
connected.
They say that they believe one man is responsible for the sexual assaults: two
that happened at Wal-Mart on Tuesday, one at a Harris Teeter grocery store on
Saturday of last week and two more at another Harris Teeter, this time in Union
County, sometime in between.
WBTV talked to Dan Biber, a forensic psychologist who gave us insight as to what
drives a person to sexual violence.
"Let's call it adrenaline," he said. "He gets a rush. Part of the rush is not
just the sexual rush of groping women, but also the rush of doing it in public
when there's a high risk of detection that he successfully avoids."
That is frightening to shoppers like Tracy Brown who said, "that's even more
frightening to know that someone is getting a rush from assaulting people
because ultimately, that's what you're doing."
Another reason? Biber told us the man could be rationalizing his actions by
downplaying the severity of the assaults.
"He might in his own mind, think this is no big deal," he said. "He might just
think, well, rape would be bad but this doesn't count."
According to CMPD officers, the girl was in the grocery store at 11516
Providence Road at approximately 12:15 p.m. when a man came up and forcefully
fondled her from behind.
Police say two more women reported being groped at a Harris Teeter in Union
County. They say, before Union Co. deputies arrived, two employees escorted the
suspect off the property because the victims didn't want to press charges.
The latest incident happened Tuesday afternoon when two women told police they
were forcibly fondled at a Wal-Mart store on Highway 51.
The incident happened around 2:24 p.m. at the Wal-Mart located at 3209
Pineville-Matthews Road. Investigators say the two victims, who are 55 and 47
years old, actually tried to restrain the man--but he was able to get away.
On Thursday morning, police released in-store photos of the suspect from two
incidents at the Harris Teeters. The photos were taken on May 15 between 12:15
and 12:20 pm at the Harris Teeter at 11516 Providence Road.
Police are looking for a Hispanic man who is about 25 years old, and is between
5 feet 8 inches and 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs about 150 pounds.
Although the incidents happened inside the stores, police say the man drives a
white van with ladders on it...
WBTV
May 19, 2010
New Jersey, USA
|
 |
|
Reverend
Moises Cotto |
Authorities say evidence backs charges against Newark pastor in Linden sex
assault case
Newark - At the Newark church where his congregants dress all in white, he was
known as a husband, father and respected pastor for more than 20 years.
But, authorities said, Moises Cotto, the 55-year-old pastor, had been meeting
for the past two years with a female congregant at a motel in Linden where the
pair had sex — and forced two teenage girls to videotape them in the act.
Cotto was arrested at his apartment in East Orange on Monday night, and charged
with kidnapping, aggravated assault, attempted aggravated sexual assault and
endangering the welfare of a minor.
His parishioner, Brenda Pabon, 37, of Middlesex County, has been charged with
kidnapping and endangering the welfare of a minor.
But Wednesday, the assistant pastor of the Newark church, Yahweh Templo El
Candelero, said he is convinced Cotto is innocent. He called Pabon a
"problematic parishioner," saying she had recently threatened the pastor and
vowed to leave his congregation along with her husband.
"I do think that an injustice is being done, based on my friendship with the
minister," said Assistant Pastor A. Diaz. "There’s no truth to the allegations.
He’s been an upstanding pastor for more than 20 years."
The church carefully screens pastors, Diaz said, and holds them to "high
standards."
Prosecutors say they have significant physical evidence that corroborates the
victims’ allegations...
Julie O'Connor
The Star-Ledger
May 20, 2010
Peru
90%
de niñas madres fueron ultrajadas
Alarmante estadística. El 90 % de niñas peruanas
que dieron a luz, entre los 12 y 16 años, fueron
embarazadas producto de violación,
frecuentemente por incesto.
Estos datos brindados por la Organización
Panamericana de la Salud (OPS) fueron analizados
en el Congreso de la República por la Comisión
Especial Revisora de la Ley de Protección Frente
a la Violencia Familiar a fin de abordar las
causas y los efectos de esta realidad.
La congresista Olga Cribilleros (PAP),
coordinadora de la citada comisión, señaló que
si no se toma en cuenta el aspecto presupuestal,
no será posible realizar un real cambio de los
problemas de violencia familiar que se vive en
el país. Mencionó que la falta de personal
idóneo, jueces especializados así como recursos
para capacitación a docentes que desarrollen el
tema con contenidos adecuados dificultan la
lucha contra la violencia familiar. Sobre las
sanciones a los violadores, en Costa Rica, Perú
y Uruguay, bajo el Código Penal, se prevé que un
violador puede quedar libre si propone casarse
con su víctima y ella consiente. Al respecto, la
comisión estudia la legislación comparada de
otros países para elaborar el anteproyecto de la
nueva ley de protección frente a la violencia
familiar...
Ninety percent of young
adolescent mothers became pregnant due to rape
[We note that the
definition of 'rape' used in this Peruvian news
article refers to forcible rape, and not statutory
rape as that crime is defined in the United States.
-
LL]
Some 90% of Peruvian girls who became pregnant
between the ages of 12 and 16 became pregnant
due to rape, often in situations of incest.
These statistics, provided by the Pan American
Health Organization (PAHO), have been analyzed
in the Congress of the Republic by the Special
Commission to Revise the Law of Protection
Against Family Violence. Their goal is to
understand the causes and effects of this
reality.
Congresswoman Olga Cribilleros, of the Partido
Aprista Peruano (PAP - Peruvian APRA Party), who
is the coordinator of the commission, said that
without [congressional] funding, it would be
impossible to bring about real changes in the
problem of family violence that exists in the
country. She added that the lack of qualified
personnel, specialized judges and resources for
training teachers to develop relevant content
for students all hinder the fight against
domestic violence.
In regard to punishing rapists, the commission
is examining the laws of others nations.
Commission members note that under the penal
codes of Peru, Costa Rica, and Uruguay [not to
mention Mexico and other Latin American
nations], a rapist [even if the victim is age
12] can go free if he proposes to marry his
victim and she consents.
For Gina Yañez, director of the Manuela Ramos
Movement, these statistics demonstrate that work
should begin immediately on this issue,
especially in school and family settings, so
that victims know what to do if they are raped.
According to PAHO's study, 33% of women between
16 and 49 have been victims of sexual
harassment, and at least 45% have been
threatened, insulted or have had their personal
property destroyed.
Diario la Primera
Peru
May 19, 2010
See also:
Young adolescent mothers
learn to love and care for their children at the
Chuka Chuka center.
In Peru it is not
uncommon for women to raise 5 or more children.,
each with a different biological father. What is
also common is for the mother’s latest companion
to rape the eldest daughters, often resulting in
pregnancy.
One expects a
reaction from the mother, but not the sort of
reaction that is so evident here in Peru. As a
result of the rape the mother feels shamed and
jealous and abandons her own daughter who is
often without the comfort of additional family
members for support and understanding.
These abandoned,
pregnant, adolescent rape victims
(‘adolescents’), often only thirteen or fourteen
years old face a dull future. They are without
money; support; homes and job prospects. Most
worrying of all, they are carrying an unborn
baby, who will enter a world where education
will not be available to them and their options
for a self-sustainable life non-existent.
It is not uncommon
for such desperate girls to drift into the sex
trade and drugs; further blighting their lives
and potential to contribute to society
Our mission: To
save as many of these girls and their unborn
children as we can, to prepare them for and
steer them into a richer more productive life
than they could have known without this project.
Chuka Chuka
See also:
Adolescent prostitution in
Lima, Peru
Video news report from Peru showing underage
prostitution in the capital city of Lima. Young
sex workers are shown sniffing glue, caring for
their toddlers in the prostitution zone late at
night, and negotiating with johns for the going
price of 20 Soles (US$7.00).
(In Spanish)
ATV
Posted on YouTube
Texas, USA
|
 |
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Slain Houston Police Officer Rodney Johnson |
Businessman sentenced for harboring illegal alien cop-killer
A Houston, Texas landscaping business owner was sentenced to three months in
prison and three months home confinement for harboring the illegal alien who
molested a child and ultimately killed a Houston police officer in 2006,
according to a report obtained yesterday by the National Association of Chiefs
of Police.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
and the Houston Police Department.
Robert Lane Camp, 47, the owner of Camp Landscaping in Deer Park, Texas, and now
a convicted felon, was also sentenced to a five-year probationary term with
special conditions by U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore. Camp pleaded guilty
on Oct. 5, 2009, admitting that he knowingly harbored Juan Leonardo
Quintero-Perez (Quintero), an illegal alien, by employing him and leasing a
residence to him.
According to court documents, Camp employed Quintero in his landscape business.
When Quintero was arrested and charged by the State of Texas with indecency with
a child in 1998, Camp bonded Quintero out of jail and continued to employ him.
Quintero was sentenced to a term of deferred adjudication for the state offense.
Quintero was deported in 1999, but illegally reentered the United States in
Arizona, then flew to Houston. When Quintero returned to Houston, he resumed his
employment with Camp. Camp also rented Quintero a home and listed Quintero's
wife, a U.S. citizen, in government records as an employee instead of Quintero.
On Sept. 22, 2006, Quintero was arrested while driving a Camp company vehicle by
Houston Police Officer Rodney Johnson. While sitting in the back seat of Officer
Johnson's patrol car, Quintero retrieved a pistol hidden on his person, and shot
and killed Officer Johnson. Quintero was convicted of capital murder in the
248th District Court of Harris County, Texas, and has been sentenced to life in
prison.
Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of
Chiefs of Police
The Examiner
May 12, 2010
LibertadLatina
Commentary
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|
Chuck Goolsby |
Issues that may not
(but should) be discussed during
Mexican President Felipe Calderón's May
19-20, 2010 visit
to Washington, DC
The May 19-20, 2010 visit of Mexico's
President Felipe Calderón
to the White House is being closely watched
in regard to how the U.S. will react to
Calderón's
speech before Congress. We know that the war
against drug cartels and immigration are top
on the agenda.
The issue of mass gender atrocities facilitated by state corruption,
complacency and criminal impunity are also critical issues in U.S. /
Mexican relations. While these topics are rarely discussed in the
mainstream English-language press, holding Mexico's federal
government accountable for defending the lives, integrity and
dignity of women and girls is just as important as addressing the
drug war and immigration. In fact, we believe that the U.S. press
needs to step up to the plate and ask both President Calderón
and President Obama about their commitment to saving women and girls
from mass kidnapping, mass rape and wholesale enslavement, which are
crimes that impact tens of thousands of women and children each year
in the Aztec Nation.
President Calderón
took a major positive step on April 14, 2010 by launching the
world's first nationally sponsored instance of the United Nations
Blue Heart Campaign Against Human Trafficking. Yet a day later,
Calderón's diplomats derided, in front of
the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the rape complaint of
indigenous victim
Inés
Fernández Ortega, who had been
gang raped by soldiers in 2002, with no effective response from the
Mexican civilian and military criminal justice systems.
We repeat here below our list of some of the most critical gender
rights issues that are not being addressed by the Calderón
administration.
**
During the past several years
LibertadLatina
has dedicated its efforts to bringing world
attention to the mass rapes, kidnappings and
enslavement of women, children and men that
occurs with almost total impunity in Mexico.
According to the Southern
Cone (southern South American) office of the
United Nations-affiliated International
Organization for Migration (IOM), an
estimated $16 billion of the $32 million in
annual profits created by the human slavery
industry globally are generated in Latin
America. That 50% 'share' of the criminal
marketplace for worldwide slavery victims
has never been responded to by the
engagement of 50% of the global
anti-trafficking movement's energy,
resources or focus.
That lack of attention,
together with the willingness of past U.S.
administrations to effectively ignore Latin
America's crisis in human slavery, allowed a
drug-profit fueled criminal industry to grow
exponentially in the region while the world
effectively looked the other way in apathy.
Mexico is home base for the
largest problems in Latin American human
trafficking.
We have decided to focus on
the crisis in Mexico because solving that
one single national emergency will have the
most positive impact on the entire regional
crisis.
In the United States, 60% of
U.S. trafficking victims are Latin American.
Most of them have been trafficked across the
Mexican border into the U.S.
The population of Mexico (and
especially its poor and vulnerable
Indigenous peoples), also suffer immensely
from modern slavery. In addition, Central
American migrants are kidnapped, raped and
trafficked by the many thousands as they
cross Mexico. Some are also murdered.
Southern Mexico's narrow
border with Guatemala and Belize is the one
'bottleneck' where literally millions of
South and Central American migrants who seek
to travel to the United States must cross
into Mexico. Human traffickers and also
rapist thugs and robbers await these
innocent migrants like trolls under a
bridge. They rape an estimated 450 to 600
women and girls among these migrants every
single day of the year with complete
impunity on the Mexican side of its southern
border, with no discernable response from
Mexican officials and authorities. In fact,
police and military forces have harassed
migrants and their NGO caregivers. Many of
these victims are kidnapped (10,000 during a
6 month period, according to a study by
Mexico's National Human Rights Commission).
A number of those victims are sold into
slavery, often to be trafficked to brothels
in Mexico, the U.S. and Europe.
The NGO Save the Children has
described the southern border of Mexico as
being the largest region in the entire world
for the commercial sexual exploitation of
children. The city of Tapachula, for
example, has 20,000 persons engaging in
prostitution in its 1,500 bars and brothels.
Half of that number are children and
underage youth at any given time. Local
police don't interfere with this 'business,'
they focus on keeping child prostitutes away
from schools and upscale residential
neighborhoods.
Across Mexico, women, and
especially those from Mexico's traditionally
discriminated against Indigenous peoples,
who are 30% of the population, are also
raped with impunity. The perpetrators are
not only criminal thugs, but also military
soldiers engaged in the drug war. President
Calderón has steadfastly denied that any
problem exists with military rapes of
civilians, and he has refused to allow
accused soldiers to be tried in civilian
courts.
On April 15, 2010, one day
after the launch of the Blue Heart campaign,
President Calderón sent his federal lawyers
to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
to fight against
Inés
Fernández Ortega,
an Indigenous woman who was gang-raped by
soldiers in her home in 2002. The government
lawyers denied that any rape took place, and
blamed the victim for the lack of justice
(an assertion that women's rights activists
in Mexico are repulsed by).
Fernández Ortega, her family
and her lawyers have faced intimidation and
death threats. Her brother, a witness in her
case, was murdered shortly after she began
her now 8 year effort to find justice in her
case.
For Inés Fernández Ortega and
many other women victims of criminal
impunity in Mexico, the Inter-American Court
of Human Rights has become the venue of last
resort after having faced institutional
injustice, impunity, and a corrupt and
uncaring government response to their
plight.
During the 500 year period
since the Spanish conquest of Mexico,
Indigenous women have been easy target for
rapists and human traffickers. We who are
Indigenous know this history inside out, no
matter what corner of the Americas we hail
from.
What is an abomination in
today's world is the fact that in Mexico and
across much of Latin America, Indigenous
women and girls continue to be enslaved and
brutalized with the implied consent of
national governments. By extension, none of
these women can count on the protection of
their national governments and local police
forces in the face of such gender
atrocities.
In Mexico, an estimated 3,000
to 4,000 Indigenous children and underage
youth have been kidnapped and then sold to
the Japanese Yakuza mafias, who then
transport the victims to Japan, where they
are enslaved as 'Geisha' prostitutes.
Despite the existence of this story during
the past several years, there are no visible
signs that either Mexico or Japan have ever
lifted a finger to rescue the victims.
In a similar case, a reporter
in Spain posed as a pimp, and was offered 6
Mayan Indigenous girls for sale. They
were all 13-years-old. The sale price was
$25,000 each, because Indigenous girl
children were considered to be "exotic"
merchandise.
All of these issues are emergencies that
demand your immediate attention, President
Calderón. We call upon U.S. President
Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to raise
these important issues with Mexico.
The victims, and those at risk, await our
serious and effective efforts to defend and
rescue them now!
End impunity now!
Chuck Goolsby
LibertadLatina
May 20, 2010
California, USA
|
 |
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Jacobo
Reyes |
Cops: Man Fondled Little Girl While She Slept
Police say the
suspect confessed to fondling five other girls
and women.
Santa Ana .-- Police have arrested a 47-year-old
man on suspicion of molesting an 11-year-old
girl in her bedroom in Santa Ana.
Jacobo Reyes was arrested Monday and is being
held without bail, according to Cpl. Anthony
Bertanga.
Santa Ana investigators linked him to the crime
with DNA evidence, Bertagna said.
Investigators asked Reyes to come in for
questioning about the Feb. 11 attack in the 300
block of South Newhope Street.
They arrested him after he confessed to fondling
up to five other girls and women ages 11 to 22
as they slept, Bertagna said.
In the Feb. 11 attack, police say Reyes climbed
into the girl's bedroom, gaining entry by
removing a screen in an unlocked window.
The girl could not describe her attacker because
it was too dark, but he left behind genetic
material that matched Reyes' DNA, Bertagna said.
Reyes was booked on suspicion of felony assault
to commit rape and burglary.
Prosecutors are reviewing the case and have not
yet charged him.
KTLA News
May 19, 2010
See also:
California, USA
Previously deported illegal alien admits to being serial molester
On Tuesday, police in Santa Ana arrested Roberto Jacobo Reyes, after DNA
evidence linked him to the sexual assault of an 11-year-old girl in February.
According to police, Reyes entered the girl’s bedroom through an unlocked
window.
Under questioning for that crime, Reyes has reportedly admitted to having
assaulted at least four other victims, ages 11-22, in the same manner.
Santa Ana Police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna told the LA Times: “His M.O. was to break
into unsecured windows or unsecured doors.“
Reyes is currently being held in the Santa Ana City Jail on suspicion of felony
assault to commit rape and burglary, while the Orange County district attorney
prepares more charges.
In 2007, Reyes was deported back to Mexico after serving three years in prison
for burglary. While in prison, his fingerprints linked him to a sexual assault.
In 1998, Reyes was arrested for DUI and driving without a license, he pleaded
guilty and was ordered to pay a fine.
Past arrests also include charges for peeping and possession of stolen property.
Though an illegal alien with a criminal record, Reyes was working for a
landscaping business in Santa Ana at the time of his latest arrest.
Dave Gibson
The Examiner
May 19, 2010
New York, USA
|
 |
|
Detective Oscar Sandino |
NYPD
Detective Oscar Sandino charged with demanding
sex from women he arrested
A New York Police Department (NYPD) narcotics
detective was charged Tuesday with preying on
women he arrested - on police property.
The alleged attacks by Detective Oscar Sandino
date to 2006 and could land the 13-year veteran
behind bars for three years if he's convicted on
federal charges.
His lawyer dismissed the accusations as "old
news" and questioned the credibility of the
women, one of whom has filed a lawsuit.
But federal prosecutors Pamela Chen and Licha
Nyiendo said the evidence that Sandino is more
perp than protector is "substantial and
irrefutable."
"The persistent and repetitive nature of the
defendant's misconduct demonstrates that he is a
sexual predator," they wrote in court papers.
They say that in August 2006, when he was
assigned to the Queens North Narcotics Bureau,
he coerced a woman into having sex with him in
exchange for help with her cousin's criminal
case.
In February 2008, while arresting a woman and
her boyfriend on drug charges, he took the woman
into a bedroom and forced her to undress, the
feds charge.
When he brought the woman to the 110th Precinct
stationhouse for booking, Sandino warned she
would lose her children unless she had sex with
him, prosecutors say.
Sandino allegedly took the woman into the
bathroom, ordered her to pull down her pants and
molested her.
"Wow, you have an earring down there," Sandino
said to the woman, according to a lawsuit she
filed.
The victim reported Sandino to the Internal
Affairs Bureau, and investigators gathered text
messages, phone records and secretly taped
conversations to corroborate the allegations.
In a third attack in September, Sandino
allegedly took a handcuffed woman arrested for
disorderly conduct into a room at Brooklyn
Central Booking and made her bare her breasts.
Sandino, 37, was charged with civil rights
violations and released on a $250,000 bond to be
co-signed by his estranged wife, who lives in
Arizona.
Defense lawyer Peter Brill claimed the Queens
district attorney had passed on prosecuting
Sandino because the second victim was not
credible.
John Marzulli
New York Daily
News
May 18, 2010
New Mexico, USA
|
 |
|
Juan Gonzalez |
Children, Youth and Families Department will report immigrant status of
criminals
The state’s Children, Youth and Families Department will start reporting violent
juvenile criminals who are foreign nationals to immigration authorities.
Governor Bill Richardson ordered the change after Juan Gonzalez, an illegal
immigrant, was accused of molesting a 6-year-old girl at an Albuquerque fitness
club earlier in May.
Gonzales has been in trouble for sex crimes twice in the past, before he turned
18. In both those cases, CYFD never told authorities Gonzales was in the country
illegally.
Taryn Bianchin
KOB.com
May 18, 2010
See also:
New Mexico, USA
Man accused of molesting girl at gym faces judge
The man accused of molesting a young girl at a Midtown Albuquerque fitness club
was in court on Thursday.
Twenty-year-old Juan Gonzalez, an illegal immigrant, appeared before a judge on
sex assault charges.
Police say Gonzalez pinned a six-year-old girl against a wall at the Midtown
Sports and Wellness near Carlisle and Menaul and began touching her sexually.
Police say Gonzalez told them he knew what he was doing was wrong, but said he
has a problem.
Charlie Pabst
KOB.com
May 06, 2010
Pennsylvania, USA
Man accused of molesting 14-year-old girl is illegal alien
Bethlehem police said a 23-year-old man who allegedly had sex with a then
14-year-old girl is from Guatemala and illegally in the country. Ivan Antonio
Alvarez-Lopez, who last lived in New Jersey, met the girl, who is now pregnant
with his child, according to police, through a mutual friend in September. The
two talked on the phone until allegedly meeting in December at the Comfort
Suites in South Side Bethlehem.
Police allege the two met there four times and had unprotected sex.
Alvarez-Lopez knew the girl was 14, police said, and she knew he was from
Guatemala.
Alvarez-Lopez was charged with sex crimes and referred to Immigration Customs
Enforcement agents. He was sent to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $150,000
bail.
JD Malone
Lehigh Valley Live
May 13, 2010
California, USA
Border Patrol Agents Capture Three Sex Offenders in One Day
Calexico – U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to the El Centro Sector
apprehended three illegal aliens Wednesday who are convicted sex offenders.
One of the men was apprehended in the morning by agents from the El Centro
station. Record checks revealed the man had previously been convicted of assault
to commit rape and sex with a minor.
The other two men were apprehended in the afternoon, along with four other
illegal aliens, near the downtown Calexico port of entry. Record checks revealed
that one of the men had a conviction for unlawful sexual intercourse with a
minor and that the other man had been convicted of sexual assault of a child.
All three men will be held at the Imperial County Jail pending prosecution
proceedings.
Tribune Weekly Chronicle
May 05, 2010
Virginia, USA
One
man may be behind two recent Arlington attacks,
police say
One man may be behind two recent Arlington
attacks, police say Arlington police are looking
for a man they say sexually assaulted a woman
behind a restaurant on May 14.
A woman was walking behind a restaurant in the
2000 block of Wilson Boulevard around 10:50 pm
when a man grabbed her from behind, police said
in a Tuesday press release. He held her arm and
sexually assaulted her with his other hand,
according to police, then fled on foot after the
woman fought back.
The suspect was described as a "white Hispanic
male" who was about 5 ft. 7 in. tall with a
medium build, police said. He was wearing a
white chef's style jacket and dark pants.
The attack was similar to another one that took
place on May 8 in the 1800 block of N. Scott
St., police said.
Police ask anyone with information about these
attacks to call Detective Robert Icolari at
(703) 228-4240 or e-mail him. They can also call
the county's tip line at (703) 228-4242 or
Arlington County Crime Solvers at 866-411-TIPS
(8477).
David P.
Marino-Nachison
The Washington
Post
May 19, 2010
Mexico / The United States
|
 |
|
Mexican President Felipe Calderón will
address the Congress of the United States on Thursday,
May 20, 2010 |
Mexico's Calderon Needs to Listen, Not Just Lecture U.S.
Nine years have passed since a Mexican President last addressed the U.S.
Congress. That was Vicente Fox, just days before 9/11, after which Al Qaeda's
horrors all but erased Mexico from Washington's foreign policy radar. But,
surprise, our southern neighbor's problems refused to go away. While we were
fighting off an Iraqi insurgency, Mexico's drug war morphed into a ghastly
narco-insurgency that threatens to spill over the Rio Grande. While we were
dropping the ball on immigration reform, Mexico kept pouring undocumented
workers into the U.S...
What's still missing is a real sense that Calderon takes seriously enough the
only real long-term solution to Mexico's drug war: police reform. "Calderon has
taken some positive steps to improve federal police," says Alberto Diaz-Cayeros,
director of the U.S.-Mexico Studies Center at the University of California-San
Diego. "But Mexico still doesn't have real investigative police forces." And in
Mexico, where most cops moonlight for the cartels, the narcos seem more spooked
by the prospect of more professional police than by the presence of more
soldiers. Last month I interviewed the police director of Calderon's home state
of Michoacan, who had just announced stricter recruitment criteria for cops. A
week later her SUV was attacked by narco-hitmen with assault rifles and
grenades. Miraculously, she survived, but her two bodyguards - who had watched
the door during our interview - were killed.
Calderon also needs to prioritize another longer-lasting weapon: anti-poverty
programs that give younger and poorer Mexicans economic opportunities beyond
joining drug gangs. Mexicans in hard hit areas like Juarez are giving him an
earful in that regard these days, and so should the U.S. - not just because it
might blunt narco-recruiting, but because more social development efforts south
of the border also mean fewer indocumentados crossing north of it. Immigration
is as much foreign policy as it is domestic policy, and the U.S. has got to push
both itself and Mexico's political class to do more to stanch the flow of
illegals at the source, inside Mexico, instead of only at the border...
Given how feckless U.S. immigration reform efforts usually turn out to be, it
seems all the more urgent that both sides do more to promote ways to keep
Mexican workers in Mexico, like expanding microcredit programs. Those have
proven a boon for small entrepreneurs in impoverished rural states like Oaxaca
that are a major source of illegal migrants - and they'd be even more effective,
Obama should remind Calderon, if Mexico didn't allow microlenders to charge
interest rates that top an outrageous 70%, twice the world microfinance
average...
That lack of meaningful competition, as well as an overreliance on the U.S
market, is one reason the recession has hit Mexico's economy (which shrank about
7% last year) perhaps harder than any other in Latin America. And that doesn't
bode well for the wars against drug traffickers and migrant smugglers. The most
salient point Calderon will make to Congress is that the U.S. and Mexico are in
this together. That means Washington needs to drop its insensitive disregard for
problems south of the border - and Mexico City needs to drop its hypersensitive
obsession with tossing blame for those headaches north of the border. If they
do, they'll have something genuinely worthy to toast at the White House.
Tim Padgett
Time Magazine
May. 18, 2010
Texas, USA
|
 |
|
Eugenio Alejandro |
Man arrested for sexually assaulting 12-year-old in his home
A 51-year-old man was arrested Monday after police say he sexually assaulted a
12-year-old girl at his home. According to an arrest affidavit, the girl slept
over at Eugenio Alejandro's house on the 200 block of E. Huebinger in Marion for
a slumber party, when she woke up to him "penetrating her" with his hands.
"Oh sick!," exclaimed neighbor Gordon Dambow. "She's an innocent child, what
could they do? A grown man, my goodness, picking on the innocent."
"A couple of nights in a row, there were a bunch of kids over," explained Cody
Bodeau, who lives just across the street from Alejandro. "Every other night
there were a bunch of kids and we were wondering why they were all there, and
he'd be outside talking to them and hanging out with them."
Alejandro worked closely with children as a volunteer of the Marion Softball
Pony League as an assistant coach. The League didn't want to talk to News 4 WOAI
since they say they did not organize the slumber party, but say the allegations
are a "complete shock".
"No one should ever harm a child," says resident Kathleen Beierly.
Marion is a town of a little more than a thousand residents, where many people
know each other by name.
"It's bad because we're good people, and we love our children," added Beierly.
News 4 WOAI also did a background check of Eugenio Alejandro. Three years ago,
he was arrested for domestic violence, and has also served time for a DUI, a
DWI, and theft dating back almost 20 years.
He bonded out Tuesday, and still faces one count of aggravated sexual assault on
a child, a first degree felony.
Janet Kwak
WOAI - San Antonio
April 15, 2010
Indiana, USA
Suspect sought in sex assault on 11-year-old
Indianapolis - An 11-year-old girl is recovering after a man assaulted her in a
west side apartment building. It happened in the 3300 block of Heather Ridge
Drive.
"My daughter will not be out," said one resident after hearing the news.
There's fear among parents living at Heather Ridge Apartments on the city's west
side.
"There's no safe place anywhere, anymore," said Adam Bennett, a visitor.
Parents say this place seems even less safe after police say a man sexually
assaulted an 11-year-old girl in an apartment building Thursday around 6:30 pm.
"Pretty scary situation, especially an 11-year-old, and this individual has a
hand gun and basically points it to her head and sexually assaults her," said
Lt. Jeff Duhamell, IMPD.
It happened inside a common area of the building where anyone could have come
through.
"I heard about it on the radio and I immediately called my daughter and told her
to be careful at the bus stop, to stand with the other girls. To not stand
alone," said a worried mother.
Police say they're concerned, and that this is the type of crime where the
suspect could strike again.
"He's probably done this before," said Lt. Duhamell. "We need to get this guy
off the street right away."
Police say the man spoke in Spanish during the attack. Police describe their
suspect as Hispanic, between the ages of 20 and 30, 5 feet, 8 inches tall and
weighing about 160 pounds...
Police say a sketch of the suspect may be available in the next few days.
Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact IMPD or Crime
Stoppers at 262-TIPS.
WTHR
May 13, 20100
Florida, USA
Woman Escapes Attempted Kidnapping
Orlando police are searching for the man who tried to kidnap an 18-year-old
woman while she was walking on a trail near the Mall at Millenia.
The woman told police she was walking along the trail near 4850 Millenia Blvd.
around 8 p.m. Sunday when a Hispanic man grabbed her from behind and pulled her
toward some bushes.
The victim was able to escape and suffered only minor scratches, police said...
Meanwhile, police are still searching for a man who raped a woman in front of
Lake Eola in downtown Orlando early Friday morning.
WKMG
May 17, 2010
Southwest USA
U.S. Border Patrol Weekly Blotter: May 6 - 12, 2010
Excerpt
May 6, 2010 - Border Patrol agents arrested an
illegal alien from Mexico near Sheffield, Texas. Records checks revealed the
subject had a prior conviction for aggravated sexual assault of a child in the
state of Tennessee, indecent liberties with a child in the state of North
Carolina, and had been previously removed from the United States.
May 6, 2010 - Border Patrol agents arrested an
illegal alien from Honduras near Gila Bend, Arizona. Records checks revealed the
subject had a prior conviction for aggravated sexual assault of a child and had
been previously removed from the United States.
U.S. Border Patrol
May 12, 2010
Arizona, USA
|
 |
|
Karley Saucedo |
|
 |
|
Suspects: Jose Luna Valenzuela (left),
Oscar Grijalva and Sergio Castaneda |
Police rescue Phoenix woman kidnapped during home invasion
A 22-year-old Phoenix woman who was kidnapped during a home invasion has been
freed from her captors.
Police said the suspects were armed with handguns and demanded drugs and money
when they forced their way into a home near 59th Avenue and Indian School Road
on May 5. When they didn't get what they wanted, they took Karley Saucedo and an
SUV and left.
Following a week of negotiations and surveillance, Phoenix police officers and
detectives were able to free Saucedo from a home near Baseline Road and 47th
Avenue.
Saucedo, who has the mental capacity of an 11- or 12-year-old, is back with her
family. She reportedly was not injured.
Six people have been arrested on charges including kidnapping, extortion, armed
robbery, aggravated assault and vehicle theft. They have been identified as
Oscar Grijalva, 18; Sergio Castaneda, 17; Jose Luna-Valenzuela, 22; Hilda
Gutierrez, 29; Carlos Aguilar, 28; and a 17-year-old boy, who was booked into
Juvenile Corrections.
"This was a sophisticated group of naturalized citizens and illegal aliens who
chose to prey on vulnerable victims for monetary gain," Phoenix police Detective
James Holmes said.
Jennifer Thomas
Fox 11
May 14, 2010
Arizona, USA
|
 |
|
Mayor Phil Gordon of Phoenix, Arizona speaks at Harvard
University - Feb, 5, 2010
Photo:
Matthew W. Hutchins |
Phoenix mayor paints disturbing picture of immigrant experience
[Latino] Mayor Phil Gordon of Phoenix, speaking at Harvard Law School on
February 5th, said that the steady flow of illegal immigrants into his city has
created a crisis situation that is extremely dangerous for local law enforcement
and a devastating drain on the city's budget. Although by statistical measures
Phoenix is one of the safest cities in the United States, it has experienced a
wave of kidnapping and violent crimes that have challenged its law enforcement
capacity.
The problem, said Mayor Gordon, is the violent behavior of
the "coyotes" involved in human trafficking operations across the nearby Mexican
border and who regularly kidnap, torture, rape and kill those who do not comply
with their extortion, sometimes forcing captives to dig their own graves while
awaiting either freedom or death.
According to Gordon, over 20,000 people, including women and children, have been
rescued by Phoenix police over the last three years from "drop houses" where
dozens or even hundreds are held captive or even tortured, sometimes in the
midst of ordinary suburban neighborhoods…
Gordon said that the fight against the coyotes' organized crime has forced the
city to hire over 600 additional police officers, many to replace the 100
full-time officers assigned to federal task forces investigating violent
criminals and 50 officers embedded undercover in federal operations. The cost to
Phoenix of employing these 150 officers, over $15 million dollars a year, is not
reimbursed by the federal government and threatens to force reductions in city
services like libraries and after school programs…
Gordon expressed urgent concern about the state of immigration law in the United
States. He believes that immediate action is necessary to reform immigration
policy and assist burdened local police. "I couldn't and wouldn't stay silent
any longer, not only because of the economic costs, but also because of the cost
in human suffering."
Matthew W. Hutchins
The Harvard Law Record
Feb. 12, 2010
Indiana, USA
Neighbors offer clues in sexual assault of girl, 11
Indianapolis Metro Police are searching for a predator who sexually assaulted an
11-year-old girl at gunpoint . It happened around 6:30 Thursday night at a west
side apartment complex.
The little girl was treated at Riley Hospital for Children and released. Her
father told 24-Hour News 8 she was able to give police a detailed description of
the attack.
The little girl lives at the Heather Ridge Apartments located in the 3300 block
of Heather Ridge Drive. The complex is filled with families with young
children...
Police believe the attacker, driving a late-model, red, extended-cab Nissan
pickup, asked the girl for directions. Police believe he then followed her
inside the building's common area and attacked her.
Police have provided a picture of a truck like the one suspect was driving.
Neighbor Michelle Wells said she had seen the truck before, as had her sister.
A male resident named Nate nodded, saying he'd seen it too...
"They usually will do drive-bys and look around. And then when they see the
opportunity, they'll act on it," said IMPD spokesman, Lt. Jeff Duhamell.
Police believe the suspect is a 20 to 30 year old Hispanic man who is 5'6" to
5'9" and 160 pounds. He was last seen wearing a red shirt with a white stripe,
blue jeans, and work boots. He spoke to the little girl only in Spanish.
Police urge residents or anyone with any information to call Crime Stoppers at
262-TIPS.
Deanna Dewberry
WISH
May 14, 2010
Texas, USA
Accused sexual assault suspect arrested in Temple park
Temple - A man wanted by authorities for an alleged sexual assault was arrested
early Friday morning after he was located violating a park curfew.
Rufino Hernandez-Ramirez, 23, of Temple, was stopped by officers around 1 a.m.
at Miller Park, located at 1919 North 1st Street, for reportedly violating the
park curfew.
The suspect reportedly provided a false name, however, after the officer
properly identified Hernandez-Ramirez, it was discovered he had an outstanding
warrant for Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child.
The alleged assault occurred in June 2008 in Temple.
Hernandez-Ramirez was arrested and transported to the Bell County Jail.
He is charged with Failure to Identify Fugitive Intent Give False Information
and Motion to Revoke Probation, along with his initial charge of Aggravated
Sexual Assault of a Child.
KXXV
May 14, 2010
California, USA
Kidnapping, Attempted Assault Reported In Woodland
The Woodland Police Department is searching for a suspect who allegedly
kidnapped and attempted to rape a woman in Yolo County.
Authorities said the alleged victim said she was walking on West Street near
Buckeye Street on Saturday morning when a man drove up in a newer-model black
SUV and asked her for directions. As she spoke with him, he pulled out a gun and
ordered the woman into the car, authorities said.
The victim said he drove her into a wooded area near Interstate 5 and County
Road 98 and ordered her to remove her clothes. When she resisted, the man
attempted to drag her from the car, authorities said, but the victim was able to
break free and run to Interstate 5, where she flagged down a car and asked for
help.
The victim was not seriously injured in the incident.
The suspect is described as a Hispanic male in his late 20s or early 30s. He is
5'4" to 5'6", weighs about 160 to 180 pounds, with short black hair and a thin
mustache. He also reportedly had two silver caps on his front teeth.
Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call the Woodland Police
Department at (530) 661-7800.
CBS 13
May 15, 2010
Pennsylvania, USA
Men harass girls going to school in York City
York City Police are asking for the public’s help in identifying two men who
have been harassing girls on their way to school.
Lt. Tim Utley, who supervises the detective bureau, said there have been three
such incidents reported in the past several weeks. The girls were on their way
to William Penn Senior High School and were in the area of the 500 block of
South Duke Street when they were harassed, he said.
The two men are in a newer-model gray sedan, Utley said; they are Hispanic, in
their 30s and, in the latest incident, were wearing black T-shirts and black
hats.
Anyone with information on their identities is urged to call city police at
846-1234, or the department’s anonymous crime tip line, 849-2204.
Elizabeth Evans
York Dispatch
May 14, 2010
The United States / The World
|
 |
|
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder
|
Attorney General Eric Holder Speaks at the National Conference on Human
Trafficking
Arlington, Virginia - ...For today’s Justice Department, our work to pursue
human trafficking investigations and prosecutions and to support those who serve
and assist victims is not simply a top priority. It’s also a source of great
pride. Much of this work is being led by our Civil Rights Division and its
specialized Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit. Three years ago, this unit was
established to consolidate expertise and to improve coordination between the
many critical partners needed to bring traffickers to justice and to protect and
empower victims.
In a short time, this unit has achieved remarkable success in increasing both
the number and impact of human trafficking prosecutions. It has dismantled
organized human trafficking networks operating in multiple jurisdictions and
across international borders. And it has achieved justice for many, including
undocumented migrants who’ve seen their hopes of a better life destroyed;
documented guest workers who’ve been deceived, threatened and frightened into
captivity; women and children who’ve been forced into prostitution; and young
Americans who’ve been exploited in their own county by traffickers preying on
their vulnerabilities. These are extraordinary accomplishments.
But our Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit isn’t working alone. It is supported
and strengthened by our Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, our Office of
International Affairs, our Organized Crime and Racketeering Section, our Office
of Justice Programs and its Office for Victims of Crime, as well as the FBI. In
addition, the Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices
across the country are providing critical leadership in bringing human
traffickers to justice. Later in this conference, you’ll be hearing from some of
the Assistant U.S. Attorneys who were on the front lines of major human
trafficking prosecutions...
Today, some of our most critical partnerships have been established beyond our
nation’s borders. We’re working closely with authorities in other countries to
extradite fugitive defendants, protect victims’ families, obtain evidence of
criminal activity, and combat trafficking networks that operate across
international lines. A leading example of this is our recent work with Mexico.
The Departments of Justice and Homeland Security have collaborated closely with
our Mexican counterparts on a bilateral enforcement initiative aimed at
dismantling the trafficking networks that operate across our Southwest border.
Although this initiative is in its early stages, it has already produced
promising results for both countries – including measurable increases in the
number of defendants apprehended, cases prosecuted and victims rescued.
The benefits of such international partnerships are clear. By working with our
foreign allies, we’ve succeeded in liberating Jamaican tree-cutters from shacks
in New Hampshire; Filipino workers from chain motels in South Dakota; Eastern
European women from strip clubs in Detroit; Vietnamese garment workers from
American Samoa; Peruvian factory workers – including children – from traffickers
on Long Island; and young girls from Togo and Ghana – some just 10 years old –
from toiling around the clock without pay in hair salons in New Jersey.
But despite these achievements, there is much more work to be done. Meeting the
civil rights challenges of the 21st century will require us to identify new
enforcement strategies, to forge new partnerships, and to provide more support
for victim service providers. But we should all be encouraged that the global
movement to end human trafficking has received unprecedented attention and
resources, as well as unprecedented political support...
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder
U.S. Department of Justice
2010 National Conference on Human Trafficking
May 3, 2010
See also:
The United States
|
|
|
U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis
|
2010 DOJ National Conference on Human Trafficking - Remarks of Hilda Solis, U.S.
Secretary of Labor
The TVPA Decade: Progress and Promise
...Thank you for the invitation to speak at this national conference on human
trafficking - an issue I care deeply about.
I also want to thank Attorney General Eric Holder for his leadership on this
issue.
Ten years after the passage of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, we are
even more committed to the conference's goal of disseminating best practices for
prosecuting human trafficking and assisting victims.
The Department of Labor's commitment to fighting human trafficking comes from
its long history of working to protect and assist vulnerable workers, some of
whom may have been trafficked into forced labor.
As one of my priorities, the Department of Labor is engaged both domestically
and internationally to better serve and protect vulnerable workers.
Labor trafficking puts women, children, and men in the most extreme forms of
workplace exploitation.
It leads to situations where people are denied not only their wages, but their
human rights.
Our efforts to ensure that workers are afforded all of their rights under the
law include initiatives that help to combat human trafficking in all of its
forms…
Trafficking victims are the most vulnerable workers in this country.
As a state senator in California, I learned first-hand how 72 Thai workers in my
own district, worked for seven years in virtual slavery in a sweatshop with
boarded up windows and fences covered with razor wire making garments until they
were freed by law enforcement - and several hundred Latinos were not paid
minimum wage or over-time.
As a member of Congress, I was involved in passing House Resolution condemning
the murders of victims of human trafficking and labor abuse in Cuidad Juarez,
Mexico.
These women worked in slave-like conditions and then brutally killed through no
fault of their own.
These are the individuals whom we all have a duty to help and protect. This
focus on protecting the most vulnerable workers in today's economy is why I have
bolstered the enforcement staff in all of my agencies.
I have already added 250 investigators in the Wage and Hour Division alone.
And I'm not done yet!...
Violence in the workplace or trafficking for the sake of monetary gain is
unconscionable.
No nation does or should get ahead at the peril of its workers.
U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis
2010 DOJ National Conference on Human Trafficking
May 3, 2010
See also:
LibertadLatina
Commentary
|
|
|
Chuck Goolsby |
Giving Latin America its
rightful place at the table in U.S. anti-trafficking efforts
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has come a long way from 1995, when I first
toured the DOL Women's Bureau, passed out my 1994 report (see below) and
discussed the rampant workplace sexual exploitation of Latin American immigrant
women with staff. No Spanish language staff was available for their recently
opened hotline at that time.
Approximately 5 years ago, a DOL analyst told me that she used
LibertadLatina as a
source for her research into Latina workplace exploitation issues.
We note that, at the May 3, 2010 annual federal government Human
Trafficking Conference, Attorney General Holder and Labor Secretary Solis both
made some of the first U.S. Government public pronouncements acknowledging that
a Latin American component to human trafficking exists.
Although prosecutions, and work by State Department Trafficking in Persons
director Ambassador Luis CdeBaca prior to his assuming his current post have
touched upon the issue of Latin American victims, the U.S. Federal Government
has yet to state a clear response to the fact that, as Ambassador CdeBaca stated
in a December 2009 interview, some 60% of U.S. human trafficking victims come to
the U.S. from Latin America.
In addition, the United Nations affiliated International organization for
Migration (IOM) in the Southern Cone region of South America estimates that
Latin American human trafficking alone generates $16 billion dollars in annual
revenues, amounting to an estimated 50% of global trafficking profits.
However we look at the situation, Latin America's
crisis of
modern day slavery cannot be minimized,
nor can it be ignored.
We at
LibertadLatina have
persistently requested that the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama
speak out publicly on this issue, especially to demand that Mexico apply the
rule of law to the current environment of impunity that allows mass gender
atrocities to occur on an ongoing basis, a crime wave that heavily impacts the
United States.
The past 6 months of pronouncements by Ambassador CdeBaca, and the May 3rd
statements by Secretary Solis and Attorney General Holder represent a start, at
least, to achieving full accountability for the human trafficking crisis that
impacts Latin American women, children and men both in Latin America and across
the U.S. and the rest of the world.
Keep up the good work!
We will proceed to view progress on this issue from the perspective of "trust,
but verify."
The victims, and those at risk, await our serious and effective efforts to
rescue and protect them today!
End impunity now!
Chuck Goolsby
LibertadLatina
May 12, 2010
See also:
Chuck Goolsby’s Case File # 1: The Sexual Exploitation of
Latina Women and Girls at Computer Data Systems, Inc.
1992-1994.
* Your tax dollars at work supporting a
sexist federal contractor.
* Sexual harassment, quid-pro-quo sexual demands and sexual assault with
impunity in the low-wage American workplace.
...The below case relation is completely factual. The events may seem
startling for the average reader, but this case account tells a story that is
happening every night in America in many office cleaning jobs, hotel jobs,
restaurant and fast-food jobs, retail stores and other low-wage work places.
During… 1995, I presented detailed information about this… case and several
equally serious episodes of severe sexual harassment of Latina workers to… the…
U.S. Department of Labor Women's Bureau's "Low Wage worker's Conference" in
Washington, DC, where the author passed out his 1994 report to Women's Bureau
officials and conference participants...
While the U.S. Department of Labor Women's Bureau never responded to the author
in regard to his 1994 report, the director of Women's Bureau who followed the
1994 incumbent, Ms. Ida Castro, did make public statements to the press in the
late 1990's referring to DOL's recognition of the issue of the exploitation of
immigrant women in low wage jobs.
Chuck Goolsby
1995
See also:
Chuck Goolsby’s 1994 report: The Sexual and Economic
Exploitation of Latin American Immigrant Women in Montgomery County, Maryland
Chuck Goolsby
March, 1994
See also:
Added: May. 13, 2010
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